TORONTO – The Baltimore Orioles and the state of Maryland have had conversations about the team sharing Oriole Park at Camden Yards with displaced Toronto Blue Jays in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Blue Jays are looking for a major league park after the Canadian government declined to allow them to play in Toronto, and the state of Pennsylvania rejected an agreement to play in Pittsburgh due to frequent travel across the United States.
The Connecticut governor is also pitching for the Blue Jays to play at the Double-A ballpark in Hartford.
Toronto begins the season at Tampa Bay on Friday. The Blue Jays are scheduled to play their first game at home on July 29 against defending champion Washington Nationals.
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan acknowledged in an interview with The Associated Press that the host state of the Blue Jays has been discussed.
“We’ve had some discussions with the Orioles. I don’t know the final details of that. Obviously, we’re looking at our numbers very carefully every day. We’re concerned about spikes in other states. I know about the big leagues. Baseball is looking at it, too. day by day, ” Hogan told the AP. “We are not ready to put fans in the stands, but if you have, you know, a couple of guys standing in the field wearing masks at a fairly large distance from each other, And they can find a way to do it safely, maybe it can happen. ”
Michael Ricci, a Hogan spokesman, said the discussions are still going on “but we don’t have any announcements at the moment yet.”
“The Maryland Stadium Authority is talking to the Orioles about it, so that’s where the discussions are currently at the state level, and then I think once they have agreed on something, they will take it to the governor and the department health, ” Ricci told the AP.
A source familiar with the matter told the AP that the Orioles are talking to the Blue Jays about playing “home games” at Camden Yards. The official said the Orioles are trying to help Toronto, but they can say there is a lot of logistics. Work has not yet been done in terms of feasibility. The official said the Blue Jays would build a makeshift clubhouse in the stadium lobby on a stage. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, said the Blue Jays are also working on other contingencies.
The Blue Jays may have difficulty obtaining clearance to play in Baltimore as COVID-19 cases doubled in the city last month. Masks will be mandatory in interior public spaces beginning Friday, and Mayor Bernard Young announced a halt to interior dining, about a month after allowing restaurants to be half full.
Dr. Rachel Levine, Pennsylvania’s secretary of health, noted a significant increase in the number of cases in southwestern Pennsylvania and the risk of adding travelers to the region as the reason for rejecting the Blue Jays’ request to play in Pittsburgh.
The Blue Jays and Pirates had an agreement for the team to play at PNC Park until approved by the state. But the number of new confirmed coronavirus cases reported daily by Allegheny County, which includes Pittsburgh and 1.2 million residents, has increased tenfold in the past two weeks and the state has rejected the plan.
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. Blue Jays outfielder Randal Grichuk said Tuesday that players were told that Camden Yards in Baltimore is a possibility. Atkins said earlier this week that if the Blue Jays can’t find a major league park, their Triple-A affiliate in Buffalo, New York would be their most likely site for home games. But it lacks major league caliber facilities, and based on what the players want and the collaboration they’re getting from other teams and the major leagues, Atkins said the Blue Jays focus on major league parks as long as they can be sure. He said that health and safety are the priority, so the ability to be socially distant without understanding the ability of other teams to maintain social distance is important.
The team had been considering playing at home at its training facility in Dunedin, Florida, but that’s one of the states with virus hotspots.
If a major league stadium cannot be found, the Blue Jays could face a 60-game road trip, playing against opposing teams in their own stadiums rather than a home park.
Meanwhile, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont is making a personal effort to get the Blue Jays to use Dunkin ‘Donuts Park in downtown Hartford, a $ 56 million, 6,121-seat minor league park that opened in 2017. The The facility is home to the Double-A Eastern League Hartford Yard Goats, but its season has been canceled due to the pandemic.
Lamont, a former businessman, contacted the team for the first time about two weeks ago. The Democrat has had at least two conversations with the team, including a half-hour call Thursday with CEO Mark Shapiro, when he introduced the fact that Connecticut currently has one of the lowest COVID-19 infection rates in the country, said his spokesman. Max Reiss.
“They have indoor batting cages. They have batting bays. They have a great clubhouse for players. You know, it’s a top-notch facility. And if there is a way to make this happen, we’d love to.” But at the end of the day, it’s up to the Toronto Blue Jays, ” Reiss said. “It is perhaps the best minor league facility in the United States. The geography of it could not be better. You are two hours by bus from Boston. You are two hours by bus from New York. You are a short charter flight away from Philidelphia and Baltimore. ”
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