1:05 PM Eastern
There are some things that impress me, and there are some things that don’t impress me. And I apologize in advance to the Chicken Littles out there who believe a 1-2 start on the road, at Yankee Stadium, means that the sky is falling, but holding arguably the best line-up in the game to eight runs over three games impresses me.
The Blue Jays were victimized in both their losses. In the opener by that 314.8 foot homer by Melky Cabrera, by the two miscues on defense in the 7th and by an incredible leaping grab by Jason Giambi, who is no one’s Gold Glover. This time, the Downs error cost them, along with the broken bat flare/bloop (floop?) single by Abreu and a three-and-a-half-batter blip by Dustin McGowan in an otherwise dominating outing.
It’s nice to see that the Yankees were the ones who needed to catch some breaks to win the series, and there’s no shame in dropping two of three in the final opening series ever at The House That Ruth Built. If the Jays can win their series at home against the Yanks and Red Sox and get the job done against some of the lesser teams, they can lose every series in New York and Boston and still be fine.
I should mention, since I keep forgetting to, that I saw George Steinbrenner in the elevator lobby on the press level at Yankee Stadium while on my way out after The Rainout Show on Monday. He was standing, but had his left arm on someone’s shoulder and someone else holding his right side, and was dressed in his traditional blue blazer/turtleneck ensemble. He was wearing sunglasses, so I couldn’t see his eyes, but while we waited a VERY long time for the elevator, he said to his entourage, “Where the hell is the elevator?” in a very Steinbrenneresque tone. I have heard that he has his good days and his bad days, I’m glad that on what was supposed to be his ballpark’s last Opening Day, it was a good day. Amazing that he’s become a sympathetic figure, but I definitely feel for the guy. No one deserves to go through what he’s going through.
Anyway, back to tonight’s game. I’m puzzled by those who thought that Jason Giambi should have been intentionally walked in the 6th inning after McGowan struck out Alex Rodriguez. With Robinson Cano and Hideki Matsui coming up, why would you load the bases with one out? If you’re going to put somebody on to set up a double play, make it A-Rod – but A-Rod struck out, so the hindsighters saw no need to walk him.
The move to make after the strikeout was to go to Scott Downs, with three lefties coming up and Brian Tallet having thrown two innings the night before. But Downs is the set-up man, so the 6th inning is too early to bring him in, according to the book that pretty much every manager in the majors follows. Of course, had Tallet not been used for two innings on Wednesday, maybe he’s the guy there. Still not sure why he had to come back out for the 8th that night with League, Frasor and Wolfe available. If there was a concern about Wolfe’s ability to get lefties out, well, he came on in a tie game tonight to face two out of three lefties, and stayed in for one more the next inning – why not use him when you’re up by three in the 8th if you’re going to use him when you’re tied in the 7th? Or use League or Frasor, for that matter, to keep your bullets in order.
It was nice to see Frank Thomas show some emotion after being rung up in the 4th, but stupid of him to get himself thrown out. He jumped out of the way of a pitch that was probably inside, but certainly not far enough inside to make him bail, and not far enough inside to be confident taking with two strikes, especially since that same pitch had been called a strike a couple of pitches earlier, though Frank didn’t like it then either. Of course, that same pitch had been called a ball a couple of times in the at-bat as well. The lesson is, and Thomas knows this, I’m sure – when you’re not sure what the umpire is thinking, don’t take a close pitch with two strikes.
Still, no matter how upset you are at a call, it’s still an incredibly selfish act for a player to allow himself to get angry enough to get thrown out of a game. I understand the passion, heat of battle, etc., etc., but please. A 39 year-old man should be able to control his temper enough, especially realizing that he’s going to have at least two more at-bats in what’s likely to be a close game.
Some quick notes about the series overall:
-The Jays outscored the Yankees 9-8 and outhit the Yankees 24-21, each team had 6 walks.
-With runners in scoring position, the Jays were 6-for-32 (.188)
-With runners in scoring position, the Yankees were 1-for-17 (.059)
-The Jays were 4-for-6 stealing bases, the Yankees were 0-for-2
The sky isn’t falling. And if it is, we won’t know about it for the next six games because the roof will be closed. The home opener will feature Shaun Marcum against the jet-lagged Red Sox and knuckleballer Tim Wakefield, we’re on the air at 7:00 PM Eastern with the first pitch scheduled for about 7:15.
