TORONTO, CANADA – JUNE 17: The Rogers Centre roof opens to an overcast day midway through the second inning during MLB action between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Toronto Blue Jays at The Rogers Centre June 17, 2012 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Abelimages/Getty Images)

Grass field in a domed stadium? Technology has allowed what was once thought impossible to become possible. However, the latest team to experiment with getting rid of artificial turf in favor of the real stuff, the Toronto Blue Jays, are finding the possibility of changing things up a bit more challenging.

Some see the Blue Jays putting in a full dirt infield as the natural first step towards the bigger goal of the real thing — natural grass. According to a report by Vice Sports, that may not be exactly the case though and for now the artificial turf is going to stay put.

“It’s not really a first step, because if we did go to real grass, that’s a bigger project,” Tom Farrell said, via Vice Sports Canada. “It requires a lot more work, more excavation of the field.”

Instead, the Blue Jays are taking the next step rather slowly, with an initial study being done by the University of Guelph for $600,000. The goal is to study the feasibility of growing and maintaining real grass in the retractable roof Rogers Centre.

Said study is set to have its final report released in April, but the Blue Jays know the first major problem — the inability of grass to grow beyond 10 weeks per the replicated conditions of the study. Typically the Blue Jays don’t open the stadium until around May 24th, per the report.

That is clearly beyond the 10-week period of growth and health of the grass in the study. Currently, the University of Guelph is looking at different heating lights and techniques to help prolong the life of the grass until the team would like to first open the roof to the stadium.

Natural light is clearly not possible when the roof is closed, but perhaps this group could also take advantage of the fact that they simply could open the roof on clear days when games aren’t being played and allow for natural light to bask over the natural grass field.

One big help appears to be on the way though — a upgrade to the equipment for the retractable roof.

Meanwhile, upgrades at the stadium might also help solve the problem. The entire system that opens and closes the roof—from the track itself to the fancy computerized gear that drives the operation—is being replaced at the moment. One benefit is that the roof may open earlier than in the past, letting in the light. 

Will fans ever get to see the full dirt infield with natural grass as its partner at Rogers Centre? Much of that may be up to the owners of the team and just how much they would want to invest in the all the other work required to get the facility up to standards to grow grass.

[h/t Vice Sports]

About Andrew Coppens

Andy is a contributor to The Comeback as well as Publisher of Big Ten site talking10. He also is a member of the FWAA and has been covering college sports since 2011. Andy is an avid soccer fan and runs the Celtic FC site The Celtic Bhoys. If he's not writing about sports, you can find him enjoying them in front of the TV with a good beer!