The Ted Rogers statue at Rogers Centre is gone

Blue Jays fans were a little miffed in 2013, when a statue of Ted Rogers was installed outside of Rogers Centre. The late Rogers executive, who died in 2008, had a history with the Jays (his company owns the team and the naming rights to the stadium), but he wasn’t an athlete and he once admitted that he was “not really a sports fan.” And yet he’s the only human being with a 12-foot bronze likeness at the ballpark. For that reason, the statue has become a running joke—and sometimes more than a joke. A fan was once contacted by police after he threatened to throw Ted’s memorial into Lake Ontario.

Over the past few weeks, internet sleuths have been bemused to discover that the statue is now gone without a trace. There’s barely a blemish on the Rogers Centre concrete to mark the space where it once stood, and Rogers (the corporation, not the man) hasn’t been forthcoming with an explanation, even as news of the disappearance spreads across social media.

But any celebration of the statue’s demise would be premature. Jessica Beard, manager of fan engagement for the Blue Jays, tells us that Ted’s return is imminent. “The Ted Rogers statue has been temporarily relocated due to scheduled construction work outside Rogers Centre,” she wrote, in an emailed statement. “The statue will return to its place once the work is completed prior to Opening Day in March.” In this, as in wireless, cable and many other areas of life, ditching Rogers isn’t easy.