• GAME TWO: MARCH THIRTIETH:
    YANKEES 4, JAYS 2
    AARON SANCHEZ HEALTHY, BATS SICKLY
    7 HITS IN FIRST 2 GAMES IS FRANCHISE LOW

    // David Remski // Game Story No Responses

    It was a good thing for the Jays’ hitters that all eyes were on Aaron Sanchez’ blister-prone fingers tonight, diverting attention from a pathetic offensive output for the second straight game of the season.

    If tonight’s performance is anything to go by, it looks like Sanchez is all right, even if he did run out of gas in the sixth inning and allow New York to stretch a tight 2-1 lead to 4-1, TO the Yanks’ bullpen is money in the bank.

    It could have—should have—been all even at ones after five innings, were it not for a play not made by Devon Travis with two out in the second inning that turned a tough chance into the first major-league hit by Yankee rookie callup Billy McKinney, who was making his big league debut tonight, in place of the injured Aaron Hicks. McKinney’s hit extended the inning and led to New York’s first run.

    And maybe, all things considered, John “Mr. Nice Guy” Gibbons should have been proactive and pulled Sanchez after five innings and 67 pitches. As it turned out, the Toronto bullpen was lights out for the rest of the night, three and a third innings, and could have stretched that for another two thirds of an inning in the sixth.

    But Travis didn’t make a play that needs to be made in the clinch, Gibbie let Sanchez come back out for the sixth, and you can find reasons here to suggest that three of the four New York runs shouldn’t have crossed the plate.

    But, then, you’d be missing the bigger picture, which is, get ready for it, that the Toronto Blue Jays have garnered a grand total of seven base hits in their first two games of the season, and have struck out 24 times, a neat 12 in each game. This is their worst batting record in the first two games of the season in history, beating the previous low of nine, which they “achieved” four times previously.

    Devon Travis is 0 for the season. Josh Donaldson, moved to DH tonight because of his “dead” arm is 0 for the season (can his arm be revived? May we hope for resurrection in this Easter season?) Justin Smoak is 1 for the season. Curtis Granderson is 1 for the season. Randal Grichuk is 1 for the season, though granted it was an impressive big fly tonight. Russ Martin is 0 for the season. Kendrys Morales is 0 for the season. Aledmys Diaz is 0 for the season. The much-maligned (by the bean counters so focused on their calculators they don’t even watch the game) Kevin Pillar is 2 for 6 with a homer and a double. Yangervis Solarte went a double for four tonight while taking over third from Donaldson. Steve Pearce is 1 for 2 with a double pinch-hitting twice against Aroldis Chapman. (You think you’ve got it rough?)

    There you have it folks, the collective brain freeze of almost the entire roster of the Toronto Blue Jays after the first two games of this championship season. Only Gift Ngoepe, who looked sharp at shortstop tonight when he was subbed in, and Luke Maile among the position players can’t be blamed for the failure to launch by the Blue Jays: neither has had a plate appearance yet.

    It’s so bad, folks, that when I was fuddy-duddying around last night getting ready for bed I was trying to remember who actually has the seven hits, and despite my slightly age-fogged memory cells, it was an easy reach. Most things, like what date it is, I have to research just to be sure I’m right. But the rarae aves (I checked, that’s the correct plural of rara avis) who have Toronto’s seven hits so far? Easy-peasy.

    Now that we’ve dispatched that weak-hitting elephant from the room, let’s take a quick look at the game in more detail.

    Sanchez looked great in the first inning. After a rivetting first-pitch called strike, Brett Gardner whacked a 2-2 pitch on the ground off the glove of shortstop Aledmys Diaz, who coudn’t quite come up with it, so as per usual, Gardner was on base in the first. Not a great prospect with Aaron Judge, the Whacker, and Giancarlo Stanton, the Thwacker, due up two and three.

    But Sanchez calmly picked a sharp come-backer off the bat of the Whacker and started a 1-4-3 double play turned nicely by Devon Travis, and absolutely sawed off the Thwacker for a weak groundout to Justin Smoak at first to end the inning in a neat ten pitches. Well begun for Sanchez!

    After Yankee starter Masahiro Tanaka stranded a two-out double by Justin Smoak in the bottom of the first, Sanchez’ second inning was a “whole ‘nother story”, as they say in Detroit. Didi Gregorius, who gives Toronto even more trouble than Brett Gardner, walloped a deep drive to centre. Kevin Pillar might have taken a wrong first step, but in any case the ball fell safely and careened back past Pillar off the wall while Didi danced his way to third.

    Then Gregorius and Jays’ third sacker Solarte teamed up to gift-wrap a big out for Sanchez. Gary Sanchez (don’t get confused here) hit a bouncer to third. Despite playing back because the Jays were conceding the early run, Solarte was on the ball quickly and rifled it to Russell Martin at the plate just in time to nip Gregorius, who had decided to try the contact play with nobody out. His bad.

    Neil Walker flied out to right for the second out while Gary Sanchez held first, so things looked some good for Aaron Sanchez to get out of the inning, with the rookie Billie McKinney coming up for his first major league at-bat the only hitter standing between Sanchez, A., and a nice sit-down.

