All Things Travel: Toronto Baseball Fans Are True Blue
CBSBoston – Toronto sports fans were out in force to see the final baseball games of the season against the Red Sox in Boston.
It was a rainy fall weekend, but they liked what they saw as the Blue Jays made a bid for their team getting to the post-season with a 4-3 win on Saturday night at Fenway.
The fall weather did not affect their. Four of them were interviewed over breakfast at Boston's Colonnade Hotel, a 10-minute walk from Fenway Park.
It was Big Papi's last game, but it wasn't just baseball that brought these fans to Boston.
They drove from Toronto to Boston and bought their tickets online over a month ago.
It was a sports weekend that brought them here. They would go to the Red Sox game on Saturday and drive out to Gillette Stadium on Sunday to watch the Patriots play the Buffalo Bills, who might be considered Toronto's NFL team, on Sunday.
They would then drive home to be back at work Monday morning.
To a person, they all said they preferred the National Football League on TV to the Canadian Football League.
They are also Maple Leaf hockey fans, and hope the Toronto team will make the NHL Playoffs in 2017 over the Boston Bruins.
The trolley tours going by The Colonnade on Saturday were full, and the blue caps of Toronto could be seen as they passed the hotel.
Norman Maines, the doorman at the hotel, who is the best person in welcoming people to Boston and taking the pulse of visitors, said baseball is big business.
There were plenty of Canadian fans in town, he said. Toronto ranked second only to San Francisco visitors in total numbers, said Maines.
Keep in mind that Canadians need a passport to visit the U.S. and to attend a game here.
If you fly south from Canada to Boston, three Canadian carriers offer daily service: Air Canada, Porter Air, and this year for the first time, WestJet.
With all the new carriers flying to Logan Airport from Europe this year, it is easy to forget that Canada sends the most visitors to Massachusetts.
"All Things Travel" reports with Bob Weiss can be heard on WBZ NewsRadio 1030.
