ANAHEIM, Calif. -- A mechanical issue with their charter plane forced the Toronto Blue Jays to bus from Phoenix to Southern California on Sunday night, a six-hour drive on a dark desert highway that got the team to its Orange County hotel at around 12:30 a.m.
"I felt like I was back in the Northwest League," manager John Schneider said before Monday night's series opener against the Los Angeles Angels, which the Blue Jays won 5-2. "But we made the best of it. We all got here safe, and we're ready to go."
Schneider said he was informed by Blue Jays traveling secretary Rodney Hiemstra of the mechanical problem at about 4 p.m. Sunday, as the Blue Jays were finishing a 10-4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
"There was an issue with the joystick, which is pretty important -- apparently, it's used for takeoffs and landings," Schneider said. "So, the options were to get a new plane, which would have had to fly down from Vancouver and wouldn't have landed until 10 p.m., or drive. We took a team vote, and the team voted to bus."
While pitcher Dylan Cease, who was Monday night's starter, flew commercial from Phoenix to Orange County, the team had to unload all the luggage and food from the charter plane and drive it back to Chase Field. There, it was loaded onto three buses -- two for players and one for the rest of the traveling party of about 40, which included the coaching staff.
"The math was a little off," Schneider said. "It worked out way better for the players, but there was a whole lot of doubling up for us. I had my own two seats, and I still had cases of water around me, and you feel bad reclining on people."
Blue Jays pitcher Max Scherzer was on the losing side of the vote -- he preferred the team fly to Orange County -- but the veteran right-hander still found some humor in the situation.
"I got reprimanded by Max for electing to travel that way," Schneider said as he showed reporters a letter Scherzer printed out for the manager. "So we're going to go to a trial in kangaroo court.
"I was like, 'Max, why don't you just buy a plane? You've got plenty of cash.' Most of the guys who were playing [Monday night] wanted to get out of there."