Roberto Alomar’s name will be raised to the Level of Excellence before the game, a fitting tribute to the man who was probably the best all-around player the Jays have ever had, and who will no doubt be the first Hall of Fame inductee to go in as a Blue Jay. Still, I can’t think of Alomar without thinking of his petulant display the day the Jays traded David Cone in 1995 and the John Hirschbeck incident. All the things you do add up to who you are, and it’s not unfair to consider Alomar’s behaviour off the field in combination with his excellence on it.
Finally, and I hope this isn’t a pattern developing, there were a couple of callers I had to pull the plug on tonight on JaysTalk (yes, Stoeten, it’s one word – my show, I make the syntactic rules). The reason I hung up on them, the timing of which may have seemed strange, was because each of them were either so impressed with themselves or so baked or some combination of the two, that they couldn’t make it through their first or second sentence before being overcome by a fit of giggles. Not laughter, not snickering, honest-to-goodness, six year-old girl-type giggles. (I can say that, because I have a six year-old girl.) I thought I’d explain their disappearance, and I really hope it doesn’t happen again. Please – as funny as you might think it is, you’re really only embarrassing yourself.
Comments are encouraged, as always!
44 Responses to “Yankees 3 – Jays 2”
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Mike,
Love the blog. I’m just wondering what your take on League and Frasor is at the moment. Who is higher on the pecking order, and in what type of situations can we expect to see them?
Also, I live in Edmonton and sometimes try to listen to the games on The Fan on the internet. I was able to listen to Wednesdays game (once the Raptors game finished), but last nights game was blacked out. Can you explain the blackout rules, as there seems to be some inconsistency there.
MW: For some reason, there’s always inconsistency with the blackouts on the internet. The rule is, none of the game is supposed to be available online anywhere but through MLBaudio at mlb.com, but I don’t know about the pre-game and post-game.
I don’t know what to think on League and Frasor. They’re below Tallet and Wolfe on the pecking order, I can tell you that.
- GregJPThe Thomas AB/ejection: What stood out to me most obvious at the time, was Thomas appeared to have zero interest in swinging the bat. He saw seven pitches from Hughes which were all around the plate and offered at none, seemingly content to do a Jeter show, posturing for favourable calls. Between the Joba AB tuesday and the Hughes one, maybe Thomas is feeling overmatched a little. It looked strange considering, that’s HOF Frank Thomas.
MW: Frank had a different take, but that’s to be expected. I don’t know if he’s feeling overmatched, but against Joba he nost definitely was overmatched. I can’t imagine yesterday’s ejection would have happened if not for all the circumstances surrounding Thomas right now – it can’t have been just about the call.
- ShaneI dont think you can overstate how selfish of an act that was by big Frank. It looks like everything is unraveling just like last season.
Im just wondering how long we can give the excuse that Frank is just a slow starter? Will the Jays pull the plug on him before it is too late like in 07 when it took him 110 games to get going?
Its much too early now, but how long is Franks string?
MW: With that vesting option kicking in at 376 PAs, not that long.
- Brett VMike I get the impression that you are a staunch Blue Jay Mgmt. supporter, and thats ok. To me, we just dont seem to win winnable games like other teams do, ( tough to explain but excuses, excuses, enough already. The one scenario that really bothered ,me was tuesday, score 2-2, top of the 6th or 7th and Hill leads off with a double. with perhaps the best pitcher in baseball pitching and its sure looks like the next to score 1 run will win, WHY WE DID NOT SACRICE AARON TO 3RD. In the exact same scenaio last night it was good enough for Deryk Jeter to sacrifice and they score the winning run.
This is the kind of managing that shows me Gibbons is lacking something in his decisions. It is exremly frustrating to continue a pattern of losing winnable games and say, ” we outscored them 9-8 in the series, we out hit them , we scored more runs than they did with hits with runners in scoring position,etc. etc. ………THE FACT IS OUR MGR, MADE ENOUGH BAD DECISIONS TO PUT US IN A POSITION TO LOSE INSTEAD OF WIN.
I am more than an educated fan,I know thge old cliche, fans dont really know whats going on, maybe a player has the flu or a hangnail or he was awake all night with the kids, ..whatever… I know one thing for sure, Gibbons should have been fired after the scene with Lilly. It is very bad when a manager wants to fight with his players in front of the whole world, and for it to happen twice in a matter of months (Hildebran ) is inexcusable. Lilly never came back here despit a better offer from our team. The only mistake Lilly made was he did not want to come out of a game that had horribly gone wrong and Gibbons didnt have the exlpertise to defuse the situation without the meltdown…..PERIOD !!!! Ican go on and on which I have already, but I would appreciate your comments. Thank you Mike and I do apreciate your candor most of the time.
