Hello Everybody. I am travelling from Scotland to Toronto in August. Please help.

[Matt McGrain]

Hello, thank you for clicking on my thread.

 

I am traveling from Scotland to Toronto in August and managed to get tickets to see the Blue Jays DESTROY The Guardians. I have never been to a baseball game before and need some help with some things, please "pitch" in, ha ha ha.

 

1) Who are our ENEMIES? Who do we most like beating, apart from The Guardians who i want to DESTROY the most.

 

2) Who is my favourite player, and why?

 

3) What are the best things to eat at the stadium? I will be standing up and shouting a lot.

 

4) What is the key apparel? Should I wear a cap, a shirt, if so, whose name should be on it, is there maybe someone from our club's proud history I have a soft spot for?

 

Thank you all brothers and sisters, I am delighted to be with you now.

[John_Havok]

cant quite put my finger on it... something seems off here.

[Stangstag]

Welcome to the board. Hope you enjoy your trip!

 

1) Biggest enemy at the moment is probably the Yankees, constantly smug f***ers with a massive payroll and a bunch of cheater shitbags. Plus we are directly competing with them since we share the same division.

 

2) Favorite player? Shohei Ohtani because he’s a unicorn. Favorite Jay? Probably Bo or Vlad, both great young players that were drafted/signed super young and developed by the farm systems.

 

3) Some good new food options located at “the stop” in the 100s. I’d also recommend the brisket nachos which can be found in several sections around the stadium. You could also buy cheap snacks outside the stadium and bring them in (prices inside are extremely expensive, think 16$ for a small thing of nachos)

 

4) Key apparel would be a cap or player jersey, or a shirsey for cheaper. People tend to like the vintage gear commemorating the 92/93 back to back championships since that never goes out of style.

[Matt McGrain]

Welcome to the board. Hope you enjoy your trip!

 

1) Biggest enemy at the moment is probably the Yankees, constantly smug f***ers with a massive payroll and a bunch of cheater shitbags. Plus we are directly competing with them since we share the same division.

 

2) Favorite player? Shohei Ohtani because he’s a unicorn. Favorite Jay? Probably Bo or Vlad, both great young players that were drafted/signed super young and developed by the farm systems.

 

3) Some good new food options located at “the stop” in the 100s. I’d also recommend the brisket nachos which can be found in several sections around the stadium. You could also buy cheap snacks outside the stadium and bring them in (prices inside are extremely expensive, think 16$ for a small thing of nachos)

 

4) Key apparel would be a cap or player jersey, or a shirsey for cheaper. People tend to like the vintage gear commemorating the 92/93 back to back championships since that never goes out of style.

 

This is an outstanding answer across the board, apart from the thing about Ohtani who google tells me plays for another club. I hate that guy.

 

I'll find out who Bo or Vlad is and pick one of them! I can't wait to eat these brisket nachos, sounds amazing. I understand it will be a terrible rip-off, that's normal for Scottish stadium also, the difference, hopefully, is that the food in Scottish stadiums is absolutely disgusting and the Blues take care of their fans properly. I'll find some 92/93 s*** if it kills me...tell me, new friend, what are our chances against the cursed Guardians? Will we batter them? Cleveland are the worst (Apart from NY).

[Matt McGrain]

It is 2320 here now, must get my head down, see you guys tomorrow.

[wilko]

Hello, thank you for clicking on my thread.

 

I am traveling from Scotland to Toronto in August and managed to get tickets to see the Blue Jays DESTROY The Guardians. I have never been to a baseball game before and need some help with some things, please "pitch" in, ha ha ha.

 

1) Who are our ENEMIES? Who do we most like beating, apart from The Guardians who i want to DESTROY the most.

 

2) Who is my favourite player, and why?

 

3) What are the best things to eat at the stadium? I will be standing up and shouting a lot.

 

4) What is the key apparel? Should I wear a cap, a shirt, if so, whose name should be on it, is there maybe someone from our club's proud history I have a soft spot for?

 

Thank you all brothers and sisters, I am delighted to be with you now.

