Jolt Country

Lost two out of three to the Yankees to start the season.

THE GOOD
- The pitching has been just as good as I hoped it would be!

THE BAD
- The hitting has been just as bad as I feared it would be!

THE UGLY
- Er, some of the defense, I guess.



edit: I titled the thread the "2007" TBJ season. Christ.

Neither the Blue Jays, nor the title of this thread, are aspiring for greatness.

I think we should allow one exception (my favorite baseball team).

I haven't caused you to dislike the Blue Jays, throughout the years of hopeless posting on this BBS about them, have I? I haven't made it worse, I hope. That's what they say about fandom.... first? Do no harm.

I watched each game of this series on the MLB extra innings free preview. I would agree with your assessments of the pitching and the offense. We're waiting to get Rolen and Ryan back, so there's hope.

Also, note that we lost the two close games but won the more decisive victory of the series. This team will compete. And lest you think I don't put my money where my mouth is, while in Las Vegas last week, I made a sizable wager on the Jays to win he pennant.

The Royals are the only undefeated team left in baseball. Good for them - about goddamn time they were the last ones standing! I would be enormously happy if they won the division. There is a guy who has been writing about some seriously horrible Royals teams for over a decade now. My theory on being a knowledgable sports fan is that you get worse the more success your team has:

http://www.ranyontheroyals.com/

That guy ERGO is the smartest human being writing about sports, thanks to the Royals' disfunction.

(Kidding, but he is a great writer, and the blog is very entertaining.)

Ice Cream Jonsey wrote:I think we should allow one exception (my favorite baseball team).

I haven't caused you to dislike the Blue Jays, throughout the years of hopeless posting on this BBS about them, have I? I haven't made it worse, I hope. That's what they say about fandom.... first? Do no harm.

The "Blue Jays" part is not the part of the thread title to which I object, unless it's some sort of inside joke that I don't get.

Oh, shit! It's not 2007! Jesus Christ. Thanks.

Look, just because we're aspiring for greatness, doesn't mean we're always going to achieve it.

pinback wrote:Look, just because we're aspiring for greatness, doesn't mean we're always going to achieve it.

Greatness, however, WAS achieved with the six-year contract extension of Alex Rios this morning, Pinner!

(Second baseman Aaron Hill was extended for four, with a club option involved.)

Watching the new Sunday afternoon baseball coverage on TBS. They're showing Halladay vs. The Knock-Kneed Dingus.

Thank goodness for the cracker-jack TBS announcers reminding me every seven seconds that the Red Sox have Traveled Over 16,000 Air Miles and have been through At Least Three Countries, Their Equipment Manager Had to Bring Extra Stuff With Him, and Gosh Are They Tired. Heaven forfend anyone suggest the Jays are actually decent enough to sweep a NON-jet lagged Red Sox team.

Buck Martinez is doing the color, and is a great announcer, but I think he still has a stick up his ass about Toronto.

Also, the Red Sox apparently are at the end of a long road trip. I was previously unaware of this fact.

Did they travel somewhere? Huh?

"HUHHHH?" -- Ben's headphone-laden co-worker

It is official! I love this team! To see Big Hurt crack a first-pitch grand slam against a pitcher that was pretty goddamn dominant last year in Delcarmen was awesome.

Here is an article on manager John Gibbons:

http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/411217

He makes a good point: he had the second-best staff in the league last year, and has had several relievers really perform for him. Platooning Rios for a while there was aggravating, but hey - Rios has improved every single year and is now taking more walks. So I guess he developed him correctly.

With this perspective, I am officially coming out IN FAVOR of the Blue Jays manager.

OK, listen up, here's some hilarious shit.

A while back ago, I posted my reaction to former Blue Jays general manager Gord Ash trying to tell everyone how horrible he wasn't. One person responded to it, who immediately begins with chastising me about my cursing. The thread is over in the Best Of Base, right here. Nothing special, just me ripping on Gord Ash.

