The Toronto Blue Jays post-season quest is capturing excitement from many people across the country.
One place their buzz is soaring is Saskatoon.
“Kids go, ‘I want to be like Vladdy, I want to be like Bo Bichette,’ so it’s exciting,” said baseball Saskatoon president, John Povhe.
Nine-year-old, Blake Suchan, plays baseball in the city. Her brothers Kellen and Maddux, both seven-years-old, also play.
Blake says her favourite Blue Jay is centre-fielder George Springer.
“He has really good hits and has really good plays. I want to be just like him, so I try to keep training harder and harder to be just like him in baseball.”
Meanwhile, her siblings found interests in other players in the blue and white.
“I like Danny Jansen because he has good catches,” begins Kellen, “He looks cool in the catcher’s suit, and it inspires me.”
“I like the whole team because when they hit a home run, they get to wear the nice home-run jacket.” says Maddux.
Povhe says the team’s success plays a factor in helping grow the game in Saskatoon.
“When they had their success in 2015-16, we say our numbers go up in 2016-17.”
Around 800 kids were registered with Baseball Saskatoon in 2013. He said that grew to over 2,200 kids this year.
“Other zones in the province talk about the Blue Jay effect, and it certainly is positive, but Saskatoon — the whole community is getting more and more into baseball.” says the organization’s president.
“(We) made it easy for parents, and then kids just got hooked on the game.” adds Povhe.
The team’s success is also something some local businesses in the city are welcoming. Olympia Sports Salesperson, Sara Fleming, says she’s noticed traffic in the store pick up since Toronto clinched their playoff spot.
“We started off the season and our racks back there were full with jerseys and T-shirts. Now we don’t have much product anymore just because everyone’s coming in to buy stuff.”
Fleming also now expects baseball gear will come off the shelves quicker than before.
“Being a local store definitely helps us out a lot,” begins Fleming, “Not just us but like the bars will get busier too and restaurants.”
Several people believe and the Canada’s baseball team continues to find success, helping develop the game further in the prairies.
“The Blue Jays are really good at it (baseball), and then it kind of said to me ‘you can play it,'” said Blake Suchan.
No matter where or how you watch, the Suchan siblings have one very important reminder.
“Go, Jays, go!”
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