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| - I was an avid baseball fanatic when Montreal had the Expos. Since they left town, I slowly meandered towards south of 401, the Toronto Skydome or what it is more commonly called the Rogers Center. I wanted to check out Canada's other baseball team.
I still remember when I first watched a Blue Jays game in the old Exhibition Stadium. It was an open stadium exposed to the elements. My experience then was an off again on again rain delayed game of 6 hours 22 minutes. I stayed to watch the whole thing. Tickets cost me $15 on the tenth row near third base.
So when the Skydome opened, it reminded me of the Big O in Montreal but it had a real retractable roof, modern with great sight lines even from the bleachers!
When the Jay's won in 1993&94, this stadium rocked with hall of famers like Carter, Alomar to name a few.
So when I saw the stadium again during the early weeks of the 2018 season, the Jays had the second best record in the AL East and was first in the wild card race. A great surprise!
However, something was missing that magic.
The stadium seemed cavernous, the roof was closed due a small drizzle and there was a proliferation of ads everywhere and on everything.
As per Forbes magazine, this stadium now ranks 22 of all MLB teams, given that more than 15 traditional, open and a more modern stadiums have been built since the Skydome's inaugural season in 1989. The number one ranked baseball stadium was the AT&T Stadium home of the San Francisco Giants.
On this game day, a grand slam won it for them against one of their arch rivals the Yankees. The place exploded! Regardless of the state of the stadium, I realized that I am still a fan after so many years. Go Jay's!
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