Blue Jays Toronto
 

NZ couple travelling through Canada. There will be 2 Blue Jay home games on while we are in Toronto. I have (sigh) agreed to attend with sports mad husband.

1. How long will an evening match go for? Is it like cricket in that I should bring a magazine to read? Are there TV stopages like in US games?

2. If we stay in downtown Toronto how easy is it to get to via public transport?

3. Are the crowds dangerous? (i.e. UK Football match?)

4. Can I take in things like my own food, water and a camera? Or will the frisk squad take them away from me?

In general, baseball games last around 3 hours (unless it is tied at the end of nine innings, in which case they will go into "extra innings.") Don't bring reading material - watch and enjoy the game (no TV stopages).
If you stay downtown, I'm not sure how long it would take to get to Rogers Centre. We are huge baseball fans, and we splurged and stayed in the Renaissance Toronto Hotel. The hotel is connected to Rogers Centre, and they have rooms that directly overlook the ballpark. In fact, you can watch the game directly from your room. My family still says this was the best hotel we have ever stayed in (but again, we're big baseball fans). The crowds are not dangerous at all. Go to the Toronto Blue Jays website - it has all the info about what you can and can't take in. http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com

Thanks Janesch!! I have looked at the website and I think I may even be able to walk. We will be staying near the water front.

These may seem like silly questions but North America is a mystery to me at present so I want to be prepared.

I just booked the Westin Harbour Castle on Priceline.

I absolutely love cricket so maybe I will like baseball. I'll have to look up the rules beforehand I think.

Glad to be of help (and your questions weren't silly). We live in Texas and we're trying to "make the rounds" of the professional baseball parks. Enjoy your trip - we think Canada is one of the lovelies places to visit.

wilees,
I think you'll enjoy it. If it's a nice evening the Rogers Centre roof will be open. Yes, you can walk from your hotel but leave a bit of time. You can either walk along the lakeshore route (The Esplanade, I think) and come in the south end of the ballpark or you can walk north up Yonge Street and walk west along Front Street. It won't have the lake view but it will have 'city life'. It's a very safe city so don't hesitate to walk wherever you want to go. Maybe take a different route coming and going.

Are the crowds dangerous? They're PUSSYCATS!

You don't say when you're visiting but try to explore the Harbourfront Centre while you're here. It's west of your hotel. The complex is bordered on the east side by the Queen's Quay Terminal Building. There are some quite nice shops in there though they're pricey. Some nice restaurants too. You can have a reasonably priced lunch or dinner at Il Fornello and sit outside on the waterfront. The Pearl upstairs, has great dim sum. Ask for a table on the lake side. Continue west along the boardwalk to the Harbourfront Centre -- galleries, theatre, international market, a beautiful craft shop, studios where you can sometimes watch the glassblowers and potters do their work. If you're there at the right time, there are free outdoor concerts and festivals. A nice place to go for a drink is the 5th floor bar of the Radisson Hotel Admiral. I'm not crazy about the hotel but the 5th floor bar is outdoors and overlooks the lake. It's just to the west of the Harbourfront outdoor stage and we've often sat up there to listen to concerts. Harbourfront is directly south of the ballpark so you can walk down there afterwards for a nightcap. I think the website is www.harbourfrontcentre.ca.

Try to get decent seat for the ballgame -- it will make it more interesting for you. My preference is just to the side of homeplate along the first or third baselines. If you sit about there, you can even be fairly high up and get a great view. Our tickets used to be at the front of the 500 level and it was fine.

Have a great time in my hometown!

Please don't worry about the crowds in Toronto. You will have no problems.

Enjoy your experience in the Rogers Centre (formerly the Skydome) even if you are not a baseball fan. It is worth seeing.

Public transportation is easy in Toronto. Just ask at the hotel and they can assist you. There is a hop-on-hop off bus tour of the city that gives you a great overview of what to see. Even as a native Torontonian, I took my granddaughters on this tour and we had a great time.

As a non baseball fan attending a Blue Jay game, I suggest you ask your husband to spend at least an equal amount of time at the Eaton Centre.

I expect to be visiting your country in March and hope to have as good a time as I know you will in my home city.

Enjoy.

Easy walk to the ballpark.

Leave the hotel, turn left, and walk west on Queen's Quay. Just look ahead, and slightly right, for the CN Tower.

Walk along Queen's Quay, more or less -- you can walk parallel, right beside the water, for most of your trek -- until you pass the RAdisson Hotel and reach Rees Street.

Turn rioght / north, and walk under some elevted highways, across about 235 lanes of roadway.

You'll see Rogers Center as you walk, and you'll be there.

Yes, the frisk police will steal your food and water, but not your camera.

I once sat at a ballgame with an elementary school group of children and parents, and had to explain the game to some Brits. Turns out bseball is a lot more complicated than I had believed, growing up with it.

No harm in bringing a book. Read it of you get bored, and keep it closed if you find the game exciting.

Crowds are fine -- probably lots of children, relatively few drunks, even the food is OK. Traditional baseball food is peanuts. Just leave the shells at your feet.

BAK

There are brief stoppages for TV ads - but these essentially flow into the times between innings / half innings.

Fans are for the very great part civilized.

As noted above the Rogers Centre is in a convenient downtown location.

Jerry

Another Blue Jays question. Has anyone ever been able to walk around the stadium during games or are you stuck in your exact seating section? They have some special discount rates one night I am there and I thought about getting a cheap ticket and seeing the stadium. If I want to get different views of the stadium, however, can I walk around a bit and see different levels, or do I need to buy the highest priced ticket to enjoy this ability. I would prefer not to spend a fortune, but I would love to see the stadium and did not know if I'd be locked out of the rest of the building if I had a ticket in the balcony. I have been in stadiums where the ushers don't care if you walk around, and I have been in some where they insist you stay in your section alone.. was not sure how it was in Toronto. Thanks!

I think you can 'move up' within your section but I don't think you can move to a different section.

Maybe you'd like to take a tour of the stadium: http://www.rogerscentre.com/about/tours/index.html

The tours are good, because you get in the back rooms.

As for walking around during a game; within limits, yes you wcan walk around the place without any particular problems.

As for moving to better seats, again, within reason, this is not a problem. Move to a semi-empty section though, rather than squeezing down a full row to a couple of premium-priced empty seats.

The worst that can happen is some polite usher will send you back to your own seats.

I've gone to several games in the cheapest seats, and it was really pretty good.

In the expensive seats, you are near some action, where the ball gets hit. In the cheap seats, you are close to where the ball gets caught.

And, out there, there are television seats showing you the hitting part.

BAK