Joe Badali
I do spend the month of March in the St. Petersburgh – Clearwater area just so I can be close to my Blue Jays.
MW: We’ve already gone over the “bunt Hill over” thing on Tuesday night, and I’m not going to rehash, except to say that I think it was just as stupid for Jeter to have bunted last night in the 7th as it would have been for the Jays to bunt then. If you’re more than an educated fan, you should realize that the Lilly incident was ENTIRELY Ted’s fault. You don’t show up your manager on the field ever, but especially when you’re handing back an 8-0 lead in the 3rd inning.
Also, interesting that you would say “tough to explain, but excuses, excuses, enough already.” I don’t think enough people grasp the difference between an excuse and an explanation.
- Joe BadaliMike, can you please provide Bruno with his own line to reach you at after the game? It would sure make for some compelling radio.
I really like that somebody in the ‘Toronto media’ realizes the effect adding the NL’s best OPS from last year could have. I can only imagine the heart-attack Richard Griffin would suffer with a signing like that.
- AriAs always, thank you for your great work, Mike. A caller mentioned that Wells looked distracted in one of his at bats. I believe he had gotten something (dust) in his eye. He called time but still seemed bothered by it.
MW: He didn’t say he looked distracted, he said he lost focus or concentration, insinuating that he’d given away an at-bat. The caller based his opinion on nothing but the fact that he struck out – and I’m assuming the caller imagined it was on three bad pitches with ugly swings, none of which could be further from the truth.
- brentIs it just me, or shouldn’t Arnsberg have come out a little earlier in the 6th to calm the unraveling of McGowen? IIRC, it was after the bases were loaded that he came out of the dugout and to me anyone could see it should’ve been after the 2nd batter. Thoughts?
MW: It’s a tough call to make, because you only get two visits in an inning. He had gotten ahead of Jeter 0-2, and eventually hit him with a bad breaking ball, maybe I don’t go out then, but maybe I do.
- JJGood morning, Mike.
To all the Blue Jay “doom merchants”, consider…you could be Tiger fans, looking at 3 straight losses to the mighty KC Royals!!
- NormFrank looks just terrible at the plate. And you are right…completely selfish. His job is to know what is being called a strike and the high/inside was called all night.
MW: In Frank’s defense, the strikes he disputed weren’t high, just inside, and the same pitch had been called a ball twice in that at-bat, though it had also been called a strike once. But yeah, selfish, and he has to expand with two strikes.
- TheOtherVernonHey Mike. The only time I’ve ever tried to call into the show, I got the giggles, too. But luckily I got them before my turn came up, so I was able to politely, respectfully pull the plug on myself. For the record, my comment was going to be about the lack of more extensive statistics at Rogers during the game. They don’t seem to be very interested in appeasing the more knowledgeable or involved baseball fan. It’s tough to go from watching games on tv while simultaneously following the numbers on the internet to the experience at the ballpark. Sure, it’s great to see live action, but there’s a lot of downtime during a baseball game – especially when you’re sitting in the 500s. The worst bit is, during the player’s first two at bats, they have those interesting little tidbits: “Frank Thomas recorded his 5th stolen base of his career on Aug. 23, 2007.” “”Aaron Hill needs 99 more hits for 400 for his career.” It’s sad to think of all the information they could be putting in that same space. I know they’re trying to make the experience family-friendly, but that’s what all the lame between-innings stuff is for. Anyway, I hope they’ve come around a bit for the new year, although I don’t know why they would… (giggle).
MW: But why not wait until there’s at least a home game before complaining about it? There seems to be a lot of pre-emptive complaining this year.
- RussellMike,
It was great to read a post that sees the jays in a positive light and even though they went 1-2 I thought they showed some real promise.
Anyways do you know what part of the pre-game stuff will be shown on TV tonight?
Keep up the good work!
MW: I think TV starts at 7, so they might replay some of the stuff that happens before, like the Alomar thing, but they’ll only have the player intros and the anthems live, I’d imagine.