    This is where we replay my tired refrain of Devon Travis can’t make the big play. McKinney hit a tough one-hopper to the left of Travis, who was playing about three feet outside the dirt infield. Travis took a quick step or two and went to his knees, but failed to get his glove down to the ball, which went through to Grichuk in right for a single. It was a tough chance on a hard-hit ball, but if he picks it, the inning’s over. The second baseman on a playoff-bound team makes that play when it’s most needed.

    Sanchez, G., went to third on the play, and scored on a double by Brandon Drury, who shouldn’t have made it to the plate. Sanchez, A., then punched out Tyler Wade for the third out, but the run was in.

    Thus when Randal Grichuk hammered the first pitch he saw from Masahiro Tanaka into the seats in left in the bottom of the second, it should have given the Jays a spirit-lifting 1-0 lead, instead of tying the game. Maybe things turn out differently then.

    We can’t push this argument too far, however, because after Grichuk’s homer and Kevin Pillar’s two-out double to left that followed one batter later, Tanaka did not allow another Blue Jay batter to reach base, retiring 13 in a row before departing the game after six innings.

    By that time the New York lead had been stretched to 4-1, thanks in part to Gibbie’s decisions, first, to send Sanchez back out for the sixth inning, and, second, to leave him in to face Tyler Wade with the bases loaded and two outs. Wade, of course, hit the double that gave the Yankees the cushion they needed to survive the Jays’ rally in the bottom of the ninth, when Steve Pearce and Yangervis Solarte put a little jolt in the crowd with two-out back-to-back doubles against Aroldis Chapman that cut the Jays’ deficit to two.

    That was it, though, too little, too late. Chapman went 2-0 on Grichuk, who hung in and fouled off four in a row before the big Cuban flame-thrower froze him with a 100-mph fast ball to end the game.

    Sound familiar? Kevin Pillar’s eighth-inning home run Thursday in the opener; back-to-back two-out doubles with two out in the bottom of the ninth tonight.

    Not much to hang your hopes on there, eh?

  • OPENING DAY, MARCH TWENTY-NINTH:
    YANKEES 6, JAYS 1
    LATE PILLAR HOMER SMALL CONSOLATION
    BUT STANTON EARNS HIS PAY

    // David Remski // Game Story No Responses

    it was one of those “Oh no!” moments. On an 0-1 pitch, with one easy swing and a crisp crack, Giancarlo Stanton announced his arrival in the American League East this afternoon. From his extreme closed stance, he stabbed his front foot awkwardly to reach the outside pitch, flicked his bat, and hit a rocket over the bullpen and into the stands. To the opposite field. With an exit velocity of over 117 mph.

    Later, much later it seemed, it was a little hard to crank up enthusiasm for Kevin Pillar’s first pitch belt into the left field seats in today’s Toronto opener against the Yankees at the TV Dome. Pillar’s was an impressive shot leading off the eighth, but frankly, this game was decided after just three Yankee hitters in the top of the first.

    Pillar’s solo home run was the epitome of too little, too late for an anemic Toronto offence that could muster only two hits while striking out 12 times against an array of effective New York arms.

    How swiftly Toronto’s Opening Day starter Jay Happ found himself in a hole. With right fielder and last year’s rookie king Aaron Judge hitting second and Stanton, Miami Marlins’ GM Derek Jeter’s gold-plated gift to the Yankees, hitting third, it’s essential to retire Brett Gardner, their veteran leadoff hitter, before they come to the plate.

    So when Curtis Granderson, playing his first game in left field for Toronto in the TV Dome, lost Gardner’s knuckleball liner in the lights and muffed it for an error, it gave you a really bad feeling. Opening Day starter Jay Happ fanned Judge but couldn’t get by Stanton, who crushed it to right centre to plate one earned and one unearned run for New York, giving them a 2-0 lead that they never relinquished.

    Or, rather, a lead the Blue Jays never gave the slightest hint of being able to challenge.

    On paper, the matchup looked pretty good for Toronto. Happ, who had a solid spring, had never lost a decision to New York. Conversely, Yankee starter Luis Severino had never notched a W against Toronto.

    But while Happ was merely good, as long as he stayed in, Severino was way better, though he needed a visit from pitching coach Larry Rothschild after losing his feel and walking two with two out in the first inning.

    After Rothschild’s visit Severino fanned Kendrys Morales with a wicked slider, and went on to retire all but two of the following 16 batters he faced, before giving it up for reliever Chad Green with two outs in the sixth after 91 pitches, an impressive chunk of work for a first start.

    Only Granderson, with a one-out line single to centre in the fourth, and Josh Donaldson, who walked in the sixth, reached base on the Yankee hurler after the first inning. Granderson’s hit was Toronto’s only safety besides Pillar’s dinger in the eighth, and besides Pillar only three Blue Jays made it to second base in the game.

    In a different kind of game, Happ might have hung on for five innings, and even come away with a win with a bit of offensive support, but there was none to be had. The big lefty’s control wasn’t as sharp as he would have liked it, which contributed to a premature rise in his pitch count. When he took his seat after two outs in the fifth inning, he had logged 96 pitches, only 58 of them strikes.

