TORONTO – The displaced Toronto Blue Jays will stage their home games in a minor league ballpark in Buffalo, New York, this year after being turned down by the Canadian government and blocked from playing at the Pittsburgh Pirates’ stadium by the state of Pennsylvania.
They will host games this season at Sahlen Field, the home of the Buffalo Bisons, their Class AAA minor league affiliate.
The Blue Jays had been looking for a Major League Baseball stadium for their home games after the Canadian government wouldn’t allow them to play in Toronto due to concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the search was unsuccessful. Pennsylvania health officials rejected a deal to play in Pittsburgh because of rising COVID-19 cases there.
The team also held talks with the Baltimore Orioles about Camden Yards, but the Blue Jays didn’t want to wait on Maryland officials with their season starting Friday – on the road against the Tampa Bay Rays.
“Baltimore never got to a situation to where we were denied,” Blue Jays team president Mark Shapiro said. “At some point continuing to explore and look at an option like Baltimore was not going to be a risk we could take. That risk of being turned down certainly existed. And so we obviously had to make a decision knowing we had a very good alternative, albeit not a major league one.”