Read Ultimate Baseball Road Trip Online
Authors: Josh Pahigian,Kevin O’Connell
Toronto is a cosmopolitan city with a whole heck of a lot going on and many cultural influences contributing to its personality. Despite the tongue-in-cheek humor we may poke at Canada and its citizens in this chapter, the truth is we found Toronto exceptionally fun, affordable, and visitor-friendly. The people we encountered were good-humored and spoke a dialect of English similar enough to our own that we managed to avoid confusing peameal bacon with side bacon when ordering breakfast.
Rogers is not far from the Lake on the border of the Theatre District, where there are plenty of places to eat and drink. So do partake. Toronto is also home to a lively club scene. On a street corner not far from Rogers, we picked up a copy
of the free local entertainment guide known as
Eye Weekly
. Wow, was it ever an eye-opener. Not only did it list everything from alternative concerts to jazz clubs to independent films playing in the city, but it contained advertisements galore for phone sex and other adult entertainment opportunities. It was quite the little publication.
Kevin:
Why didn’t I visit this place back when I was in college?
Josh:
Probably because the Jays were playing at a dilapidated football stadium then.
Since 2009, all US citizens traveling to Canada need a passport or NEXUS card. This is something you need to do before leaving on your trip. You may apply for a NEXUS card, which costs $50, by visiting the US Customs and Border Patrol’s Global Online Enrollment System at:
https://goes-app.cbp.dhs.gov/
.
Now that we’ve made you aware of that important trip-planning detail, let us tell you how to find the dome. From the south, take the QEW/Gardiner Expressway to the Spadina Avenue Exit. Rogers is visible even before the exit, so don’t worry about being taken by surprise. Follow Spadina north for a block, then turn right onto Bremner Boulevard, which leads to nearly twenty thousand underground parking spots. If you get lost, look for the CN Tower (visible from just about anywhere in Toronto) and drive toward it.
Ballgame parking costs between $15 and $30 at most lots, but one on Front Street charges just $10, as does one on Blue Jay Way (wasn’t that a Beatles tune?) between Front and Wellington.
The subway is also a solid option for those staying overnight in the city. Union Station on the Yonge-University-Spadina line is only a few blocks from Rogers.
Subway Map:
www3.ttc.ca/Subway/interactivemap.jsp
Beside Rogers stands the tallest free-standing structure in North America, the CN Tower, which rises 553.33 meters, or 1,815 feet, from the ground. The tower, which was classified as one of the Seven Wonders of the World by the American Society of Civil Engineers in 1995, serves as both an important telecommunications center and a tourist attraction. Each year more than two million people visit to take in the stunning views from its observation deck. For the record, it’s not even close to being the tallest man-made structure ever. The Tower of Babel … oh, wait … make that the Burj Khalifa, which opened in Dubai in 2010, rises an astounding 828 meters. Still, the CN is well worth a visit. It was designed in the early 1970s to remedy the atrocious television reception local residents were experiencing as a result of a construction boom that had rendered Toronto’s pre-existing TV stanchions too short to contend with the city’s many altitudinous buildings. The tower was completed in 1976. Much to their chagrin, however, Torontonians soon discovered there was nothing good on Canadian TV anyway. Just hockey, bigger-field football, and occasional late-night skin flicks. Thankfully, the advent of cable was just around the corner.
Today the CN Tower serves as a communications hub for several television and radio stations. It also houses restaurants, an arcade, a movie theater, and tourist shops.
A trip to the SkyPod, 147 floors above ground level, costs just $28.
If you’d like to see the city by land and sea, take a Hippo Tour on one of the amphibious busses that float and drive around Toronto. We thought about it, before opting to sit this one out. There were just too many kids barking, or making whatever noise it is a hippopotamus makes. And besides, after Kevin got seasick during our short water-taxi ride in Baltimore we saw no sense courting another nautical disaster after a lunch heavy on the poutine.
322 King St.
Just a block from Rogers sits one of Canada’s largest sports collectibles stores. With everything from trading cards and autographs to jerseys and gear, this is a great shop. We were impressed by the rich collection of hockey memorabilia (duh) and the surprising amount of Muhammad Ali artifacts.
After games, visiting players exit Rogers through Gate 5, where they wait for taxis or start their walk to the visiting team’s hotel. On getaway days, however, the players take a bus from inside the dome straight to the airport, so don’t bother waiting after the last game of a series.
www.rogerscentre.com/about/tours.jsp
We took the Rogers tour and found it average. Our lukewarm feelings may stem in part from the fact we were unable to walk on the field because the visiting team was taking extra
batting practice on the day we visited. We did get to run our greedy fingers through a small piece of turf, though. For the record, the Rogers turf currently consists of a new generation-type of Astroturf called Game Day Grass 3D. From 2005 through 2010 it had been FieldTurf, which was similar to the shag they have in Tampa Bay. And before that it had been an earlier generation Astroturf. We also enjoyed seeing the extensive collections of Exhibition Stadium and Argonauts memorabilia in the luxury boxes.
The tour began with a mildly interesting video about the construction of the dome. We wish we could provide details on this, but as soon as the tape started rolling, Josh fell asleep and Kevin struck up a conversation with a nice man named Bill from Buffalo.
255 Bremner Blvd.
www.steamwhistle.ca/tour/tourInfo.php
We never pass up the opportunity to take a brewery tour. And you shouldn’t either. Taking this one couldn’t be any easier. Steam Whistle is located in the big round building right next-door to Rogers. We recommend the Souvenir Tour, which costs just $10, and includes a Pilsner sample and a souvenir glass.
161 Bay St.
You’re in Canada. So go to the hockey hall, you hoser! It’s located just a few blocks from Rogers.