    But really, only two of them hurt. The one Stanton crushed in the first inning, and the one that gave Judge a free pass with two outs in the fifth, which was also his last pitch. First in from the bullpen for Toronto was the big Canadian retread John Axford, who earned his way into the Toronto ‘pen with a sterling spring record.

    This wasn’t Axford’s day to shine, though. Happ left him to face Stanton, who promptly smashed a double to centre scoring Judge, the second run charged to Happ. Axford then gave up an almost identical double to catcher Gary Sanchez to score Stanton, this run Axford’s responsibility. Axford finally showed some of the flash that won him a job by freezing Aaron Hicks with a 96mph fast ball to end the inning, but the New York lead had doubled to 4-0, and with Severino about to turn things over to the toughest bullpen in baseball, that was more than enough for the win.

    Chad Green finished the sixth for Severino and pitched a perfect seventh, striking out three of the four batters he faced. Dellin Betances came in for the eighth inning and promptly gave up the dinger to Pillar, the only hitter to reach base against the Yankee relievers, before keeping the ball in the infield to retire the next three Jays’ hitters. In the ninth, Aroldis Chapman, after giving up a line shot by Justin Smoak to Judge in right, fanned Steve Pearce hitting for Granderson, and Kendrys Morales to walk it off in the non-save situation.

    As for the Toronto relievers, Aaron Loup erased a walk to Didi Gregorius leading off the sixth with a double-play ball to Brandon Drury, which rendered Neil Walker’s following ground-rule double to left meaningless when Loup got Tyler Austin to ground out to Josh Donaldson at third on a close play at first that was upheld after an appeal by neophyte Yankee manager Aaron Boone.

    Before revisiting the Austin grounder off Loup handled by Donaldson, let’s round off the Jays’ relief efforts. After Loup survived the sixth inning, Danny Barnes promptly gave up a leadoff home run to Brett Gardner in the seventh. This is a bit concerning regarding Barnes, who gave up four homers in the spring in only 8.2 innings of work. I think I heard the radio call on all four of them, so it was starting to sound like a thing.

    On the other hand, it was nice vindication for Gardner, who, after reaching on the error in the first, had hit two hard line drives right at Smoak and come up empty both times.

    Seung Hwan Oh, the late free agent signing, formerly withthe Cardinals, took the ball for the eighth inning, and kept the Yankees off the board in spite of his own fielding adventures. Perhaps showing his lack of participation in the tedious Pitchers’ Fielding Practice drills that dominate the early days of spring training for pitchers, Oh allowed two base runners; both were his fault.

    Oh failed to get off the mound quickly enough on Aaron Hicks’ leadoff grounder to Smoak, and Hicks was on with an infield hit. (To be fair to Oh, Hicks can fly, and it’s problematic whether a quicker reaction would have been enough anyway.)

    Then, after he barely managed to keep Gregorius in the park on a deep fly to right, he fanned Drury with a wicked slider. This brought Neil Walker to the plate, and another test of Oh’s rusty fielding. Walker hit an easy little hopper back to Oh that should have ended the inning, but Oh carelessly tried to barehand it and bobbled the ball, letting Walker reach on the error. Then Oh got Tyler Wade to hit another one on the ground, but fortunately it was to Devon Travis, not him, and Oh was out of the inning without any damage other than to his pride.

    Now let’s talk about the elephant in the room. Josh Donaldson was largely a non-presence in spring training. He only took 27 at-bats, garnering four singles. He seldom played in the field. There was reassuring talk about how he liked to prepare for the season in his own way, and didn’t value exhibition games. He didn’t join the team in Montreal because, well, two extra games on artificial turf, you know.

    So the lineup is posted today and all’s well with the world. There he is, hitting second and playing third base. Nothing suspicious here folks, just move on.

    Except. Except that he handled the ball four times at third in this game. Here’s what happened each time.

    In the first, after Stanton’s blast, Gary Sanchez bounced one hard to his left. Donaldson made his signature sliding stop, twisted his upper body around to the right, and fired to first from his knees. But the ball fizzled off his hand in a low trajectory, took a true bounce off the turf, and slowly descended into Smoaky’s outstretched trapper, barely nipping Sanchez, who ain’t no Aaron Hicks running to first.

    In the fourth, Hicks, who certainly is an Aaron Hicks home to first, smashed one back to the box. It deflected off Happ toward Donaldson, who made an even weaker throw to first than the first one. Didn’t matter, of course, because it was Hicks going down the line, but still.

    In the fifth Tyler Austin hit an ordinary grounder to third, and Donaldson threw him out, very gingerly. This time it made it to first on the fly, but oh so softly.

    Then the really telling play came in the sixth, on the play that the Yankees appealed at first, but lost. The game was still theoretically within reach at 4-0. (I figure, after Steve Pearce’s grand-slam heroics last year, that a four-run lead is always vulnerable.) Loup was on the mound with two outs and Walker at second after the ground-rule double.

    Austin again hit a grounder to third, this time an easy hopper to Donaldson’s left. He glided over, gloved it, then took not one, not two or even three, but four crow hops toward first while he readied his throw. And then tossed another softie, this time on a bounce way up the line toward right. Were it not for Smoak’s heroic stretch to barely glove the ball, it would have bounced away down into the right-field corner.

