2013 Jays State of the Franchise
The first taste of being a season ticket holder came in the form of a letter with two attached tickets to the 2013 Bluejays State of the Franchise. It was held at the Rogers Centre. The doors opened at 5:30pm. With all the buzz being generated over the off season, the number of season ticket holders has risen, and with that the turn out at last nights event was the largest ever.
Not knowing what to expect, a friend and I showed up at 5:30pm. As we walked in the Gate 9 doors, we were greeted by Jays staff and handed a program of the nights events. As we entered the 100 level concourse, there were hostesses serving complementary beer, wine, and other refreshments. All the main food concessions in the concourse were open and serving everything from Asian flair to hotdogs, complementary as well.
The Jays shop was open and offering 40% off everything. The small shop and main shop filled up fast once the word got out about the discount. When I went in the main shop there were six people in the store main store. By the time I left I was 20 in line to cash out and the rest of the store was 80% full. You would think there was a game going on. It was really nice chatting with other season ticket holders in line and hearing there stories. Defiantly a very cool vibe going on.
After the spendings it was on our way to the fancy seats to start the evening. There were four chairs set up on top of the Jays dugout. We sat in the 100 level seats along the third base line with the Jays dugout as center stage. The field was set up in baseball configuration and then lights were dimmed with the ” Jumbotron” lit up as the attention piece. It will always be called that in my mind.
The MGMT team was introduced to applause coming from a packed two sections of the 100 seats. Manager John Gibbons, GM Alex Anthopolos, President Paul Beeston, and TV/Radio host Buck Martinez took to their seats atop the Jays Dugout.
I missed the first few minutes of the introductions and formalities. Five minutes in, I was sitting off to the right of the four, one row back. Paul and John were about to get right into a video following some of the Jays winter tour highlights, but not before telling us they had a surprise for us. They introduced former World Series pitcher and Blue Jay, Jack Morris, as the newest voice of the Jays broadcasting team. I like what happened last time Jack came to Toronto!
The video showed us highlights of the Jays winter tour throughout Winnipeg, Saskatoon, and Edmonton. You could really see how this is Canada’s team. Watching Colbey Rasmus drive a tank at -33C was humouring.
Then it was Q&A time.. In order to speed up the Q&A part of the evening, all questions were submitted prior via email. There was a good mix of questions by long time season tix holders and a lot from new ones like myself. I did not submit a question. Being so new to this I thought I’d see if any questions I had, were had by other people. Turns out, there were. Here’s a few of the questions. I’m giving you the summed up answers and who answered them. Nothing to long and nothing verbatim.
What’s the rotation?
John Gibbons
1. R.A. Dickey
2. Marrow
3. Buehrle
4. Johnson
5. Romero
Who’s starting Opening night?
John Gibbons
R.A. Dickey
Will we get real Grass?
Paul
They are trying. Argos being a shared tenant of the Rogers Centre makes it more challenging. Also, where do you store it?
Will Season ticket prices rise?
Paul
Trying not to for the next 2-3 years but we will see.
Who’s playing 2nd?
John Gibbons
Won’t know till Spring Training. Going to be a battle. Either Maicer Izturis or Emilio Bonifacio
What about depth in our farm system and prospect development, since we traded a lot away?
Alex
Most 25 man roster players are on multi year contracts giving 3-5 years for development.
Who is our closer?
John Gibbons
Casey Jansen for now, Santos maybe once he’s up to speed.
There were other questions as I don’t remember all of them, but these where the ones multiple season ticket holders asked. The STH who’s questions were read got to come up to the dugout and pose with the four for a photo op.
After the Q&A the food and refreshments were re stocked, and began a meet and great with other owners. Here was the best part. I thought that the MGMT team would leave. NOPE! Every one of them stayed and chatted with the STHr’s the rest of the event. Photos, signings, chatting, and more questions, all the top brass stayed and mingled, even Jack Morris. I got to meet every one of them. I had bought my daughter her first jays jersey and had it crested ( 40% off remember ). I thought it would be cool to get a pic of each of them holding the Jersey, and making a 4 frame pic. Not only did everyone of them gladly pose, they ask me questions, and thanked me for being here. Meeting other fans and STH was a great pleasure. I was quite impressed with the Jays organization. Not every Major League big city sports team will do that.
In closing, it was an awesome night. The food was great, the beer was cold, and my questions were answered. It exceeded my expectations and got me even more pumped to be a Jays fan in 2013. Shaking hands with the new Manager and the MGMT staff was just awesome.
Enjoy some pics I took from the night.
The Dugout 