Sunday, February 15, 2009

SkyDome (Rogers Centre)

New York Yankees @ Toronto Blue Jays
September 3, 2003

Blue Jays 4, Yankees 3

W: Jason Kershner
L: Antonio Osuna
S: Aquilino Lopez
HR: Jorge Posada (NYY), Jason Giambi (NYY), Josh Phelps (TOR)
Attendance: 21,770
Time of Game: 2 hours, 57 minutes

Stadium Facts

Location: Toronto, ON
First Game: June 5, 1989
Capacity: 50,516
Type: Retractable roof
Surface: Artificial turf

The only significant break between games on the 2003 trip was following the game in Boston. We had two days to kill before going to a game north of the border in Toronto. On Monday, we left Boston, headed back to New York state, and visited the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. This was not my first trip to the Hall of Fame. I could probably write a whole article on this alone, but I'll keep it brief.

Cooperstown is a tiny town in the middle of nowhere. There are no major highways going there, so we had to get off the beaten path a bit to make this trip. Unfortunately, our timing wasn't great for this visit. They were in the middle of some renovations at the Hall of Fame, which blocked off an entire floor of exhibits. Fortunately, we were able to see all the inducted player plaques as well as a variety of other interesting exhibits. The weather didn't exactly cooperate either. Due to a steady rain, we didn't spend much time exploring the quaint streets of Cooperstown.

After the Hall of Fame stop, we did a little more driving and spent Monday night in northern New York. Tuesday, we crossed the Canadian border at Niagara Falls. Since we had plenty of time to kill, we checked out the falls from both the American and Canadian sides. I was glad to be able to do this because my previous childhood Niagara Falls visit was dampened by constant pouring rain. That had been my only time spent outside the United States prior to this trip.

One thing I noticed driving on the major highways of Canada is that speed limits seem to be more of a suggestion than an actual rule. I felt like I was getting lapped by cars flying by me, despite the fact that the speed limits were actually lower than they are on most American interstate highways.

We arrived in Toronto early Wednesday afternoon. This gave us plenty of time to check out the city. I think we literally walked around the entire downtown area. We even decided to go on the tour to the CN Tower observation deck. SkyDome is almost right next to the CN Tower. Together, these two structures create a very scenic skyline right off Lake Ontario.

SkyDome was the first baseball stadium built with a retractable roof. It was quite a unique stadium at the time it was built. Besides the roof, the park also features an enormous video scoreboard, a hotel and a restaurant in the outfield. The hotel has a number of rooms with great views of the playing field.

The non-mobile part of the roof covers the center field area. However, when the roof is open, most of the stadium is exposed to the elements. The roof was closed when we entered the park, but opened shortly before the game started. It was pretty cool to see the CN Tower hovering over the stadium as the roof shifted to the open position.

SkyDome gave the Blue Jays franchise an immediate boost in its early years. They set single season attendance records and won two World Series in the ballpark's first five years. The novelty of the park has worn off a bit since then and the Blue Jays struggle to attract the same type of support. For this game, we bought cheap seats, but were easily able to move into unoccupied lower level seats. The seating area is pretty standard with three levels and a perfectly symmetric layout. Unfortunately, the playing surface is artificial turf, unlike all the other retractable roof stadiums. It is a multi-purpose stadium though, so the turf is not surprising.

For the third time on this trip, we saw a Yankees game. That was definitely not done on purpose. Mike Mussina started the game for the Yankees, the second straight start of his that we witnessed in person. Kelvim Escobar took the mound for the Blue Jays. The Yankees scored a run in the top of the third to take a 1-0 lead. Then came the eventful fourth inning. Jason Giambi led off the top of the 4th with a solo home run. Two batters later, Jorge Posada hit another homer to give the Yankees a 3-0 lead. They appeared to be on their way to their third win of our trip. The Blue Jays had other ideas though. Josh Phelps slugged a two run home run in the bottom half to cut the lead to 3-2. Three home runs were hit in the fourth inning, the only three of the game.

Both pitchers got out of jams in the fifth inning, leaving the bases loaded without any runners crossing the plate. Mussina got into more trouble in the sixth. The Jays loaded the bases with nobody out, thanks in part to an error by second baseman Alfonso Soriano. A Bobby Kielty sacrifice fly tied the game at 3, but Mussina somehow escaped major damage as no more runs scored in the inning. The Yankees turned to their bullpen in the seventh, but another sacrifice fly, by Eric Hinske, gave the Blue Jays a 4-3 lead. That would be the final score as the Yankees were unable to put anything together in the late innings. Jason Kershner got the win in relief for the Blue Jays, his first Major League win (of 3 total career wins). Fortunately, the Yankees didn't win all three of their games we saw on this trip.

The Blue Jays get the unfortunate distinction as the only team to feature an opposing player on the cover of all the game programs I have purchased. I have no idea why they chose to put Hideki Matsui on the cover, although it was probably a decent marketing idea since nearly half the crowd was Yankees fans. You wouldn't think there would be so many fans of "America's Team" in Canada.

Overall, I enjoyed my trip to Toronto. I like SkyDome, but it is probably my least favorite of the retractable roof stadiums because of the artificial surface.

Photo Album

From Toronto

From Toronto

From Toronto

From Toronto

From Toronto

From Toronto


Next stadium: Comerica Park, Detroit

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