Graham Holmes said he was crushed when his 37-year-long tradition of attending Blue Jays home openers would come to an abrupt end after he couldn’t buy tickets. But a last-minute surprise secured him a spot at Rogers Centre tonight, continuing his ritual for another year.
The father from Georgetown, Ont., had previously told CTV News Toronto he felt “priced out” from attending this year. He shared how his son attempted to snag seats when they first went on sale in January, but tickets vanished within 15 minutes with the cheapest options priced at $147.
“Two years ago, they (tickets) were $35, last year they went up to $50, and this year they went up to $150, $170,” Holmes said, weeks before Friday’s game. “I understand we did well in the World Series last year and everything, but, come on, that’s just unaffordable for a lot of people.”
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Holmes said he was making plans to have a couple of friends come over to his home to watch the game together. But, one of Holmes’s sons had a surprise waiting for his dad—a secret he had been keeping for weeks.
“My son said to check my emails,” Holmes told CTV News Toronto on Friday morning. “The first email said, ‘Blue Jays Ticket Office, Jake just sent you one Toronto Blue Jays ticket.’”
His son had purchased Holmes a ticket in the 500-level and Holmes is elated that his tradition can now continue, uninterrupted.
Had his son not surprised Holmes with a last-minute ticket, he may have still found its way to the game as a number of fans reached out to CTV News on Friday morning looking for a way to provide him with home opener tickets after reading his story.
“I was happy beyond, just glad I was going and would experience it with him again,” Holmes said of going to the game with his son.
Holmes had been attending the first home game of the Blue Jays season before the franchise even moved to SkyDome (now Rogers Centre). His first two home openers were at Exhibition Stadium, in 1988 and 1989. The Jays ultimately held their first game in the SkyDome a few months into the season and Holmes has attended every home opener held in the building.
“Exhibition Stadium was, I mean, we can all admit it was a bit of a dump,” the 61-year-old recounted. “I think I had outfield seats for that one, and they weren’t even lined up with the diamond because it was the old grandstand there.”
Holmes didn’t think he started a tradition back then, but the years would pass, and each year he would find himself returning to the stadium to watch the Jays kick off their season. So, he thought: “I’m gonna keep doing this.”
Holmes can still remember the very first time he took his eldest son to his first home game, when he was barely a year old.
“I remember having him on a leash in (the) SkyDome,” Holmes said, with a chuckle. “I bought four tickets just so that he wouldn’t interrupt anybody else.”
Holmes was one of dozens of people who reached out to CTV News after a callout seeking Blue Jays fans who have attended nearly every home opener last month.
Their explanation of why they have kept the tradition up year in and year out was nearly the same: they would go with each passing year to maintain a tradition with their loved ones, bonding in blue and white in the stands of the stadium.
Nick Colantonio, 49, would bring his nephew, sitting a row above the bullpen, so they could have a chance to mingle with the starting players. Colantonio says they would plan to get to the dugout early to try to get an autograph.
“Back then, like when I started going in ’99, I was living at home, so money was more available,” Colantonio told CTV News Toronto. “I would go to more games and take my nephew, he’s 25 now.”
For Quoc Truong, 40, attending the first home game of the season isn’t just for the love of baseball—it’s for commemorating a memory and holding onto a tradition that means everything.
For nearly two decades, Truong said he and his brother would go to the home opener together. Even after his brother’s death about a decade ago, Truong kept going as a way to quietly honour the bond they had built while sitting together at the arena.
“For the last 10 years, I’ve been going without him,” Truong said in an interview with CTV News Toronto.
As a tribute to his brother, Truong says he puts on his Alex Anthopoulos jersey for the season opener game—a piece of memorabilia his brother once gave him after confidently predicting Anthopoulos would one day lead the franchise as general manager.
Now, the tradition is evolving once again for Truong. While he is often joined by his relatives, Truong soon hopes to pass it down to his son, who is expected to be born this April.
“Hopefully he falls in love with the Jays as much as I do, too,” Truong said. “It’s a very special moment.”
For Truong, the Blue Jays have been more than just a baseball team. They are a thread connecting his past to his future; a reminder of childhood, family, and what it means to belong.
Truong said he first moved to Canada from Vietnam in 1990, and the energy seen and felt in the city when the Jays clinched their first World Series win was “eye-opening.”
“People are jumping on my dad’s car, and then the excitement, my mom, my dad, screaming … like ‘What the hell (are) these people doing, there’s lunatics jumping on the car,’” Truong said. “Then me, I’m just like, ‘Wow, this, I want to be part of this.’”
It was a moment that not only ignited his love of baseball, but one that shaped his sense of what it means to be a Canadian. Truong called it his “Canadian initiation.”
“It’s kind of my identity as a Canadian,” Truong said. “Last year, when Springer hit the home run, I was at the game, tears running down my eyes. For me, that’s like my true Canadian moment. The Blue Jays allow me to have that moment.”
Tonight’s home opener is set for 7 p.m. at the Rogers Centre with a special pre-game ceremony to celebrate the Jays American League championship season.
With files from CTV News Toronto’s Jermaine Wilson