A self-proclaimed “smooth stick-handler,” Kevin enjoyed sending a few wrist shots on goal in the interactive area, while Josh stared longingly for several minutes at Lord Stanley’s Cup. Next, Josh checked out the full-scale replica of the Montreal Canadiens’ dressing room. Then he hip-checked Kevin into the wall, just because the spirit moved him.
Kevin:
What the heck’d you do that for?
Josh:
I thought you wanted to get interactive.
Not surprisingly, the streets surrounding Rogers Centre have been developed with American tourists in mind. Familiar chain restaurants abound. But with a little extra effort, road trippers can do better. Plenty of saloons and eateries—many with patio or rooftop seating areas—reside on and around King Street, between the dome and Theatre District. Our recommendation is to sample a pregame hot dog from one of the Shopsy carts outside, eat light (read: only one or two items) at the game, and then go out for dinner afterwards.
15 York St.
www.realsports.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=frontpage&Itemid=55
A festive atmosphere. A two-story high-def TV screen. A menu featuring delights like the cheeseburger spring roll. What more could you want? What’s that? Hot-body waitresses? Well, Real Sports satisfies that fan need too.
99 Blue Jays Way
Wayne Gretzky’s restaurant is appropriately located at 99
Blue Jays Way. “The Great One,” you surely remember—unless you were born on Mars—wore uniform No. 99 during his illustrious NHL career.
A sign on the front of the trendy sports pub says, “Eat your face off.” We found this rather clever, in a Canadian sort of way. With table hockey for the kids, a souvenir shop, and memorabilia chronicling Wayne’s rise to greatness, this is a solid pick for a pregame or postgame meal. After all, he was and still is “the Great One.”
240 Adelaide St.
Here’s your chance to play a little air guitar and stomp around in your sneakers while chubby chicks with smoker’s cough angle for drinks. When you tire of the old-school soundtrack, pay a visit to the beer garden. On Friday and Saturday nights expect to find a line outside.
146 Front St.
Specializing in providing burgers and pints to raucous twenty-somethings, the Moose’s slogan is “Eat like a King, then party like a rock star!”
Kevin:
You have to appreciate a place with such bohemian aspirations.
Josh:
I knew a girl in college whom everyone called a “loose moose.”
Kevin:
Oh no, you’re not going to start telling Holy Cross stories….
573 King St.
As much as we enjoyed Loose Moose (Okay, we’ll be honest: We included it just because it brought back fond memories
for Josh), we enjoyed Craft Burger even more. You won’t find a finer patty in Toronto than the ones at Craft. Be sure to order yours with a side of poutine (french fries topped with Ontario cheese curds and gravy). Kevin also recommends the old-fashioned milk shakes.
49 Yonge St.
www.irishembassypub.com/irish/home.html
Those looking for an elegant place to revel in Celtic pride and Irish cuisine while watching the game will find the Embassy and its Dublin Lounge quite to their liking. With a mahogany bar and leather chairs, its atmosphere is a cut above Gretzky’s and the other pubby places closer to the dome. But the Embassy still has those 50-inch plasma screens fans require. We found menu items such as the Irish Stew, Kilkenney Battered Haddock, and Shepherd’s Pie reasonably priced too.
656 Spadina Ave.
At the other end of the fine-dining spectrum, we encourage fans to enjoy some late-night gourmet pizza after working up an appetite at the bars. If this favorite hangout of local university students doesn’t live up to expectations—and we’re betting it will—you can head next door and try a slice at Papa’s longtime rival, Cora’s.
Street Carts Surrounding the Dome
On game days, Shopsy carts abound. Each offers grilled beef dogs, Polish sausage, and Italian sausage, topped to the high heavens. Seriously, these carts provide an unusually large array of condiments, ranging from different kinds of relishes and mustards to pickles, onions, peppers, corn, hot sauce, barbecue sauce, and much more. So be creative. Remember, what happens in Canada stays in Canada!
Upon entering Rogers, we are always struck by the sheer size of the place. It truly is a marvel of modern technology. The field, on the other hand, is rather drab. First, the outfield is perfectly symmetrical at 400 feet to center, 375 to the alleys, and 328 down the lines. Second, the ten-foot-high outfield fence has a gutter behind it—a gap of fifteen feet—that relegates all but the most exceptionally well-struck dingers to anti-climactically fading into oblivion between the wall and seating area. Third, we don’t care for the Astroturf. The joint has a roof, so how about growing some real grass? At the very least, the Jays could install a full dirt infield, like the one in St. Petersburg. We don’t think that’s too much to ask. As it’s currently constituted the Rogers “lawn” is the only one in the big leagues that doesn’t have dirt base paths. And that’s unacceptable.
Kevin:
Down in the States we’ve left the plastic grass behind.
Josh:
Yeah, make like Tim Lincecum and get yourself some natural grass.
Kevin:
You want me to break out my “Let Tim Smoke” shirt?
Josh:
Save it for San Fran, my man.
Before the game, check out the display cases on the concourse behind Section 102. They celebrate Canadian baseball legends and showcase all three bases from the first interleague game between the ill-fated Expos and Jays in 1997. Members of both teams signed the sacks, which have red maple leaves stenciled on them. There’s also a case of balls from the Blue Jays’ ten-homer game against the Orioles in 1987. Toronto established a new single-game long ball record that September day on the way to an 18-3 win at Exhibition Stadium. The signatories in the spherical dinger-diary include Ernie Whitt, who hit three long balls that day; Rance Mulliniks, who hit two; George Bell, who hit two; Lloyd Moseby; Fred McGriff, and Rob Ducey. Another interesting item is the pitching rubber from the 1993 World Series, which is signed by the wild but briefly dominant Juan Guzman.