Schneider relishes being in MLB's most unique market

This story was excerpted from Keegan Matheson’s Blue Jays Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Life in and around the Blue Jays is a little different than the other 29 teams.

Whether you’re a player, coach, staff member or a reporter covering the team, it means 324 national anthems a season, not 162. The Canadian anthems in road cities can be particularly ... interesting. It also means keeping a passport in your pocket, something the other 29 clubs only need to deal with when they come to Toronto.

The extra anthems and border crossings are a small price to pay, though, to play in MLB’s most unique market. That’s rarely clearer than this week each season, as Blue Jays fans stuff the ballot box for the All-Star Game and fill Rogers Centre on Canada Day.

Saturday’s Canada Day game had a special addition, too, as nine people were sworn in as Canadian citizens on the field just before first pitch.

“Baseball is America’s pastime, right? That’s what everyone says,” manager John Schneider said before the game. “But to me, baseball brings worlds together. Look at the diversity around the league and within every team. The fact that we, as a team, represent the entire country is very unique. That we can tie baseball into people becoming Canadian citizens today is awesome.”

Schneider has slowly come to know Canada as his home through his coaching career. He managed the Vancouver Canadians for part of the 2011 season, then returned to lead them in 2014-15 before continuing his climb up the ladder.

It struck Schneider immediately that he was not in just any market. There was something different.

“It was like, ‘Whoa.' The anthem is a little bit louder. The reaction to it is a little bit louder,” Schneider said. “You kind of feel the pride of a country. Then, carrying it over to 2019 when I got here for Canada Day, even in a subpar season, there was just this great vibe about the fanbase and in the stadium. You feel it. There is so much love for this country. You hear it every day in the Canadian anthem here. It’s louder than most American anthems on the road.”

It’s a subtle difference, of course. Maybe there’s an accent, the money has some more flair to it and you can sprain an ankle without fearing bankruptcy. What Schneider remembers most, though, after growing up in New Jersey and traveling the United States through his playing days, was the people of Canada when he arrived.

“I always go back to the people,” Schneider said. “How nice the people were and how welcoming they were, how excited they were to have the Blue Jays be an affiliate. You see that connection right away, from the front office to the fans. The players understood that. Just getting used to the culture. It’s normal for me, but for every player or coach who sees it for the first time, it’s different from what they’re used to.”

The “Canada factor” seems so much less pronounced now when we talk about the Blue Jays pursuing players, particularly in free agency.

It’s not gone entirely -- and has been a tiebreaker for players even in recent offseasons -- but just look at the roster. George Springer chose to come to Toronto. So did Kevin Gausman, Hyun Jin Ryu and Chris Bassitt. After José Berríos was traded here, he had no problem sticking around on an extension.

Money talks, of course. Another $1 million a season or another year at the end of a contract could convince a player to go somewhere far more foreign to them than Canada, but winning removes so many of these barriers. Schneider went through that acclimation process when he was drafted.

His first thought?

“That it was far away,” Schneider said. “Yes, it was a different country, but it kind of wasn’t. You have the general bias things of hockey, how nice people are and 'sorry aboot it' and all of that stuff. Then you get here, and to me, this is the best city in the league. Visiting players say that. Not just the ballpark, but around the ballpark and what this city has to offer. I live down on the water and it’s absolutely incredible to wake up to that view every day. It’s something you don’t take for granted because you don’t get that everywhere. I’m glad that I’m here.”

You hear the same from players. Get Kevin Kiermaier talking about Canada, for example, and he may never stop. It’s always about the people, and it’s the people that make this one of MLB’s biggest, brightest markets.