I never thought I'd get to watch a Tampa Bay Rays baseball game outside of Tropicana Field, but last Friday night we did just that...up in Toronto! Our hometown team just happened to be visiting the city the same time we were (my husband was up here for work). We planned on going to the series opener and just bought our tickets at the box office right before the game, picking our seats behind the Rays dugout along the 1st base line. Dressed in our Rays shirts, we didn't know what to expect walking into the Rogers Centre stadium. Was it going to be inhospitable? Were the Blue Jays fans going to boo us? We were already foreigners visiting Canada, now we were definitely foreigners amongst the thousands of people at the game. LUCKILY, we sat on the same row as other Rays fans!!! It was awesome as we had fellow comrades to talk to and cheer with; actually they came all the way from St. Pete to watch the game! And we saw other Rays fans, too, seated in the stands and walking around. It was a fun game and wonderful to see so many Canadians enjoying this great American past time. But I think we enjoyed it even more because we won 8-5! And eventually, we ended up SWEEPING the Blue Jays in all three games during the series, much like the infamous HEAT WAVE that swept through much of northeast America, including Toronto, the week of our visit. Who knew Canada could get hotter than Florida?! It was hot alright, thanks to our red hot Rays!

(above photo: I pieced together about 8 total pictures that I took of the stadium to get the "big picture").

Thank you, ticket booth lady, for giving us seats right next to six other Rays fans! Here we are, pre-game photo ops.

Above are the fellow Rays fans we sat next to; they are all friends that traveled from St. Pete to watch the game. I love how they brought their posters and cheered so loud for our Rays! And below are other Rays fans that I saw sitting in the stands, with really nice jerseys on I might add.

Hot dog time! Mine's the one with onions.
You know the game is pretty much over when the losing team's fans throw their popcorn to the ground and start leaving the game. This one belonged to the Blue Jays fan who sat to my right. But yes, game over -- Rays win!
Rays TV broadcaster Todd Kalas waiting to interview one of our players. We were anticipating a pie-in-the-face moment but it didn't happen. Rays fans are the best fans...especially at an away game! Above are the six awesome Rays fans we sat next to, and below is another friendly St. Pete couple we met after the game.