    In truth, the throw pulled Smoak off the bag, and the replays suggested the Yanks should have won the appeal, which would have counted Walker’s run as number five.

    But also in truth, it didn’t matter, because on this day the Jays couldn’t hit for stink.

    But what does matter is this: apparently, Donaldson can swing the bat fine, so he could DH while his arm revives from being “dead”. And where are we then? Two designated hitters who can’t play in the field. Yangervis Solarte at third, Aledmys Diaz at short, Troy Tulowitzki on the 60-day disabled list, and only the very sweet but very green Gift Ngoepe on reserve between a barely adequate left side of the infield, and absolute disaster.

    By the way, Ryan Goins made the Royals’ opening day roster. Just sayin’.

    Okay, so he didn’t start and KC got hammered by the ChiSox, but still . . .

  • THE FAIRY-TAIL RETURN OF VLADY GUERRERO TO MONTREAL

    // David Remski // Articles & Ephemera No Responses

    The thing about baseball is that there are times when you don’t know whether to laugh or cry, but you know you’ll never forget the moment.

    So, I was just gearing up to write a nice paean to the mystique of Opening Day, when I decided to practice my game logging on Toronto’s last pre-season game, the second game of the now-traditional emotional spring closeout in Montreal at the Big O.

    And then Vlady Guerroro Jr. happened.

    This was a pitching duel the likes of which you seldom see in mid-season, let alone at the end of spring training. It was a beauty, despite my having to choke back consternation about the Jays’ mounting strikeout toll.

    For eight innings plus it went, no runs, 8 total hits, 24 total strikeouts, 2 walks, and no errors. The managers, the newly-bespectacled John Gibbons for Toronto and the Cards’ Mike Matheny, who both played for Toronto in his catching career and played as an opponent against the Expos in Montreal, took diametrically opposed approaches to their pitching assignments for tonight’s game.

    Matheny divided the assignment between three of his rotation pitchers, a final tuneup of three innings each for his presumed three, four, and five starters, Luke Weaver, Miles Mikolas, and Jack Flaherty.

    And what a tuneup it was for them. Weaver gave up one hit, walked one, and fanned four. Mikolas gave up one hit and fanned six. Flaherty gave up one hit and fanned four. Oh, he also gave up the only run of the game to take the loss, but—Vlady—we’ll get to him.

    Gibbons, on the other hand, didn’t use a single pitcher expected to make the Opening Day 25-man roster. Joe Biagini, finally destined to be the number one starter in Buffalo in order to begin his journey to MLB starting-pitcher glory, got the start. He threw five full innings of Jack-Morris style bend-but-don’t-break brilliance, giving up no runs on one hit with one walk and six big strikeouts.

    Biagini worked quickly, and was rewarded with solid work behind him, his defence turning three double plays for him.

    Mind you, the Cards hit some shots off him, and he was lucky to survive the first two innings, relying apparently on a big rabbit’s foot to survive three drives hit by the Cards. In the first, after he fanned leadoff hitter Dexter Fowler, Tommie Pham bounced one in the hole to the backhand of shortstop Gift Ngoepe, and reached first with an infield hit when Ngoepe couldn’t come up with it. Matt Carpenter followed with an absolute rope, but right at first baseman Kendrys Morales, who happened to be standing between the bag and the helpless Pham, and jogged to the bag for the DP.

    Then in the second inning Biagini had to work around two drives into the left-field corner that should have produced a run. Except that adventurous (to be generous) left fielder Steve Pearce played the first one, from the hot bat of newly-acquired Cards’ slugger Marcel Ozuna, so quickly off the wall that Ozuna had to hold at first with a single that should have been a double.

    This left Ozuna at first base, from which he was promptly erased when Jose Martinez bounced one out near the bag at second, perfectly placed for Ngoepe to turn a do-it-yourself double play. Then the catcher Yadier Molina hit another rope into the corner that Pearce again picked up quickly, and looked to be able to hold the ponderous veteran to another off-the-wall single, except that he spiked the throw into the ground and Molina chugged into second. Where he died when Paul Dejong flied out weakly to right to end the inning.

    Biagini cruised the third, fanning two, gave up another hit to Pham to start the fourth, then was gifted with another easy double-play grounder by Matt Carpenter, who got to wear the bad luck hat on this night by hitting into two twin-killings.

    Flagging a bit in the fifth, Biagini caught Martinez looking to lead off, but gave up an opposite-field single to Molina, and walked Dejong while pinch-runner Patrick Wisdom stole second. Everyone, including Biagini, was waiting for manager Gibbons to emerge from the dugout with the hook. But Gibbons, playing the game for exactly what it was, a test labratory for Biagini, left him out there. The big righty rewarded him by stranding Wisdom and Dejong, fanning slugger Jedd Gyorko and getting minor leaguer Yairo Munoz to ground out to Espinosa at second.

    Biagini was followed on the mound by four Who-Dats, but Who-Dats who sure as hell pitched the lights out of the Cardinals, admittedly now parading more minor leaguers than big leaguers to the plate.

