Toronto Blue Jays

Chipper Jones is out for the year with a torn ACL, but let’s hope this isn’t it for the man who has played his entire major league career for manager Bobby Cox.  Chipper has made it known since last season that retirement could be around the corner, but like Baseball Tonight’s Eduardo Perez, I don’t see Chipper calling it quits now that his season has ended unexpectedly.  He wants to go out on his own terms, and these aren’t them.  At 38, his career is nearing the end, but I find it hard to believe that he will be able to say good-bye after watching from the bench as his team battles for the National League crown.

Continue reading "Will Chipper hang 'em up?"

With the Dog Days of August about to begin, now is the time for teams to decide whether they are buyers or sellers – that is, whether they should mortgage their future and go for it this year or trade away their veterans for up-and-coming prospects.  “Going for it” says to a team’s fans that the organization thinks it has a legitimate chance to win it all, but a more conservative approach can send just as strong a message.  While a middle-of-the-pack team may have to acknowledge that this isn’t the year, going out and building for the future – as long as it is not the distant future – can usually be taken to mean that the front office is willing to sacrifice an outside shot at the playoffs in order to increase its chances of winning in the long term.  Buyer or seller, every GM will be busy until tomorrow’s trade deadline.

Continue reading "Buyer or Seller?"

Though it was overshadowed by Armando Galarraga’s nearly perfect game, Ken Griffey Jr. announced his retirement on Wednesday, marking the end of a historic career.  Griffey’s various injuries over the last 10 years prevented him from breaking the all-time home run record, but The Kid will still go down as one of the very best of his era.  He was a 13-time All-Star (including 11 in a row) and totaled 2,781 career hits, 630 homers (good for 5th all-time) and 1836 Runs Batted In.  He won 7 Silver Sluggers and an MVP Award, and his 10 Gold Gloves tie him for third-most among outfielders; he won them in consecutive years.  Known for his sweet swing, tremendous defense in center field, and contagious smile, Griffey will take his place in Cooperstown before we know it.

Continue reading "Junior hangs 'em up"

The game of baseball lost two old-timers this week, as beloved Tigers broadcaster Ernie Harwell passed away at the age of 92 and Hall of Fame pitcher Robin Roberts died at 83.

Harwell is best known for his 42 years broadcasting Tiger games, but before his career in Detroit, Harwell made history.  For this, I turn to wikipedia: In 1948, Harwell became the only announcer in baseball history to be traded for a player when the Brooklyn Dodgers' general manager, Branch Rickey, traded catcher Cliff Dapper to the Crackers in exchange for breaking Harwell's broadcasting contract.

Continue reading "Farewell to a pair of the game's greats"

visiting Milwaukee Brewers (who else?) collected an astonishing 31 hits en route to destroying the Toronto Blue Jays, 22-2.

Get well soon

I’d like to wish a speedy recovery to Brad Ausmus, who in his 18th big league season – as a catcher, no less – finds himself on the Disabled List for the first time in his career.  Ausmus underwent surgery on his back last week and expects to be out until late summer.

Continue reading "Oh, what a night!"

When the Atlanta Braves announced during the last week of spring training that Jason Heyward had made the big league roster, it made headlines in part because both Stephen Strasburg and Aroldis Chapman were being assigned to the minors.  However, after winning the starting right fielder’s job in Atlanta, the 20-year-old phenom wasted no time before impressing the baseball world by launching a three-run home run in his very first major league at-bat.  Batting seventh in the lineup behind Chipper Jones, Brian McCann, and others has limited the pressure on the 14th overall pick in the 2007 draft, but before long, you can expect to see Heyward taking his hacks in the cleanup spot.

Continue reading "Jason Heyward: Instant Hit"

Big news from the Big Unit: 46-year-old Randy Johnson announced his retirement, concluding his career with a record of 303-166, a 3.29 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP.  His five Cy Young Awards – one with the Mariners and four in a row with the Diamondbacks – rank him behind only Roger Clemens, and his 4,875 career strikeouts are second only to Nolan Ryan.  He was a 10-time All-Star, starting the Midsummer Classic four times – twice for each league. Johnson made history in 2004 when he became the oldest player – at 40 – to throw a perfect game.

