Marcus Stroman shows Toronto some love

It took going to a hockey game for Marcus Stroman to declarethat Toronto is a baseball city.

The Blue Jays' ace pitcherpenned a piece in thePlayers' Tribune, titled "The 6ix," about howToronto became his favourite city after feeling quite the oppositewhen the Blue Jaysdrafted him in 2012.

Stroman describes going to a Maple Leafs game in October of last year, just before the MLB playoffs, when a Blue Jays pre-playoff hype video was shown in the arena, and cameras panned to Stromanand his teammates.

"Then the puck drops, and the whole arena breaks out in a chant," Stroman wrote.

"'Let's go, Blue Jays!'Let's go, Blue Jays!'I got chills.We had a Blue Jays chant going in a hockey arena inCanada."

The starter who will take the mound for Friday's home opener against Boston also lookedback atwhat it took to get back on the field after suffering a torn ACL during spring training last season.