If the Vancouver Canadians’ 2022 schedule goes according to plan, it will see the team finally return home to Nat Bailey Stadium.
The Canadians have released their preliminary schedule for next season, featuring 66 games at their iconic home ballpark. Opening Day at the Nat is scheduled for April 19, which would mark the first pro baseball game in Vancouver since August 30, 2019 — a span of 963 days.
After COVID-19 wiped out minor league baseball in 2020, the Canadians returned to the field in 2021, playing out of Hillsboro, Oregon.
Still a minor league affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays, the C’s have moved up in class since the last time we saw them, now playing in the High-A West League. The calibre of baseball will be better, and the season is longer, with a 132-game schedule extending from April 8 to September 11. The previous edition of the Canadians didn’t begin play until mid-June.
Teams will play six-game series, taking Mondays off each week, with the exception of July 4 for Independence Day games in the United States. Start times and promotions will be released at a later date.
The challenge that Canadians management will face is filling seats on chilly and wet Vancouver nights in April and May — something they haven’t had to do since the team’s Triple-A days ended in 1999. Just six of Vancouver’s 20 games in April are at home, however.
If there’s a team that should be up for the challenge, it’s the Canadians, who have been a hot ticket for over a decade.