State of Pennsylvania will not let Blue Jays play home games in Pittsburgh
A state spokesman said this information was relayed to the Blue Jays earlier Wednesday.
The Blue Jays were looking for a new place to play after the Canadian government on Saturday rejected a plan for the team to play its home games without fans in Toronto, citing concerns about cross-border travel and playing in “locations where the risk of [novel coronavirus] transmission remains high.” That left the team with little time to find a new home ballpark, considering the MLB regular season — shortened to 60 games because of the coronavirus pandemic — begins Thursday. (Toronto’s season opener, on the road against the Tampa Bay Rays, is scheduled for Friday.)
The Blue Jays’ first home game is scheduled for July 29 against the World Series champion Washington Nationals.
PNC Park was seen as an ideal alternative for the Blue Jays, because the team’s schedule overlaps nearly perfectly with that of the Pittsburgh Pirates. While the two teams share scheduled home dates July 29, they do not do so again until Sept. 8.
On Tuesday, Blue Jays outfielder Randal Grichuk told reporters that the team’s ownership had informed the players about three options for Toronto’s home games: PNC Park; Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore; and Sahlen Field, home of the Class AAA Buffalo Bisons.
“We’ve heard Buffalo. We’re heard Baltimore, possibly. We’ve heard Pittsburgh, possibly,” Grichuk said.
“To this moment I’ve heard not a definite place to play yet. It’s kind of still up in the air. Which is crazy this close to Opening Day. Luckily we start on the road. But, yeah, that’s what we’re hearing. Possibility: Pittsburgh or Baltimore. Worst case: Buffalo.”
The players preferred the major league stadiums over the one in Buffalo, Grichuk said, because the latter lacks the player amenities — hot and cold tubs and modern weight and training rooms, for instance — of an MLB ballpark.
According to the Associated Press, the Blue Jays also considered their spring training facility in Dunedin, Fla., but rejected the idea because of the rising number of coronavirus cases in that state.
