Inside Rogers Centre

Toronto Blue Jays

Oct 24

Downtown Energy

Downtown Toronto is one of the most fun places I’ve ever been in my entire career in sports, which kicked off around 2000. Action everywhere. Great food, endless nightlife, and people who might just be the nicest you’ll ever meet.

Sure—it’s expensive as hell—but I’ve never had a bad time there, and every dollar I’ve spent has felt worth it.

If you’re heading to a Jays game (and I highly recommend updating that passport for a trip here), be ready for a damn good time no matter what you’re into. Think of New York City’s energy—only a bit cleaner, a little more polite, and with fewer people yelling at you on the street. And New York, I say that with love!

The Scene

Toronto is an experience from start to finish. The traffic on the Gardiner Expressway? Brutal. The cost of living? Astronomical. But the vibe? Unreal.

Yorkville, just a few miles up Bay Street, might be the best stop in North American sports for a broadcaster. The hotel is gorgeous. The food scene is elite. The bar scene is even better. The summer weather is almost perfect, and the people couldn’t be more welcoming.

Here’s a photo of one of my best friends in television, Eric Delley—known as “Dizz” around the sports-TV world—and me, taken atop our hotel bar in Yorkville while we were working Texas Rangers TV broadcasts during the 2024 season.

We’d walk the city every night, have dinner and drinks, and spend our off days wandering downtown—often ending up at the Hockey Hall of Fame. You can fill morning, noon, and night with things to do in Toronto and never get tired of the place.

The Fans

Canadians are a different breed when it comes to sports fandom. Sure, Toronto lives and dies with the Maple Leafs—no doubt about that. It reminds me of Pittsburgh, where the Steelers rule everything and there’s a big gap before second place. That’s the same energy with the Blue Jays.

But what a fun baseball town. They’ve got an entire country behind them. Think about it—you can drive less than two hours in the States and end up in enemy territory. In Canada, you can drive for two days and everyone’s still cheering for the same team. Imagine flying from Dallas to Philly and both rooting for the Eagles in a playoff game. Hell no.

Toronto baseball fans are passionate, smart, and classy. I’ll never forget the day Chris Rowley—a guy from Georgia who never thought he’d make the big leagues—became the first West Point grad to reach MLB. The fans knew exactly what that moment meant and gave him a standing ovation as he walked off the mound in his debut. I was there. Front row. And I’ll never forget it. He’s in my book, and I’m honored he is.

The Legacy

The Blue Jays’ history is rich and deep. Those early-’90s teams were legendary—Jack Morris, Rickey Henderson, Paul Molitor, Robbie Alomar. Add Joe Carter’s unforgettable swing off Mitch Williams in the ’93 World Series, and you’ve got a moment that defines generations of Jays fans.

The 2000s brought Roy Halladay—one of the best to ever do it, now enshrined in Cooperstown. The 2010s gave us Joey Bats and that bat flip. Then came the next generation: Vlad Guerrero Jr., son of a Hall of Famer, now carving his own path toward the Hall.

They haven’t reached those early-’90s heights again, but they’ve reignited a fan base that went 22 years without a playoff appearance. Five postseason runs in the last decade—and counting. Vlad Jr. just signed a monster contract extension that should keep him in Toronto for life.

The Park

The Rogers Centre (still affectionately called SkyDome by plenty of fans) is one of those places that’s somehow both dated and futuristic. The hotel looming over center field? Still wild, even nearly four decades later. The retractable roof? Looks like a spaceship coming in for landing. And the CN Tower rising right beside the first-base line? Unreal. It’s one of the most photogenic ballparks in baseball.

And the fans? They know their stuff. They cheer loud, they stay loyal, and they’ve had fan favorites for generations. Their theme song—“OK, Blue Jays”—has been around since 1983. It’s catchy as hell, like “Go Cubs Go” at Wrigley, and it adds a perfect touch of joy to every home win.

The Takeaway

Toronto is a dream for anyone who loves baseball, food, culture, and nightlife. You can spend your afternoon at the Hockey Hall of Fame and your evening watching future Hall of Famers take the field. The city hums with life, kindness, and pure sports passion.

It’s not cheap, but like I said—it’s money and time well spent. Toronto might not be your hometown team, but once you experience a game there, it sure feels like it could be.

Opening as the SkyDome in 1989, the downtown Toronto ballpark was MLB’s first stadium with a fully retractable roof. The Blue Jays also set an MLB attendance record in 1990, drawing 3,885,284 fans. They became the first MLB team to draw 4 million fans in 1991.

Chris Rowley – On August 12th, 2017, Chris Rowley became the first graduate from West Point to play Major League Baseball. I was fortunate enough to capture him on the mound (and walking off) that day.

The Canadian National (CN) Tower stands right next to the Rogers Center, practically attached outside of the first base entrance. It is 553 meters (1,815 feet) tall, and was the tallest freestanding structure in the entire world until the Burj Khalifa was built in 2009 in Dubai.

Feet & Meters – The only place you’ll see the distances on the wall listed in both feet AND meters is in Toronto!

Home Bullpen – Blue Jays pitchers have plenty of space to warm up in the home bullpen.

The most unique roof in baseball can be found at the Rogers Centre, and it takes approximately 25 minutes to open/close. This photo was taken as the roof was opening for a Sunday afternoon game between the Blue Jay and Texas Rangers on July 28th, 2024. According to the Blue Jays, it features a series of three moveable and one stationary panel. It weighs 11,000 tons and covers an area of 339,343 square feet, with the highest point standing 282 feet above field.

The view from left field.

Blue Jays Clubhouse Entrance – The Blue Jays debuted a renovated clubhouse before the 2024 season, the largest in baseball at the time. The entrance is one of the classiest you’ll see around the game.

Blue Jays Clubhouse, Before Renovations – This was the Blue Jays clubhouse entrance before the 2023 renovations.

The Widest Tunnel - The largest tunnels leading into a visiting clubhouse can be found in Toronto. The desk on the left is where the visiting team enters their quarters.

The Old Tunnel – Before renovations in 2023, this was the walk visiting players made to get to the dugout from the clubhouse. Note the pad up top, where may players have banged their heads along the way!