Ryan Schaap started going to Seattle Mariners games 15 years ago and developed an affinity for the team. His wife Amanda Schultz, raised in a Blue Jays household, has become a Mariners fan through osmosis.Supplied
When Ryan Schaap first started going to Seattle Mariners games in the early 2010s, it was to see the visiting teams. The Vancouver resident didn’t care much for baseball but enjoyed the trips across the border with friends and coworkers, and figured he would assess the road teams for a favourite.
“But in my experiences going to the stadium and seeing the Mariners, who were not good at all, I developed an affinity for them,” said Schaap, a communications specialist. “The fan base, and the experience, really reminded me of Vancouver Canucks fans and their history with tragedy, sorrow and just general loss. And I was drawn to it.”
With the Mariners now leading the Toronto Blue Jays in the best-of-seven American League Championship Series, British Columbia’s divided baseball loyalties are on full display. They reflect allegiances forged by childhood nostalgia, geographic proximity and an enduring West Coast resistance to a city that sees itself as the country’s centre – all at a moment of frosty Canada-U.S. relations.
Schaap recalled the intense conflict of past trips to Seattle’s T-Mobile Park, when the Mariners have hosted the Jays. Before this year’s trade war made crossing the border feel like an act of treason, it was common for the American ballpark to be flooded with rowdy Canadians, drowning out Mariners’ support with chants of “Let’s go Blue Jays.”
“I’m in this incredibly odd spot where I’m a Canadian cheering for an American team, and then the Canadian team comes to town with all the Canadian fans, and me, I’m mad at the Canadians,” he said.
“I’ve had an entire therapy session before devoted to me dissecting the effect that the Mariners have on my psyche.”
Kit Krieger, a lifelong baseball enthusiast and member of the Society for American Baseball Research, said there was little excitement for the sport in the hockey-obsessed Vancouver region until around the early 2000s. But the Mariners’ 2001 signing of Japanese outfielder Ichiro Suzuki ignited fan loyalty, and the club’s dated, multipurpose Kingdome was replaced with the state-of-the-art ballpark now called T-Mobile Park, giving British Columbians even more incentive to go stateside for a game.
Around the same time, Rogers Communications Inc. acquired both Sportsnet and the Blue Jays, making Jays’ games available coast-to-coast.
Mr. Krieger, who is also former head of the BC Teachers’ Federation, said there is strong support for the Jays in B.C. but that a Vancouver-Toronto rivalry has contributed to divided loyalties.
“Vancouver and Toronto are not soulmates,” he said. “In B.C., there’s a sense of neglect in what is perceived as the arrogance of Toronto being the centre of the universe, and so we’ve often enjoyed things like the misery of the Toronto Maple Leafs.”
Amanda Schultz, Schaap’s wife, said she became a Mariners fan through osmosis, riding the highs and lows alongside her husband. Still, she hopes the Jays keep it close.
“I have very close friends and colleagues who are huge Jays fans, I lived in Toronto for a while and what I was looking forward to most was this series,” said Schultz, a project management consultant.
“As much as I obviously want the Mariners to come out on top, I want the Jays to rally, because I want this series to be fun and enjoyable and intense. But not as intense as the [Mariners’] Game 5 against Detroit.”
Lloyd Johnston and Shaun Funk arrived in Seattle from Vancouver by train on Wednesday for Game 3 of the ALCS wearing rival baseball caps, but the two friends said they’re only a “little conflicted.”
Johnston said he hadn’t crossed the border since U.S. President Donald Trump took office and hadn’t planned on it, but is making an exception for playoff baseball.
Both men said they’ll switch their allegiances depending on which team wins.
Funk joked that he’s been called a “turncoat” for his love of the Jays as the Canadian team as well as the Mariners, which are just a short trip over the border from Vancouver.
Dan Sellar grew up in Toronto and attended Jays games with his family since age 6 or 7. He recalled that Joe Carter’s 1993 World Series home run happened on his 12th birthday, creating a core memory and a lifelong fan.
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He carried that allegiance with him in a 2008 move to Victoria, where he continues to cheer for his team. He said he plans to be in Seattle for Game 5 – “if the baseball gods will allow.”
Sellar, who works in IT, said he skipped regular season games in Seattle this year in large part because of Canada-U.S. tensions. But he justifies a possible trip across the border this week with its potential to strengthen Canada’s economy.
“If supporting the Jays and being there makes it more of a home game for them and helps them potentially win some games, well that just means there will be more home games back in Toronto, and a huge economic benefit to Toronto and to Canada,” he said.
“So maybe I’m going to spend some money on beer and hot dogs in Seattle but the potential benefit to Toronto, if we win, is a lot bigger.”
With a report from the Canadian Press