Why don't the Blue Jays have a warning track?

[Mr. Laser Beam]

This doesn't really apply to 2021 baseball as such, so I decided not to derail that thread.

As most of us who've seen Blue Jays games know, SkyDome's field doesn't have a warning track. There is an area that looks like one, but it is literally the same turf as the rest of the field, just painted brown.

My question is, what's the damn POINT?

I mean, everyone knows what the warning track is for: so outfielders can tell when they're about to run into the wall. It's not there for looks, for crying out loud. So why do they even bother?

And don't tell me that it makes it easier to shift the playing field from baseball to football (back when the Argos played there), because all of the old cookie cutter stadiums like Riverfront, the Vet, Three Rivers, etc. had actual dirt warning tracks.

So what's the deal here? If it's not an actual warning track, why bother to make it look like one? And has this ever been a problem for outfielders (meaning, has a guy ever slammed into the wall when backing up because he couldn't tell he was about to hit it)?

 

[Timby]

And don't tell me that it makes it easier to shift the playing field from baseball to football (back when the Argos played there), because all of the old cookie cutter stadiums like Riverfront, the Vet, Three Rivers, etc. had actual dirt warning tracks.

It is, partially, about the conversion from baseball to football, because the Argos begin play in June, ergo switching it to football use and back a logistical nightmare.

Nowadays, it just seems to be about preserving the uniform look of the ratty turf they call a field.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I actually had no idea that the CFL begins play earlier than the NFL. My bad...

anyhoo, I guess SkyDome would get a real warning track if and when the Jays manage to score the natural grass field they've always wanted, but probably will take years to afford...

 

[cardinal biggles]

Can you do natural grass in a domed stadium, even if the dome is retractable?

 

[Timby]

anyhoo, I guess SkyDome would get a real warning track if and when the Jays manage to score the natural grass field they've always wanted, but probably will take years to afford...

The Rogers Centre is owned by a telecom company that literally makes tens of billions of dollars in revenue per year. There is absolutely nothing stopping them from being able to afford real grass.

Can you do natural grass in a domed stadium, even if the dome is retractable?

Oh, sure. American Family Field (formerly Miller Park) in Milwaukee has natural Kentucky bluegrass, for example.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

The Rogers Centre is owned by a telecom company that literally makes tens of billions of dollars in revenue per year. There is absolutely nothing stopping them from being able to afford real grass..

I didn't know Rogers actually owned the stadium. I thought they just had the naming rights.

Can you do natural grass in a domed stadium, even if the dome is retractable?

The Astrodome had real grass when it was first built.

They had to get rid of it when the clear tiles in the ceiling were covered over (the sunlight was getting in the players' eyes) and the grass died. Thus giving rise to...AstroTurf.

 

[Timby]

I didn't know Rogers actually owned the stadium. I thought they just had the naming rights.

Nope. The entire facility, from the sports arena to the convention and events space, is fully owned by Rogers Communication, and has been for like fifteen years.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

The entire facility, from the sports arena to the convention and events space, is fully owned by Rogers Communication

Not including the attached Marriott, I assume?

 

[Timby]

Not including the attached Marriott, I assume?

That one I'm not entirely sure about. The vast majority--something like 99.4 percent--of Marriott hotels are franchised, as opposed to being owned by Marriott International, and transferring those franchise rights is a massive pain in the ass (there are a lot of hoops for a potential franchisee to jump through), so it's entirely possible the original owner / operator of that particular franchise still runs it. I'm too tired to go through Marriott's investor relations documentation to see who specifically runs that hotel.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Every time I stay there I keep wondering if a home run has ever been hit into one of the rooms.

(AFAIK, none have, although Canseco once hit one into the upper deck during the '89 ALCS.)

 

[Danny99]

They did have to put something on the windows because a couple was caught having sex during a game.

Earlier this year, there were rumblings that the team was looking into a building a new stadium. Rogers Centre is currently surrounded on all sides by roads, buildings etc and one of the first rumblings was that there was a plan to build the shell around the current building and then tear it down at some point. A lot of people were talking about having it on the Toronto waterfront, but as things have been during the Shapiro/Atkins era, they dispelled the rumours by saying little at all.

It's in a good spot on transit, but it is a horrible stadium otherwise. It is concrete, concrete and more concrete and has long been left behind as one of the premier ballparks.

And Rogers owns the team, the stadium and is one of the two big telecommunications company in Canada. It's been my opinion that they've never treated the team as more of a line item than anything else. They did go get Ryu and Springer and we have the young core coming, but the true test will be when those players come due.

 

[cardinal biggles]

They did have to put something on the windows because a couple was caught having sex during a game.

I remember hearing about that! That was what, 1991 or '92 when that happened?

 

[Danny99]

^^ Apparently it's happened three times. I didn't know that, but if you really want to go searching, the video is online.

 

[cardinal biggles]

Nah, I'm good. When I watch baseball, I watch baseball; when I watch PornHub, I watch PornHub.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Speaking of warning tracks, it seems Doug Glanville doesn't think they're needed. Linky

 

[Timby]

Speaking of warning tracks, it seems Doug Glanville doesn't think they're needed. Linky

No one has given a single shit about anything Doug Glanville has to say for like 20 years, I'm not going to start now.