Continue reading "The Big Unit hangs ‘em up"

While researching ballplayers of the nineties, I discovered that in 1993, Jeff King of the Pirates drove in 98 runs while hitting only nine home runs and slugging just .406.  I then wondered if any player has ever driven in 100 runs with fewer than 10 homers or with a slugging percentage under .400.  Upon further investigation, I found that in 1996 – the year he turned 40 during the Dog Days of August – Paul Molitor hit just nine homers but accumulated 113 RBI’s while playing for the Twins.  Thanks to his American League-leading 225 hits and batting two hitters behind leadoff man Chuck Knoblauch in the midst of his best season (.448 OBP), Molitor led the Twins in both hitting (.341) and Runs Batted In.  I have yet to find a player with a season of 100+ RBI’s despite a slugging percentage under .400 (Molitor’s was a healthy .468), but I will continue searching.

Continue reading "Run production and slugging: not ..."

The 12-inning thriller that was the last regular season game ever played at the Metrodome was exactly what I wanted to see.  When the Twins and Tigers played a four-game series in Detroit last week, I found myself rooting for the Twins to close the gap in order to create an exciting finish to the regular season – ideally a one-game playoff.  When that happened, I decided it would be great for the city of Detroit to send their team to the playoffs, but what I wanted most was to see a great game.  My wish came true when the two teams played a nail-biter that could have gone either way, but eventually sent Minnesota to the postseason.  Props to both teams for giving the fans what they deserved.

Continue reading "Twins-Tigers game was exactly what I wanted"

Cliff Lee was meant to pitch for the Phillies.  How else do you explain his ridiculous string of starts since joining the team last month?  In five games, Lee has a 5-0 record, a 0.75 WHIP, and a 0.68 E.R.A.  In 40 innings, he has struck out 39 batters and walked just six, surrendered a grand total of zero home runs, and looked like a true ace while averaging eight innings per start.  As if he weren’t contributing enough already, Lee is hitting .313, which, if it were over enough at-bats to qualify, would lead the team.  The southpaw has truly made the most of his time in the City of Brotherly Love.

Continue reading "Cliff Lee: Philly Fave"

With the MLB playoffs set to begin, there is a subtle difference in the air compared to start of any other postseason. In the NHL, fans can potentially look forward to a great Canadians/Bruins series that is not only exciting, but has a historical kick to it. Likewise basketball fans always have the chance to see if the Suns can finally get past the Spurs and football fans love seeing the rivalry of the Eagles Vs the City of Philadelphia when the Eagles so much as get tackled for a loss.

Continue reading "The Ups and Downs of the MLB Playoffs"

Volquez and Johnny Cueto on the mound, Reds fans hope the streak doesn't last much longer.

1993- Toronto Blue Jays. Beat Philadelphia, 4-2, in World Series.

Joe Carter. Yeah, it's been 15 years since the Jays have made the playoffs, but at least the fans of Toronto have one of the greatest images in World Series history to remember as their most recent.

Continue reading "Congrats to the Brewers and Rays"

Entrance into the Hall of Fame is the highest individual honour that baseball has to offer. Getting into Cooperstown means that without a doubt you are one of the greatest players of your generation and have earned the right for children to stare at your plaque as parents tell tall-tales of your abilities for years to come.

Continue reading "What makes someone a hall of famer?"

The next couple weeks will wrap up the MLB regular season, so I'm going to take a look at each division around baseball, and give you my thoughts on them. And yes, I'm only doing this because I'm sick of watching the Orioles give up 10 runs a night and try to come up with something positive to say (although Radhames Liz did pitch well on Sunday.....but I digress.) I'll start with the best division in baseball, the AL East. 4 of the5 teams are over .500, and all of those 4 are probably among the 10 or so best teams in the majors. The one exception, well....that would be the O's. Anyways, here is a look at my take on the AL East from this past season.

Continue reading "A Look Around the AL East"

Dear God I love the Blue Jays. After all, what’s not to love? Sure, they may blow crucial games in crucial series, 90% of the time they can’t get a hit in extra innings to save their lives, they don’t steal bases and have never been able to beat the Rays (Devil or not), but after that, what else? Oh yeah, they can never seem to beat rookie pitchers, take advantage of bases loaded situations and every pitcher not named Halladay seems to start every at-bat with a ball. But still, every day I try to catch the opening pitch and every night check the standings… What’s wrong with me?

