Start of a great new season.  Pat and I have been watching the pre season games with great enthusiasm.    This is our year.  Granted the 22 – 5 loss against Pittsburgh was an anomaly, but we are optimistic.

Tonight (Friday March 28) the Jays played their second last pre season game against the NY Mets in Montreal.  The old Olympic stadium and even though it was a pre season game there were 40,000 people in attendance.  JAYS WON WITH A SINGLE IN THE BOTTOM OF THE NINTH.  Very exciting

Monday is the first official game of the season.  The Jays play Tampa Bay in Florida.

Before the Skydome this was the norm where the Jays had to play in the south before opening at home to avoid winter.  Even with a week delay there were some very cold opening games in the old Exhibition stadium.

I can remember in 1984 the Jays opened against the Seattle Mariners in early April.  The first game drew capacity of 40,000 plus in frigid weather.

At the time Gulf Oil had 4 great seats 15 rows up behind home base.  Wonderful tickets.

At the time I was a sales manager in the local office for the Toronto area.  Not a hope of getting a ticket on opening day, but the next morning the secretary for the VP came to me and gave me the prime tickets and asked me to find good customers for that day (an afternoon game).  It was cold and overcast, but I called in a couple of my reps (that happened to be in the office) and told them to give these wonderful seats to good customers.  I actually kept one of the tickets for myself thinking that I could connect with what my reps considered good customers.  The kind of sacrifice that a sales manager makes.  Told Pat I would be home later

So I walk down the aisle to the seats, and there are 3 of my guys, only looking slightly embarrassed.  No more than me so I bought the first round of beer.  But as the temp dropped and the sun went down, the last thing we wanted was beer.  As I recall I stayed to the end because we beat the Mariners.   40,000 people watched the opening game I think 5000 attended the next game when I was there.

In the years after Pat and I froze watching early games.  Then came the Sky Dome.  Still I always loved to go to early season games when everything is possible.

Pat and I watched this preseason game in Montreal on TV tonight and were just as excited as at a real game.  THIS IS OUR YEAR