The CFL Toronto Argonauts' move to BMO Field "means an all-dirt infield is finally a reality" for the Blue Jays as they open their home campaign Friday at Rogers Centre against the Red Sox, according to Brendan Kennedy of the TORONTO STAR. Tropicana Field, the "only other major-league stadium with artificial turf, has always had an all-dirt infield, which left many Jays fans wondering why the Rogers Centre couldn’t do the same." But a key difference between the two fields is that Tropicana Field's is "permanently in place, while the Rogers Centre’s turf came up and down to accommodate football and other events." The constant conversions "made an all-dirt infield impossible." Blue Jays Senior VP/Business Operations Stephen Brooks said that the baseball turf now "will be down permanently." Rogers Centre will "still host concerts by either laying something on top of the turf or taking up parts of the outfield and roping off the infield." The Blue Jays "based the design and clay mixture on Baltimore’s Camden Yards after informally surveying players for their preferences on infields around the league." They are "using the same clay mix" as the Orioles, and that the Blue Jays "use at their spring-training facility in Dunedin, Fla." (TORONTO STAR, 4/8).
NO BIG DEAL? In Toronto, Richard Griffin notes the Blue Jays will play on dirt basepaths "for the first time in 39 seasons." The transformation is "close to feeling like real baseball" even though artificial turf "still covers the rest of the Rogers Centre surface" (TORONTO STAR, 4/8). In Toronto, Steve Buffery notes most Blue Jays players "believe in the long run, it won’t make much of a difference." Blue Jays 1B Chris Colabello: "I don’t really think it’s going to have a huge impact one way or the other. On a baseball field, both teams play on the same surface, so it’s not like it’s going to be an advantage or disadvantage for one or the other" (TORONTO SUN, 4/8).