- AKI think the fact that the Yankees hit less than the Jays is irrelevant. We KNOW that the Yankees bats will wake up. We don’t know that the Jays have the offence to win consistently. My feeling is that we don’t and it’s incumbent on JP to make a trade or some other move to create offence.
- Chris JonesIt would be a shame waste the season when it looks like our pitching will be spectacular.
Hey Mike,
It’s unfortuante that 2 defensive plays (Hill in game 1 and Downs in game 2) might have cost the Jays wins. Hopefully these defensive gaffs aren’t too costly down the road…
Going back to a comment you made earlier about Hill and his shaky defense off the start. In the first or second inning of last night’s game, there was a routine groundball that Hill wasn’t able to pick-up cleanly. I wonder if he’s thinking too hard out there?
As always, keep up the good work!
MW: I don’t think he’s thinking too much, I think he’s trying to feel his fingers. I blame much of the crappy defense in the series on the cold, which means there’s no reason now for it not to improve.
- JeremyMike why didn’t you say anyting about the past ball or wil pitch that cost the jays the game. not sure how it was ruled by zaun should of blocked the ball. He was calling for a curveball down and away and Mcgowan throw a curveball down and away and Zaun let it get by him costing the Jays the game. If Zaun blocks the ball like a major League catcher should the jays get out of the inning without allowing a run.
MW: Zaun got down on it, and the ball got past him. He’ll tell you he should HAVE blocked the ball, but it’s an extremely difficult play, and one at which he’s usually pretty good.
- Dan M.I know this loss doesn’t mean the sky is falling Mike but when you have your 3 starting pitchers out pitch the other teams 3 starter pitchers and you lose two of those games its frustrating. I thought this befor the season started and I honestly believe that if the jays signed Bonds they would make the playoff but without him they wont have enough offence.
MW: If they sign Bonds, they’re arguably the best team in the league.
- Dan M.don’t worry about the “meatcakes” on your blog Mike this blog is awesome and theres a ton of people out there who love you and the job you do. Even my dad who is the oldest baseball man in the world and loves stats like RBI’s loves listing too you.
- Dan M.Thanks for the numbers wrapup on the series. I have only been able to catch bits and pieces of games on TSN or on the radio because of work. Hoping the bats come around to support the pitching. Could you clarify for me what is classified as a quality start for a pitcher. Is it 3 or less earned runs through 6 innings?
MW: Almost. It’s a start of at least six innings with no more than three earned runs allowed. So, if you give up two runs through six, but wind up going eight and allowing four, you don’t get a quality start. I don’t get it, though, a 4.50 ERA is not quality.
- Aaron KerMike, I thought that series was pure playoff atmosphere, it was cold, runs were at a premium, pitching was awesome, and there was some late inning drama!
Too bad it was’nt an actual seven game series, I think they Jays would have taken it!
That being said, if the Jays continue to struggle at the plate with runners in scoring position after this weekend, and end up losing a couple because of it…should I be worried, or should I give it a month?
If they lose this series, they will be behind the eightball already.
MW: If they lose this series, they will be behind the eightball and yes, you should worry, because there will only be 156 games left.
- MarkMike,
In no way am I contending that the sky is falling, however, when the ball game ended I could not help but be left with a bad taste in my mouth. Failure to execute offense in the eight was really too bad. I understand that I benefit from hindsight, but I really would have bet my home that the Yanks would materialize at least a run in their half of the inning. Lastly, Aaron Hill, how does he strike out looking with Wells on third? Blew my mind.
MW: You should be left with a bad taste in your mouth. But there’s a difference between being upset by a loss and thinking that the loss of the game or the series means that the team is no good. That’s all I’m trying to get across.
- KeithLike you said last night, hopefully that tantrum last night gets him motivated. I would hate to have another season where Thomas does almost nothing until late summer when hardly matters.
Along the same lines, if Thomas does not produce do we see a change at DH? or are they just letting him figure it out?
MW: They’ll let him figure it out for a while, but with that vesting option, the leash isn’t going to be that long.
- SeanHello again Michael!
How are you feeling?
By the way, why on earth is this entry dated 1.05 PM? Although the box at the bottom of the post says 1.12 AM, so who knows.
Anyways, I had a hypothetical question for you that occurred to me in the shower this morning — I’d like to be able to say that this wouldn’t have come to me if they’d won last night, but I don’t know if I can truthfully guarantee that.
