Baseball playoffs may force Argos relocate Oct. 17 home game to Hamilton

TORONTO – The baseball playoffs have forced the Toronto Argonauts to consider relocating yet another home game.

The Argos announced Thursday their Oct. 17 game against the Calgary Stampeders could be moved to Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton due to a potential scheduling conflict. The Toronto Blue Jays have reached the baseball postseason for the first time since 1993 and opened a best-of-five American League Division series with the Texas Rangers on Thursday at Rogers Centre.

“It appears we will be unable to play our Oct. 17 home game at Rogers Centre due to an expected scheduling conflict with the 2015 Major League Baseball postseason,” Argos executive chairman/CEO Chris Rudge said in a statement. “We have been meeting for some time with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats organization and have decided that the best course for our team and our fans is to prepare to play the game at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton.

“However, as the MLB playoffs unfold, we will assess the viability of moving the game back to Rogers Centre should timing, conversion and logistics permit. Tim Hortons Field offers our team a neutral-site location that is also broadcast-ready when we host the Calgary Stampeders. I would like to thank the Tiger-Cats organization for accommodating our move and assisting us with this challenge.”

Toronto was originally scheduled to host the Ottawa Redblacks on Tuesday night but a potential scheduling conflict with the American League Wildcard game forced Toronto to play the contest at TD Place. The Argos claimed a 38-35 victory.

The Pan Am Games and a lack of available dates at Rogers Centre forced the Argos to open their season playing a home game June 27 in Fort McMurray, Alta. Toronto beat the Edmonton Eskimos 26-11.

Rudge also said Toronto’s scheduled home game against Montreal on Oct. 23 may also have to be played at Tim Hortons Field.

“Those plans are not yet final but will most likely also result in our team playing at Tim Hortons Field,” he said. “We will communicate the appropriate details as early as possible once a decision is made.”

In the release, the Argos said fans who with tickets to the Oct. 17 contest will be contacted shortly. The club added anyone with tickets to a game affected by the baseball playoffs will be “fully reimbursed once all disruptions are known.”

The Argos’ home game against B.C. on Oct. 30 will go ahead as scheduled.