Baseball North: What does it all mean?

I started my baseball escapades with a trip to Montreal for a Sunday afternoon affair with the Atlanta Braves. It was my first trip to Olympic Stadium and if you've never been there before let me tell you, it's a cookie cutter concrete stadium from the days of the 70's meant to facilitate a multitude of sporting events. Olympic Stadium is a little like the new look of Subway restaurants. The fake brick backdrop of the stores looks about as authentic as the Big O appears to be a true baseball stadium. Upon entry you're greeted with the atmosphere of a bingo hall; smoky, loud and that unexplainable concoction of smells that to my best guess smells like hot dogs, popcorn and zamboni. By contrast Skydome in Toronto had much more of a different feel; bigger, cleaner, newer although it did share the same distinction with Olympic Stadium in that it is, and looks like a multi-event stadium and on this particular day the use just happened to be baseball.

	Typical leftovers after a 'movie' breakfast.

I made sure to get to both ballparks early because I wanted to catch batting practice. In Toronto they started letting fans into the ballpark two hours before game time which was terrific because I got an opportunity to watch both Toronto and their opponent, the Oakland A's take batting practice. Players from both sides were very accessible for autographs, most notably Miguel Tejada, Eric Chavez and Vernon Wells who all took a lot of time with the fans. Montreal was a much different story. While Toronto centered BP around the fans Montreal took on the feeling that one security guard got paid off by a couple of fans and he simply decided to let everyone in a little early in order to catch a glimpse of the players. It's like we weren't supposed to be there. They let fans into the park only an hour and a half before game time, which meant that the Expos had already finished their BP. I really don't understand the brainwork behind a decision like this. I mean not offering the fans a chance to see the home team take BP is like trying to explain why no one in movies ever finishes or let alone takes more than two bites out of their breakfast. I mean why poor a full glass of orange juice, take the time to make eggs, bacon and toast where the likely scenario sees you just running out of the house in a rush with only a piece of toast in your mouth with a briefcase or schoolbag in toe?

One moment I did manage to catch was a HR hitting contest between Closer John Smoltz and utility player Mark DeRosa. Isn't "utility player" simply a nice way of saying you're not good enough to have a designated spot in the starting lineup so we'll simply play you wherever someone gets hurt or needs a day off? Alas the HR contest was one pure moment where player salaries and the business of sports was taken away and we got to see the guys having fun and acting like kids. By the way DeRosa nudged Smoltz out when he unleashed six homers in a row.

	Another happy customer from Skydome.

I noticed a contrast with the food and concessions at both parks. Montreal was very simple in their offerings to fans: hot dogs, popcorn, beer, soda and Montreal smoked meat sandwiches. The merchandise offered were nothing special, in fact the merchandise you get to manage in Owner Mode in Madden 2004 is far more comprehensive. If Montreal was simple, Toronto veered to the opposite end of the spectrum. Skydome had an assortment of brand name foods and a selection of the extravagant foods that are hitting many ballparks throughout North America. Call me crazy but I don't think of a ballpark as a place where I want to purchase Sushi from. The concessions sold in Toronto confused me a little. The place was littered with Hideki Matsui t-shirts. A couple of things perplex me about the decision to sell these shirts. First, the A's were the Jays opponents for the game and Matsui plays for the Yankees and second, why Matsui? That would be like seeing Olympic Stadium littered with Jason Kendall t-shirts. Wasn't Matsui touted as a big power hitter upon his arrival from Japan? Entering this weekend against the Red Sox he has hit 15 HR's. Maybe there's some sort of exchange rate that we can use to covert Japanese homeruns into MLB HRs much the same way money is converted.

Both games were good experiences although I must say that the crowd at the Expos game was far louder despite the fact the game I attended in Montreal only had 16,000 fans compared to the 27,000 fans in Toronto. Maybe it's the acoustics of the Big O but the Expos fan's made it sound like there were at least 40,000 in the stadium. The Expos may not get a lot of support from the community but the people who do come out to support the team support if full-heartedly. The Expos even got better celebrities at their game, as Angelina Jolie and Ethan Hawke were in attendance. Wonder if Uma knew about this? Start the rumours.

I set out to figure out what Baseball North represented and after attending games in Toronto and Montreal I'm not sure I came away with any clearer of an understanding of the concept. My best guess is that Baseball North represents a sporting activity for Canadians to follow that's conducted in the time period between the end of the NHL playoffs and the start of hockey training camps. So, I guess it's kinda appropriate that both Canadian clubs continue to fail to make the playoffs. I mean a playoff stretch would just overlap into that start of hockey season and that would go against the central concept of Baseball North.