If the BJ’s were to have another non-contending third place type season, short of correcting their written grammar (or at least not complimenting it when it’s exceptional) what would you do with Jonathan Gibbons and Joseph Pierre (just making that up — no idea what the ‘JP’ stands for) Ricciardi?
Under this hypothetical framework, the team experiences a ‘relatively’ healthy year with 2-3 veterans missing 2-3 weeks each at various, arbitrarily distributed points in the season. Feel free to include Rolen’s current injury in that. Plus, let’s throw in the expectation of a few peripherals being injured for comparable amounts of time, just to avoid being overly utopian.
MW: I deleted the stuff you wrote about Steinbrenner because it was inappropriate. The man is very sick, show a little respect.
If the Jays have another non-contending type of third-place season, under the scenario you provide, John Gibbons is gone, and J.P. probably is too. The time on the entry should have been AM – it was a typo, and I’ll go fix it, thanks for the good eye.
- JCLHi Mike,
I thought it was nice to see some fire in Mr. Hurt. Maybe, just maybe, that is what he needs to start hitting. God knows he wasn’t hitting before that.
I agree with you that the sky is not falling. That was a pretty good series that could have been a sweep if a few breaks had gone the other way.
- WeezSome of the Yankees were spotted leaving Yankee stadium in their cars WELL before they even announced it over the PA system at the ball park on opening day.
Which leads me to believe that the Steinbrenners will do anything to make a dollar including misleading their own fans by making them wait in the stadium and purchase more drinks and food…
horrible ppl they are!
- Sammy Smithmike, maybe frank lost his temper because he realizes he is under pressure to perform. he has to know that if he doesn’t start out well this time, he might get waived. and I don’t think the jays should have any moral victories here. when you hold the might yanks to 1/17 with risp and you lose 2/3 that is just pathetic. regarding the yanks needing breaks to win, they go both ways. rios got a break when he stole second and the ball went into cf. bad luck happens all the time in baseball, it’s up to you to take advantage of the other teams miscues. like I said, when you see the jays play this sloppy right away it’s not a good sign
- lesUntil you broke down the series stats, Jays vs Yanks in all those categories, I was a little down. I wasn’t exactly sky is falling down but bummed none the less. Probably because in both of those 3-2 losses we had a real chance late in the game to win those.
Thanks for sharing with us about Steinbrenner. What health ailment(s) is he experienceing exactly?
Alos, any word onw what kind of festivites to expect tonight for the Jays home opener aside from the Robbie Alomar level of excellence induction?
Thanks Mike
MW: I don’t know exactly what’s going on with George Steinbrenner, and that’s because he and his family have kept it private, so we have to respect that.
As far as tonight, the anthems will be sung by the Regent Park School of Music, there will be the Alomar thing, the starting line-ups and probably some cool videos and light shows and the like.
- JeffMike,
When the put that shift on for Giambi with a runner on first base, would third not be Zaun’s bag? I don’t think that Stairs could have gotten there, and McGowen could have covered home if required. Should that not be something the Jays should have been thinking about before the play? I understand it would be a once in a blue moon type play, but we have played 3 games, and I have heard the once in a blue moon thing twice all ready.
Am I wrong to think that if our team is not prepared for every situation, we COULD lose a lot more close games?
MW: You’re not wrong to think that, but you’re extrapolating a lot from one play. Chances are, it’s Eckstein’s bag (assuming he was the guy on the left side of the infield), but remember that it was a “broken” play. When the ball is hit to Overbay’s right, Eck’s natural course of action is to go cover second to try to get the double play. The ball goes past Lyle’s dive, so Eck probably slows down for a second while Abreu is rounding the bag and holding up to see what happens. When Abreu and Eckstein (or Abreu and Scutaro) get into a footrace for third, Abreu wins, and that’s what happened.
I’m not a rose-coloured glasses guy by any means, but when I see something like this happen I think – “ok, lesson learned, that won’t happen again” as opposed to “holy crap, they suck, what are we going to do now?”
- ChrisHi Mike,
As usual, I listen to Jays Talk after every game. Last night a gentleman called from New York who metioned how he realy enjoys reading your blog especialy you and I going at it everyday. Anyways, Frank Thomas is our DH, there’s a man at first & third, he needs to try to drive in the run not take a walk. He looked foolish. He does this way to often. One more week of this and move him down to 7 or 8 for a time. Doctors say you need a well balanced diet something The Jays should follow. They don’t have a slugging team. They need to manufacture runs on days when the well is dry. Problem is they were next to last in stollen bases last year. They need to be in the middle of the pack at least. I mentioned last year that this spring training they should bring in a Robbie Alomar/Ricky Henderson type to help some of the players with this. As usual you disagreed but guess what YOUR WRONG just ask Alan Ashby.
