Blue Jays fans relish first Opening Day in Toronto since 2019

The Toronto Blue Jays are finally back home at Rogers Centre and are able to experience Opening Day north of the border for the first time since 2019.

While the dome was still closed because of the typical early-April Canadian weather, it didn’t mean that the Blue Jays didn’t pull out all the stops for their season-opening pre-game ceremony – which included showing off their new scoreboard.

In addition to the light show, there were some heartwarming moments as well. Along with Toronto manager Charlie Montoyo, baseball great Hank Aaron’s wife Billye was brought out on the field to present Vladimir Guerrero Jr. with the award named after her late husband.

It wasn’t just focused on baseball either, as the Blue Jays hosted a full roster of Canada’s Olympic and Paralympic athletes, donning their medals earned in Beijing.

And, of course, it isn’t officially a Toronto home opener at Rogers Centre without the gigantic Canadian flag sprawled across the outfield.

The Blue Jays are hosting the Texas Rangers to begin their 2022 campaign, and a former fan favourite this time donned a different jersey. Marcus Semien, one of the best hitters in baseball for the Jays just last year, made his Rangers debut on Friday.

The Jose Bautista-era rivalry will not die between these teams, but at least there can be one moment to thank Semien for his local contributions.

With the amount of off-season moves the Jays made and the pre-season hype that they experienced, the fan base was out in full force for the first pitch of the season.

The festivities were perfect, and the game managed to be even more exciting somehow. The Blue Jays got off to a terrible start, allowing seven unanswered runs through four innings, only to tie the game up on a Teoscar Hernandez three-run homer in the bottom of the fifth.

Never a dull moment with this team.

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