That’s pretty much what’s being claimed by musician, author and Jays fan Dave Bidini, who tells Newstalk 1010’s Siobhan Morris, “people go to the games now, have too many beers and expect to be somehow rewarded by a victory bythe team, just simply because they bought a ticket.” Clearly, the team that inspired Drunk Jays Fans has spawned EVEN DRUNKER JAYS FANS (link swiped from Repoz and Baseball Think Factory)
“Guys with reversed baseball caps with wrap-around sunglasses coming in from Oshawa or Whitby…who act like jerks and then leave”, is how the Etobicoke native describes the problematic fans responsible for “a lot of vomit, a lot fighting” in the stands.
Bidini suggests the Jays’ own marketing is partly to blame for turning their home field into a “drunken destination point”.
“Baseball, I think has become very anxious and neurotic in terms of their fanbase eroding or dying off. They’re trying to make it come across as a bit more of a young people’s sport.”
Though not a problem exclusive to Toronto, Bidini feels the team is pushing the wrong elements of the ballpark atmosphere to line up with a younger, more party-oriented crowd: lots of contests, big screen displays, giant beers and women’s team shirts that declare “I <3 BJs”.
Bidini is baffled by the level of drunkenness under the Dome, given the price of stadium beer. “It’s not a cheap drunk. Like, you’re blowing a hundred, 150 dollars.” He’s convinced the rowdy, young fans are people just passing through Toronto for the night or a weekend. “If you’re a kid living in the city, you don’t really have the disposable income to go down to a Jays game and drink 17 beers.”