Blue Jays Open A Promising Season

Blue Jays Home Opener: Tonight!
While the Blue Jays' first three games of the 2008 season against the New York Yankees may not have been as fruitful as us Jays fans would have hoped, it's really tonight's home opener against the Red Sox that will set the scene for the rest of the season.

It has been a long time since baseball fans in Toronto have celebrated a World Series championship (fifteen years now!) and an even longer time since the Jays had their humble beginnings on a snowy day at Exhibition Stadium in 1977. This year, however, the Blue Jays have moved past the "rebuilding phase" that has characterized the team for several seasons and are ready to be contenders.

I'm not singing the Blue Jays' praises just because I'm a season ticket holder. This year's roster include some best pitchers to ever wear a Jays uniform, as well as a solid slate of hitters than can produce some sparks when needed. It's not just me that thinks so: ESPN senior baseball analysts Rob Neyer and Buster Olney both predict that the Jays will win over 90 games this season.

Sadly, until realignment, our playoff prospects don't look so bright. Playing in the same division as perennial powerhouses Yankees and Red Sox — as well as upstart Tampa Bay — makes grabbing a division title or wild card spot pretty tough despite our fantastic roster.

So while our playoff chances are slim, there's still hope. After all, wouldn't you love to see another celebration like this?

For those of you out there that haven't bought into the Blue Jay hype just yet, let me just say that baseball today is a much different game than it was when you were in middle school. The games are routinely well-attended by a great mix of people, and the really cheap (you can get some seats for $5 for some games) tickets make baseball a much more accessible sport than, let's say, Maple Leaf Hockey.

And of course, it's always nice to watch a winning team from time to time, no matter how accustomed we've become to watching the Leafs lose. Who knows, we might just surprise everyone and beat out the Sox for the wild card this season.

Sure, it won't be the same without Jumpin' Joe Carter, but Toronto's ready for another championship parade, and this year's Jays have all the parts necessary to make it happen.

Reader Reviews and Comments

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"And now there's a beachball on the field! The ball boys are trying to decide which one of them's going to go get it..."

Posted by: Ben at April 4, 2008 11:19 AM

How about the Blue Jays signing Alex Rios for 6 years, 64 million, and Aaron Hill 4 years, 12 million?
J.P. Ricciardi definitely made a good move with those bargains. Yes, bargains.

Not even Maple Leafs players can dream of that kind of money. Just another reason why the Blue Jays are more important than the Maple Leaves.

Posted by: Roberto Alomar at April 4, 2008 4:04 PM

That was one heck of a home opener game. Up in the 500 it was rowdy. Reminded me of the early 90's.

One big brawl in the bleachers, one boob flasher, lots of liquor and weed seen and smelled, and two runners on the field almost made us forget a game was going on.

Posted by: Jerrold at April 4, 2008 11:46 PM

blogTO Flickr pooler comees through in the clutch and has photos of some of the tomfoolery that I described above:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/55976115@N00/2389153766/in/pool-blogto

http://www.flickr.com/photos/55976115@N00/2389153608/in/pool-blogto

Great shots, sjgardiner!

Posted by: Jerrold at April 5, 2008 10:56 AM

hey there;
great find!
i work for the Jays - can someone tell me where this graffiti is located? We'd like to maybe come down and shoot some video of it for use in our in game entertainment at the Rogers Centre.

cheers,
Ryan Greer

Posted by: Ryan Greer at April 5, 2008 11:07 AM

Ryan,

If I'm not mistaken, I took these two photos around Queen and Beaconsfield, but it was about two years ago. Not sure if it's still around.

Posted by: Sameer Vasta at April 5, 2008 11:55 AM

I was in that section with the fights and the stripper boobs. Great time! The best time I've had in the Dome ever.

The yellow jackets were a bit of a buzz kill trying to kick out the flasher. But when that fight happened it took like 5-10 minutes before any of them showed up! I guess Rogers is OK with fighting but not with titties?

Posted by: jaysfan at April 5, 2008 11:56 AM

The yellow jackets had broken up a brawl in that general area BEFORE the flasher incident so it's no surprise that they were quick. I'm guessing they remained close by after the fight. And the secutiry response to the fight didn't take 5-10mins to come... more like 2-3mins tops.

Posted by: Jerrold at April 6, 2008 12:35 AM

I was at the game and the beer was bad. Since there were several brands and boxes, I'm guessing it was either old beer or stored improperly.

Of 5 people, two of us puked, one had stomach pains, and the other 3 had long-lasting hangovers. We all had between 2-4 bottles.

Beer was bought from stands at 537 and 534.

Posted by: serotonin at April 7, 2008 11:17 AM

Bad beer, great game. Fair trade-off? No? =)

Posted by: Sameer Vasta at April 7, 2008 1:14 PM

Lines were so long that it took one of my friends 3 INNINGS to get a beer. He's not happy.

Posted by: Jerrold at April 7, 2008 2:12 PM

Thanks Sameer! I'll venture down to take a look.
cheers
Ryan

Posted by: Ryan at April 8, 2008 8:19 AM

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