Blue Jays to Play "Home" Interleague Series in Philadelphia

[Don Quixote]

If anyone doesn't like it, blame Canada (and the G20 Summit)....

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=5180700

[BaltimoreTerp]

More like, blame the idiots that are going to "protest" (read: riot for the sake of destruction) and cause extreme security issues. They would be playing in an empty stadium if they stayed.

I do have to wonder why this wasn't thought of earlier, though. It isn't though the G-20 is a spur-of-the-moment kind of group; they've had this in their plans for a while.

[charliec107]

They should have moved the series to Montreal, at least making an attempt to keep them as some sort of Jays home game. But I'm sure MLB thought it was too soon to go back.

[Mark Carver]

They should have moved the series to Montreal, at least making an attempt to keep them as some sort of Jays home game. But I'm sure MLB thought it was too soon to go back.

Do they have a ballpark in Montreal that could be used on short notice? Olympic Stadium was last used for baseball in 2004 and is only used for CFL playoff games. The Alouettes are playing in Percival Molson Memorial Stadium which is a track/football/rugby stadium.

[charliec107]

Do they have a ballpark in Montreal that could be used on short notice? Olympic Stadium was last used for baseball in 2004 and is only used for CFL playoff games. The Alouettes are playing in Percival Molson Memorial Stadium which is a track/football/rugby stadium.

I'm not sure. I was assuming they could convert Olympic Stadium for a three game series with a month's notice. I thought it would be cool for them to Montreal, even if only for three games. But if they could only expect 4 digit attendance maybe it wouldn't be worth it.

If not Montreal, maybe they could have gone to another non-MLB market. (I don't know if BC Place still converts in Vancouver.) It just seems like series like this would be a good chance to show off MLB to people who don't get to see it live. The short notice probably makes it difficult though.

Edit: Wanted to add that I realize Vancouver is a hike and a half from Toronto and Philly, but they could use another close non-MLB market.

[BaltimoreTerp]

I'm not sure. I was assuming they could convert Olympic Stadium for a three game series with a month's notice. I thought it would be cool for them to Montreal, even if only for three games. But if they could only expect 4 digit attendance maybe it wouldn't be worth it.

If not Montreal, maybe they could have gone to another non-MLB market. (I don't know if BC Place still converts in Vancouver.) It just seems like series like this would be a good chance to show off MLB to people who don't get to see it live. The short notice probably makes it difficult though.

Edit: Wanted to add that I realize Vancouver is a hike and a half from Toronto and Philly, but they could use another close non-MLB market.

Could have gone to Buffalo. Their AAA park holds 18,000, and it's far closer than Montreal.

[tvz1997]

I wonder how ticketing will be done for this series? I was in Boston back in the 90's when the tiles fell from the roof of the Kingdome, sending the series to Fenway. Tickets were something like five bucks, first come-first serve. We got to sit just a few rows behind the plate.

[BaltimoreTerp]

I wonder how ticketing will be done for this series? I was in Boston back in the 90's when the tiles fell from the roof of the Kingdome, sending the series to Fenway. Tickets were something like five bucks, first come-first serve. We got to sit just a few rows behind the plate.

Since that was a more sudden event, they didn't have any time to plan.

Now though? I'll bet it's three extra full-price games in Philly. Hopefully Toronto gets the "home" share of the profits.

[SteveA]

And on a practical note, if you were looking for an excuse to go see the ballpark in Philly, this would be a good opportunity. The 25,000 or however many seats that are normally sold for season tickets won't have been sold for this one. Even if a LOT of Philly fans decide to buy up the tickets on a one-at-a-time basis, there will probably still be a log of good seats available for these.

[BaltimoreTerp]

And on a practical note, if you were looking for an excuse to go see the ballpark in Philly, this would be a good opportunity. The 25,000 or however many seats that are normally sold for season tickets won't have been sold for this one. Even if a LOT of Philly fans decide to buy up the tickets on a one-at-a-time basis, there will probably still be a log of good seats available for these.

That was something I thought as well. Road trip!