Blue Jays will be playing in Pittsburgh
Major League Baseball has yet to start the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but they have resumed playing exhibition games as opening day rapidly approaches. Unlike other North American professional sports leagues like Major League Soccer, the National Hockey League and the National Basketball Association, the MLB has opted against the idea of containing players within a bubble. Instead, teams will travel to various markets and play games in their own ball parks but without any fans present.
This has caused a big problem for the league’s only non-American team, the Toronto Blue Jays. The Blue Jays were giving permission to resume training in Toronto but not to play their home games during the regular season. The federal government of Canada elected against allowing the Blue Jays to play in Toronto citing safety concerns around travel and having multiple teams from across the United States enter Canada. The United States has seen a massive surge in COVID-19 cases in recent weeks and the Canadian government is taking precautionary measures to ensure the same thing does not occur in Canada.
“There were serious risks if we proceeded with the regular-season proposal of the MLB and the Jays and therefore we concluded it was not in the national interest,” said Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino to the Associated Press.
“I get that some people will be disappointed but this decision can’t be taken as a fan. It is taken on behalf of the health and safety of Canadians.”
There were plenty of questions raised as to where the Blue Jays would play their home games once they were denied approval by the Canadian government. It was originally thought the team would play in Buffalo – home of the club’s Triple A affiliate the Buffalo Bison’s – but that idea was nixed after players and staff raised concerns about the ballpark.
On Tuesday evening, multiple reports began to emerge that the club would seek approval to play their home games at PNC Park in Pittsburgh. The Pirates only have one home game on the same date as the Blues Jays – July 29th – so it would not be very difficult to coordinate and would not require much re-scheduling. An official announcement is pending approval from the state of Pennsylvania according to both ESPN and Sportsnet.
PNC Park is a state-of-the-art facility that was opened on March 31st, 2001. No other events except the Pirates’ home games are currently scheduled to take place at the stadium.
Thankfully for the Blue Jays, they open their season on the road this Friday and still have a little bit more time to finalize an agreement. They begin regular season play in Tampa Bay on Friday, with first pitch scheduled for 6:40 p.m. ET.
While the MLB season is typically a marathon of 162 regular season games followed by the playoffs, this year will be much shorter with teams only slated to play a total of 60 regular season games. The Blue Jays finished fourth in the American League East last season, with a record of 67-95. Expectations will be higher for the team this season as fans hope the Blue Jays can get back into the playoffs for the first time since 2016. Toronto has not won the World Series since 1993.
