The Vancouver Canadians season is in full swing. The Toronto Blue Jays High-A Affiliate has already played 25 games so far but it is never too late to head down to “The Nat” to catch a great ball game as the weather is starting to warm up. There is nothing better than hanging out in the beautiful Vancouver air with friends and family, enjoying a hot dog, popcorn, and a cold beverage, and watching a ball game at the old but still golden Nat Bailey Stadium.

The official name of the park is actually Scotiabank Field at Nat Bailey Stadium. The name of a field within a park, you don’t hear that too often, but I think if you ask any local baseball lover, they would call it “The Nat”. It just feels wrong calling it anything else.

Nat Bailey Stadium was not the original name when the stadium was first built in 1951. It first opened as the Capilano Stadium, as the team that first played there was the “Vancouver Capilanos”. The stadium held the name until 1978 when it was renamed, Nat Bailey Stadium in honour of Vancouver restaurateur and founder of White Spot, Nat Bailey, who made great efforts to promote baseball in Vancouver.

Jeff Hitchcock / Flickr

Ownership has significantly improved and modernized the stadium over the years while also restoring parts of the park to their original condition from 1951, making for an extremely authentic feel to the ballpark.

The Canadians are entering the summer stretch soon, hosting home series every other Tuesday to Sunday until September 11th. One thing on my bucket list for certain this summer is to head down to Scotiabank Field at Nat Bailey Stadium, catch a couple of ball games, have a few hotdogs, and have some good times with friends and family.