TORONTO – Three roller-coaster weeks of discussions with federal health and government officials resulted in the Toronto Blue Jays being granted a National Interest Exemption on Friday, allowing them to return home for a pivotal 10-game homestand beginning July 30.
Team officials were informed of the decision around 6 p.m. ET, and Marco Mendicino, the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, signed the order shortly before joining Blue Jays Central to announce the news.
The July 30 contest against the visiting Kansas City Royals will be the club’s first at its Rogers Centre home since an 8-3 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Sept. 29, 2019.
So grateful for the support and hospitality in Dunedin, and Buffalo but after over 650 days, we will finally be coming HOME. Cannot tell you how excited we are to play in front of our fans and in our city and our country. Get ready Toronto – we are coming back! https://t.co/aXYq0bv4Z8
“The fans, that’s the No. 1 thing (the team has missed),” manager Charlie Montoyo said after a 10-2 win over the Texas Rangers. “It seems like we’ve been playing on the road (the whole time) even though Buffalo has been great. There are a lot of fans from New York and even though they have been great to us, it’s not Toronto. Toronto is one of the best cities in baseball and just to see all the fans pulling for us, that’s going to be a plus for us. Everything about Toronto is just awesome. You should have seen the faces of everybody when we found out, everybody was so happy about it.”
A positive outcome for the Blue Jays was far from a certainty when the team submitted its proposal to the federal government some three weeks ago, and club officials swung between optimism and pessimism daily, sometimes hourly.
Time had been running out for them to logistically pull off a move north from Buffalo and a decision was needed by Friday, although they were willing to play things out a little longer if needed.
But momentum picked up Thursday after Dr. Howard Njoo, Canada’s deputy chief public health officer, said their application was “trending in a very good direction” and didn’t include any “showstoppers.” Talks Friday finalized the protocols, highlights of which include:
A dual-track plan in which fully vaccinated players are treated like any other returning traveller and exempt from quarantine, while partially vaccinated or unvaccinated players are limited to their residence/hotel and the ballpark; unvaccinated players cannot interact with the general public and any violation of the rules is punishable by the loss of quarantine exemption and the possibility of fines or prosecution under the Quarantine Act; pre- and post-arrival testing for everyone, plus four more tests a week for all unvaccinated individuals.
The Blue Jays were still sorting through how they’ll be treated under Ontario’s current pandemic rules, but with Rogers Centre expected to be considered an outdoor venue, they should have a capacity of 15,000 under Stage 3 regulations.
“The hardest part was just not knowing,” said third baseman Cavan Biggio. “A bunch of ‘we’ll see in a week’ or ‘we’ll see tomorrow’ or ‘we’ll see then.’ Last year, we all knew with COVID being very fresh in our minds and in the world, that was just part of it. And going into this year, we knew we probably weren’t going to start in Toronto, but we still really didn’t know. Finally getting that information of, ‘we’re getting to the finish line and we’re finally going to be able to go back to Toronto’ was a very satisfying feeling and definitely exciting.”
Earlier this week during the All-Star Game, the Blue Jays representatives in Denver talked about their desire to head north, with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. saying in an interview that, “we miss our own fans a lot.”
“When we played in Dunedin, pretty much all the fans were rooting for the other team,” he added in comments interpreted by Hector Lebron. “When we played the Yankees in Buffalo, everybody goes for the Yankees. It’s kind of hard.”
Shortstop Bo Bichette added: “We want to get home, you know? We’ve got a chance to make the playoffs and we’d love to have fans rooting for us. That would be amazing. But if it doesn’t happen, we’ll just continue to fight and continue to battle in Buffalo and do our best.”
No need for that with the Blue Jays’ lengthy displacement coming to an end after what will be an unprecedented third move in a single season. Their home schedule began at TD Ballpark, their spring facility in Dunedin, Fla., and transitioned to Buffalo’s Sahlen Field in June.
A two-week sprint awaits in which the Blue Jays must move all their equipment north, rehire staff to sell tickets and set-up and staff the stadium, pack up the apartments and close out leases in Buffalo and find and move into new places in Toronto.
“That’s why this team deserves so much credit,” said Montoyo. “You’ve never seen a team that moves that many times in a season. Hopefully we’ll never see it again. You’re talking about clubhouse guys, families, the leases that we got here in Buffalo now, everybody’s got to talk to the (landlords) to see what we can do about leases. The same thing happening in Dunedin. It’s going to be our fourth move (including last season). But our fourth one is a happy one because we’re going back to Toronto. So even though it’s going to be tough … at least we’re going back to Toronto and that makes it easier.”
Returning home in time for the July 30 homestand was a priority for the Blue Jays to have a real home-field advantage in time for a crucial 10-game stretch. That represents an eighth of their home schedule and having fans that will be stoked about the club’s return, seeing the club for the first time since its emergence as a playoff contender, and with Guerrero Jr. in the midst of what’s shaping up as the best offensive season in team history can be a powerful mix.
Though the attendance numbers can’t be the same because of capacity limits, it’s akin to the fuse lit in 2015 when the Blue Jays took off after the trade deadline and the building rocked for the next two-and-a-half years.
“I remember being in college (at Notre Dame) and watching those Blue Jays games and just remember how electric they were,” said Biggio. “Then when my name got called by the Toronto Blue Jays, that was the No. 1 thing that I thought of when I got drafted, picturing myself being in the Rogers Centre, being in important games in September and October and just having that crowd behind your back and just ultimately the electricity that you could see on TV and wondering what it’s going to be like on the field. That’s always the vibe and the thoughts when you’re in the minor leagues, grinding in Dunedin or wherever you may be, it’s always the goal to get to. And now that we’ve been here and we’re finally going back to Toronto with a solid team, I’m very excited, to say the least.”
TORONTO – Reigning PWHL MVP and scoring champ Natalie Spooner will miss the start of the regular season for the Toronto Sceptres, general manager Gina Kingsbury announced Tuesday on the first day of training camp.
The 33-year-old Spooner had knee surgery on her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) after she was checked into the boards by Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle in Game 3 of their best-of-five semifinal series on May 13.
She had a goal and an assist in three playoff games but did not finish the series. Toronto was up 2-1 in the semifinal at that time and eventually fell 3-2 in the series.
Spooner led the PWHL with 27 points in 24 games. Her 20 goals, including five game-winners, were nine more than the closest skater.
Kingsbury said there is no timeline, as the team wants the Toronto native at 100 per cent, but added that “she is doing really well” in her recovery.
The Sceptres open the PWHL season on Nov. 30 when they host the Boston Fleet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.
“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”
Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.
The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.
Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.
“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”
Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.
“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”
The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.
“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”
Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.
“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.
Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.
The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.
The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.
Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
