A win-win alternative: Move the Phillies-Jays June series to Cashman Field, Las Vegas

News that Roy Halladay was not in fact coming to Toronto in late June this year was painful for Blue Jays brass and fans alike. The ceremony that had been planned out since the December trade of the pitcher falls through with this news, and instead the Jays will simply play their ace in Citizen’s Bank Park in Philadelphia. Sure, the Jays will be officially recorded as the home team, and the Designated Hitter rule will be used, but it’s just not the same.

There’s good reason for moving it too, the G20 Summit security restrictions will be too great to host three ball games at Rogers Centre as most of the downtown core is to be shut down. This left me with a good idea about what to do with the series: Move it to Cashman Field instead, home of the Blue Jays’ AAA affiliate Las Vegas 51s. This would enrich the 51s fan base, as they would be able to see the stars that graduated from Nevada once again, as well as providing three sure-fire sellouts. The series would create a sense of loyalty to the Blue Jays as well, teach Las Vegas fans that the Blue Jays deeply care about their minor league affiliates. The 51s are away in Fresno both the 26th and 27th of June, the only game that would need rescheduling would be the June 25th game against Sacramento, but really, they could just play that game at 1:05 pm and the Major League game at 7:05 pm, avoiding conflict.

If playing it in Las Vegas isn’t possible, New Hampshire would also be a possibility, as the Blue Jays AA affiliates are away on every day of the Phillies/Blue Jays series, and Bedford, New Hamsphire is a whole lot closer to both Toronto and Philadelphia than Las Vegas is.

And why wouldn’t the Blue Jays ownership be allowed to relocate their home games? Moving it to Philadelphia isn’t fair. Home-field advantage is very real, not to mention playing it in Philadelphia would give the Phillies extra revenue, if anything the Phillies should be obligated to give at least half of the revenue from the game to the Blue Jays.