Toronto Blue Jays Game

By Phil Williams

We wrapped up our stop in Toronto by taking in the Blue Jays playing the Tampa Bay Devil Rays down at the Rogers Centre. Before the game even starts, there is a lot going on. Inside and outside the stadium there are facepainters, performers, balloon twisters and batting cages to test the speed of your pitch to see if maybe you are the next Roy Halladay.

Laurel Lindsay is the VP of Consumer Marketing for the Jays and she leads a staff that is proud of what they have to offer the family "Baseball games are wholesome entertainment, there is no fighting, usually no rude behaviour and it is a great vehicle for families to share memories."

Our tickets were located just down the first base side at field level and offered a great view of the game - a great view can be had from pretty well any spot in the ball park and with the help of an incredibly impressive new colour GIANT (and I mean GIANT) plasma screen in center fold, it is virtually impossible to miss anything that happens on or off the field thanks to quick replays.

As a matter of fact, the whole Rogers Centre has had a facelift this year with new video screen/scoreboards located RIGHT ON the outfield wall as well as a new string of plasma screens with constantly changing information (as well as the score) located on the 200 level façade.

During the game there is always something going on. When the actual game is not keeping you entertained there is a lot happening in the Rogers Centre with cheerleaders, big screen entertainment, Ace the mascot and the usual mix of barking salespeople up and down the aisles and fans voicing their opinions. That is where something happened, or didn't happen in this case. Let me explain. There were a lot of fans having fun, yelling encouragement to their favourite player (or trying to discourage a player they perhaps don't like) but one thing was missing the whole time - swearing. We did not hear one curse word the whole time we were there and that included a whole row of buddies sitting behind us having a few beers.

Ticket prices range from 9 to 62 dollars depending on how close you need to get to the action and the way the Jays play these days - it is truly worth the investment. The game we were at was a notch in the loss column but it was not without some great baseball being played - at no time did the Jays throw in the towel and they clawed their way back to within one run of the Devil Rays before losing 6-5. Plus as an added bonus for Saturday games only, the kids got to go down to the field and actually run the bases after the game!

A fun day in the sun was certainly had by my family on this hot Saturday in July. My six year old son Sam has been wanting to play ball at our local park ever since and my 9 year old daughter wants to learn how to properly score a game for the next time we go! Keeping the whole family happy is not lost on the Blue Jays organization, Laurel explains, "Families and youth are the future of this franchise and we will continue to earmark our resources to provide quality family entertainment."

For more details on getting to a game or other fun stuff the Blue Jays have to offer, go to their web site - www.bluejays.com