Stadium Preview #4

Stadium: Rogers Centre
Date Opened: June 3, 1989
Date of Visit: June 15th
Game: Chicago Cubs @ Toronto Blue Jays

At first, I was going to say that Rogers Centre was simply another boring park and the only reason we were going was because it's in a different country. Then, as I started to research the Centre, I found out that although it looks bland on TV, it could be very fun and entertaining in person.

First of all, there will not be that many fans there (most likely, I could be wrong since it's interleague and the Cubs) so we can move down from our original seats to some that are closer to the action. This is a nice perk which will make the experience that much more fun. Also, there is a Hard Rock Cafe inside the stadium, which is pretty cool. Random sports tidbit: I remember when Frank Thomas hit a homerun off one of the windows one time.

Second, if the roof is open (i really hope it is) then you have a pretty cool view of the CN Tower, the trademark building of Toronto. I had no idea that the building was that close to the stadium.

The downside of this stadium is the actual playing field itself. The Blue Jays had stuck with the AstroTurf from it's first game all the way to 2004, but finally they switched in 2005 to....FieldTurf. In my opinion, they should have gone to grass, because baseball needs to be played on a natural surface. It is a big injury risk to play baseball on turf. Sure, football does it, but that's a different sport. Also, they do not have a real infield, just little patches of dirt around each base, which frankly is quite dumb. I don't like watching baseball games without the teams playing on a real baseball field.

The teams playing in the game will make it interesting, though. Both are teams who could either be really good or underachieve greatly. It should be interesting to see which team shows up. The Blue Jay fans are not the loudest by any means, but with the Cubbies in town that could change for this series.

The field is not the best, but going to Toronto should be fun and seeing this stadium will be an experience. It might be one of the worst we go to, but it will still be fun, eh? (A little Canada reference there in case you didn't notice)