TORONTO – Displaced Toronto Blue Jays will play Buffalo this year amid the pandemic, the team announced Friday.
The Blue Jays will play at Sahlen Field, home of Buffalo Bisons, the team’s Triple-A affiliate.
“We are extremely grateful to have a home in Buffalo this season, thanks to the openness, creativity, and partnership of the Buffalo Bisons, Major League Baseball, and Blue Jays staff, who have worked tirelessly to prepare us for the games at Sahlen Field,” Blue Jays President and CEO Mark Shapiro said in a statement. “This process has undoubtedly tested the resistance of our team, but our players and staff refuse to make excuses: we are determined to take the field today, and in the coming months, with the same intensity and competitiveness that our fans. “
The Blue Jays were looking for a major league park after the Canadian government refused to allow them to play in Toronto, and the state of Pennsylvania rejected an agreement to play in Pittsburgh due to frequent travel through the United States.
A source told ESPN’s Marly Rivera that Maryland offered to allow the Blue Jays to start at Camden Yards in September, but the team decided they didn’t want to wait for that.
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan acknowledged in an interview with The Associated Press that there have been talks about the Blue Jays host state. It was not immediately clear if the state rejected the Blue Jays amid an increase in COVID-19 cases in Baltimore in recent weeks.
Toronto begins the season at Tampa Bay on Friday. The Blue Jays are slated to play their first home game on July 29 against defending champion Washington Nationals.
Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer of New York urged Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred in a letter to choose Buffalo.
“Since it is opening day, there is little time for continued deliberation, now is the time to act, and Buffalo is ready to roll out the red carpet and welcome the Major League Baseball to Sahlen Field and west of New York, “he wrote. .
“I strongly urge the Major Leagues and Blue Jays to choose Buffalo as their home for the 2020 season.”
Schumer noted that the partnership between the Bisons and the Blue Jays has been strong since their membership began in 2013.
Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins said this week that his team had more than five contingency plans for a local stadium and was in talks with other teams. Outfielder Randal Grichuk said Tuesday that players were told that Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore is a possibility.
Atkins had previously said that if the Blue Jays can’t find a major league park, Buffalo would be their most likely site for home games. But it lacks large league caliber facilities.
The team had been considering playing at home at its training facility in Dunedin, Florida, but that’s one of the states that are virus hotspots.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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