    Big Canadian Andrew Case, impressive lefty Danny Young, and nearly-ready-for-the-show Jose Fernandez and Justin Shafer, both destined for Buffalo, blew down twelve Cardinal batters in a row. Case struck out one, Young struck out two, and Fernandez one. Shafer didn’t fan anybody, but threw so few pitches that he was back on the bench again before anyone even took note of his stylish blonde beard, sitting down to watch this epic duel of zeros end up awarding him the first win of his 2018 spring training, but that’s a story in itself.

    A story that needs a little background, so here goes:

    If there is any team in baseball more shrouded in the myths and nostalgia of what-if than the 1994 Montreal Expos, I can’t imagine which. We all know the story of a team that was far and away the best in baseball, having compiled a record of 74 wins and 40 losses before the season came to a crashing halt in August as a result of the only season-ending player strike/owners’ lockout in baseball history.

    Woven into the 35-year history of the Expos is the sad understanding of many of their greatest fans that the strike in 1994 that kept the team from achieving the greatest victory of its existence also marked the beginning of the ten-year-long denouement of the franchise. And there is some credence to be given to the notion that had the Expos finished off the year with their clearly deserved World Series rings, it would have been the boost needed to cause the financially-troubled franchise to turn itself around and stave off its demise.

    After 1994, if there was one player who, entirely on his own, might have warded off the end of the Expos in their last years, it was Vladimir Guerrero. The brilliance of his performance shone even brighter against the sad backdrop of a team whose end was clearly near.

    Even though his career played itself out only about two baseball generations removed from our own day, when you look at Guerrero’s achievements, it was as if a god had descended from the skies to bless baseball with his presence. The fact that even Vladimir Guerrero could not accomplish the feat of saving the Expos is not a measure of his failure, but of the futility of the task he was given.

    In the 16 years of his major-league career, Guerrero’s numbers made it inevitable that he would eventually be elected to the Hall of Fame, which finally happened just last year. Taking only the traditional measures of hitting prowess, for the sake of brevity, he hit .318 for his career, with 449 home runs and 181 stolen bases. He also had a rifle for a right-field arm, and racked up 126 career assists as a result.

    But if you break out the first eight years of his career, when he toiled for the Expos, the numbers are even better, .323 with 234 homers and 123 stolen bases. From 1998 on, until his departure via free agency at the end of the 2003 season, he was truly the heart and soul of a team that was becoming feebler by the year, starved of the oxygen of money that could have kept it afloat.

    Prior to the 1999 season in which Vladimir Guerrero appeared in 160 games for the Expos and made 674 plate appearances, his spring training was interrupted by the birth of his first son on March 16th in Montreal. The proud father and happy mother named him after his dad, and the world was introduced to Vladimir Guerrero Junior.

    In recent interviews the younger Guerrero has said that his main memory of being in the Expo clubhouse with his father as a toddler was that the team had a soft ice cream machine for the players and he always got a treat.

    Fast forward to July of 2015, when the sixteen-year-old Vlady Junior, ranked either the top or fourth-best international prospect, depending on which ranking system you used, signed with the Blue Jays for a reported 3.9 million dollars. Almost from the moment of his signing the anticipation of his arrival in Toronto has been keen. It has only grown over the last two years as fans have heard of his rapid progress through the lower levels of the farm system, showing himself more than equal to the challenges of each level.

    Interest has peaked this spring, the first time that Vlady Junior was invited to participate to a limited extent in the major league camp in Florida. In a strange confluence of circumstances, Vlady has risen alongside Bo Bichette, son of former big leaguer Dante Bichette, who has shone himself equal to Vlady in every respect on the field. Together, they represent the future of the Toronto franchise.

    In an even stranger circumstance, Vladi and Bo have been joined in camp by Cavan Biggio, second baseman and son of Hall of Fame second baseman Craig Biggio, and first-baseman Kacy Clemens, son of would-be Hall-of-Famer Roger Clemens.

    After having been given the opportunity to appear in a couple of spring games with the big team, starting with the traditional Jays’ game against the Canadian National Junior team, it came as no surprise that John Gibbons added Vlady Guerrero, Bo Bichette, and Cavan Biggio to the expanded roster being taken to Montreal for the final two-game stand at Olympic Stadium against the Cardinals.

    It also came as no surprise when Vlady Junior received three standing ovations from the sentimental Montreal crowd on Monday night, first when he entered the game as a substitute in the field for Yangervis Solarte at third base in the top of the seventh. The second came in the bottom of the inning when he came to bat and lined out to right field to end the inning, and the third in the bottom of the ninth when he grounded out to second to make the second out in the eventual Blue Jays’ loss.

    Tonight the crowd of 25,000 greeted him just as enthusiastically as last night. He entered the game in the sixth inning of that scoreless tie, replacing Russell Martin at third, and was the last hitter to be retired by Miles Mikolas, barely nipped by a throw from short on a grounder. Mikolas, mind, retired all but one batter he faced in his three innings of work.

    St. Louis’ third pitcher, Jack Flaherty, was even more effective, mowing down eight in a row. This brought him to a moment that fired our imaginations with its possibilities, a moment that, like the scene in The Natural, when Roy Hobbs in his civvies descends from the train and proceeds to strike out The Whammer, brought together all the elements of a perfect storm of drama.

