By Katie Tegtmeier (Contributor) – Email
Print Edition: July 18, 2012
Nat Bailey Stadium in Vancouver, home to the Vancouver Canadians, is not just a baseball stadium. It is a place where baseball becomes more than just a game, it becomes an experience.
I attended a game versus the Everett Aqua Sox. With 98.7 per cent of the seats filled, fans were eager to watch the major league farm teams battle it out (the Canadians are affiliated with the Toronto Blue Jays, the Aqua Sox with the Seattle Mariners). It may not have been a sell out like the previous day’s game against the Aqua Sox, where the Canadians stole the win at 4-3, but it was quite the game: it ended with a score of 10-6 for Everett.
You don’t have to be the biggest baseball enthusiast out there to have a good time at these games, especially the way the Canadians put them on. From the energetic staff doing the chicken dance during the seventh inning stretch, to the stadium designating Sunday games as “Family Fun Sundays,” no matter your age or knowledge of baseball you are sure to find something enjoyable at a game.
Something that made the more child-friendly half of the population in the stadium go crazy was when the players took their positions at the start of the game, accompanied by their “baseball buddies” – little kids in baseball uniforms, eagerly running out alongside their heroes.
Part of “Family Fun Sundays” is that the A&W mascot “Root Bear” is present and getting the crowd excited alongside the Canadians mascot “Bob Brown Bear.” He threw one of the first pitches of the game, and quite successfully too considering he was in a massive bear costume.
This team is mascot crazy with a trio of sushi mascots, who are literally wearing costumes depicting cartoon sushi. The crowd cheers for Ms. BC Roll and Mr. Kappa Maki, while booing Chef Wasabi for his constant cheating in the races. Leave it to a Vancouver team to create these crowd favourites.
The stadium was in impressive shape, and even featured some inflatable slides and bouncy castles for the kids to the left of the stands by third base. This is perhaps owing to the recent affiliation with the Blue Jays. According to one Nat Bailey Stadium employee, their previous affiliates—the Oakland A’s—never put much money and effort into the field, team, or stadium. Being the only current Canadian MLB team, the Blue Jays value their fellow Canadians and want to show the team that they don’t need to be based in the States to be taken seriously.
The game I attended was not necessarily the most exciting to watch, with the Canadians getting five walks in the eighth inning. However, the energy of the crowd compensated for the lack of action on the field. That being said, it was almost 29 degrees without a cloud in the sky at midday, the players were probably sweltering out on the field – their lethargy was understandable. There was excitement when Everett’s Patrick Kivlehan scored two home runs in the first inning and Jean Acevedo scored one in the third. All in all, the game was sporadic, but still offered a lot of entertainment value.
So if you are in the mood for some sun, watching a good game of baseball, or guessing the pronunciations of the players’ names with your friends (the Canadians short stop: Jason Leblebijian. Take a stab at that one), then this is the place for you.
