Buczkowski: Buffalo is and forever will be a Big League City

Bisons fans,

When we officially got the news that Major League Baseball was coming to Buffalo, I immediately thought of the famous radio call of Kirk Gibson’s 1988 World Series home run from the legendary Vin Scully... “In a year that has been so improbable, the impossible has happened.”

That’s the only way I could describe the swing of emotions we have endured at the ballpark. From the cancelation of Bisons baseball in late June to the moment Hyun Jin Ryu threw a fastball to Jonathan Villar on a warm August night, we could never have imagined what was in store for our beautiful ballpark home, Sahlen Field.

The amazing moments began that first night with Travis Shaw’s walk-off hit that gave the Blue Jays a victory in the first Major League game in Buffalo in 105 years and continued right on to Rafael Dolis punching Toronto’s ticket to the postseason when he struck out the side in the ninth with three games still on the schedule. The Yankees, the Red Sox, the Phillies and the Orioles all came to town only for the Blue Jays to post one of the best single-season home winning percentages in their franchise’s history. Just some more Major League history for Sahlen Field.

The only disappointment we’ve had over the last two months is that, as expected, we were never able to open the gates and allow the great baseball fans of Western New York and Southern Ontario to join us for these unforgettable moments.

And yet, years from now when we look back at this year in our lives, we won’t feel like we experienced it alone. From all the phone calls and emails we’ve received to the comments and likes on our social media, we know how you got behind our 2020 home town team and for a summer called the Blue Jays your own.

Of course, this is no surprise to us. There are no better sports fans in the country than Bisons fans. Now, after this improbable but no longer impossible season, the record books will back up what we have always known.. Buffalo is and forever wil be a Big League City!

Congrats Buffalo on your moment in The Show, and as our great baseball partners prepare for their post season run we say... Let’s Go Blue Jays!!

Mike Buczkowski

President, Rich Baseball Operations