Blue Jays President & CEO Paul Beeston yesterday ahead of the team's home opener said the club "has got budget room" to add payroll this season. Beeston, heading into his final season, said, "Some teams have money, some people have players. Not very many have both.” Beeston said of the his expectations for the team, “We’re in the entertainment business and I think this is going to be an entertaining team.” Ticket sales “are going in the right direction and I believe that the fans are going to want to see for a fact that this team is for real.” Beeston added, “We’re not where we were in 2013. We’re ahead of where we were in 2014 and it’s all trending in the right way.” The team drew more than 2.5 million fans the past two years, so "it wasn’t like we were down below two million, ... but it’s that next step to take it to three million. The onus is on us to give them a reason for people to come out and watch the games.” Beeston said he hopes the new surface installed in the offseason will be the "very last" turf at Rogers Centre. Beeston: "We want grass in here and we’re very serious about it. We’re doing studies on it. It’s not going to be quite as easy as saying, 'We can put grass in here.'" Beeston noted once grass is installed, the building can no longer be a multi-purpose stadium, which is an “issue" right now as the CFL Argonauts play at the venue. Beeston noted there is a “zero percent chance” he would return next season, noting he has been “honored to be in this position” since the club's inception (“Prime Time Sports,” Sportsnet, 4/13).
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Recent years have seen fewer Blue Jays fans
thrown out of games for rowdiness |
BEERFEST: In Toronto, Brendan Kennedy noted despite being the most popular game on the Blue Jays’ schedule and "selling out in just minutes every year, the home opener has garnered a reputation among many fans for being a drunken gong show." But Blue Jays VP/Stadium Operations & Security Mario Coutinho said that while that "may have once been the case, the reputation is no longer fair or accurate." Coutinho: "I probably would say that was true maybe six or seven years ago, but over our last few years we've seen our overall ejections decline." Coutinho said that in the mid-to-late '00s, there were "a lot of 'alcohol-related incidences' during the home opener," but he added that recent years have seen "roughly 30 people thrown out of the home-opener game, compared to five times as many 10 years ago." But Kennedy noted Toronto police "have been called to the Rogers Centre on home-opener night more than twice as often in the last three years than they were" from '00-11. Toronto Police Social Media Relations Officer Meaghan Gray said that police "are aware of the issue with 'rowdiness and/or public intoxication' at Jays’ home openers, but they don’t consider the event any more troublesome than other sold-out games" (TORONTO STAR, 4/12).
BORDER PATROL: In Toronto, Ken Fidlin notes MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred "has only been on the job a few months but he already has accomplished something that Bud Selig appears to have found impossible during his 20 years in office: Crossing the border to pay a visit to Toronto." Manfred yesterday was at the Blue Jays’ home opener, "participating in pre-game ceremonies and sharing the honour of throwing out the first pitch." Manfred said of baseball possibly returning to Montreal, "I’m aware of the crowds they drew two years in a row. It’s a very positive thing in demonstrating Montreal’s interest in having major-league baseball. I do think it’s important for Montreal to have a firm plan as to how they would get a major-league facility, a site, a financing plan in place." He added, "In terms of a timeline for a possible franchise, it’s just impossible to tell." Regarding the possibility of Toronto hosting an All-Star Game, Manfred said, "There’s a lot of demand for the all-star game right now. It’s grown into a really popular event, almost a week long, but there’s no reason why Toronto couldn’t be a competitive bidder for an all-star game in the near future" (TORONTO SUN, 4/14).
