Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Memorable Moments:

• 1992, 1993 World Series Champions.
• 1991 All Star Game.
• June 5, 1989, during the first game, the roof was open. It started to rain so they started to shut the roof. It jammed right before it was closed. The rain streamed in through the opening and created a waterfall that fell on batter, catcher, and umpire. This is the only game called due to rain.
• April 12, 2001, during a routine test of the room, two of the panels collided and sent debris tumbling to the floor. No one was hurt. This is the only game postponed at Rogers Centre.
• July 5, 1998: Roger Clemens gets strikeout 3,000.
• May 29, 2002: Ricky Henderson steals his 1,400th base.
• September 25, 2003: Carlos Delgado hits four home runs.

Let me preface everything I say by stating that I hate indoor baseball. The roof remained closed during the two games I went to here. However, I liked this stadium overall. It was a nice break from the old old parks such as Fenway Park or Wrigley Field and the new old parks such as Camden Yards or Jacobs Field. I'm not saying any of these parks are bad, it was just nice to go to something different. Rogers Centre itself was very clean and modern looking, much like the city of Toronto.

Toronto was thrilled to finally get a MLB team in 1977, who played at Exhibition Stadium. This park was not to suitable for the Blue Jays since it was designed for football and retrofitted for baseball. So in 1983, plans for a new domed stadium started. Groundbreaking took place on October 3, 1986 and on May 11, 1987. The "name the new stadium" contest winner was chosen: SkyDome. The winner two tickets behind home plate, for every function in SkyDome, for life. The "opening" ceremony took place June 3, 1989. 60,000 people showed up for this ceremony, and they got to see the world's first retractable roof stadium open up.

This stadium was very expensive, $500 million, but financed very intelligently. The Ontario Provincial government and City of Toronto each contributed $30 million. Thirty three Canadian companies, including Canada's three major breweries, each contributed $5 million for the rights to purchase a luxury box each year. The boxes cost between $100,000 to $300,000 annually, with tickets and food costing extra.

Some of the other places that make out due to Rogers Centre are the three restaurants and hotel that look out onto the field. Sightlines, Windows, and the Hard Rock Cafe all look out onto the field. There is also a 348 room hotel, with 70 rooms looking out onto the field.

Here are some facts about Rogers Centre (from the Blue Jays):

ROOF

• Rogers Centre's roof system features a series of 3 moveable panels and 1 stationary panel. Panels 2 and 3 slide on parallel rails while panel 1 slides on a circular rail "tucking" underneath 2 and 3
• the roof operates on a system of steel tracks and 54 drive mechanisms called "bogies" and is powered by a series of DC motors that generate over 750 horsepower
• the roof area is 339,343 square feet, weighs 11,000 tons, gets to be 674 wide, and is 282 feet tall, almost twice as tall as the Metrodome.
• covering is single PVC membrane on insulated acoustic steel deck
• 100% of the field and 91% of the seating area is exposed with the roof open
• open / close time is 20 minutes

FIELD

• diamond is centered two degrees off perfect north
• pitcher's mound is constructed on a fiberglass dish and can be lowered or raised by hydraulic system

The Blue Jay's Retired Number is:

• 12 Roberto Alomar (2011)

© 2003-17 Paul Healey.