2007 Toronto Blue Jays regular season thread

ICJ · Post by **ICJ** » Tue Jun 12, 2007 9:22 pm

SAN FRANCISCO (TICKER) -- Toronto Blue Jays righthander A.J. Burnett left his start against the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday with an apparent right arm injury.

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 3:55 pm

SAN FRANCISCO - Backup catcher Sal Fasano was catcalled as "Fagano" Tuesday and has come down with a small case of hurt feelings. He was also designated for assignment, which might have something to do with it.

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 7:56 pm

I don't have an account for the whole article, but here is Joe Sheehan telling everybody how right he was about the Jays signing Burnett and Ryan.

You really have to give the Baseball Prospectus writers credit, when they want to strain to make a point they will write something like, "Last year, the two threw 208 good innings—Ryan was one of the two best relievers in the AL—and posted a 3.07 ERA and 11.9 WARP." Ryan put together one of the most unhittable seasons in recent memory. If you combine him with Anthony Young and get 11.9 "WARP" then I can safely say that your formula is stupid, because it diminishes how powerful B.J. was last season.

Anyway, Burnett's been an absolute force his last few starts and Ryan kept us in contention last year. You can't predict our manager leaving him in for 400 pitches in 3 starts or whatever the hell it was.

Bugs · Post by **Bugs** » Sun Jun 24, 2007 8:08 pm

Dustin McGowan lost a no-hitter in the 9th.

FIRE JOHN GIBBONS.

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Thu Jun 28, 2007 12:04 am

The almost-no-hitter game was blacked out in this neck of the woods. I drove from Colorado to Toronto to see it, though, so it's OK.

I have to admit that black-outs definitely make it more likely I see the game. Great choice by MLB.tv, they have some real superstars working for them. Just a good bunch of intelligent developers and managers, with an excellent grasp of web design and logic. (Web logic?) No, they have a fantastic handle on just regular logic.

Gonna have to get an oil change right after I got an oil change, which is always a pain when you go on a long car trip, but hey... I live in Colorado and a team in Toronto was playing the "Colorado Rockies." That sort of sounds like the "blackout rule" should be invoked, kind of (somewhat!!), to a thick-browed worthless nobody, so I can understand why they did what they did. I'm not even a little upset. $14.95 a month is a steal for that kind of service.

Bugs · Post by **Bugs** » Thu Jun 28, 2007 9:47 am

Hey, you don't have to tell me about it. For some reason, I am unable to watch Orioles or Senators games on MLB.tv... while no channels I have access to over the air or on cable carry Senators or Orioles games. Oh, and both the Orioles and Senators, geographically speaking, play at least 2 states and/or districts away from the state in which my couch is in.

Not that it's that big a deal, but it does mean I miss 20 some-odd Jays games. And I never get to watch the once proud Orioles franchise implode in real time. Or Dmitri "Suge" Young playing "Bloods-n-Crips" with the entire NL East.

Bugs · Post by **Bugs** » Thu Jun 28, 2007 9:51 am

Hey, wow, the Jays have won 5 out of 6. And AJ is back tonight versus the Twinkies.

Also, on a AAA note, the Red Wings are in town against the Bulls this week. My office building looks over the ballpark, so I watched part of the game yesterday during lunch. And we have tickets for Friday night's game. Jimmy gon' get DRNK!

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Thu Jun 28, 2007 10:10 am

Bugs wrote:Hey, you don't have to tell me about it. For some reason, I am unable to watch Orioles or Senators games on MLB.tv... while no channels I have access to over the air or on cable carry Senators or Orioles games. Oh, and both the Orioles and Senators, geographically speaking, play at least 2 states and/or districts away from the state in which my couch is in.

Yeah. The blackout rule as the stick to get you to go to the game is so stupid that even MLB wouldn't demand it. I assume they expect us to watch the games on TV, and if you don't get the right stations, like we do not, we're screwed. Horrible system.

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Thu Jun 28, 2007 10:12 am

Also, I love how the world demands a horrible "Senators" team in some sport. The Ottawa Senators filled that role for many years, but as they transitioned to a good team there was only a little amount of time before the Washington Senators took over. I expect that if the baseball Senators ever get good, Ottawa will instantly begin missing the playoffs, - OR - an expansion team called the Portland Senators will immediately begin playing in the NFL.

Bugs · Post by **Bugs** » Thu Jun 28, 2007 10:57 am

Haha, did I call them the "Senators"? Funny. What a RobBian Slip, like you calling the Angels the "California" Angels and Metallica's bass player "Cliff" and all.

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Thu Jun 28, 2007 12:46 pm

Bugs wrote:Haha, did I call them the "Senators"? Funny. What a RobBian Slip, like you calling the Angels the "California" Angels and Metallica's bass player "Cliff" and all.

