All aboard the Toronto Blue Jays bandwagon

 

by Christian Bouchard

With over 11.5 million Canadians watching some part of the broadcast, the Toronto Blue Jays right fielder Jose Bautista stepped into the batters box. It was the bottom of the seventh inning with two outs, runners on the corners and a 1-1 count in Game 5 of the American League Division Series. What happened next was the most important thing in over 22 years of Blue Jays baseball.

Bautista rested his bat on his shoulders. The crowd was roaring – even the bandwagon fans the Jays had gained not so long ago. As the pitch was thrown towards home plate, Bautista kicked his front leg up into the air. When his bat made contact with the ball, it left a loud crack throughout the Rogers Centre. Bautista flung his bat into the air and watched as the 97-mile per hour fastball had been directed over the fence for what would eventually be the games winning runs. As the fans cheered even louder, the Jays bench quickly emptied. Teammate Edwin Encarnacion raised both arms in the air and jumped up in celebration.

Jose Bautista had become immortal in the eyes of many Blue Jays fans. For others, they were just happy to be a part of something special.

The Blue Jays season took a turn for the better on July 31, 2015. The Jays traded for star pitcher David Price and shortstop Troy Tulowitzki. According to Joe Siddall, play-by-play announcer for the Jays, this is where the Jays gained an abundance of Canadian fans.

“A big part of fans jumping on board was GM Alex Anthopoulous trading all those prospects for star players,” said Siddall. “He sent a message to his players and fans that the Jays are ‘All in’ to win a championship.”

As the only Canadian baseball team in Major League Baseball, the Jays are gaining Canadian fans at an all-time rate. The Jays popularity has recently exploded with the team’s official Twitter account gaining over 350,00 followers in the past 10 weeks.

Perhaps it’s that that the team is now winning. Perhaps it’s because the addition of the new star players. Maybe it’s even because the fans were here all along.

Dr. Craig Greenham, an assistant professor at the University of Windsor and researcher of North American professional sports said the biggest reason for all the sudden Jays fans is the want to be a part of something great.

“I am not sure if it’s a need; I think it’s more of a want,” said Greenham. There’s no questioning the clubs popularity nationally and I think people want to be a part of that.”

The numbers prove Greenham has a point. More than 16 million Canadians watched some part of the 2015 Texas vs. Toronto ALDS – 46 per cent of the Canadian population.

Siddall agrees with the idea that the Blue Jays have an entire country behind them. He described the sudden rise in fans as a party with friends. When more people begin to arrive, it becomes more fun. As the Jays have continued to win, more people have joined the party and many have really increased their love for baseball and the Blue Jays.

“Many feel that it is pretty cool to be a part of it all cheering for ‘their’ team,” said Siddall. “Fans seem to take ownership in the team when it is doing well.”

While winning goes a long way to putting people in the seats at the Rogers Centre, the Jays will have their work cut out for them as they now trail 3-2 in a best of seven series with the Kansas City Royals.

The Blue will look to battle their way back into the series on Oct. 23 as they travel to Kansas City for Game 6. While we can’t predict the exact outcome, one thing is for sure. Canada will be cheering on their boys.