TORONTO, CANADA – JUNE 11: Ace the mascot of the Toronto Blue Jays waves a large Blue Jays flag bearing the team logo during MLB game action against the Baltimore Orioles on June 11, 2016 at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images) *** Local Caption ***
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The Toronto Blue Jays spent one of their final series of the regular season turning a road stadium into something resembling home games, with fans traveling across the border to support a team fighting for an American League playoff spot.
During Toronto’s recent series against the Cleveland Guardians, a matchup that carried major wild-card implications, Blue Jays fans traveled en masse. The Blue Jays won the season series and, in the process, secured an important tiebreaker that could become critical if the teams finish with identical records.
“The Blue Jays hold the tiebreaker over the Guardians after winning the season series earlier this week,” Sportsnet noted on Monday. “Both teams have 18 games remaining.”
But the Toronto-Cleveland series also carried some political weight as the teams’ respective nations engage in a tense trade war with significant rhetorical implications.
Toronto Blue Jays Fans Responds To Donald Trump’s ‘Lake America’ Move During Key Series
The recent Guardians series provided a striking reminder of how many Blue Jays supporters cross the U.S.-Canada border to follow their team.
“If you closed your eyes, you might have thought the Blue Jays were playing at home,” Mike Wilner reported for the Toronto Star. “Over a three-game series with huge playoff implications, every Jays’ run was met with loud cheers and there were several spontaneous chants of ‘Let’s go Blue Jays!’ that rained down from the seats at Progressive Field in Cleveland, which sits at the corner of Ontario Street and Carnegie Avenue.”
That cross-border connection took on a different dimension after President Donald Trump issued an executive order directing the federal government to rename Lake Ontario as “Lake America.”
The White House order, signed August 27, directs the Interior Department and Board on Geographic Names to take steps to rename the body of water and update the federal Geographic Names Information System. The order describes the lake as an important American economic and strategic asset.
The decision has drawn attention in Canada, particularly because Lake Ontario is shared by the United States and Canada. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has continued referring to the body of water as Lake Ontario.
And for several Blue Jays fan attending the Cleveland series, the political dispute couldn’t be ignored.
Joshua Glass, travelling with a friend who gracefully exited the conversation when he heard what the topic was going to be, doesn’t share his fellow fans’ hesitance.
“I’m not going to pay attention to the rantings of a petulant child, quite frankly,” said Joshua Glass, one Blue Jays fan in attendance in Cleveland, according to Wilner. “It’s not going to keep me from going to see my team fight for a wild-card spot. I think the whole thing is a bit ridiculous, but it’s not going to prevent me from coming … I’m going to be here no matter what. Until they close the border, that is.”
While the political dispute didn’t seem to turn Blue Jays away from supporting their favorite team in Cleveland, several of them indicated that Trump’s latest geographic moniker decision did give them second thoughts about visiting the U.S.
“After the whole ‘Lake America’/Lake Ontario thing,” a fan named Melissa told Wilner. “You kind of get numb to the whole ‘We’re going to charge you tariffs’ and everything like that, but as it just escalates now you just kind of get turned off from wanting to come, but I’m going to love the game.”
Toronto Blue Jays’ Playoff Push Takes On Political Weight After Donald Trump’s Lake Ontario Change
For the Blue Jays, the larger story remains the playoff race. Toronto and Cleveland were separated by the thinnest of margins entering the final stretch, making their season series particularly significant.
And the passionate Cleveland turnout demonstrated that Toronto’s fan base remains willing to travel when the stakes rise. With the Blue Jays pursuing a wild-card berth, that support could continue to follow them throughout the postseason chase.