It was cloudy and damp with a bit of light snow in Toronto on Friday so let’s praise the lord for indoor baseball stadiums–at least in April (and October if your team gets to the playoffs).
![Stadiums across the MLB spectrum are filled for Opening Days. Rogers Centre is no exception. Here's the crowd in 2014. We have an overhead photo from the top deck behind homeplate We see a packed house with the players lined up on the baselines following their introductions. In centre field a giant Canadian flag has been unfurled. It stretches from foul line to foul line.](http://img.src.ca/2016/04/08/352x198/160408_9m8nl_rci-opening-day_6.jpg)
The crummy weather be damned. The Toronto Blue Jays will play the Boston Red Sox Friday night in front of a crowd of close to 50,000 at the Rogers Centre.
It’s the Jays’ Home Opener, a night when people in the north can dream of summer even if they have to make their way to the stadium in their collection of toques and parkas.
If the weather is cold, hopes are high for Canadian baseball fans in 2016.
The Jays made a fabulous run into the second round of Major League Baseball’s playoffs last summer, demonstrating to a hockey-mad country the beauty of winning baseball.
The Jays will be looking to go a lot farther this season.
![Marcus Stroman, a short man (he stands 1.73 metres) with enormous will and confidence, gets the start for the Blue Jays at their home opener on Friday night at Rogers Centre. We see a handsome young black man sitting behind a microphone. His hair on top has been dyed blond. (The sides of head display dark hair.) He wears a dark blue draw-string sweatshirt and a wide, slightly crooked smile, displaying a set of very white teeth. Behind him is a wall logo with the letters ALDS (for American League Division Series).](http://img.src.ca/2016/04/08/352x198/160408_kz0pm_rci-marcus-man_6.jpg)
The offence is powerful and pretty much set. The defence is very much up to snuff. The question marks concern their pitching. So far, not so good. Their revamped bullpen has already cost them two of their first four games.
No matter. Optimism runs supreme at this time of year across Major League Baseball, especially since more teams are being allowed into the playoffs.
The Jays could go all the way. They could stumble. Anybody who knows different could become a very rich man. Fact is, we’ll find out over the next six months.
The Toronto Star’s Richard Griffin is Canada’s premier baseball columnist.
He joined RCI on Friday by phone from his home in Toronto.
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