With no change in U.S.-Canada border restrictions in sight, the Vancouver Canadians (High-A West) will begin the 2021 MiLB season playing out of Ron Tonkin Field, home of the Hillsboro Hops.
The lack of travel across the border is impacting the baseball world in several ways. The Toronto Blue Jays will begin the 2021 MLB season playing out of their spring-training home, Dunedin’s TD Ballpark, while the summer-collegiate Thunder Bay Border Cats (Northwoods League) have been replaced temporarily by a travel team. In addition, the summer-collegiate Western Canadian Baseball League will operate in a scaled-down operation with all-Canadian rosters, with at least five and potentially seven teams sitting out the season.
The move by the Canadians from historic Nat Bailey Stadium is billed as a temporary one that will be addressed as the season progresses.
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