AUGUST TWENTY-THIRD, JAYS 7, ANGELS 2:
JAYS SCORE SEVEN FOR DICKEY,
SKY DOESN’T FALL!
The Blue Jays had lots of little demons to exorcise as they took the field tonight for the opener of a three-game set with the struggling Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, to give the Halos their rightful but altogether too wordy moniker. First there was the Hitting Slump Demon, a nasty big hulk with an…
AUGUST 21ST, INDIANS 3, JAYS 2:
BALK ME NO BALKS!
Sunday, July third, when the Blue Jays played the Indians on Troy Tulowitzki Bobblehead Day, the heads that bobbled the most in the stadium were the heads of the Cleveland pitching staff, as they bobbled up and down and from side to side watching the home team spray hits all over the ball park en…
AUGUST TWENTIETH, JAYS 6, INDIANS 5:
A TALE OF TWO YOUNG PLAYERS:
REDEMPTION FOR ONE, THE YIPS FOR THE OTHER?
Beyond the surface significance of winning one after losing a tough one, of his mates bailing out an Aaron Sanchez hard done by, and banishing the bottom-of-the-ninth heroics of the Cleveland Indians, the story of today's nerve-tingling 6-5 Blue Jays' win over the Indians, is largely a tale of a redemptive moment for Roberto Osuna,…
AUGUST NINETEENTH, INDIANS 3, JAYS 2:
A CRUEL AND WANTON MISTRESS
Before you pledge your love to the goddess Baseball, know that she is a cruel mistress. Though she may fill your bed more often than not with the fragrant aroma of rose petals, occasionally what rises from the conjugal bed as you approach in the dark is the stench of death and despair, for this…
AUGUST SEVENTEENTH, JAYS 7, YANKEES 4:
THE CALM AFTER THE STORM
The first rule of writing about baseball is that nothing is ever foreordained. The second rule of writing about baseball is that the first rule is not always right. For someone who believes in omens and portents it was obvious that the Blue Jays, and not the Yankees, would come out this afternoon and administer…
AUGUST SIXTEENTH, JAYS 12, YANKEES 6:
POURIN’ DOWN RUNS:
WASHIN’ AWAY THE BLUES!
A palpable gloom had settled over Blue Jays Land when the heavens burst in New York tonight. Since arriving in the Bronx for this series with the made-over Yankees, the teams had played sixteen and a half innings. The Yankees had scored six runs in total. The Blue Jays had scored none. What's more, they'd…
AUGUST FIFTEENTH, YANKEES 1, JAYS 0:
STONED IN THE BRONX
The Toronto Blue Jays travelled to New York last night to get stoned in the Bronx. I can hear the stupid responses already. --Don't we have better shit right here in Tranna? --Did they go to the Automat when they got the munchies? That must have been a trip all right! --Won't they fail their…
AUGUST FOURTEENTH, JAYS 9, ASTROS 2:
ANOTHER SERIES WIN BEHIND STROMAN, BATS
If the Blue Jays don't make the playoffs this year, I'll eat my Jose Bautista shirt. However, just making the playoffs isn't the goal. The goal is winning the division. Securing one of the two wild card spots in the playoffs can be a hollow victory, leaving nothing but ashes in the mouth. There is…
AUGUST THIRTEENTH, JAYS 4, ASTROS 2:
THANKS TO BATTERY MATES
JAYS BACK ON TRACK
For a team to entertain serious hopes of making the playoffs, let alone going deep once they get there, it is essential that every loss be followed by a win, that no loss marks the beginning of a streak, no matter how short. That's why it was reassuring that Aaron Sanchez would get the ball…
AUGUST TWELFTH, ASTROS 5, JAYS 3:
300 FOR EDWIN
BUT MUSGROVE GETS THE WIN
On the night when Edwin Encarnacion hit career home run number 300, 229 of which have come as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays, he had to share the spotlight with a young pitcher named Joe Musgrove, whose association with the Blue Jays was much briefer than that of Encarnacion. I have no doubt…