The home team here in Toronto lost its owner a couple of days ago, when Ted Rogers died at age 75.

If you've never been to Toronto... Rogers was the master of "convergence", investing in many types of old and new media and tying them together - and also stamping his name on them. Rogers delivers cable television to most Torontonians, and Rogers Sportsnet televises about 120 Jays games a year (half of those played in the Rogers Centre).

If you get a call during the game, there's a decent chance that you are answering with your Rogers cellphone (especially if you have an iPhone, since Rogers built the only cell network in Canada capable of hosting the iPhone). If you're going online to check the scores, there's a good chance you're using Rogers High-Speed Internet. After the game, you might rent a video from one of the many, many Rogers Video stores that dot the city landscape.

He also owned 52 radio stations and 78 magazines - unless you're a Mennonite, chances are that you are constantly using something that Ted Rogers owned.

Of course, he was not universally loved - he was an oligarch, and given the opportunity, most oligarchs will behave like oligarchs. But a full chronicle of his journey from visionary entrepreneur to empire-builder to ruthless monopolist would require a whole other essay - probably an entire book to do it right.

So far as his baseball legacy goes, he was two-thirds of a great owner. For starters, he rescued the Blue Jays from corporate purgatory - in the mid-90's, as part of a larger corporate takeover, the Jays were purchased by a Belgian brewing giant named Interbrew. They were faceless, uncaring, and unaccountable owners - the same type that almost ruined the New York Yankees before George Steinbrenner bought the team.

Ted wasn't a baseball guy - but he owned an all-sports TV station and an all-sports radio station and needed something to put on them. The Jays at that time were still playing in the SkyDome - Ted considered buying naming rights, then said to hell with it and bought the stadium instead. During his eight years as owner of the Jays, he invested a lot of money, raised the payroll as the dollar went up, and so far as I can tell did not interfere in the daily operations of the team.

Unfortunately, he could have used a bit of Steinbrenner's impatience. Rogers put the Jays into the hands of Paul Godfrey, a man who has a long history with baseball and the Blue Jays - but who isn't a baseball guy. Sure, he's a fan - just like I drink a lot of wine. But as much wine as I have drunk over the years, I still can't tell the difference between a good bottle and a mediocre one. If you gave me a blind taste test with a bottle that costs $100, and one that costs $10, I probably couldn't tell the difference.

And I certainly couldn't tell you the various flavours - blackberry, licorice, pear, nutmeg, whatever - that make each bottle what it is. As far as I'm concerned, it tastes like wine. And that's Paul Godfrey - a fan who's watched a lot a baseball, but who can't fundamentally tell the difference between a good baseball decision and a bad one.

At some point - possibly 2006, certainly 2007 - the front office should have been blasted out of its complacency. Finally, in 2008, manager John Gibbons was fired, and Godfrey fell on his sword - and yet, somehow, J.P. Ricciardi survives. Ted Rogers was a good owner, and Jays fans owe him their thanks for rescuing the team from ownership oblivion - but excessive loyalty proved to be his Achilles Heel.

(curiously, in his tribute to Rogers yesterday, Godfrey stated that, "Mediocrity wasn't a word he would accept." I have no doubt that, in his empire-building days, Ted was a tough customer. But as owner of the Blue Jays, he accepted just about everything.)

Anyways, Ted is Dead, and the future of the team is once again in limbo. Today, one day after the man passed on, the Jays laid off 24 employees; interim team president Paul Beeston explains that: "Every sports team is challenged (by the sinking economy) and the Toronto Blue Jays are as well... I don't think you can say anything other than we're in for a rough ride and who knows how long that's going to last."

I believe this is why the term "epic fail" was invented; the team is engaged in a multi-million-dollar bidding war for A.J. Burnett - and they lay off 24 people three weeks before Christmas? I don't have an MBA, and I'm not an expert in public relations - and thank the baby Jesus for that - but I'm having a lot of trouble with the cost-benefit analysis here. The fact that J.P. Ricciardi still has a job, and these 24 people don't, is an uninspiring start to the 2009 campaign.

Anyways, time quickly moves on - the Canadian government could fall at any time, the Prime Minister just delivered a national television address, Raptors coach Sam Mitchell has been fired - Ted's death is now, both literally and figuratively, yesterday's news. But if there's still a Blue Jays team here in Toronto five years from now, I'm sure we'll revisit his ownership legacy many times. And I'm sure that the name "Rogers" will remain prominent in Toronto life for many years to come.