They arrived with a buzzkill-cut.
And that’s the last deliberately snippy thing I’ll say about the Blue Jays upon their return to the Rogers Centre and a long-a-comin’ home opener at the refurbished yard on Monday night. Pretty much last thing I’ll say about that, too — except a $400-million facelift has liposuctioned much of those jowly areas in foul territory, which seems counterintuitive for a marquee outfield distinguished for making stupendous leaping and sliding catches outside the lines.
But no, zip my lips. Mock neither some of the sillier items on the jazzed-up concessions menu — mac and cheese topped with brisket? — and the widened seats for the big-butt Premier patrons and the cup holders (for some, not all) incorporated into the baseball-first redesign because that was the loudest caterwaul from the public: Hold my beer, please.
Nope, not going down that snarky road. Because home openers are special, no less when it lands on game 11, after the Jays had been sent trekking — Tampa to Houston to the Bronx — specifically to finish up the revamp. (It isn’t finished yet, construction continuing beneath the platinum realm, private drinking club for the posh.)
And lots more when the home side delivers fortissimo, as the Jays did, taking out some amassing aggro on the Seattle Mariners, 5-2.
Let’s be honest, though. That 4-6 peregrination which included deep low points (no-hitter, anyone?) clearly took lots of the edge off this delayed homecoming. Six months since the Jays were last seen hereabouts, now featuring a 2024 lineup that doesn’t look too internally retrofitted, handful of new faces, handful of gone faces. And aye, there’s the rub for a team that couldn’t hit for licorice curls in 2023.
Intriguing it was to see and hear how the fans would respond in this first chance to make their feelings known about a front office that went all flounder and dead fish floating in the winter. Wisely, probably, the formal part of the evening, the pre-game stuff, was kept to a modestly dim wattage, with construction workers ringing the infield while the players’ names were announced — doff of the cap.
The loudest ovations greeted Markham-raised Jordan Romano — among a trio of rehabbing Jays just putting in a one-night stand in pc28¹ÙÍøbefore departing to continue their progression in Florida and Buffalo — and Danny Jansen (ditto in injury recovery) from the non-starting roster, and Kevin Kiermaier from the starting nine. K.K. sometimes reminds me of Jay Gatsby entering a room half a second behind the cuffs of his pants, or an Arrow Shirt model maybe, but he was the first Jay on this night to rouse the sellout audience with a splendid catch at the wall in the third inning.
Mixed greeting for manager John Schneider, understandably for such a polarizing figure with much to atone for in the wake of last autumn’s two-game playoff wipeout, but I shan’t go there again. And, to these ears anyway, the crowd was not quite as vocally embracing for Vladimir Guerrero Jr., either. Though the slugger — yes, he still is one — received a rousing cheer for flat-out running to first: safe on an infield single in the third. Followed by a Bo Bichette double, followed by a Justin Turner walk — who received appreciative howdy from the assembled on his earlier double — and a two-run scoring single from fan favourite circa ’23 Davis Schneider, with seven RBIs in limited appearances. (More raspberries for manager Schneider.)
Guerrero had been practically busting a gut pre-game, impatient to get this party going. Also a tad scornful of the swanky new clubhouse, all sleek and futuristic — turning up his nose at the heavily padded locker chairs: “I don’t like it. It’s too comfortable.’’
He was even more boomingly saluted for a line-drive double in the fourth that scored Kiermaier, making it 4-0.
The offence that had been grievously lacking for much of the previous 10 games ignited. Heartening, in particular, that Bichette has in recent games found his stride and his swing after a scuffling start to the season. “At the end of the day, I was pretty bad for the first part until those last two games,’’ Bichette admitted, a couple of hours before first pitch. “We’re just looking to be better every day, and I think if we’re worried about the start of a season after 10 games then we lack an incredible amount of confidence, and I don’t think that’s the case.’’
Nice home debut also for the Viking, Turner. Before his 14th career home opener, the big off-season signing claimed he wasn’t trying to make a great first impression: “I just want to win baseball games. Whatever I’ve got to do to help the team do that is fine. I play the game the same way now that I did 10 years ago. Hopefully the fans will appreciate that, but I’m not playing to make anyone happy. I’m playing to win.’’
And everybody went home happily ever after.
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