Well anyway, the guy never posted again, but I found this when I was looking for other Blue Jay sites today. That's right, it's the blog of BlueJayRay himself.

And what is the first thing you see after his latest post (where he argues that Barry Bonds would be a good pickup for Toronto)?

1. No cursing or swear words: Use proper language to express yourself.

Hahaha! Seriously, I wonder how some of these touchy, easily-irritated gritginas even connect to the web without their delicate heads exploding.

ha. what a fucking cuntpunch.

Watching the MLB gamecast thingy of tonight's matchup against Oakland. It's now in the 12th inning, and Toronto had opportunities to win in both the 10th and 11th with runners in scoring position.

After sweeping the Red Sox, we're down 2-0 in this series, this is what kills us every fucking year. Close (or not so close) games against middling fucking jokers like the A's.

Edit: Oakland scores 2 in the top of the 12th, Toronto responds with 1. Good job, guys.

Bugs wrote:Edit: Oakland scores 2 in the top of the 12th, Toronto responds with 1. Good job, guys.

That being said, picking up two against the Rangers is gonna get us out of the cellar. So that's good. Especially since the Jays had been dominated by Padilla, and Halladay had an ERA of over 7 there, coming into tonight.

I can't even describe what a pleasure it is to watch Halladay pitch. We've never had a guy like this except for maybe Stieb. (Of course, Stieb reached the post-season twice, which the team hasn't been able to do for Roy.)

HERE'S WHY I LIKE ROY

1. The fact that he goes for the complete game all the time. What a goddamn throwback. We have a good bullpen, too, so it's nice to not have to overuse them when he pitches.

2. The whole "I am going to throw sinkers and get you to ground out" thing is amazing. I can't even relate to the amount of control you need to pitch that way. He's a freaking machine.

3. The fact that he actually seems like he wants to sign an extension with the Jays. I hope they break the bank for him. He really is a once-in-a-lifetime player.

Well, we now get to see if we get Good A.J. or Bad A.J. tomorrow. I think Good A.J. is due!

No you have never has a guy like Halladay or Stieb, unless of course you consider some guys who won CY youngs and a guy who won back to back pitching triple crowns and the guy he is about to pass for third in total Blue Jays wins..

Pat Hengen
Roger Clemens
Jimmy Key

Clemens doesn't count. He was there for two steroid-fueled years and then WHINED to get to New York. That, more than anything else (us losing him and New York getting him) kept us away from the playoffs for five years.

Hentgen is a good comparison because he used to go the distance as well all the time. Jimmy Key sounds like the name of a pop punk emo band whose members I would never, ever tire of hitting.

The Rangers announcers, so far, do not make me want to shove a pike into my ear. They are having a conversation right now as to whether OBP should replace batting average as the stat that people use as a default way to judge a hitter. (And they were both in favor of it.)

Just having a short conversation like that is helpful - the people who agree that on base percentage is a better stat are amazed to have actual, employed announcers on their side, and kids who are watching at least see the stat brought up.

Of course, it does nothing for the incredibly vocal cache of dinosaur sportswriters who RESIST CHANGE.

One of the horrible AM radio guys out here is Jim Armstrong. He's probably fine if you had a one-on-one conversation with him, and he really doesn't seem like a prick, which puts him ahead of the game when it comes to radio. But man, an article like this:

http://www.firejoemorgan.com/search/lab ... 0armstrong

("Baseball Stats Mania Rates a Zero")

... that's just fucking embarrassing. I'm embarrassed to live out here with that guy saying stupid shit like that. Christ.

(And there must be some kind of rule that says that all dinosaur sports writers have to make a "mother's basement" crack. As if the average baseball fan who is in front of his computer all day working in IT isn't making more than a dipshit sportswriter by a factor of two or three.)

B.J. Ryan was activated, and Brandon League was sent to Syracuse.

This post is going to look hilarious if they go on a long losing streak and I don't even mention a guy hitting a couple homers in a game, much less relief pitchers getting sent down.