With the Pittsburgh Pirates set to open a three-game interleague series in Toronto tonight, former Blue Jay Lyle Overbay returns for the first time since leaving Toronto as a free agent after five seasons.
In an interview with the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Overbay discussed Toronto’s ongoing attendance woes. Blue Jays attendance, at 25th in baseball, has fallen behind that of the Pirates, and Overbay blames the 1994 players’ strike as a big factor in killing fan interest in Toronto.
“Ever since the strike, it’s been bad,” Overbay told the newspaper. “Those kids who boycotted it back then, now they have kids and they’re still boycotting it.”