MW: My wrong what?
- brunoI thought the pitching staff definitely looked strong. Perhaps that edge that Roy was looking for is still missing. Little defensive miscues at important times likely added up to a series loss instead of a series win. Confident teams that expect to win make the plays when they’re needed. Hopefully the team will develop that confidence sooner rather than later. Also on the plus side, Vernons swing is definitely back after the shoulder surgery. He hooked several outside fastballs in this series, something he really couldn’t do last year.
- MontyMike,
The other night on the broadcast I heard you mention your contempt for Mike Mussina. Despite being as anti-Yankee as the next Jays fan, I’ve always really respected Mussina and thought he was a great competitor – What are the things he has done over the years to form your hugely negative impression?
Great show by the way, been listening for years whenever I get the chance. Blog is always top notch – just visited it today.
MW: I figured you visited the blog today, seeing how you commented on it, but I’m glad to have you coming by! I posted earlier, probably in the comments section, about why I loathe Mussina so, so check back there.
- ColeIt was nice to see Eckstien get some runs in, I love the fact that he gives his all on every play…I just worry at some point one of his limitations will show at an in-oportune time. However I don’t know if it was just my Imagination, but it looked like to me that there were a couple balls in CF that Wells could have gotten to but either he slowed down or just wasn’t going at full speed and couldn’t get to them. Has he lost a step or am I being unreasonable at what kind of hits a gold glover can get to?
MW: I don’t think he’s lost a step, I think that on the Abreu ball anyway (not sure to which other one you’re referring) he broke back initially, buying the swing on a ball that was hit off the end of the bat. Happens a lot.
- NickMike,
I whole-heartedly agree with you that Frank should have known not to push the issue. On the other hand, I can see his frustration. The pitch f/x data shows the inconsistency of the umpire last night. It’s hard on a player to figure out what the zone is when two pitches in the same spot get different calls. Here’s a link to batter’s box, where one individual posted the data from the at bat (about 80% down).
That being said, I’m not accusing the umpires of anything but rustiness. It’s early in the season for them too, and I don’t expect the errors to continue. It’s just too bad that the Jays have seen some tough calls go against them at important points in the game. I’m sure it’ll all even out in the end.
MW: I think that especially since the ump was so inconsistent within that at-bat, Thomas shouldn’t have assumed he’d get the right call there.
- Jasonhi mike
- marioI thought the jays played pretty good.They battled came up a bit short but i was impressed with the pitching.I think that we don’t make the mistakes we have a chance at a sweep.Now we take care of business at home and people can come in off of ther’re balconies.
Go Jays!!!
The good
Not many pitching staffs will limit the Yanks to 8 runs in 3 games.
I like the fact Frank Thomas showed emotion. I don’t think it was by accident-maybe FT is trying to light a fire under these guys.
4 stolen bases is a good thing.
The Bad
.188 with RISP simply doesn’t get it done.
The decision to use Wolfe against 3 lefties was simply a dumb move. Wolfe is great against righties, but our poorest pitcher against lefties. Why bring him in? If Gibby was going to use Downs anyway, he should have used him at that time instead of Wolfe.
Mike, I know you like Gibby, but this move mirrors the way he mishandles the pitching staff over and over again.
Watch Gibbies moves on the road with the pitchers. He consistently makes more of these errors on the road versus at home. This might explain why our road win been in the .400 range each year since Gibby took over.
The year before he took over we have a good road record. Why the change is the question?
MW: You’re right, it’s all Gibby’s fault. Hotel food makes him stupid. One question, though – if .188 with RISP simply doesn’t get it done, how does .059?
- gerryAlso…. not alos. Gee whiz eh?
MW: Gee whiz indeed! Well, glad you found that one.
- JeffMike
The sky might not be falling simply for the fact that the there are still games left to make up for the gaffes in game 1 and 3. You can look at the positives and take away what you want, but it doesn’t change the fact that the Jays are still unable to hit. 7 earned runs by your starting pitchers and a superb showing by the bullpen and you finish the series 1-2? This is how you succeed indefinitely to finish 3rd each and every year. I’m amazed at how many fans try so hard to see the silver lining instead of trying to see the problems.