Continue reading "Why I watch the Jays"

But with one of the best fielding percentages and team ERA’s in the league, the Toronto Blue Jays are competing.

In the end, however, the best pitching and defense can ever do is keep you in a game long enough for your offence to pull you out. After all, it’s impossible to win a game 0-0 (although the Dodgers proved this season that you can win without a hit).

Continue reading "Why the Jays won't compete: the importance ..."

Just picture it: it’s the top of the ninth inning and the Toronto Blue Jays are holding a slim 2-1 lead over the New York Yankees. Up to bat is Derek Jeter with Bobby Abreu and Alex Rodriguez on deck. Cito Gaston, in order to shut the door on the game and the series gets on the phone and brings in the big gun, Pedro Luis Lazo, winner of two Olympic Gold medals with Cuba and current closer of the Blue Jays. And even if he gives up a run its okay, because leading off the bottom of the ninth for the Jays is Alexei Bell, who hit 30 HR with 100 RBI with Santiago del Cuba last year.

Continue reading "Part Time Jays: How to add a little ..."

os of yesterday’s blog about what a last-place team should be doing, let’s look at the Toronto Blue Jays, in a similar situation as the Mariners, if not nearly as dire. In last place in one of baseball’s toughest divisions, the 38-43 Jays canned manager John Gibbons on June 20, replacing him with veteran Cito Gaston.

Continue reading "The New Jays"

Much exuberant ink has been spilled over Asdrubal Cabrera's unassisted triple play in yesterday's Indians-Blue Jays game, only the fourteenth in MLB history. That rarity makes it memorable, but I'm not sure there's a ton of athleticism involved--the Unassisted Triple Play (or UTP for short) is more luck of circumstance than anything.

Continue reading "The Not-So-Unassisted Triple Play"

I've been a Yankees fan since the early nineties, pre-Showalter, pre-Torre, pre-post-seventies-World-Series-victories days, and it seems to me they're as vulnerable as they've ever been. I like Girardi, I like the New Steinbrenner regime that doesn't look to scour out every single prospect for the possibility of Winning Right Now--but I think they are (dare I say?) approaching those dreaded Rebuilding Years.

Continue reading "Rebuilding the Yankees--A Good Thing?"

It's the ninth inning of a scoreless game between the Red Sox and Blue Jays. Roy Halladay and Jon Lester had both pitched brilliantly, holding the other team scoreless through eight innings. Papelbon came on to help Lester, but with the shay back end of the Toronto pen--closer B.J. Ryan coming off TJ surgery, setup man Jeremy Accardo with an ERA over 8--the game was Halladay's to win or lose.  Three times already, he'd gone the distance, but had lost two of those games when Toronto failed to muster enough offense to give him the win. Would this time be the charm?

Continue reading "Roy Halladay's Heartbreak"

Two weeks into the 2008 season and the Boston Red Sox must be pleased with how the season has gone thus far. Granted they are only two games over .500 at 8 and 6 and have split their last 10 games, but things could be much, much worse. When the Yankees went to Japan to open the season, they proceeded to go 11-19 in the first month of the season before finally snapping out of it and going on to win the division. Boston is only half a game out of first place in the tightly packed American League East which is currently lead by the surprising Baltimore Orioles who do not figure to hang around much longer.

Continue reading "Red Sox Should Feel Good About The Season So Far"

le of the Tampa Bay lineup and help make the Rays into a team that others can no longer overlook.

Toronto Blue Jays

Can Vernon Wells rebound from and awful 2007 campaign?

The Blue Jays su

Continue reading "MLB 2008 Season Preview: American Leauge East"

The Red Sox and Yankees would battle for first place, Toronto Blue Jays would finish in the middle of the pack, the Orioles would be afterthoughts and the only question with Tampa Bay was whether they would lose more than 100 games or not. This seasons looks like it could be entirely different and the division is experiencing more depth than it has since the mid 1990's when Boston, New York and Baltimore were all contenders.

Continue reading "American League East is a Beast of a Division"