Hartford mayor offers to host Blue Jays ahead of MLB season
"Hartford's ready."
While Major League Baseball is finally opening its 2020 season, one team still needs a place to play.
The Toronto Blue Jays, the league’s only Canadian-based team, have been barred from playing games in their regular home, the Rogers Centre, because of the threat of spreading COVID-19. Teams traveling in and out of Canada were deemed too high a risk.
“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 Canadian Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino in a recent interview with the Associated Press.
As an alternative, the Blue Jays have been seeking a U.S. ballpark to use as a temporary home. The initial hope was that Pittsburgh’s PNC Park would be a possibility, but Pennsylvania officials denied the request earlier this week.
With the Blue Jays still in need of a venue for home games, one New England city’s mayor volunteered.
“Hey Blue Jays,” tweeted Hartford mayor Luke Bronin, “Hartford’s ready. And [Connecticut] is just a better place to be.”
Hey @BlueJays — #Hartford’s ready. And CT is just a better place to be.
Cc @GoYardGoats https://t.co/o6hQMKKBgc— Luke Bronin (@MayorBronin) July 22, 2020
While it isn’t clear if Bronin’s offer is an official one, he appears to be suggesting the Blue Jays play at Dunkin’ Donus Park, the home of the city’s minor league team, the Yard Goats.
Several of the Blue Jays’ promising younger players, including Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette, have experience playing in Hartford, since Toronto’s Class AA affiliate, the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, are in the same division as the Yard Goats.
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