MLB Teams Cannot Leave Their Rooms While Visiting Buffalo
Homebase took on a whole different meaning when Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz and County Health Commissioner Dr. Gale Burstein got together to discuss how to handle the Toronto Blue Jays season in Buffalo at Sahlen Field with the Toronto Blue Jays' stakeholders, according to WGRZ.
What they came up with will not allow you to spot any MLB Players roaming around Downtown Buffalo any time soon. The directive from Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz, County Health Commissioner Dr. Gale Bursteinand the Toronto Blue Jays' stakeholders is a stipulation that no visiting team members can leave their rooms other than to eat inside the hotel and be transported to Sahlen Field, according to WGRZ News. Blue Jays players are allowed to leave their rooms but must practice all the guidelines set in place by the CDC regarding COVID-19.
https://www.wgrz.com/article/sports/mlb/poloncarz-visiting-mlb-teams-wont-be-able-to-leave-hotels/71-ff13994c-cf47-4e78-af13-ad0f1063b1d2
Sahlen Field could very well have been called 'HOT DOG STADIUM' and if you're from Buffalo you know why that is; it's because the Sahlen Packing Company, headquartered in Buffalo, NY for the past 150+ years, purchased the naming rights to the field, which was originally called Pilot Field, back in 2018, according to the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle newspaper... smart move as Sahlen Field is now recognized as a Major League Baseball Stadium, at least for the time being.
Sahlen Packing Company also owns Sahlen Sports Park in Elma, NY and said this about the Blue Jays agreeing to Buuffalko's Sahlen Field being their home, according to the Rochester, Democrat & Chronicle:
"Few people from the Sahlen family would have guessed ... that our name would be associated to this extent with that of a Major League Baseball team's home," the statement read. "But if 2020 has taught us anything, it's that anything is possible."