Wait. Shit. When I read what you wrote I honestly accepted that they were called the Washington Senators. Only when I read this post did I remember that they were Nationals. I mean, if someone had quizzed me I would have answered correctly. But when reading what you wrote, the name didn't jump out at me as wrong. Guess that shows how low the baseball team from Washington is on my radar. So I had a brain slip as well.

That being said, I thought I called the Angels the "California Angels" intentionally due to the stupid renaming they did recently. If you were ONCE the "California Angels" and now want everyone to call you the "Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim," then I think it's OK to just refer to them as the "California Angels." Basically, any time a team refers to two cities, unless those cities are Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, I think it's OK to just use the state name when talking about them.

I have no idea about the bass player for Metallica. I only know of Hetfield, Lars, and I thought Cliff Burton was the dead guy. What did I call him? Cliff Richard?

This thread took a turn into Derren Brown territory.

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 2:12 am

TORONTO - THe guy in the bullpen with the 13.50 ERA as of a couple days ago came down with a bad case of THe Shits.

Knuckles the CLown · Post by **Knuckles the CLown** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 11:29 am

Isn't it about time to put this baby to bed?

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 9:35 pm

I would rather boil my own skin for easter than listen to nine innings of Michael Kay. I can't remember who the other asshole is with him, Sterling if I remember right, but Hell is one of them in the left ear and the other blathering on in the right.

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 9:36 pm

Knuckles the CLown wrote:Isn't it about time to put this baby to bed?

I can't believe the season the Mariners are having. I really hope you guys make it out of the second round this year. You guys deserve a World Series appearance more than any other fanbase in baseball.

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Thu Aug 09, 2007 3:11 pm

A few months ago, noted pussy Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees verbally interfered with Toronto backup infielder Howie Clark during a routine pop up. Rodriguez, pulling the kind of shit that I have honestly never seen done in chud softball, much less Little League, is hated by everyone in baseball and has no friends. Everyone who knows him or works with him seems to do so only because he is a great player, unless the game matters.

A couple nights ago Blue Jays pitcher Josh Towers plunked Rodriguez during an at-bat. It was hilarious. Rodriguez seems to be genuinely surprised that people don't like him. Even through interviews you can pick up the fact that the man has no social awareness whatsoever.

This of course led to Roger Clemens pretending he gives a shit about baseball, rather than his inflated paycheck. Clemens hit Alex Rios and was ejected along with his manager, Joe Torre.

And I have to say, that clearing the benches (and then Roy Halladay striking out 8 Yankees in 7 innings, with A-Rod out nursing a sore vulva) is one of the highlights of the season. The only thing that would have been better would be if Towers just kept throwing at Rodriguez's head.

Towers wasn't finished, however, after hearing more shouting from Yankees first base coach Tony Pena. The pitcher shot back at Pena, and Rodriguez - thinking Towers was yelling at him - began walking toward the pitcher's mound asking "are you talking to me?"

"I was like, 'What is (Pena) running his mouth for?' He's a quitter," Towers told the New York Daily News. "He was managing a team (the Royals in 2005) and he quit in the middle of a season, because he couldn't hack it. Hey, he's going to run his mouth at me? It had nothing to do with Alex."

The benches emptied again and no punches were thrown.

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Thu Aug 09, 2007 3:12 pm

Oh, I just saw that Clemens was suspended for five games. Ha ha ha, you know that's only going to affect him if those five games are without pay.

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Mon Aug 27, 2007 11:03 am

Bugs wrote:Well, Ohka didn't look too good last night, but Thomas hit a grand slam.

If this team can score 8 runs every game, I think we'll do just fine.

And as we put the finishing touches on the season (I am about to cancel my MLB.tv account, but I love watching Halladay and Marcum) I think we can safely say the following:

- The pitching was far beyond what we could have hoped for. Halladay, Marcum, Burnett, McGowan and Litsch is a GOOD staff. Chacin has shitty numbers, but the team seems to score runs for him constantly. You can do worse than Chacin as a spot starter for 08.

- The hitting has been absolutely abysmal. Seriously bad seasons by:

- Zaun (who is old and justifies his paycheck by handling this staff)

- Wells (completely unexplainable. He has killed our season. He is the #1 reason why this team is not going to the playoffs)

- Overbay (has been hurt, but wasn't playing well beforehand. Stairs should be out there every day)

- Johnson (again, hurt, and some would say not that great to begin with)

- Shortstops. A black hole. John McDonald is solid defensively, but you can't have the catcher and the shortstop position fighting the Mendoza line. You need one of them to put up league average numbers.

Never would have thought that offense would have killed this team so much. We need a guy who can hit righties in all the spots that need to be upgraded for next year (LF, C, SS) to balance the lineup. Luckily, Adam Lind is lefthanded and should be the starting left fielder next year.

-

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Fri Sep 07, 2007 5:25 pm

Bugs, I was seriously not making fun of you up there - I honestly did misspeak myself.

Bugs · Post by **Bugs** » Sat Sep 08, 2007 1:25 am