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).
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.
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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