Ontario court to hear argument against use of “Chief Wahoo” logo

The Ontario Divisional Court is set to hear arguments from Indigenous activist Douglas Cardinal against the use of the so-called Chief Wahoo logo in the province on December 13th, a press release from the lawyer firm representing Cardinal states.

While the Toronto Blue Jays were playing in the American League Championship Series in 2016 against the Cleveland Indians, Cardinal brought his case against the Indians, Major League Baseball and Rogers Communications to the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal.

“Mr. Cardinal is confident that the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal does have the jurisdiction to hear his case,” said Monique Jilesen, one of Cardinal’s representatives. “We believe that Mr. Cardinal’s argument that the name and the Chief Wahoo logo are discriminatory should be decided on its merits.”

Previously, Major League Baseball unsuccessfully attempted to have the case dismissed on the grounds that the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal does not have jurisdiction over the case.

Rogers Communications is considering selling the Blue Jays along with other assets, such as Cogeco, to free up capital for other investments. From the Chief Financial Officer’s press conference in New York City, The Globe and Mail reported that no sale is imminent.

You can read more about the rumour here.

You can also try to buy the Blue Jays with donations to a very optimistic individual on Indiegogo here. It’s 3 * 10^-8 percent there.

The Atlanta Braves, headed by new general manager and former Blue Jay executive Alex Anthopoulos, hired George Poulis as their new head athletic trainer and director of player health yesterday, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet reported.

Poulis, Toronto’s head athletic trainer for the past 15 years, will replace Jeff Porter, Atlanta’s former head athletic trainer.

Along with the departure of Poulis, both assistant trainer Mike Frostad and strength coach Chris Joyner were fired on Tuesday, further shaking up the Blue Jay coaching staff that was, at the start of October, expected to remain intact for 2018.

Other news:

• Seven years ago today, Pat Gillick was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee.
• Toronto City Council voted 35-4 to continue with Rail Deck Park yesterday. Rail Deck Park, a plan that the Blue Jays formally support, would create a corridor of green park space along what is currently railroad tracks in downtown Toronto. The project, essentially a bridge over existing rail tracks, is estimated to cost $1.7 billion.
• It has nothing to do with the Blue Jays, but, out on the SB Nation Mariners’ site, an 83-year-old wrote a letter to Shohei Ohtani about why he should sign in Seattle. It’s pretty darn amazing.