 

1) Probably the Black Sox. They stink!

 

2) Roberto Alomar. Hall of Fame.

 

3) Poutine Hot Dog

 

4) Why wear a jersey with your favorite player on it when you can get their name tattoo'd on your back!?

[connorp]

How’s the homeless situation in Toronto. Can you stay at a hotel and feel safe walking home 1 mile after the game.

I haven’t been there in like 6 years now

[Spanky99]

How’s the homeless situation in Toronto. Can you stay at a hotel and feel safe walking home 1 mile after the game.

I haven’t been there in like 6 years now

 

lol... yes.

[Stangstag]

How’s the homeless situation in Toronto. Can you stay at a hotel and feel safe walking home 1 mile after the game.

I haven’t been there in like 6 years now

 

Areas around the dome are pretty safe. Really only see homeless hanging around near the subway stations or the underpass near the aquarium but they’re never the loud/scary homeless types

[jaysblue]

1) Who are our ENEMIES? Who do we most like beating, apart from The Guardians who i want to DESTROY the most.

 

- According to Grant77, it would be the Red Sox. He hates Boston with a passion.

 

2) Who is my favourite player, and why?

 

Vladdy because of your avatar!

 

3) What are the best things to eat at the stadium? I will be standing up and shouting a lot.

 

Brisket nachos. Otherwise, don't eat at the ballpark. Eat before or after the game.

 

4) What is the key apparel? Should I wear a cap, a shirt, if so, whose name should be on it, is there maybe someone from our club's proud history I have a soft spot for?

 

Some days at the Rogers Centre are clothing optional.

 

A baseball cap with a player t-shirt or jersey. Buy a Joe Carter jersey. He hit a big home run in 1993.

[jaysblue]

How’s the homeless situation in Toronto. Can you stay at a hotel and feel safe walking home 1 mile after the game.

I haven’t been there in like 6 years now

 

For a big city Toronto is relatively safe. It's not as safe as it was 7 to 8 years ago though and violence has been increasing every year which is worrisome. If that trend continues, Toronto could become the next San Francisco or Chicago. Around the Dome, you're fine pretty much after the game though.

 

Homeless situation is bad near City Hall, on Yonge Street, Parkdale, near Parliament Street and Regent Park.

[Matt McGrain]

Magic, for sure it is starting to come together.

 

Now I just have to learn the rules.

[Halloweenjack]

Hello, thank you for clicking on my thread.

 

I am traveling from Scotland to Toronto in August and managed to get tickets to see the Blue Jays DESTROY The Guardians. I have never been to a baseball game before and need some help with some things, please "pitch" in, ha ha ha.

 

1) Who are our ENEMIES? Who do we most like beating, apart from The Guardians who i want to DESTROY the most.

 

2) Who is my favourite player, and why?

 

3) What are the best things to eat at the stadium? I will be standing up and shouting a lot.

 

4) What is the key apparel? Should I wear a cap, a shirt, if so, whose name should be on it, is there maybe someone from our club's proud history I have a soft spot for?

 

Thank you all brothers and sisters, I am delighted to be with you now.

 

I watched my first Blue Jays game in April after visiting from England ( Sheffield) I fell in love with baseball and have followed the Blue Jays since and watch games when I can on the MLB channel. The time difference can make that difficult though.

 

As a novice to Baseball, my answers are

 

1) Yankees and Detroit for me

 

2) I really like Danny Jansen

 

3) The prices are astronomical in the stadium. As has been said eat outside, some great hot dog stands outside the Rogers centre.

 

4) You can buy an official Blue Jays cap off eBay ( as cheap as I saw in Cananda) There is a shop in the Eaton centre which sells official Blue Jays merchandise and an outlet at the stadium. When in Canada I bought a Blue Jays shirt from the shop for myself and my eldest son got a cap and t shirt from the shop in the Eaton centre. I bought a cap off eBay in the U.K. and an official MLB Blue Jays baseball.

 

Enjoy your trip.

[Carlos Danger]

Protips:

 

Ball cap, or a baseball hat.. Not just "cap".

 

Baseball glove, not mitt.

 

Catcher, not Back Catcher.

 

Hot dogs with all the garnishing or sausage /bratwurst if you can find them and beer are the most traditional ball park foods.

 

Learn the words to Ok Blue Jays, so you can sing a long during the 7th inning stretch, where everyone gets up and well, stretches to music

 

Don't cheer like it is a homerun just because a player hits the ball into the air in the outfield... Contain your glee until you know it was a HR or a hit...

 

Don't call it a match, it is a baseball game.

 

Enjoy!!!!

[Matt McGrain]

I had an absolutely fantastic time. That's me a BJ fan now, heh heh, for real though. We loved it so much we got tickets for Washington the Thursday after, which was also an absolutely excellent game. Kirk emerged as my favourite, 5'8 230, that's my kind of athlete.

 

People were so nice. At one point I signalled for a beer and was in the middle of the row. So I had to horse it along to the crazy guy running about with beers (unthinkable here) passed everybody, apologising as I went and everyone was giving it "no problem." One woman actually said, "no, don't apologise, we want you to enjoy your time here." The guy in front of me kept showing replays of stuff from his phone, his wife kept telling him "make sure the Scotsman sees." Toronto overall made a fine impression. Canada generally was a place I liked very much.

 

It's going to be very hard to follow the Jays from home. There is an MLB broadcaster here, but they run a sort of game of the week type thing, it's not like over there where you can see every Blue Jays game live (it felt like) and get detailed highlights later at night. I hoped there might be a way to subscribe to a Blue Jays package, but no luck.

 

Any advice? Any YouTube channels that are particularly good at keeping people up to date? There must be a couple of podcasts you guys can recommend?

 

Also, how do I get to become a good baseball fan? How do I learn about the game without playing it, the finer points etc.

 

The level of information available at the ground was outstanding. The spectator at the ground really is a priority for the Blue Jays. Here, we have problems with the enormous TV contracts taking centre stage and the spectator becoming an afterthought. That is absolutely not the case at the stadium, the staff at the gate were brilliant, the beer lines moved fast, that you can even get a beer there is mind blowing, I absolutely loved it - and it was nice to see two wins!

[Laika]

f*** yeah

 

There is a free app, MLB GameDay, where you can follow every game live and watch highlights

 

Sportsnet has a subscription package that would have all the Jays games

 

MLB.tv is the baseball video subscription package for all teams, every game

 

You can also... you know...

[Spanky99]

If you have an HDMI cord to your TELE... use http://tv.worldcupfootball.me/mlb-stream or http://roystream.com/c/baseball/mlb

[Stangstag]

f*** yeah

 

There is a free app, MLB GameDay, where you can follow every game live and watch highlights

 

Sportsnet has a subscription package that would have all the Jays games

 

MLB.tv is the baseball video subscription package for all teams, every game

 

You can also... you know...

 

To add to this, you can purchase MLBtv for slightly cheaper if you only want access to 1 team. I would recommend just paying for the full thing though so you can watch every other team + playoffs when its time.

 

Also MLBtv should be on massive discount since there’s only a month of season left.

[ogs1999]

I had a similar fandom journey as you Matt - I came to Vancouver / Rockies / Toronto on honeymoon in '16 and caught a game a Rogers Centre (not my first baseball game mind, that was at Fenway Park…but I didn't fall for Boston the same way I fell for Canada!).

 

Since then I've been back to Vancouver and caught a Vancouver Canadians game which was cool. I subscribe annually to MLBTV - compared to our sports packages in the UK it really is very reasonable, ~£150 for the entire season including all games, full game replays and highlights packages.

 

I tend to watch most weekend games as they tend to be 6pm / 8pm in the UK, and there is the occasional midweek "day game" as well, watchable in the UK. For the other games, I watch the full game replays over breakfast and use the 15 second skip to condense the game down to about 45 mins so it becomes a kind of extended highlights.

