My one issue with the newest Rogers Centre renovations

My one issue with the newest Rogers Centre renovations

hey everybody Zach hample back here with you at Roger Center in Toronto and I am extra fired up for today’s game because the Blue Jays are wearing their City connect uniforms and I am told that there will be a Special Commemorative baseball to go along with it during the game so I’m really hoping to snag one of those and I’m also looking forward to spending some time in foul territory getting up even closer than I was last night in the Outfield to the newly renovated 100 level so I’ll show you guys that and if you see all these fans behind me and actually follow me around this way there’s a massive line and it is still more than an hour before these gates open because they’re giving away City connect backpacks so lots of fans have showed up it’s going to be crazy during batting practice very challenging but I ready for it let’s go yeah you I’m just here for a f what’s up Colton cower un I only have one for the road trip and we have we have six more games [Applause] come on Zach you left him hanging this is just a regular ball what’s up you left him hanging he went to give you a high five oh look at this come here the man just hooked it up that’s right baby thank you oh my god up for the record I love this man very much here it is and yesterday during the game when we were chatting over by the bullpen one thing we talked about was these baseballs and I was like dude keep a lookout for one I was thinking if I don’t get one during the game today and he got one maybe after the game he could hook it up got the bad boy came through the bad boy came through great guy so there it is there he is Ben carart or should I say Ben carart always that out thank you very welcome and I’ll see this man soon in Tampa Tampa yes sir yes sir so all right you go back to work I got to go back to work I always doet nice to see you oh come on pull it there’s another shot for the second group of O BP I decided to head to the Terrace where there’s a bar it’s sort of like the second deck right above the bullpen and right field there were a few lefties up there I was hoping that they’d pull some baseballs to this spot but they didn’t they kept blasting them out toward Right Center where I’d been maybe I should have stayed there but but it’s just so crowded in that spot again because of the giveaway so I feel like this is a good spot in general just follow me around again you can see what the layout is we got to get this guy in the video my man right here so um yeah it’s the final group of O BP now I’m just keeping an eye on who’s it bat we got two righties one Lefty should I go to Left Field I don’t know I’ll make a decision soon but three baseballs so far and the most important one of course is this City connect ball courtesy of Ben carart [Music] so I really was not coming close to any home runs in left field until this one sort of but it fell just short of the front row and then the ball boy down on the warning track tossed it up to that girl I guess that was her dad helping her make the grab so that was nice to see and that is the ball boy who helped me get the commemorative I’ll get him in the video more into just a bit but this was the end of batting practice unfortunately so I got those three baseballs which was okay and I was really eager to get over into foul territory as promised but first there were a whole lot of fans that wanted me to sign stuff and take some pictures so of course I wanted to take care of everyone but it was a little stressful because I knew that I had very limited time before the game began here I am signing one of those City connect backpacks and so here I go into foul territory and down the stairs into the seats and I walked over to take a peek over this side wall and in just a sec I’m going to show you an old photo that I took at this Stadium like a decade ago here it is during batting practice and just look how different everything looked back then so yeah I was again just wandering around soaking it all in seeing it up close and in person for the first time just remarkable the Jays did such an amazing job with the stadium but I’m not a fan of this that Plexi glass partition which you can see leads to this walkway Behind The Dugout I refer to this as a moat you can’t go down there even during batting practice unless you have a ticket and look I realize that what I’m about to say is a complete fantasy but I just wish that everybody could have access to every part of the stadium when teams start putting in premium seats everywhere it’s just a less enjoyable experience for the folks who are often the biggest fans and can’t afford it but anyway here I am down by The Dugout Anthony Sanders the Orioles first base coach he is the man and in all sincerity I hope that you guys are not getting sick of seeing the Orioles so much on my channel but they’re just so much fun and I love their stadium and Calin Jr was my very favorite player as a kid despite the fact that I grew up in New York as a Mets fan and I mean we got to get the 2024 World Series champions in a bunch of videos right uh yeah anyway check out this fun footage of both national anthems [Music] now don’t get me wrong no disrespect to adley but that baby in the previous clip was definitely my favorite person in the stadium and so the starting lineups were being announced and I wandered over to this spot yet another premium area where most fans can’t go so that’s annoying but it is cool like I said the Jay’s did a tremendous tremendous job renovating this place and just check out more of the hype and activity leading up toward first pitch [Music] this game is underway and unfortunately the roof is closed tonight because there’s a threat of rain anyway that ball boy that I was chatting with right before the game started that’s Owen and he’s the dude that hooked up Ben carart with the commemorative that ended up in my hands so I’ve gotten him in a video in the past he’s been so cool and I just wanted to say thank you to him before the game started so you can see where I am here over on the first base side this should be a decent spot to maybe get a third out ball from the Orioles I’m certainly wearing the right gear and the right color so we will see how that goes [Music] both the Orioles and Jays are looking good tonight at the plate and for the O’s it was Anthony santand going yard 436 ft into the second deck and so this game is in the third inning now tied at two and you can see where I am just chilling in the Concourse for a moment no luck so far with third out balls but I’m going to jump back down to my seat in a moment and what’s up YouTube indeed people here know what’s up and still plenty of ball game left win third ta the to [Music] [Applause] Cent you’re not bunting vaty come on see I must have Jinxed the offenses because there have been nothing but goose eggs going up on the scoreboard ever since top of the sixth right now still tied at two and I’m here with a good friend of mine named Jesse not sure if we’ve really gotten him in a video for real before but now is the time so you are a ball Hawk yes sir based on the west coast Y how many lifetime balls um I’d have to say probably like 7800 I really don’t going to have time to sit down and count them but well do it that’s your homework assignment so this guy is also doing stuff with bat Boys Baseball so check them out and your personal insta is big baller Miller with two RS all right you can see it right up here on the screen show him some love and I’m actually going to head to the Outfield just change things up maybe hang out in The Standing Room I’ll leave you here in foul territory to try to snag the commemorative thank you sir you’re welcome you know professional courtesy but I just want to ask you and I want to tell people like what are your thoughts on the Jay’s City connect uniforms um they’re cool um they kind of looks like the seats looks like looks like the seats this this is the view by the way navy blue yeah sort of are they navy blue or black I don’t know I don’t know I think they’re a little too dark I think they’re cool but they look better on TV but when you’re here in person you really you’re just seeing black so you know I like Bo bashet with the the pants pulled up the Red Socks blatty with the red like elbow sleeve that looks cool but otherwise I think it’s a little too dark but you know people are into it they’re using commemorative balls of course so that’s cool I’m not going to complain too much but yeah again just wanted to get you in the video if you see this man at a game tell him hello and uh yeah I think maybe after the third out here as Anthony santand draws a walk I’m going to head out to right [Music] field I love that [Applause] woo St bro thr real stength bro everything’s FL inside bro I like buddy chill c down a little bit that’s fast this standing room area is fun in theory but when it gets this crowded there’s really not a whole lot that you can do great proximity to the bullpen of course as we have a deep fly out to Right Center so I think I’m going to head back upstairs to that balcony that Terrace where I was for a group and BP not expecting anything but it’s just fun to wander and check out this place from some different angles well maybe this was a dumb idea [Music] so this game was still tied at two as it headed to the bottom of the ninth inning and with Craig Kimbrell warming up in the bullpen I just wasn’t sure which Kimbrell we were going to see because he’s had some ups and downs this season and you are about to find out ready for it yeah that is a wild pickoff throw which allowed the pinch Runner Cav beio to advance to second with nobody out so it was not looking good for the O’s right here beio mov to Third on a deep fly out from Alejandro Kirk and then this happened the gamewinner off the bat of Isaiah ker FFA even if that ball had been caught it would have been a sack fly to end it so there goes beio touching home plate with the winning run and you can see the celebrations spilling out into shallow left field a huge moment lots of excitement for the Jays and then vlat dumps the Gatorade cooler and look what he does here he trolls Hazel May the TV reporter and runs off like a naughty little kid I love it so Yim Garcia was the winner the only home run was hit by Anthony sandir that is Owen the ball boy hard at work after the final out thanks again to him for the city connect baseball hookup 3 to2 that was your final score and lots of guys were working hard the grounds Keepers right here prepping the mound for the next day so I was hanging out with some fans some photos some autographs and my night was not done I had heard from my friend Bob that the 500 level was going to be open for an hour after the game the corona rooftop patio so I thought you know what I’m going to head upstairs and hang out here this will be a cool place to wrap up my video so you can just see the Glorious view from way up high I showed this area last year that had been newly renovated for last season and so I was just standing around making some notes on my phone reading the box score thinking about everything that I wanted to say to you guys while my videographer was getting these cool shots but unfortunately the patio was not going to be open for much longer in fact security told us that it was just about time to leave so that was a bummer but it happens and so that concluded my time inside the stadium and now back outside to wrap this thing up for you guys so I got three baseballs today gave two of them away and of course of course I kept one of them and it’s this one the Blue Jays City connect commemorative ball I didn’t talk about this logo earlier but I think it’s really slick and really pretty just you know the classic tea you got the maple leaf right there what’s not to love about this so I am so happy this is my 151st different commemorative ball that I’ve ever gotten and I have photos of all of those baseballs on my website blackle.com so check the description I’ll throw a link to the page where you can see all those commemoratives going back to the 199s and so the three balls that I snag well that brings the lifetime total I’m not going to shout it cuz it’s a little echoey here but the lifetime total is 12556 and other than that um I am flying to Tampa tomorrow and I’ll be there for 3 games and guess who I’m seeing yes the Orioles so get ready for some of that action uh I think uh that’s about it thank you guys for watching please subscribe and off I go into the Toronto night

The Toronto Blue Jays did an AMAZING job of transforming this dumpy stadium into a world-class baseball venue, but did they make it TOO nice? I walked all around the 100 Level in foul territory to see the newest renovations up close, and there was a lot on my mind. What do YOU think about the new-look Rogers Centre?

This was also a special day because the Jays wore their City Connect uniforms and used a commemorative baseball for the occasion during the game, so my number one goal was to snag one. Did I succeed? What do you think of Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s pitching windup? How close did I get to Gunnar Henderson and the rest of the Baltimore Orioles? Which of the standing-room sections is your favorite? Why did I go to the upper deck AFTER the winning run scored?

This video was filmed on June 5, 2024 by Rachel Messbauer, and it was edited by Zac Gutherman (@zg_films). Thanks for watching (and extra-thanks if your name is Ben Carhart . . . or Owen).