Blue Jays bus from Phoenix to Southern California after their charter plane is grounded
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — A mechanical issue with their charter plane forced the Toronto Blue Jays to bus from Phoenix to Southern California on Sunday night, a six-hour drive on a dark desert highway that got the team to its Orange County hotel at around 12:30 a. m.
“I felt like I was back in the Northwest League,” manager John Schneider said before Monday night’s series opener against the Los Angeles Angels. “But we made the best of it, we all got here safe, and we’re ready to go. ” Schneider said he was informed by Blue Jays traveling secretary Rodney Hiemstra of the mechanical problem at about 4 p.
m. on Sunday, as the Blue Jays were finishing a 10-4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks. “There was an issue with the joystick, which is pretty important — apparently, it’s used for takeoffs and landings,” Schneider said.
“So the options were to get a new plane, which would have had to fly down from Vancouver and wouldn’t have landed until 10 p. m. , or drive.
We took a team vote, and the team voted to bus. ” While pitcher Dylan Cease, who was Monday night's scheduled starter, flew commercial from Phoenix to Orange County, the team unloaded luggage and food from the charter plane and loaded it onto three buses — two for players and one for the rest of the traveling party of about 40, which included the coaching staff. “The math was a little off,” Schneider said.