Toronto Blue Jays will be flying south for the foreseeable future, making Dunedin their home to open the 2021 MLB season.
Apparently, blue jays fly south for the winter after all. Well, Toronto Blue Jays do anyway.
Thanks to ongoing travel restrictions on account of Covid-19, the Blue Jays will be joining the Toronto Raptors in Florida exile, for at least the start of the 2021 MLB season.
Of course, this marks the second displaced season in a row for the Blue Jays, who spent last season at Sahlen Field (shown above), the confines of their AAA affiliate in Buffalo, NY. Some readers might remember that the team even faced some PR backlash when they poked fun at the arrangement, wearing “Homeless” t-shirts. Making the call this early this time around, just as pitchers and catchers are reporting, was meant to spare Toronto much of the confusion they dealt with in 2020.
Certainly, it seems like a situation that has to bring mixed blessings to Blue Jays players. On the one hand, having a clearer plan in place must bring peace of mind. On the other, while Covid conditions certainly limited travel, the distance between Buffalo and Toronto was one bridgeable by an afternoon on a train or ferry. That proximity likely brought some benefits, and those will now obviously be out of reach.
As for stadium dimensions, the differences will be minimal. Center field will be the same 400 feet at Dunedin’s TD Ballpark as it is at Rogers Centre and Sahlen Field. The corners at TD Ballpark are the longest of the three fields (333), but with only an 8 foot difference separating the longest (TD) from the smallest (Sahlen/325). So Blue Jays fans don’t need to worry about a Cavan Biggio power drain.
For just general MLB fans, a couple of fun facts. The decision does bump the State of Florida into sole possession of second place for the number of MLB teams. For April anyway, three teams will call the Sunshine State home, trailing only California. Additionally, the Miami Marlins won’t be the only MLB team traveling south after spring training breaks this season, as Dunedin is a good forty minutes north of St. Petersburg.
The Toronto Blue Jays are allowing limited capacity for spring training games. No word yet on whether fans will be permitted for regular season play.