{"id":365390,"date":"2025-10-25T06:06:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-25T06:06:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/365390\/"},"modified":"2025-10-25T06:06:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-25T06:06:13","slug":"at-home-opener-some-raptors-fans-get-distracted-by-world-series-neighbours","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/365390\/","title":{"rendered":"At home opener, some Raptors fans get distracted by World Series \u2018neighbours\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

TORONTO \u2014 The home opener of an 82-game season can unite a city. Accordingly, the CN Tower, the jewel of Toronto\u2019s skyline, was lit up red and black for the Raptors on Friday night \u2014 well, at least it was some of the time.<\/p>\n

Less than two hours before the Raptors were scheduled to begin their home season with a game against the Milwaukee Bucks, head coach Darko Rajakovi\u0107 strolled into a small room adjacent to the team\u2019s locker room, as usual. Unlike his predecessor, Nick Nurse, Rajakovi\u0107 doesn\u2019t generally wear a baseball cap.<\/p>\n

On Friday? Rajakovi\u0107 wore a Toronto Blue Jays hat to his pre-game news conference.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny questions about the Raptors?\u201d Rajakovi\u0107 asked before he had to field any questions from reporters. He was aware the city\u2019s sports attention was, errr, split.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t worry: The CN Tower was also lit up blue and gold for the first game of the World Series on Friday, too. Game 1 of that series went on Friday. The Raptors also played the Bucks, a 122-116 loss, with the home team bumping the game\u2019s start time<\/a> up by an hour to minimize the conflict between the two games. After the basketball game ended, the Raptors put the World Series game on the big screen that hangs over the court at Scotiabank Arena. A few thousand fans stuck around to see Daulton Varsho\u2019s two-run homer that tied the game in the fourth inning, ultimately an 11-4 Blue Jays win<\/a>. A loud roar reached the back of the arena. A smaller crowd celebrated even more joyously when Addison Barger hit the first pinch-hit grand slam in World Series history.<\/p>\n

It was clear which game was the undercard.<\/p>\n

The Raptors did not hide from that. During a timeout, they played \u201cOK Blue Jays<\/a>,\u201d the baseball team\u2019s folksy song used during the seventh-inning stretch since early in the franchise\u2019s existence. The fans merrily sang along. The game operations crew had already spliced George Springer\u2019s go-ahead homer from Game 7 of the American League Championship Series into a montage of memorable recent Toronto sports moments, including Jozy Altidore\u2019s goal for Toronto FC in the 2017 MLS Cup and Kawhi Leonard\u2019s four-bounce miracle shot to win the Eastern Conference semifinals for the Raptors in 2019. Before the basketball game ended, the Raptors put the score on the big screen several times, and boos rained down when public address announcer Herbie Kuhn told fans the Dodgers had scored the game\u2019s first run.<\/p>\n

The Raptors are repping their neighbours down the street for the World Series tonight \ud83c\udde8\ud83c\udde6<\/p>\n

(via: @Raptors<\/a>) pic.twitter.com\/6UyfCJMJQM<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 TSN (@TSN_Sports) October 24, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

Credit where it\u2019s due: Despite the early start time, the arena was mostly filled by the 6:30 local start time, even if some of those fans wished they were five blocks away at Rogers Centre, preparing for first pitch.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re monitoring it, of course,\u201d fan Delton Bartlette said just 15 minutes before first pitch while rocking both Blue Jays and Raptors jerseys. \u201cWe\u2019re here to support the home team. It\u2019s the home opener, this is big. But our hearts are a little focused on what\u2019s going on down there as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, why still rep the Raptors in Scotiabank Arena?<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the price was a big factor,\u201d his friend Lee Seward said with a laugh. Most tickets on the resale market were selling for well north of $1,000 per seat in the days leading up to Game 1. \u201cBut we haven\u2019t missed an opener for the Raptors in like five years. Obviously, if we had to pick from one or the other, it would be watching the World Series, but we love these guys.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even if they could only be with their Blue Jays in spirit, Bartlette and Seward had their phones charged up and ready to stream the game from their seats at the Raptors game, determined to not miss a pitch at Rogers Centre.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, it\u2019s the World Series over there,\u201d Bartette exclaimed.<\/p>\n

Unless you\u2019re a Los Angelino, they don\u2019t come around often. Thirty-two years and one day prior to Friday night, Joe Carter knocked a Mitch Williams pitch over the left-field wall to give the Toronto Blue Jays their second consecutive World Series. Back then, what is now known as Rogers Centre was called the SkyDome. The derelict Toronto Postal Service Centre, now Scotiabank Arena, was on the eastern end of Bremner Boulevard, the street that connects the two buildings. Back then, it was still standing only because it was protected as a building of architectural and historic importance by the Ontario Heritage Act.<\/p>\n

Before Friday, that was the last time a World Series game had been played in Toronto. Garrett Temple, who is 39, was the only Raptor who was alive when that game was played. Only one of Toronto\u2019s three most prominent professional sports teams has been in a final series since Carter\u2019s home run \u2014 the Raptors in 2019. This was the first time since June 10 of that year, when Draymond Green blocked a Kyle Lowry 3-pointer at the buzzer and sent that matchup back to Oakland, that the city had played host to a championship series game.<\/p>\n

The Raptors crowd, generally decked out in red, black, gold, purple, white and some of the other colours the Raptors have featured over the years, sported far more blue than usual on Friday. From hats to jerseys to bomber jackets, lots of the Blue Jays gear nodded to those previous World Series trips.<\/p>\n

Alijah Martin, the Raptors rookie on a two-way contract who was not active for the game, wore a white Blue Jays jersey underneath his zip-up with a new Jays cap. A bunch of Raptors came into the arena wearing Blue Jays gear, including reserve shooter Jamison Battle wearing a Louis Varland jersey. You\u2019ve got to appreciate a man who appreciates high-leverage relievers. Even The Raptor, Toronto\u2019s mascot, changed into a Blue Jays jersey for the second half.<\/p>\n

Nav Bhatia, the Raptors\u2019 \u201cSuperfan\u201d who received a championship ring for the 2019 title, has attended every Raptors home game ever, save for those he could not go to because of the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is my home. This is my first love,\u201d Bhatia said before the game from his baseline courtside seats when asked if he considered heading across the street. \u201c(The Blue Jays) are my neighbours. I wish them all the best. They\u2019re going to do well. But I\u2019m here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bhatia said that with an open Blue Jays jersey, with \u201c95\u201d and \u201cSuperfan\u201d on the back, on top of his Raptors jersey. There is a season for all things.<\/p>\n