Dein erstes Forum » a lawyer for Rodriguez, wrote in a joint lett

TORONTO -- Michael Saunders was born in Victoria, British Columbia -- about as close to Seattle as you can get without being in the United States.Yet when it came to his baseball allegiance growing up, nationality mattered at least as much as geography.Proximity-wise, I guess everyone felt like Seattle would be my hometown team, but it was really the Jays, Saunders said. My whole family was Jays fans growing up.Now an outfielder for those Toronto Blue Jays, Saunders is uniquely qualified to explain how Canadas lone major league team has cultivated a following among baseball fans all across the country. When the Blue Jays try to avoid elimination Tuesday in Game 4 of the AL Championship Series against Cleveland, theyll have support in provinces near and far.Just ask the Mariners how much Canadians love their Blue Jays. Seattle is three time zones from Toronto, but since its close to Canada, Blue Jays fans show up in droves when the Mariners host Toronto. They also make their presence felt in Detroit, which is just across the river from southern Ontario.It is a very unique situation when you have a whole country as opposed to 29 teams that are localized to a state, Blue Jays reliever Jason Grilli said. The United States is where baseball thrives, of course, but there is one team in Canada that everyone here supports. Its truly incredible. People dont know what its like until they experience a game here and see the support.A winning team always helps, of course, and Toronto is in the postseason for a second consecutive year after a dry spell that stretched back to the teams most recent World Series title in 1993. Sportsnet reported that Game 3 of this months AL Division Series between the Blue Jays and Texas Rangers drew an average audience of 4.73 million, making it Sportsnets most-watched program of the year to that point.Canadas obsession, of course, is with hockey, but thats largely divided among the countrys NHL teams. Toronto has been Canadas only big league team since the Montreal Expos left after the 2004 season, and the support the Blue Jays receive from far-flung Canadian areas wouldnt necessarily be there for, say, the more polarizing Toronto Maple Leafs.It would be the exact opposite, actually, said 31-year-old Stephen Safinuk, a Blue Jays fan from Saskatchewan. Theyd be wishing them a quick exit from the playoffs, if they ever make it.Safinuk was in Toronto for the ALCS, and he was visiting the Hockey Hall of Fame on Monday -- while wearing a shirt with Blue Jays slugger Josh Donaldsons name on the back. He said hes seen the Blue Jays play on the road against the Los Angeles Angels, and hed like to be among the throngs of Toronto fans in Seattle sometime soon.Seattle next year is my goal, he said. Its a must-do trip, absolutely.Saunders spent his first six seasons with the Mariners before playing these past two for the Blue Jays.Were not just representing Toronto, were representing all of Canada, he said. Its a really neat experience to see that kind of fan support, and you really see it when you go to Seattle and play the Mariners. I spent my entire career with the Mariners, so I saw kind of the other end of the spectrum. It was a different experience for me to be wearing a Jays uniform this time around.A couple offseasons ago, the Blue Jays made stops in Alberta (Calgary and Banff) and Vancouver, British Columbia, on their winter tour itinerary, the equivalent of the Reds trying to reach out to fans in, say, San Diego. As long as the Blue Jays are Canadas only team, theyll continue to have substantial territory to claim as their own.Itll never overtake hockey here, but the passion is very similar, Safinuk said. You dont see this kind of singular team support for anything other than -- you see it for the Raptors, too, when they were doing good the last couple years, but thats because in Canada, we only have the Raptors and the Blue Jays in NBA and MLB. You dont get that anywhere else.---Follow Noah Trister at www.Twitter.com/noahtrister Jermaine Marrow Jersey . U.S. District Judge Lorna G. Schofield in Manhattan agreed that lawyers on both sides could make their formal requests by Nov. 8. A hearing is scheduled for a day earlier. Jordan Siev, a lawyer for Rodriguez, wrote in a joint letter to the judge from lawyers on both sides that MLB lawyers planned to ask that the lawsuit be dismissed. Jordan Roland Jersey . How great will be revealed in the next couple of days at the board of governors meeting in Pebble Beach, Calif. https://www.cheapmlbjerseysjustwholesale.com/ . Blackwood, 28, has played the last three seasons in the San Diego Padres system, including the past two summers with Class AA San Antonio of the Texas League. MLB Jerseys .com) - The Calgary Flames aim to bounce back from their first regulation home loss of the campaign on Friday night when they host a Detroit Red Wings club that they swept in three meetings a season ago. Cheap Nike MLB Jerseys . A forerunning sled crashed into the worker Thursday at the Sanki Sliding Center. The unidentified worker broke both legs and was airlifted to a nearby hospital.Hamilton Tiger-Cats defensive lineman Brian Bulcke and Winnipeg Blue Bomber offensive lineman Justin Sorensen were fined by the CFL for incidents from Week 6. Bulcke was fined for an illegal and dangerous hit to the head of Edmonton Eskimo quarterback Miike Reilly during last Friday nights game.dddddddddddd Sorensen was fined for an illegal block on B.C. Lions defensive lineman Jabar Westerman during Monday nights game. Sorensen was penalized for unnecessary roughness on the play. ' ' '