    Buck had already reported that the teams had announced there would be no extra innings if the game remained tied after nine innings. After Justin Shafer polished off the Cards in the top of the ninth, there could be only two outcomes: a Blue Jay win, or a scoreless tie.

    Catcher Patrick Cantwell, a veteran minor leaguer who occupies a spot fairly low on the Toronto depth chart, was sent up to hit for Aledmys Diaz. He grounded out to short for the first out. Biggio, who had replaced Gift Ngoepe at second in the eighth inning, was overmatched and caught looking at a major-league curve ball.

    And then it came down to this: Vlady Guerrero striding to the plate, short, bleached dreadlocks sticking out comically from under his cap. He is a less imposing figure than his dad’s 6-3 and 235 pounds. He clocks in at six feet and 200 pounds, and, honestly, looks like a bit of a pudge.

    But—those numbers!

    Last year, at mid-A Lansing, he hit .316 with 45 RBIs in 71 games. Then he moved to advanced A Dunedin, where he hit .333 with 31 RBIs in 48 games.

    But that was A ball, against A-ball pitchers and A-ball fielders. This was the Olympic Stadium in Montreal, the former home of the Montreal Expos for whom his father had played so brilliantly. And this was Jack Flaherty, a young right-hander who had already secured a place in the St. Louis rotation, and had shown why, over the last two and two thirds innings.

    Sure, there was the possibility of a miracle, but who really thought it might happen? Yes, Buck Martinez mused as he walked up to the plate about how great it would be if Vlady ended it. But, seriously? He just turned 19. Right out of A-ball.

    But also seriously: Vladimir Guerrero Junior is clearly a young man with a sense of occasion. Flaherty missed with his first pitch. Then he threw slider. A nice slider, with a nice break to it. But right over the heart of the plate, and way higher than the Cards’ hurler wanted it.

    Vlady Junior jumped on that hanger and crushed it. You knew it was out off the bat. So did he. So did his team-mates, who started out onto the field when he was only half-way to first. Randy Arozarena, patrolling centre for St. Louis, knew it too. He turned back to his right, took a couple of steps, and then just stopped and watched it soar over the fence in left centre, finally coming down halfway up the outfield bleachers, initiating a mad scramble for the ball.

    It was certainly a nice gesture for Manager John Gibbons to have brought young Vladimir Guerrero Junior along with the major leaguers to play in Montreal. It was an even nicer gesture to give him some playing time and a few at bats at the Big O, so that he could be acknowledged by the Montreal fans. What a nice story that made.

    Only thing is, nobody told Vlady Junior that his presence was a gesture. He came to Montreal to play some baseball, and damn, he sure did.

    Tonight might not bear the impact of Edwin’s walk-off game-winner in the 2016 Wild Card game, but it will be as equally hard, I think, to forget.

    So yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus, and sometimes, fairy tales do come true.

    Thursday is Opening Day. Let’s go Blue Jays, and don’t forget: there’s a kid heading for New Hampshire who’s got your back, and might just see you in the Show!

  • LONGBALL THOUGHTS ON A BRILLIANT MARCH DAY

    // David Remski // Articles & Ephemera No Responses

    So, having spent the last half hour unsuccessfully trying to get MLB.Com’s “free” spring training audio to work, I’ve given up on listening to the game, and resigned myself to following it ever so slo-o-o-wly on the Gameday feature, as Ryan Borucki quickly goes down 3-zip on three unearned runs to the Red Sox in Fort Myers.

    Being stuck with Gameday is just so 2015!

    This, however, gives me time to think about this past very strange offseason, spring training so far, and the season to come. It’s a perfect time for a prelude to “Baseball’s Back!”

    Though it’s not yet officially spring, it sort of feels like it in Toronto, and it certainly looks like it, as we’ve had far more sun so far this month than you’d ever expect in March. And whatever snow we’ve had has quickly disappeared. One advantage of being retired is that if you’re not going to drive your car until ten in the morning at this time of year, the sun has already cleared your windshield for you.

    There’s always such optimism in the air in the last few weeks before the season starts.

    Like the cheerful woman with the Slavic accent, A___, who works at the pharmacy counter at our local Costco.

    September before last, just when the Jays were driving toward their fateful one-game encounter with the Orioles in the AL Wild Card game (oh Edwin, where art thou?) I was picking up a prescription and noticed that A___ was wearing a faded Blue Jay t-shirt under her Costco jacket.

    When I commented favourably on her attire, I quickly learned that, though she was a little hazy on the details of the game, the Jays were very much her team, and she was no less eager than me to hear that the Boys in Blue had pulled out another tight one.

    So it goes with baseball fandom. Cheerful attentiveness to the daily ups and downs of your favourite team is all it takes to qualify as a member of the legion of Blue Jays’ fans around Toronto, Canada, and even the world.

    A___ served me again at the pharmacy counter this morning, armed with her usual friendly smile. At the end of our transaction, as I was leaving the counter, I turned back to her and said, “only two weeks more to wait!” She knew exactly what I meant. That’s why I love being a baseball fan.

