Amid threats from United States President Donald Trump to make Canada the 51st state, the Toronto Blue Jays\u2019 season started with protocols aimed at avoiding booing during the American national anthem and the removal of someone wearing a \u201cCanada is not for sale hat\u201d at the ballpark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nonetheless, the Blue Jays are still being heavily marketed as \u201cCanada\u2019s team\u201d as they square off against the New York Yankees, America\u2019s most storied baseball team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why do the Blue Jays frame themselves as not just Toronto\u2019s team, but Canada\u2019s? And is their current post-season run their biggest and most important opportunity in years to fully establish themselves as representing all of Canada?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Jays serving as Canada\u2019s team may make sense since they\u2019re the only Canadian team currently playing in Major League Baseball (MLB). But to some Canadians, positioning the Jays as the nation\u2019s team may not sit well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After all, for baseball fans in Qu\u00e9bec, memories of the now-defunct Montreal Expos still loom large.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For fans closer to the Windsor-Detroit border, the Detroit Tigers are a more proximate and accessible team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finally, some British Columbia MLB enthusiasts \u2014 despite the trips Blue Jays fans make to take over T-Mobile Park when the Blue Jays play the Seattle Mariners \u2014 still opt to support the Mariners since the team is so much closer than the Blue Jays are in Toronto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What all this means is that to some Canadian baseball fans, the Blue Jays aren\u2019t really Canada\u2019s team \u2014 they\u2019re just Toronto\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n