1:28 PM Eastern
The first inning just ended here at Rogers Centre, and I discovered that the FAN590 blogs are back up and working, so I jut wanted to throw down a little post to let you know we’re back and that there’ll be something of substance up here after the game and after I put together The Blue Jays This Week.
Speaking of TBJTW, it’s back – every Sunday at 7:05 PM Eastern on the FAN590 and several other stations across the network. Tonight, we’ve got Alex Rios, Aaron Hill, Roberto Alomar, Mike Timlin and Jays Assistant GM Alex Anthopoulos, so make sure you tune in!
Click here to subscribe to Wilner's blog
Glad to see the evil spam forces didn’t steal the blogs forever. Any chance you could bend the ear of the station techies to put the This Week show up as a podcast? Thanks!
MW: Eventually, it will, I’m told. Thanks for wanting it!
- DaithíWell how do you do…we’re four and two,
Frank goes deep, Johnny Mac and Wells in a heap,
Nap time for Lugo, glad we got Scutaro,
Staff looking strong, we can’t go wrong,
Great looking start, team’s showing their heart,
Bring on the A’s, we’re the ’08 Jays,
MW: Do you have a tune for that, or are we just supposed to rap it?
- DJJAY“Jays Talkin’ It UP!”
- AndrewAwesome.
Mike, can you tell me how many stolen bases the blue jays got last year and how many they have this year? On a side note, who do you think is a bigger a-hole, mike mussina or barry bonds?
MW: Last year, the Jays stole 57 bases, this year they have stolen 6 (a pace for 162), but all players not named Alex Rios and Marco Scutaro have combined for zero stolen bases. And it’s Mike Mussina, and it’s not even close.
- andrewDo you think the jays are in between a big market team and a middle market team because they seem to spending more money on players like rios, wells, halladay.
MW: The Jays are a big market team, they play in the 4th biggest city in MLB. They spend like a mid-to-high revenue team, though, yes.
- julianI’m just wondering if you have heard of any after affects from John McDonald and Vernon Wells colliding. McDonald looked a bit like his ribs got cracked out there.
MW: I haven’t heard, so all we can go by is the fact that they both stayed in the game and were joking about it afterwards. I wonder if they both still feel OK when they wake up in the morning, though.
- Iain SutherlandInteresting question about the market size. I know Toronto is the 4th biggest city in MLB, but is it the 4th biggest baseball town? Like do enough people care to buy enough merchandise and such? Basically is Rogers making enough money to be spending like the 4th biggest market?
MW: Probably, but you never know with the way they mix all their revenues.
- michaelNot only are the Jays in the fourth largest city, the three larger cities have two teams each. The Jays also have an exclusive nationwide audience.
Small market? Don’t think so
MW: The Jays are definitely not small market, but let’s be real – the “exclusive nationwide audience” has less population than California.
- KrustyThat’s true Mike but California has five teams.
MW: OK, but the point was that “nationwide” doesn’t mean all that much in relative terms, since we only have 10% of the population of the U.S.
- Krustyhey mike,
- mariojust to remind people the only time the jays were a small market team was when the beer company baught labbatts.then the dollar took a tumble.now we are not going to spend like the red sox, the yankees,angels and dodgers
we can compete with the rest
like we used to.
mario