Blue Jays: A Look at the MiLB Stadiums in the system

Vancouver Canadians (A Short-Season)- Nat Bailey Stadium

The oldest club in Canada, and they play in the oldest stadium in the country as well. Although the Vancouver Canadians have only played in the Northwest League for the past 20 seasons, the Canuck club has hopped around the baseball pyramid throughout their history.

The Nat Bailey Stadium, Originally built as Capilano Stadium in 1951 is one of Vancouver’s hidden treasures. Vancouver in the grand scheme of things is a big league city, although all of that is forgotten when one steps into the friendly confines of “The Nat.” before renovations, “The Nat” had a capacity of less than 4,000, although the capacity has been increased to 6,479 thanks to new ownership in 2009.

The stadium has all of the features one would look for in a charming minor league park. The game day experience pitches a “vintage” theme. Everything from a single concourse, to outdoor barbecues, to the lineups written in chalk on the wall. Everything was renovated in 2009, and it has become one of the premier destinations for minor league fanatics.

A single grandstand features wooden bleachers, and there are fancier seats that dot the baselines. The concessions feature some of the craziest offerings in baseball, including freshly made sushi and three-foot long hot dogs.  The pitchers warm up in foul territory rather than in a bullpen, and the backdrop is the astoundingly picturesque Queen Elizabeth Park.

Blue Jays prospects love the stadium, especially being able to live in Vancouver while playing minor league ball. Although the stadium is far off many of their expectations. Prospect Griffin Conine said,

"“It’s not what I was expecting it to be like where I started, Everyone says it’s a really long road and when you start out, not many people come out for the games and you don’t always play at the nicest venues. But I think we’ve got the nicest field in the league, which is it’s pretty great.”"

And his words pretty well sum up everybody’s experience when they visit the old stadium in east Vancouver. I wrote an in depth piece on The Nat, feel free to check it out if you’re interested.