An open-air ballpark where seagulls sometimes delayed the game

Exhibition Stadium

Before Rogers Centre, the Toronto Blue Jays played their first twelve seasons at Exhibition Stadium, an open-air multi-purpose venue at Exhibition Place notorious for wind, cold, and flocks of gulls.

Toronto skyline, 2012 — Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

Exhibition Stadium, at Exhibition Place, served as home to the Toronto Blue Jays from the team's 1977 inaugural season through 1989, and had already hosted the CFL's Toronto Argonauts for decades before that. Originally built for football and track and field, the stadium's baseball configuration was widely regarded as awkward, with many seats facing away from home plate and a wide foul territory that ate up potential hits.

Wind, cold, and seagulls

The open-air, lakeside stadium became notorious among players and fans for brutal early-season and late-season weather, including snow delays in April, and for large flocks of seagulls that would gather on the field during games, occasionally requiring stoppages to clear them off before play could continue. The Blue Jays moved into the fully enclosed, retractable-roof SkyDome in 1989, and Exhibition Stadium was demolished in 1999, its site now partly occupied by BMO Field.

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Exhibition Place

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Rogers Centre, home of the Toronto Blue Jays

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