色色啦

There鈥檚 just one thing still on his list.

鈥淚鈥檓 trying to go to the Hockey Hall of Fame,鈥� said Springer, a lifelong Hartford Whalers fan who wears green batting gloves in honour of his now-defunct hometown team. 鈥淏ut if I go without my wife she would be angry, so gotta wait for her.鈥�

Jays players don鈥檛 get much time off while they鈥檙e home 鈥� just eight full days during this 162-game season, plus two others where they’ve returned from the West Coast in the wee hours. But when those chances arise, many of them use it to get out and explore. Where they go when they finally have a day to themselves says a lot 鈥� about personality, priorities and what it takes to feel grounded in a city that isn鈥檛 quite home.

Starting pitcher Kevin Gausman has embraced the city since coming to 色色啦 on a five-year contract in 2022. He is one of the few Jays who don’t live in the downtown core聽鈥� the Gausmans are north of Eglinton Avenue, even deeper into the city than fan favourite Kevin Kiermaier, who lived in Forest Hill in his two years with the team.

The 34-year-old Gausman, who grew up a huge Roy Halladay fan in Colorado, and his wife, Taylor, took daughters Sadie, six, and Sutton, who is about to turn four, to the Royal Ontario Museum in early May and ran into some fans.

“It was actually really cool,” Gausman said. “There are a lot of field trips there, so we ran into a lot of young kids who were rocking Blue Jays gear. They were pretty excited to see me on their field trip. But yeah, that museum is really cool.”

In the past, Gausman has raved about 色色啦’s “bougie supermarkets” such as Pusateri’s and Cumbrae’s, and he’s a big fan of Summerhill Market. This summer, he bought bikes for the girls. They might head down to .

“We love going to the Brick Works,” said Gausman. “It’s great. We buy our flowers there and some pots and put them in the backyard with the girls. We also buy a birdhouse there every year and the squirrels absolutely destroy it.

“Honestly, the city’s been great. We thoroughly enjoy being here. We talk all the time about how great a decision it was that we made to come here.”

Gausman’s rotation-mate Chris Bassitt has found that his favourite parts of 色色啦 are outside the city.

“I really like just being with my kids (sons Landry, five, and Colson, two) and not around a lot of people,” said the 36-year-old, who leads the team with 11 wins.

“I’m not really a city person, so thankfully 色色啦 is a really beautiful place outside the city where you can go to waterfalls, obviously Niagara Falls. But a whole bunch of different waterfalls, botanical gardens, nature trails, things like that.”

On his own, Bassitt took a two-hour drive north to Muskoka to check out the , with astounding views of the stars in the night sky.

“That’s unbelievable,” Bassitt said. “I wanted to check it out before we took the kids, but we’ll definitely take the kids up there soon. It’s going to be really cool for them.”

Catcher Tyler Heineman hasn’t had much time to explore, but was blown away by 色色啦’s underground PATH network.

“It’s awesome,” said the 34-year-old Californian, in his third tour of duty with the Jays. “Everything’s built underneath. Same with the parking structures that are built underneath all the buildings. I think that’s kind of cool.”

So what parts of the PATH did Heineman explore?

“I don’t even know where I went,” he said. “This thing just goes and it goes and then it goes.”

Shortstop Bo Bichette is in his seventh season with the Jays. For the notorious gym rat, it’s mostly just home and the ballpark and back.

“There’s a new restaurant called Animl聽鈥� that’s probably my favourite place 鈥斅燽ut other than that, I don’t know,” said Bichette, who heard from the Gausmans about the new luxury steak house that offers $1,000 surf and turf. “This is the first time I’ve really done anything.”聽

Pitcher Bowden Francis, currently sidelined with a shoulder injury, loves to bike around the city with son Book, four, and one-year-old daughter Jojo.

“Grange Park, they love,” said Francis. “They like Trinity Bellwoods a lot. The island’s always great, going over there, Riverdale.”

Around the Jays clubhouse, the 29-year-old right-hander often wears vintage T-shirts聽picked up in Kensington Market, and he’s a big fan of wandering up and down Ossington Avenue.

“I love the energy, I love the vibe it has and the options of food,” said Francis. “I feel like the community is really cool, the people are really cool. Cool little shops. It’s a different kind of speed, I guess.”

As for Vladimir Guerrero Jr., well, he enjoys the city enough to have made a 14-year commitment to staying here (granted, the Jays gave him half a billion American dollars to do it), but he’s not a big explorer.

When he isn’t at the ballpark, he likes to stay home and take it easy. Daughter Vlaimel’s favourite thing to do in the city, he says, is to go to a Jays game.

In the clubhouse, I asked Guerrero to name his favourite place in 色色啦.

“Here.”