For Jean-Michel L’Espérance, a phone call he initially thought was a scam turned into a once-in-a-lifetime experience inside the Toronto Blue Jays’ home.
The Saint-Bruno resident was selected as one of six Canadian superfans to become a Rogers Game Day Owner this season.
His experience came Aug. 28, when the Blue Jays hosted the Seattle Mariners at Rogers Centre in a rematch of the 2025 American League Championship Series. Toronto won 8-1.
An unexpected phone call
L’Espérance entered the Rogers Game Day Owner contest after receiving an email from the Blue Jays in May.
He said he entered without expecting much. Then, about a week before the event, he received a call from Toronto.
“I thought it was a scam phone call because I don’t have any friends or relatives in Toronto,” he said.
He rejected the call twice before his wife, Cathy, answered when the caller tried again.
“She answered, and the phone was like, ‘It’s Sebastian. We’d like to let you know that you’re the Rogers owner of a game,’” he explained. “I was like, ‘You’re serious?’”
L’Espérance travelled to Toronto with Cathy and their son, Pierre-Olivier.
Rogers’ Game Day Owner experience included behind-the-scenes access to Rogers Centre, including the clubhouse and player facilities, batting-practice access, a meeting with a Blue Jays player, time with team executives, premium seats and a private Jays Shop shopping spree. Rogers also covered travel and accommodation.
The Game Day Owner experience also gave L’Espérance the opportunity to sit down with Blue Jays executives and pitch ideas for the organization.
A family connection to baseball
For the L’Espérance family, baseball is something they have shared for years.
His son and daughters play in Saint-Bruno, and L’Espérance has been involved with the local minor baseball association for about nine years. He has served as vice-president for the past four years.
“Actually, baseball for us is a family thing,” he said.
He said being part of the Blue Jays organization for a day meant a lot to the family, especially as the experience came at the end of the baseball season and just before the return to school.
“It means a lot for us to be a part of the Blue Jays’ organization for a day,” he said.
The family got access to the dugouts and locker room, watched batting practice and saw renovations and new facilities inside Rogers Centre. They also met players and had a shopping spree at the Jays Shop.
From fan to Game Day Owner
L’Espérance said he and his family have been Blue Jays fans since around 2018. For him, getting that close to the team was the most surreal part of the experience.
“To get that close was the part that was surreal,” he said.
Being on the field beneath the Rogers Centre roof and meeting Blue Jays pitcher Louis Varland were among the highlights.
“To be close to everything, to be on the field, to see that 31-story-high roof over us, that was just crazy,” he said.
He also singled out meeting Varland as a highlight.
Even after returning home, the experience was still hard to believe.
“I need to pinch myself and say, did we really live that?”
Helping build the next generation
Back in Saint-Bruno, L’Espérance spends much of his time working behind the scenes with the local minor baseball association.
His responsibilities include uniforms and caps, and he takes pride in seeing the reaction from young players when they receive them at the start of the season.
“What I like to see is their smile and their face when they get their uniform at the beginning of the season,” he said.
The association has more than 250 players between the ages of four and 18, according to L’Espérance. He said membership grew significantly after the Blue Jays’ playoff run last year, including about 115 players between four and seven years old.
For L’Espérance, the growth is rewarding.
“I’m very proud to see those kids here,” he said.
Memories to take home
The experience also came with some keepsakes.
L’Espérance received a shirt with “Game Day Owner” on the back, a cap and a prepaid card for expenses. Rogers covered the family’s flights, hotel and transportation, including limousine service to and from the stadium.
The family also received a baseball signed by Varland, which his son is keeping.
As for L’Espérance’s own souvenirs, he said he may need to find a safe place to store them.
“I will have to find somewhere that the kids won’t go and find it, because they will take it from me,” he said.
It’s definitely a baseball experience that hit a home run, and one his family won’t soon forget.
Rogers Communications Inc. is the parent company of CityNews.
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