TORONTO - Work began on the Rogers Centre's new all-dirt infield on Wednesday, with drills and an excavator breaking up the stadium's concrete floor.
The Toronto Blue Jays decided to make the changes to their stadium after the Canadian Football League's Argonauts moved to nearby BMO Field.
Rogers Centre will now permanently be in "baseball mode."
The new infield will see a proper dirt diamond connecting home plate to first, second and third base.
Previously, Rogers Centre had squares of dirt around each base and home, with turf between the base paths.
When the Blue Jays were on long road trips the dirt would be scraped off the cement floor and the pitcher's mound would be lowered in to the ground by hydraulics.