That title might be a bit premature, but figured I'd bring you all up to date on the Blue Jays/Phillies series saga.
I'll admit this weekend I figured it was time to pull pin on the whole thing. As I vented back here (and many other places on the site), this hasn't been a fun time. Several emails to the Jays had not netted me any replies. Well, that is not quite true. I got one reply, saying 'Thanks for the email. I'll get back to you.' Since we've had 2 weeks from Paul Beeston's press conference and that my first email was sent minutes after that, I figured I would have heard something by then. Add in that the thought of being in a hotel that I would have to pass through security checks to go get to or to leave, it wasn't looking like a lot of fun would be had.
I was also feeling a little, I'm not sure what the right word would be, unloved, I guess, by the team that I spent most of my life cheering for. Being a fan is generally pretty much a one way street as it is. It was getting hard to convince myself I should go to the trouble and expense of going all the way there for a team that couldn't even be bothered to reply to an email. Or, for that matter, writing about a team like that.
Monday I decided to take a last stab at it. I had emailed any Jay front office person that had ever replied to a note from me before (including Alex Anthpoulos) and haven't had any luck. Why not try the top dog. "Dear Mr. Beeston'. I ought to take a look back at the note, but I'm pretty sure I vented a little. Ok maybe vented a lot. "
I guess, in retrospect, I should have started with him. Sending an email to him almost guarantees that at least his secretary will read it. If that happens there is a shot she will forward it to someone that might care. Or whose job it would become to care.
Yesterday I came home to a voice mail message from John Santana from the Blue Jays. Just an aside, but wouldn't it be cool to have a job where you can phone people and say 'Hi, I'm John from the Blue Jays'. Anyway he said to call back and I did this morning.
He couldn't have been nicer. We were on the phone for about 2 minutes when the fire alarm went off where his office is at Rogers Center. He tried to continue to talk but a) the alarm was loud and b) I was glad that he took the time to call but it wasn't worth him dying in a fire. So he said he'd call back in ten and he did. I'm relatively sure the stadium didn't burn to the ground.
He was very apologetic about me not getting a reply to earlier emails. To, finally, get to the point, at the end of a long process, I now have tickets to the three games in Philly. Have to rent a car to drive out there, but it should be fun, I've gone north and east of Toronto in various holidays but never south. I've not been to Philadelphia or Niagara Falls, or any of the other places I'll get to drive through.
As well as him helping me buy tickets for the game in Philly he offered to upgrade our tickets for the Cardinal series, which was very nice of him. So we are going to have tickets somewhere in behind the plate there. All-in-all I'm starting to look forward to the trip again. I'm giving up on the idea that we could get an interview or two while I'm there, I'm just going to enjoy the baseball.
So all is good, I'm feeling ok about being a Jay's fan again.