Comments on: MVP Time

By: chris m.

chris m. — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 03:02:50 +0000

Mike…With all my talk of old Tiger Stadium and me asking you in past blogs about players that always seemed to kill the Jays, Alan Trammell was one of those guys. With all their sluggers like Kirk Gibson, Darrell Evans, Lance Parrish,et al, Trammell was the guy I feared the most. Not to mention his great defence with Lou Whitaker. What did you think of Trammell, Mike?…I thought he was brilliant. Jays/Tigers in the ’80′s was as good as it gets in my books..Lots of tears and cheers!!

MW: A strong argument could be made that Trammell deserved the MVP in 1987 (I didn’t think so, but everyone in Detroit did), and that year was the height of the Jays-Tigers rivalry.

By: chris m.

chris m. — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 02:36:16 +0000

Mike…Great details about Detroit and your Tiger Stadium visit..Thanks..My friend’s mishap with the pickpocketer was not in the ballpark but on the walk-up to the park, just to further your description of the Tiger Stadium location…Your story of your cousin not wanting to stop reminds me of my Sept. 1985 trip to Yankee Stadium. With our hotel being in Manhattan right near Madison Square Garden, we had quite a trip up to the Bronx and when driving through some tough areas, the bus driver said “everyone say a few prayers that the bus doesn’t break down here.” I think he was half joking but also half serious and that’s the half that scared me. Mike..a lot of people remember the infamous Mary O’Dowd for butchering ” O Canada” at the Sat. night game of that great Blue Jay weekend, but what I remember most (besides the three great victories)was the Yankee fans booing our anthem and Yankee’s public address man, Bob Shepherd reminding the fans of Canadians helping the American escapees in the Middle East turmoil. I also remember Cliff Johnson really letting the Yankee fans have it in the papers..It just rallied the team and us fans and we beat the Yanks Fri., Sat. and Sun….Do you remember the booing of the anthem Mike?

MW: I do, but I thought the fans were booing poor Mary O’Dowd.

By: chris m.

chris m. — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 23:07:40 +0000

Mike…Did you ever attend a game at old Tiger Stadium?..It was said to be a neat place to view a game..Always regret not going, but a high school friend of mine back in the ’80′s at the height of the Detroit/Toronto rivalry had a pickpocket incident there and I got a little wary…I know it’s wrong to generalize a city or area, because that could happen at any venue, but I did and now the place is gone and I missed out…Thanks Mike

MW: I went there once, I can’t remember any details about the game, but I did go there probably when I was around 17. It’s wrong to generalize, because inside the stadium you were perfectly safe, but outside – it was a very, very bad neighbourhood. I went with one of my Detroit cousins, to a day game, and on the way there and back he didn’t stop at a single stop sign. That’s my lasting memory of going to Tiger Stadium.

By: Richard Spackman

Richard Spackman — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 19:07:53 +0000

Mike:
Milwaukee has approximately $40+M (available from free agents) to spend without increasing their “salary cap”. (Check the Web). They gave Gagne $10M and will spend as much if necessary. B.J. Ryan is as good as Gagne any day. Milwaukee’s total cost will only be $6-6.5M/yr in a trade for J.J. Hardy. A deal can be done, or a bigger one. Can J.P. see that far?

MW: I’m sure J.P. has never even considered it. Seriously, though, what makes you so sure that: A – Milwaukee’s payroll is staying the same, and 2 – The Brewers “will spend as much (on a closer as they spent on Gagne) if necessary”. Either you’ve got a direct line to Doug Melvin or you’re assuming facts that aren’t in evidence. I don’t think the Brewers will be in the market for a big-money closer if they don’t get either CC Sabathia or Ben Sheets (or maybe both) back, and I think any dealing they do this off-season is on hold until those two pitchers’ situations are resolved. I also don’t think that J.J. Hardy is the be-all and end-all that so many others seem to.

By: rocco

rocco — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 06:27:38 +0000

why didn’t we get to sign those indian pitchers? damn you JP!! they would have only cost 50000 rupees

By: Shawn

Shawn — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 05:44:43 +0000

Remember back in May when I posted that story of two Indian (as in India) kids winning a reality contest to come over to the US for the chance to make the majors?

http://blog.rogersbroadcasting.com/mikewilner/2008/05/16/what-a-field-day-for-the-heat/#comment-4830

Well guess what? Now the Pirates have signed the two to minor league deals! Sure it’s just the Pirates but how cool is that?

