Phillies-Blue Jays series relocated to Philly
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Phillies-Blue Jays series relocated to Philly
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
DENVER -- The Phillies will be the road team at their own ballpark from June 25-27.
Major League Baseball announced Tuesday it has relocated the Interleague series between the Phillies and Blue Jays originally scheduled to be played at Rogers Centre to Citizens Bank Park following security concerns with the G20 Summit in Toronto the same weekend.
The Blue Jays will be the home team in all three games and bat last. The designated hitter will also be in use.
The decision to move the games was reached following consultations with the Blue Jays, the Phillies, the G20 Summit Management, the Integrated Security Unit and the City of Toronto, according to a press release.
"After reviewing all of the options with the parties and taking all of the security considerations into account, it was determined that the best course of action is to play the series in Philadelphia," Commissioner Bud Selig said. "I appreciate the cooperation of the Blue Jays, the Phillies and all of the parties who have helped resolve this challenging situation."
Added Blue Jays president Paul Beeston: “This was an extremely difficult decision and one which we did not take lightly. By moving our games to Philadelphia, we are acting in the best interests of our fans, our employees, the players and the game of baseball. We did not want to move the games but in looking at the realities of this situation, we felt that relocation was the most prudent course of action.”
The game time for Friday June 25 will be 7:05 p.m. Saturday's game time is still undetermined. And Sunday's game will begin at 1:35 p.m.
Ticket information for these games has not yet been released.
An MLB spokesman said the Comissioner's Office and the two clubs are working together on a revenue distribution plan for ticket and concession sales.
Beeston told The Globe and Mail he expects the Blue Jays to break even revenue-wise. So it appears the Phillies will bring in some extra cash after all this.
UPDATE (2:10 p.m.): Here is some ticket information, courtesy of John Weber, Phillies vice president, sales and ticket operations:
Season ticket holders will be contacted in the next three to seven days about purchasing tickets. After that, the general public will be able to buy tickets within the next 10 to 14 days.
Weber said the Phillies are working with Major League Baseball and the Blue Jays with the conflict and revenue will be distributed.
The Saturday game will be played in the afternoon and the game time will be determined in the coming days, Weber said.
Said Weber: "It's another great weekend series for our fans to come and support the team"
this could be the answer to our prayers, but we need to bang the place out every game (shouldn't be a problem) and we might need another series or two (aren't there clear & present dangers in D.C. or Pittsburgh sometime this summer around the time the Phils are scheduled? - invite them here!). If we conservatively guesstimate that the Phightin's get a $1M/game boost from this (I think think that's VERY conservative), 9 games should just about get us to where Werth fits in the budget next year, assuming some minor (i.e. not Ibanez) cuts elsewhere).— Krusty- this could be the answer to our prayers, but we need to bang the place out every game (shouldn't be a problem) and we might need another series or two (aren't there clear & present dangers in D.C. or Pittsburgh sometime this summer around the time the Phils are scheduled? - invite them here!). If we conservatively guesstimate that the Phightin's get a $1M/game boost from this (I think think that's VERY conservative), 9 games should just about get us to where Werth fits in the budget next year, assuming some minor (i.e. not Ibanez) cuts elsewhere).— Krusty
agreed, if the phillies are the "road" team, bring on the baby blues.— Pelti- Why ? Cliff Lee pitches for the Mariners— gonegator
- Stop your whinning. Nothing wrong with playing the 3 games in Philly. man people have to whine about everything!— lugomen1955
