Blue Jays fever sweeping across Ottawa

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After an impressive showing by the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 1 of the World Series, in which they beat the LA Dodgers 11-4, Ottawa is going all-in for the Canadian baseball team.

“Especially since they made the World Series, a lot more people have been coming in, a lot of calls coming in about World Series stuff,” says Jesse Girardin at Baseball Town on Bank Street in Ottawa.

A provider of mainly baseball equipment for players, Girardin says Baseball Town has nearly sold out of the Blue Jays apparel it had in stock.

“A lot of people looking for jerseys and then hats as well. Our jerseys have been flying off the shelves, it’s tough to keep them there. We only have one left right now.”

Aside from team merch, tickets to the fall classic have been the toughest item for Blue Jays fans to get their hands on.

Ottawa resident Adam Hargraves managed to score tickets to Game 2 Saturday night in Toronto, and he says landing his seats to the World Series was a matter of fortune.

“I got lucky. I just went on Ticketmaster and refreshed with like 15 minutes go, got put in the queue, and I only had about thousand, 1200 people in front of me,” he told CTV News.

It was an early start to the day for Hargraves, who participated in the Great Big Cookie Run at Lansdowne Park Saturday morning.

After rounding the final turn of the race, Hargraves had no plans to head home. Instead, the Rogers Centre in downtown Toronto was his finish line.

“My earliest sports memories are the catch at first base by Joe Carter, the big jump, and then the big home run the next year. So that’s my earliest sports memories with my family, watching TV in the basement,” says Hargraves.

From middle of the pack in his morning race, to last row of the nosebleeds at the night’s game, Hargraves says a pair of tickets in the 500-level cost him roughly $1000.

“Well, I saw the prices and I was a little bit hesitant, but then I figured it’s nearly a once in a lifetime opportunity. So, I just pulled the trigger and bought the tickets.”

Former Ottawa resident Shannon Archer also has plans to attend Game 2 Saturday night but did not need to buy tickets. Instead, the major in the Canadian Armed Forces will be one of approximately 230 military members unfurling the Canadian flag in centre field pre-game.

“The energy and excitement are going to be ecstatic and it’s going to be running through me all day,” Archer told CTV News Saturday morning.

“We used to go down to Florida and visit and [my mom’s side] live very close to Dunedin, so I grew up and still continue to go to spring training games. Now, to be at a World Series game, to be carrying the flag and representing the CAF, it’s a throwback of my love for the game to my family and my grandparents.”

Before the race Saturday morning, Hargraves stayed up to watch the Game 1 win and says he can only imagine what the feeling will be like inside the stadium.

“Overwhelmed. Emotional, I’m sure it’ll be very intense. It’ll be maybe like the (Erik) Karlsson pass in 2017, in the first round (of the Stanley Cup playoffs) against Boston, that kind of atmosphere, just very intense emotion across the board.”

And the excitement following a first win in the series has Jays fans across Ottawa optimistic for the rest of the World Series.

“I’m going to say Jays win in six games,” says Archer.

“I think they’re going to come out and win in six, four games to two Blue Jays,” says Girardin.

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