1. Frank Thomas should not be our DH. It doesn’t matter how notorious he is to start the season. By the time he gets it going, the Jays will be so far out of the playoffs it wouldn’t matter if he hit 60 home runs.
2. V. Wells – Granted injury was a factor in last years debacle so I’ll give him a month’s pass. Anything more and you have to question another astronomically long term regret.
As you read this you’re probably thinking, “Come on! It’s been 3 games!” Well the last time I checked these games count in the final standings, so anyone who thinks otherwise is just trying blow sunshine up the business end.
MW: These games absolutely count in the final standings, but would anyone be getting this worked up about a 1-2 stretch in the middle of June? The games matter, of course they do, but extrapolating what happens in three games over the next 159 is a fool’s errand.
- KelvinMike,
You’ve critisized my grammer and spelling in the past. My earlier blog to you is in perfect english which you prefer to ignore. I guess you can’t handle the truth.
MW: I congratulated you on your good English! But based on this one, I’m guessing you got someone else to write it for you.
- bruno4.50 ERA isn’t great, but it’s AL average.
MW: But it’s not called an average start, it’s called a quality start.
- TorgenHey Mike,
Love listening to you on the radio. You have rekindled my childhood fascination of the game of baseball. Please stay with the Jays and don’t be going of to a place in the sunny south.
Anyway I can’t help agree with you. The Yankees offense is potent from top to bottom. Barring anymore injuries it may be hard to argue that the Jays have one of the best Staffs in the American League. I like it and one thing my Daddy always told me was in the long run Great Pitching beats Great Hitting.
MW: Sadly, it didn’t last year. Still, there’s hope! And thanks for the kind words.
- SeanMichael:
I certainly didn’t say anything ‘very inappropriate’ about Steinbrenner. I inquired about the exact nature of his condition; I think that’s a perfectly reasonable query in the context of the amibguity of what you described and the fact that (as I said) there have been different ideas floating around the Yankees’ message board. I figured there may a more definite answer out there, which you’d know.
Padding a question about a situation like that with light-hearted remarks alluding to his well known feud with Billy Martin is far from disrespectful — it’s simply being able to take a serious situation not so seriously.
Anyways, you’re entitled to interpret it as you will, but none of the intention, tone or content of my comment was disrespectful.
My question specifically regarding Gibby & JP was whether or not you personally would advocate their removal at year’s end on the show if that’s the situation that Jays were in.
MW: I appreciate that your intent wasn’t disrespectful, that’s good to know. But it could be perceived as such (since I did), so I didn’t post it. Would I personally advocate the removal of Gibby and JP, given the situation you described? I tend to blame the players, but sports is sports, and they’d have to go.
- JCLI had heard that Alomar and John Hirschbeck had put the spitting thing behind them. Wikipedia (if you trust that site) reads:
“He was suspended for five games and donated $50,000 to ALD [Hirschbeck’s son had ALD] research. Alomar and Hirschbeck settled their differences publicly and made apologies to each other on April 22, 1997, standing at home plate and shaking hands in front of the crowd before an Orioles game and now consider one another friends.”
I always thought that was such an unfortunate incident and I only hope Toronto fans will remember him for the wonderful things he did in a Blue Jays uniform. I hope he is given the standing ovation that he so truly deserves.
- Andy
- AndyOops. Didn’t know the signature was automatic.
- Andy“I don’t get it, though, a 4.50 ERA is not quality.”
This isn’t me challenging you, it’s a legitimate question. I normally defer to your grammar expertise, but would a semi-colon not have been appropriate there? I can never seem to get those thingmajigs right.
MW: Maybe. So might have a dash. I’m just kind of partial to commas.
- AriTrue, but top of the rotation starters don’t need you to look at their quality start counts to know how good they are. In effect its usefulness is as a variance measure for 3-5 range starters.
MW: Yeah, but if you give up three runs in six innings, that’s not quality, is all I’m saying.
- TorgenWell the next best values would be 2 over 6 or 3 over 7. The former is 3.00, and the latter is 3.85 and disqualifies a lot of good NL pitchers who will get pinch hit for whether they’re pitching well or not.
MW: That’s true, which is why the QS is a bad stat. But I think 3 over 7 is a better indicator of “quality”, but we’re just getting hung up on semantics.
- Torgen