    It really was a strange off-season, wasn’t it? Usually through the winter I’d check in to the main web sites each morning with some expectation that there might be a bit of tantalizing news to ponder, sometimes even involving the Blue Jays. But not this winter. Day after day, site after site, I checked, and checked, and there was nothing, or nearly nothing.

    Okay, even last season you could see that the days of big contracts for station-to-station sluggers had come to an end. So waiting so long to see J. D. Martinez come off the table made sense. And no one can be surprised that Jose Bautista remains unsigned, apparently unwilling to accept any one-year at a million deals. But premium relief pitchers like Wade Davis not signing until the end of the year, and fine two-way players like Eric Hosmer and Lorenzo Cain having to wait until spring training started to find new situations?

    Conspiracy theorists have been quick to accuse the goombahs of MLB ownership of collusion to end the free-agent “madness”. In this case, I’m with the conspiracy theorists. Who’da thunk it, that there would be enough unsigned free agents to start a players’ union spring training camp for them?

    The lack of free agent signings wasn’t the only thing that was rotten in the state of baseball. As Tony Clarke, the head of the players’ association, has been vociferously pointing out, there are an awful lot of teams out there who, under the guise of “rebuilding”, have been dumping salary—and stars—in trades for future prospects to the point where they have stripped down possibly competitive teams to put the cheapest possible product on the field this year.

    And how would you feel if you were a fan in Miami, Pittsburgh, Oakland, or Tampa Bay, realizing that your team has dumped itself out of the running before Opening Day, without so much as a by-your-leave?

    I’m still waiting for someone to point out that the team that handed out the biggest prize in the sell-a-star-a-thon, the Miami Marlins, who traded the awesome Giancarlo Stanton for the ordinary Starlin Castro and a couple of unproven kids to the New York Yankees, where he will join the awesome Aaron Judge in an unbelievable one-two punch, is run by none other than former Yankee icon Derek Jeter, who just happened thereby to shovel a bit of baseball gold over to his former team. Remember the days of the Kansas City A’s being the Yankees’ farm team? Here we go again.

    It was an equally strange off-season for our beloved Blue Jays. Though I suppose it was inevitable, given the fragility of Troy Tulowitzki, that the Jays would have to strengthen their backup infielding crew, I was yet profoundly saddened to witness the departure of Ryan Goins, the best Toronto shortstop that never, or almost, was.

    It’s always more fun to watch players you know, and both Darwin Barney and Goins, in particular, despite his lack of starter status, were very much parts of the inner, younger core of the team. Goins’ contributions to the two playoff runs were legend, from sparkling plays in the field to clutch hits, even to contributing a brilliant inning of pitching in the (in)famous 19-inning Toronto-Cleveland marathon on Canada Day, 2016.

    Most fans will remember the curve balls that Goins snapped off to work his way out of a bases-loaded jam in the top of the eighteenth inning. What many of us have forgotten is that he threw his arm out with those 19 pitches and spent a month on the DL recovering from it, making real the idea of taking one for the team.

    But baseball is a harsh business, as we’ve already seen, and we have to face the fact that being a familiar face and contributing to the team’s success carry no guarantee that a player will remain a fixture on a particular team. Witness the fact that according to MLB.Com the second best play of 2017 was awarded to then-Jay Chris Coghlan, for diving over a shocked Yadier Molina to change a DOA at the plate into the lead run for Toronto over the Cards back on July 25th last year.

    But Coghlan was released by the Jays on August 12th, and currently resides in the unsigned limbo that so many players find themselves this spring. Yet every time they show the plays of the year, there he is, launching himself over Molina for his team. Even when you call up his player page on MLB.Com, there he is, in a banner photo, a Blue Jay soaring over Molina, fearless but untouched. It wasn’t enough, however, and so Coghlan waits, unsigned. It is a harsh business indeed.

    As for Goins and Barney, Ryan has been signed by the Royals and is in their major league camp, and Barney is in the same situation with the Rangers. (Incidentally, Mr. “He’ll never hit” Goins is currently 12 for 31 with 6 ribbies for the Royals in spring training.) Each, then, carries into 2018 the chance to shine once again, and wouldn’t it be karma for them to do it against their former team?

    What started as a quiet winter for our Blue Jays seems to have worked out well, and it is unquestionable that the team at this point looks considerably stronger than the 2017 version.

    In the outfield, Kevin Pillar will be able to tend to his knitting in centre field, without having to compensate for the defensive deficiencies of Bautista and Steve Pearce. The arrival of the young, athletic Randal Grichuk from the Cards to patrol right is a definite plus, though it will take some time for the fans to forget the beloved Bautista. And the new left-handed platoon option for left field, Curtis Granderson, brings a veteran head and a wealth of experience. Not only that, but he has played far younger than his 37 years this spring, and when he is in left the Toronto outfield will get to more balls than it has in years.

    Pearce still represents a deficit in the field, but if he’s healthy his offense will make up for a lot of minor deficiencies on defence. And should he go down again (he’s already missed time in the spring), the next up alternatives, Teoscar Hernandez and Anthony Alford, both of whom have hammered the ball so far in Florida, ain’t too shabby as replacements., though Alford has just come a-cropper with a hamstring injury. In fact, if Pearce does suffer anything that gives him significant time on the DL, I wouldn’t bet on him holding on to his starting status on his return.

