Blue Jays will not play at home

[voodoochile]

Canadian government has denied the request for them to hos home games in Toronto due to he Coronavirus. They will play home games either at their training facility in FL or at a stadium in Buffalo.

https://www.npr.org/sections/coronav...onto-blue-jays

[TDog]

Ed Farmer should have lived to see this, although this doesn't affect the White Sox. This may be good news for players in the East because they won't have to pay Canadian income taxes for games in Canada. (All MLB players are paid in US dollars, but the taxes are complicated.)

Aside from the logistics, in the case of the Blue Jays, teams won't be able to cross the closed Canadian border to play in Toronto, it really does matter where the games are played if the fans can't attend the games. Buffalo this summer would probably provide better, more consistent weather than Florida. When you're on the field, there are certainly differences you can feel between spring training practice fields, spring training stadiums, minor league ballparks and major league stadiums. I don't know what the difference might be for players if the stands are empty. (White Sox pitcher Gerry Janeski said after pitching his only major league shutout in his second major league start, during the Apollo 13 crisis in April 1970, there weren't enough people in the stands to get nervous.)

It's too late to schedule games in another team's stadium. On one hand, it would be set up for baseball broadcasts, but that would probably put too much strain on the playing surface.

[Krs1]

[Streets]

Kudos for Canada having a backbone in this instance.

I believe I overheard on ESPN that some players expressed concern over playing in Florida based on how bad their Covid numbers are, but that the lighting in Buffalo is not up to par with MLB standards..so they'll have to figure something out, eh?

[TDog]

Kudos for Canada having a backbone in this instance.

I believe I overheard on ESPN that some players expressed concern over playing in Florida based on how bad their Covid numbers are, but that the lighting in Buffalo is not up to par with MLB standards..so they'll have to figure something out, eh?

They could play the games during the day and broadcast them at night. The game would still be fresh and new. It isn't being ;played for live in-person consumption, but for radio and television broadcast. In this case a seven-hour delay wouldn't be so different than a seven-second delay, which people often get when they watch "live" sports. It would be a natural progression of "studio" baseball. You could even throw in a laugh track on the broadcast to augment the witty banter among the broadcast team.

Seriously, this cold be a bad summer for rain in Florida, and whenever you broadcast the games, day baseball would be preferable to threatened baseball, especially with a compact schedule. Throw in health concerns in Florida, and you could have more veterans opt out.

[PaleHoseGeorge]

Aren't half of all the NHL games being hosted by Toronto? I would be genuinely surprised it anyone there will miss having the Blue Jays in town. As for all the Canucks who've all but colonized Dunedin, this must be heaven on earth.

[ChiTownTrojan]

It's looking like they're going to be playing in Pittsburgh.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/...ark-pittsburgh

It's crazy that opening day is two days away and they're just figuring out where one of the teams is going to play its home games.

[TDog]

...
It's crazy that opening day is two days away and they're just figuring out where one of the teams is going to play its home games.

Not as crazy as extra inning beginning with a runner at second.

Travel across the US-Canada border should have been a primary concern in planning the season. Considering there was so much attention paid to minimizing travel, the lack of attention to international travel seems a negligent oversight.

[ChiTownTrojan]

Not as crazy as extra inning beginning with a runner at second.

Travel across the US-Canada border should have been a primary concern in planning the season. Considering there was so much attention paid to minimizing travel, the lack of attention to international travel seems a negligent oversight.

Agreed this was negligent on the part of MLB. I hope it's not a bad omen for what will happen when some complications arise during the season that weren't so obvious to see in advance.

[ChiTownTrojan]

I guess it won't be Pittsburgh.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/...ves-pittsburgh

What a mess.

[Kittle42]

How the NFL and MLB have handled this versus the NBA and NHL is comical.

[ChiTownTrojan]

I imagine if they don't figure something out soon, they'll probably just play their home games in the away team's stadium. Without fans is there really any home field advantage anyway?

Their first home series is two games against the Nationals, right after they have two away games against the Nationals. Might as well just play all four in Washington.

[JazzyCyclist]

How the NFL and MLB have handled this versus the NBA and NHL is comical.

The big advantage NBA and NHL have is being able to play in a bubble. I have always been skeptical of football, both pro and college, being able to navigate through the obvious logistical disadvantages.

[Paulwny]

Shuffle off to Buffalo

https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/t...20-mlb-season/