Hey Canada -- you're welcome.
Thanks to Phillies fans the coffers up in Toronto contain a bit more Loonies.
The Toronto Blue Jays can thank Philly and the G20 summit for their sudden uptick in average attendance. Even splitting the gate with the Phillies, the Jays made more cash on these games than most other home games.
With world leaders meeting North of the Border the Jays-Phils interleague series was moved from the Rogers Centre in Toronto to Sky Dome South, a.k.a. Citizens Bank Park.
The three-game series where the Phillies wore the road grays and the Jays played the part of "home team" drew more fans than all but one of the Jays home games this season. With about 43,000 fans per game the Jays attendance skyrocketed from 17,555 fans per game to 19,491 fans per game.
The Jays, who were next to last in the American League for home attendance jumped ahead of Oakland to claim third worst.
The series was a bit bizarre as Phillies ace Roy Halladay faced his former team for the first time and Ryan Howard was the first DH to bat at a National League ballpark during the regular season. But it wasn't a surprise that Phillies fans packed in to cheer on the road team -- the Phightins trail only the Yankees in average home attendance, according to ESPN.com.
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So overall with the Phillies taking two out of three games in front of the mostly pro-Philly crowd was this a good thing or bad thing for the Jays.
"I think it was the right decision to come down here," Jays manager Cito Gaston told MLB.com on Sunday. "I'm not sure if it would've been safe for us to stay there in Toronto, or if any fans could've got to the ballpark. I don't know."
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