Cleveland couple gets rough ride from Blue Jays fans at the Rogers Centre

When Gina and Joe Kijowski got in the car Monday morning to make a 467-kilometre trek from their home in Youngstown, Ohio, to Toronto, they were a little nervous. It wasn't about the drive that lay ahead, but because of what was waiting for them on the other end.

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Blue Jays fans have earned quite the reputation around Major League Baseball the past two seasons. That's largely been during the playoffs when Jays games are broadcast nationally across the United States; last year, fans hurled beer cans from the upper seats of the ballpark when they disagreed with the umpire's call in Game 5 of the American League Division Series. 

"We heard it was a hostile environment," Joe said just prior to Game 3 of the American League Championship Series between Cleveland and Toronto. 

'We got a lot of dirty looks, a few boos'

And Gina and Joe were watching the wild card game earlier this month when a Blue Jays fan threw a beer can at Baltimore outfielder Hyun-Soo Kim while he was tracking a fly ball.

"Watching fans throw beer at the Baltimore Orioles player, we were a little skeptical," Joe said. 

"I was nervous," his wife echoed.

The pair's white Cleveland jerseys stood out in the sea of blue as they walked through the stadium gates with a large pack of Jays fans. They say there were no other Cleveland fans in sight. 

"We got a lot of dirty looks, a few boos," Joe said. "But nothing too ignorant or anything like that." 

It wasn't long after the Kijowskis got to their seats along the first-base line that they realized just how loud the crowd can get.

"When they're on, it's ear piercing," Joe said. 

Through the first four innings of the game nobody really bothered them, although Joe says one woman took exception at one point when they stood up to cheer for Cleveland.

"We had one older lady come over and boo us. She was probably the oldest lady in the stadium," said Joe, who added that the woman appeared to be in her 80s.

Joe said the rest of the crowd seemed quite young, with "a lot of young guys in their 20s and 30s." Many of them were drinking, he said.  

'Why don't you go home?'

By the time the ninth inning rolled around, and the Jays were trailing 4-2, some fans started to leave. Joe says that as they walked past their seats, many of them made rude comments. "They said things like, 'Why don't you go home?'"

Joe says there was a police officer stationed not far from where they were sitting so they weren't too worried at the time. The real concern didn't creep in until after the game and their team had won. 

It meant that one more loss would see Toronto eliminated. 

Beer cup flipped at visiting fans

Joe was waiting for Gina outside of the washroom and he says one fan walked over and flipped a beer cup at him.

"I had beer all over the back and side of my jersey."

Things only got worse when they realized they couldn't remember how to get to the parking garage.

"We asked people if they knew where we needed to go, but everybody just kept giving us the runaround," Joe said. "I felt very uncomfortable being there."

They wound up outside the Rogers Centre with thousands of Blue Jays fans.

"Not a single one of them passed by without making some kind of comment."

'We're just glad we didn't bring our kids'

At one point, one man walked up and extended his hand to Joe.

"[But] when I shook his hand he leaned in and said 'F--k you.'"

His wife said that ruined her night — at that point, both were angry and just wanted to get home. 

The family said they had been considering staying for Game 4, but, after what happened they decided to drive home instead.

I think that really got to me," Gina said. "We're just glad we didn't bring our kids. Would they have said something like that to our kids, too?"