BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Toronto Blue Jays are back in Buffalo, and this time with fans in the stands. And Sahlen Field got quite the makeover to get ready for this historic day.
A lot of improvements were made, including a new clubhouse, weight and cardio rooms, a lounge, training and recovery rooms. These are all now up to MLB standards, and they'll be sticking around long after this season.
Another new addition includes brand new climate-controlled batting cages.
Also, the bullpens were moved behind right field; the old bullpens were in the field of play. And speaking of that, there's new sod in the outfield, a new warning track, new foul poles. The ballpark also got new LED lighting, plus a couple of new light poles to fill in some gaps.
The construction is much more substantial than a lot of the temporary work that happened for last season.
"Construction has been going on for a few months, so it definitely was better to have more than three weeks like we had last time, but it has been down to the wire," said Jessica Wood, Blue Jays manager of promotions. "We're excited for the end result that we've gotten to."