    The infield was clearly the top priority for Toronto’s management this past winter. The obvious fragility of both Tulo and Devon Travis, and even the growing fragility of Josh Donaldson, meant that Toronto could not go into 2018 without having some serious reinforcements. Rather than dipping into the free agent pool, Toronto dealt off prospects, and not significant ones, to the Cardinals (again) for Aledmys Diaz, and to the Padres for Yangervis Solarte. Danny Espinosa, a recent free agent signing after being released by the Yankees, cost nothing.

    My favourite acquisition, though not really a candidate for anything other than competing with Espinosa for the final spot on the roster, is the young South African Gift Ngoepe, who came from the Pirates for the proverbial player to be named later and some cash.

    With Tulowitzki possibly headed for the 60-day disabled list, and manager John Gibbons committed to controlling Travis’ playing time, the four acquisitions should serve the team well. Diaz is already the presumed starter at short, and if he should return to his All-Star proficiency of 2016, who will notice Tulo’s absence? Solarte is most likely to be used to spell off Travis and Donaldson, as he’s not a great fit at shortstop, according to Gregor Chisolm’s recent commentary.

    I’m hoping that the team decides to carry seven relievers, because that could open a spot for Ngoepe as the insurance infielder. He’s clearly got a slick glove and a good arm, though he doesn’t have the at-bats yet at higher levels to be able to assess how well he will hit.

    Regardless of whether he breaks camp with the team, Ngoepe is one of the great good news stories of the globalization of MLB. He and his younger brother Victor, who was also signed by the Pirates and remains in their minor league system, are the first players from South Africa to be signed by a professional baseball team.

    Their origin is the stuff of legend. Their mother was the clubhouse attendant for the Randburg Mets, a professional men’s baseball team in South Africa, and part of her compensation for her work was that she and her two sons were allowed to live in the team clubhouse, so the boys literally grew up in a ballpark. Gift eventually played for Randberg, and then was signed out of an international camp in Italy by the Pirates.

    Ngoepe has received a lot of playing time with the Jays this spring, and from his comments John Gibbons appears to be a fan. As Ryan Goins’ career has shown, there is often significant playing time available for a great glove who can occasionally contribute at the plate. Nothing against Espinosa, who went 4 for 4 in his first game with Toronto, but I can only hope that Ngoepe’s good-news story continues.

    The catching appears set, with Russell Martin backed up by an oft-criticized Luke Maile, whom many of the chatterers knock for a weak bat. These woud be the same people who dismissed Goins as a weak bat. But a second catcher’s first job is to be a good catcher with experience. If he hits much at all, which I think Maile will do if given enough plate appearances, it’s a bonus. Deep insurance for the catching is provided by the rapid development of prospects Danny Jansen, Reese McGuire, and, going a little deeper, Max Pentecost.

    The relief corps was considered solid enough, with slots allocated to Roberto Osuna, Ryan Tepera, Danny Barnes, and Aaron Loup, and a number of impressive Young Turks like Tim Mayza, Matt Dermody, Luis Santos, and Carlos Ramirez in the mix, that the team felt confident in dealing Dominic Leone, after his breakout 2017, to St. Louis for Grichuk. Since that deal, the acquisition of solid veterans Seung Hwan Oh, Tyler Clippard, and the surprisingly resurgent Canuck John Axford, has made it likely that the four youngsters will be allowed to mature in Triple A without being pressed to deliver at the major league level.

    Remembering that the weak-hitting Torontos made hash of Jaime Garcia late last season when he came over to the Yankees, I wasn’t immediately impressed with his signing by the Jays. But taking the longer view, picking up a veteran lefty with a career ERA of 3.69, a guy who was mentioned in trade-deadline talks for the last several seasons, to be the number five in the rotation isn’t much of a gamble as long as he stays healthy and gives them a reasonable number of quality starts. With Marcus Stroman, a so-far healthy Aaron Sanchez, J. Happ and Marco Estrada ahead of Garcia, the Toronto rotation would rank, one to five, among the best in the league, if not in both leagues.

    That leaves the open book of Joe Biagini to consider. The team has definitely worked him as a starter this spring, and he clearly stands in as the first into the rotation if one of the first five falters. He could see some early work if Stroman’s minor injury is slow to heal. If not, he’s headed to Buffalo to settle into the starter’s routine the team thinks he’s more suited to.

    So, what have we got, with two weeks to go until Opening Day? Solid pitching, both starters and bullpen. Good defensive catching, and as much pop as an aging Martin and an under-achieving Maile can provide. Competent, if not slick infield defense, a little rougher with Travis at second, but a little weaker at the plate with Travis on the bench. Slick fielding, occasional pop and perhaps decent contact in the outfield. Major-league quality reserves behind the starting eight.

    Is it enough in the wild west of the AL East? Depends on the Yankees’ rotation, and how Boston performs under new manager Joey Cora. If the east fills both wild card slots, one of them should be Toronto, in my book. If you make the wild card, it’s a crap shoot from there, and who knows?

    Let the games begin. Let’s go, Blue Jays!