 

Podcast wise - I often listen to the Sportsnet podcast, At The Letters and another called Blue Jays Happy Hour. There are a few others; Bat Flips & Maple Dips, Jay Bird Watching…less production value and more like a few mates chatting down the pub which I'll sometimes listen to.

 

I also played a fair bit of MLB The Show and have read a couple of books. I think one was called Smart Baseball as was about advanced metrics.

 

Anyway - baseball is a wonderful sport, full of great moments - I just missed out on the Bautista bat flip, but I was up late for the Eddie Encarnacion wild card bomb against the Orioles!

 

Enjoy!

[Matt McGrain]

Greatr posts, thanks guys, MLBtv it is.

[43211234]

Glad to see a new fan. Always nice to see these threads.

[WryNGinger]

Greatr posts, thanks guys, MLBtv it is.

 

Hey Matt, glad you are connecting to the team and the sport! Another bit of advice I would have is to watch some of the best baseball movies of all-time! Here are some of my favourites.

 

Bull Durham - baseball at the minor-league level

Field of Dreams - A glimpse of the nostalgia of baseball

Moneyball - how and why analytics started to become more mainstream using actual history and real characters

The Sandlot - kids growing up around the game, super fun movie

The Rookie - based on a true story, underdog makes the majors late in his career

A League of Their Own - another fun movie about a women's league started while men were in the war

Eight Men Out - looking back at the biggest scandal in MLB and the story of shoeless Joe. John Cusack is great

 

Let us know if you have seen any of these!

[Masterbather]

Bull Durham - baseball at the minor-league level

Field of Dreams - A glimpse of the nostalgia of baseball

Moneyball - how and why analytics started to become more mainstream using actual history and real characters

The Sandlot - kids growing up around the game, super fun movie

The Rookie - based on a true story, underdog makes the majors late in his career

A League of Their Own - another fun movie about a women's league started while men were in the war

Eight Men Out - looking back at the biggest scandal in MLB and the story of shoeless Joe. John Cusack is great

 

Let us know if you have seen any of these!

 

No Major League?!

 

How dare you? How actual dare you?

[WryNGinger]

No Major League?!

 

How dare you? How actual dare you?

 

I will offer Jobu cigar and rum to forgive me.

 

I did leave it out on purpose though. You could replace an underperforming MLB team with a team in any other sport and the story is the same. Good movie but doesn't really teach you anything about baseball.

[Spanky99]

Greatr posts, thanks guys, MLBtv it is.

 

You'll love it.

[Brownie19]

Hey Matt, glad you are connecting to the team and the sport! Another bit of advice I would have is to watch some of the best baseball movies of all-time! Here are some of my favourites.

 

Bull Durham - baseball at the minor-league level

Field of Dreams - A glimpse of the nostalgia of baseball

Moneyball - how and why analytics started to become more mainstream using actual history and real characters

The Sandlot - kids growing up around the game, super fun movie

The Rookie - based on a true story, underdog makes the majors late in his career

A League of Their Own - another fun movie about a women's league started while men were in the war

Eight Men Out - looking back at the biggest scandal in MLB and the story of shoeless Joe. John Cusack is great

 

Let us know if you have seen any of these!

 

For Love of The Game is another beautiful baseball movie that I can't watch enough and Facing Nolan is on Netflix right now. A documentary on the career of Nolan Ryan. I thought it was incredible.

[Omar]

For Love of The Game is another beautiful baseball movie that I can't watch enough and Facing Nolan is on Netflix right now. A documentary on the career of Nolan Ryan. I thought it was incredible.

 

Or skip all of the above and watch the Ken Burns Baseball documentary.

 

edit: watch this first, then the rest.

Edited September 11, 2023 by Omar

[Brownie19]

Or skip all of the above and watch the Ken Burns Baseball documentary.

 

skip? why not do both? both is good.

[wilko]

skip? why not do both? both is good.

 

OR skip all of the above and watch The League.

[jaysblue]

Angels in the Outfield

 

All-star Hollywood cast. Definitely a lot of laughs and a feel good movie overall.