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3724303

MW: Very cool indeed.

By: James

James — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 00:38:20 +0000

Hey Mike
I was reading a post on Greg Maddux stating that he intends on retiring. I think there should be more talk about this than about Mussina. I personally believe that Maddux is far more superior than Mussina. His 18 Gold Gloves (every year since 1990 excluding 2003) is an astounding achievment that will probably never be achieved again. He was a rare talent and I along with many others enjoyed watching him. Cant wait till 2014 when he shall be rightfully inducted into the hall of fame.

MW: Maddux was one of the best pitchers ever to take to the mound in the major leagues. If he should decide to pack it in, there will a be LOT more talk about him than there is about Mussina.

By: isabella reyes

isabella reyes — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 22:45:03 +0000

The Jays haven’t made any offers to any of the big hitting free-agents out there. So far they haven’t gone after any pitcher–they haven’t even offered Burnett anything yet. They don’t have much to trade. It looks like Jays ’09 will be the same as Jays ’08 with a different, younger rotation.

Is this Ricciardi’s decision or Paul Beeston’s decision? And when is Lyle Overbay’s contract up? Because 1st base is your traditional power position, and it’s there we can get a big-league masher, but right now we’ve got Overbay, and he hasn’t looked good since he broke his hand. I can see Beeston looking at what we have right now, the contracts in place, the likely payroll for next year (which still hasn’t been announced) and a very sick rotation, and thinking ‘better wait for next year’s off-season’. But I can’t imagine that Ricciardi is happy with that. If they don’t compete next year, I’m pretty sure he is on his bike back to Worcester.

MW: I don’t think it’s either Ricciardi or Beeston’s decision, I think it’s coming from higher up, part of the global economic crisis. But I also think it’s a pattern we’ve seen many times before. The Jays don’t usually get anything done early in the off-season (with the exception of the Frank Thomas signing, and we all know how well that worked out). They wait for the market to set and then jump in if they see something they like. Overbay’s contract is up after the 2010 season, but try not to get caught up in “traditional power position” and like that. Who’s the “big league masher” who’s available at first base ready to magically fix all the Jays’ problems?

By: chris m.

chris m. — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 22:09:35 +0000

Mike…It’s strange that over time, historic baseball moments that get talked about frequently ( and rightly so) maybe at the time weren’t deemed so big. Three examples and they’re all based on attendance….
a)1951 Dodgers/Giants with Thomson’s shot heard ’round the world…attendance 35000 with The Polo Grounds holding over 50000 and one of the greatest comebacks in history and two N.Y. teams?
b)1960..Ted Williams last home game at Fenway..10000 people and Fenway then must’ve held 30000?
c)1961… Roger Maris’ last chance to break The Babe’s home run record(which he did)..attendance 25000 when Yankee Stadium then could hold 70000..This one I somewhat understand because Maris was hated by many Yankee fans for challenging the immortal Ruth and Roger even admitted right up to his early death that he wished that 1961′s record hadn’t happened. Ford Frick didn’t help by putting the asterisk beside the 61 and therefore belittling the feat..Mike..why the lousy attendance especially the “Miracle at Coogan’s Bluff’ for the Giants?

MW: I don’t know if attendance is the best way to gauge interest at the time. Remember, in the ’50s and ’60s there were a lot fewer people around, for one thing, most games were played in the daytime, when a lot of people were at work or at school. The “Shot Heard ‘Round The World” game was played on a Wednesday afternoon, for example. And those 19951 Giants finished second in the National League drawing 1.06 million fans, averaging about 13,400 per game. It was a different world.

By: Fabio C.

Fabio C. — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 15:17:27 +0000

Someone I know has suggested something regarding Maany Ramirez: try to pull off a trade of Alex Rios and Ricky Romero for Lincecum, and witht he money left over from Alex and AJ Burnett the Jays would have enough to put in a competitive bid for Ramirez, who has said that he would like to play in Toronto. I think that 30, 40, or even 50 homers and a high average would likely propel us into playoff contention.

MW: The Lincecum ship has sailed.