How the Dundas pub's regular Jays Days events are turning road games into a genuine ballpark experience.
It’s not every day that an opera singer delivers beer to your table, let alone Cracker Jack. At the first of Opera Bob’s baseball-themed Jays Days, Bob himself (Robert Pomakov, who sings with the Canadian Opera Company) was on hand to provide bar-goers with the full stadium experience as the Jays took on the Reds in Cincinnati last Friday night. It was a beautiful sunny evening in the midst of NXNE, set in an area more predisposed to music than sports.
Opera Bob’s opened on Dundas just east of Ossington in 2009 and has quickly become a haven for Jays fans. Owners Ross Simnor and Will Kopplin are hoping to recreate Jays fever circa ’92 and ’93 with Jays Days, screening away games until the end of August. “What we offer is that we have the sound on for a baseball game,” manager Kevin Kennedy says.
Beyond leaving the mute button alone, Jays Days is an attempt to bring the ballpark to the bar. In addition to the luxury of canned beer in plastic red party cups, patrons were treated to ballpark hot dogs and popcorn served in brown paper bags. According to Kennedy, “We’re trying to establish ourselves as the go-to place to watch baseball.” It’s a comforting gesture in a city that usually prefers the masochism of watching the Leafs dig their playoff drought hole deeper and deeper.
The Jays haven’t exactly been stellar lately either, but the Jays fans at Opera Bob’s opening event on Friday didn’t seem to mind. Despite the double attack of NXNE and Luminato, there appeared to be enough people in downtown Toronto who would rather watch baseball than the latest post-shoegaze buzz band. Kennedy glances at the three screens playing the game and admits, “We’re definitely appealing to the hardcore baseball fan.”
You can join the Jays Days party at Opera Bob’s by checking out the following games:
Friday, June 24 vs St. Louis Cardinals
Thursday, July 7 vs Cleveland Indians
Friday, July 22 vs Texas Rangers
Friday, August 5 vs Baltimore Orioles
Friday, August 19 vs Oakland A’s
