26 August 2013

a patch for ted

ted rogers was the founder of rogers communications and the owner of the toronto blue jays from 2000 until the time of his death from heart failure in december of 2008.  in his memory, the jays wore 'ted' patches on their left sleeves during the 2009 season.
 
aaron hill is wearing it on this 2010 bowman card while doubling up bobby abreu in the bronx
and he's still wearing it on this 2010 topps chrome card as he slides into third base in oakland.
that card is kind of neat because the a's player is also wearing a memorial patch. not that you can tell from the scan, though.
 
for this memorial, though, i wanted to find a card featuring a shot of a blue jay at home, in rogers centre which was re-named after ted and his company bought the stadium and the naming rights.  here's a 2010 upper deck roy halladay card that seems to fit the bill
although the patch is much more visible on the team checklist card from that set, thanks to aaron hill again.
in the end, it's another card of halladay from 2010 upper deck that will represent this memorial in the binder.
rogers communications continues to own the blue jays to this day, with paul beeston serving as president and ceo.  i am not sure who 'replaced' rogers as the figurehead of the corporate ownership, but it would appear that rogers' legacy in the world of management and entrepreneurship continues through donations made to a couple of canadian universities which is pretty cool. it would also be nice to see the jays win the al east sometime soon.

No comments: