By Max Campbell
Stampeders.com

Quinn Smith won’t be playing in his hometown when the Stampeders travel to face Argonauts this week, but that’s quite all right with the Ontario native.

Calgary’s upcoming battle with the Boatmen has been relocated to Hamilton’s Tim Hortons Field — the home of the Tiger-Cats — as Toronto’s Rogers Centre plays host to playoff baseball. A lifelong fan of Major League Baseball’s Blue Jays, Smith has no issues with the change of venue as his beloved team has advanced to the American League Championship Series.

“I’m very excited about that,” the second-year Stamp said on the Jays’ post-season appearance, which last happened when Smith was two years old. “I’m not going to brag too much yet because I don’t want to jinx their hot streak right now, but yeah, I’m excited for them.”

With potential logistical issues involving the Argos’ home field, the CFL recently took action.

And conveniently for Smith, the re-route to nearby Hamilton won’t prevent his biggest supporters from attending the East-West showdown.

“It’d be nice if we could play in the (Rogers Centre) because it would be easier for all my family and friends to come to the game,” explained the graduate of Toronto’s Birchmont Park Collegiate Institute. “But the Blue Jays haven’t been in the playoffs for 22 years, so it’s pretty cool to see them play (in October).”

The Red and White’s last road game happened to come at Tim Hortons Field against the Ticats on Oct. 2. Ironically enough, the Stampeders were the final team to visit the recently constructed stadium and will now attempt to now win there again on Saturday afternoon for the second time in three weeks.

Fortunately for him, Smith has become quite accustomed to last-minute changes in 2015. Usually lining up along the defensive line, the 300-lb. force has been inserted into emergency duty as an offensive lineman on multiple occasions this year due to a plethora of substantial injuries.

Yet in the midst of the Blue Jays’ recent success, Smith isn’t letting his fandom interfere with his profession.

“Obviously if I had the chance to go and see them play in a game, that’d be awesome,” the Scarborough-born sophomore offered when asked about attending a Jays playoff game. “Who knows the next time they’ll make it, but we’ve got a lot of business to take care of up here, so I’m just focused on that, mostly.”