Canadian Blue Jays fans “did not dominate” T-Mobile Park this weekend for their series against the Mariners as they have in the past amid President Trump opening a “bitter feud with Canada.” It is a “rite of summer in Seattle” -- when the Blue Jays come to town, “their Canadian fans will follow.” But it is “no longer always the case” as “something as innocent as a night at the ballpark has been caught up in the cultural and political battles roiling both nations.” There was still “thousands of Blue Jays fans at Friday night’s game, the opener of a three-game series,” but Mariners jerseys in the crowd “outnumbered Jays and Maple Leafs.” The chants of “‘Let’s go, Blue Jays,’ once ubiquitous when Toronto was in town, were scant.” Last year’s three-day homestand against the Blue Jays averaged 35,880 in T-Mobile Park over July 4 weekend. But Friday night’s series opener saw a crowd of 31,564. Blue Jays manager John Schneider said of the crowd, “Not quite as full as it has been in the past, and understandably so” (SEATTLE TIMES, 5/9).
Mariners see lower Canadian turnout for Jays series
