‘This is my team’: Inside the lives of Canada’s most faithful Blue Jays fans

Mitch Vopni and his father Ken Vopni are seen posing for a photo at a Blue Jays game (Photo provided by Mitch Vopni).

Michael Lerner still remembers the snowflakes falling on that brisk April afternoon in 1977, when Toronto’s brand-new baseball team took the field for the very first time at Exhibition Stadium.

“It was absolutely frightening cold,” he recalled. “Especially sitting on the seats in Exhibition Stadium. The wind was blowing and the snow was falling. But it was like a celebration. Everybody was just delighted to be there and to be part of something really big, not only for Toronto, but for all of Canada.”

Now 80 years old, Lerner has followed the Blue Jays from their frosty beginnings to the team’s recent return as kings of the American League East.

With a decisive win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Sept. 28, the Jays clinched their first division title in a decade, capping an impressive 94–68 season that earned them home-field advantage in the ALDS.

• Fans celebrate Blue Jays AL East title win outside the stadium

Lerner is just one of dozens who reached out to CTV News Toronto this week to share their stories.

From scarfing down “Loonie Dogs” to travelling across the country for home openers, Toronto fans have long been among the league’s most loyal in Major League Baseball.

A father–son tradition, 25 years strong

For Mitch Vopni, the Blue Jays are the link that’s kept him and his dad connected for three decades.

“My love of baseball started with his love of baseball,” said Vopni, who now lives in Ottawa while his dad resides in Bobcaygeon, Ont. “We’ve gone to 25 straight home openers. So, it’s a tradition that we really, really love to do.”

Even during the pandemic, when in-person attendance was limited, the two got creative and used FaceTime. “We tried our best to kind of put it on the same frequency so we can simulate that same experience together,” he said.

For Vopni, baseball is “your prototypical father-son sport, where you can bond over it.” And though he and his father don’t watch many games together these days, he says Saturday’s playoff opener will be different.

“As long as we’re together, it would be fantastic to watch that (first game) together.”

‘This is my team, why abandon ship?’

In Vancouver, Gord Brown originally from New Brunswick says he has built a shrine of Blue Jays memorabilia in his home — 60 signed baseballs, 35 bobbleheads, four bats, and even a Jays-themed dog collar for his rescue pup Diego.

Speaking with CTV News, he explained game days come with rules: no one is allowed to disrupt the “mojo” of the room, and his wife stays out if things are going well.

“This is my team. Why abandon ship?,” he said.

“No team has ever been perfect all the years. You got to believe that they’ll do better next year (if things don’t work out).”

However, if Toronto does make it to the World Series, Brown says he’ll be crying, “crying out of sheer joy.”

‘Toronto is ready for another winner’

Lerner, a retired lawyer from London, Ont., admits that as a boy he was once a Yankees fan — sneaking into the clubhouse in New York to meet his childhood idol, Phil Rizzuto. But once Toronto had its own team, his loyalty shifted north of border.

“I was at the clinching game when Joe (Carter) hit his home run sitting on the first baseline in the second level,” he said.

“Toronto is ready for another winner. We’re now ready to repeat ’92 and ’93.”

For Lerner, baseball is much more about the mind rather than the physical. “Baseball is a game of anticipation,” he said. “You have to be ready for everything.”

He’s even played the game at a high level himself, including an intercounty championship run in 1969 and even a celebrity game at the Rogers Centre, where he was coached by Pat Tabler.

Despite his experience on the field, he says nothing beats being in the stands. “I can’t think of nothing better than sitting with a hot dog in one hand and a beer in the other.”

‘Crank up the volume’

In Scarborough, Ont., Melissa Pope has spent the season watching alongside her mother, Arlene, who is 86, a breast cancer survivor, and now living with congestive heart failure.

“It’s strengthened my bond with her,” Pope said. “You know, I spent many years taking care of my dad, and now it’s her turn.”

Pope says the two watch every game together, jerseys on and TV blaring.

“We crank up the volume, because my mom is about 80 per cent deaf in one ear and 100 per cent in the other. We crank it up so she can hear the 40,000-plus people screaming along with her.”

Her mother’s favourite player is George Springer. “George Springer, my mom is your biggest fan,” Pope said. “She loves all your commercials too.”

She emphasized their dream is simple: to celebrate a World Series win together. “We’re going to hug, we’re going to cry, we’ll watch every single minute of the celebration, and just always continue to cheer them on.”

‘I love the way baseball flows’

For Kathy Kemp, a 68-year-old from Kingston, Ont., her Jays fandom started with a bluntly faded old painter’s cap she still wears to games. She says she’s been to seven this year alone and frequently travels by bus.

Kemp says she too remembers the days of sitting in the aluminum bleachers at Exhibition Stadium.

“Back then, it wasn’t all marketing and money,” she said. “It was just going to a baseball game and having fun.”

Kemp adds that the flow of the game is what she ultimately loves most. “I like the game. I like the process of baseball. A lot of people say it’s boring, but I love the way baseball flows and the thinking of the game.”

And for her, that love will never change. “It’s a kid’s game. Let’s just go have fun and enjoy a day outside.”

• Toronto Blue Jays players spoke ahead of ALDS Game 1. Here’s what they said.