JULY FOURTH, JAYS 6, ROYALS 2:
ALCS REMATCH: BRING ON THEM ROYALS!
One of my favourite baseball cartoons is a very old Peanuts strip. In the first panel, Charlie Brown is shown tossing his battered baseball glove into a closet as he says “Good-bye, old friend. I'll see you next spring.” In the middle panel you see the closed closet door, with a thought bubble saying “Sigh…
JULY THIRD, JAYS 17, INDIANS 1:
ROOSTING CHICKENS
Before we get all tangled up in following the consequences of Terry Francona's decision to raid his rotation on Friday to win the 19-inning game, let's just get one thing clear: the operative number in the score of today's game is the “one” next to the Indians' name. The Jays didn't win this game primarily…
JULY 2ND, BLUE JAYS 9, INDIANS 6: “GOTCHA!” “NO YA NEVER!”
I never thought I'd be an enthusiast for the video appeal system that MLB has adopted, but after today, when I saw it get the play right, and the play decided the game, I'm all for it, as long as it's not abused. When the initial call was “out” on Zeke Carrera's scintillating slide into…
JULY FIRST, INDIANS 2, BLUE JAYS 1, (19 INNINGS)
“HOW DO YOU HOLD A MOONBEAM IN YOUR HANDS?”
A NOVELLA FOR AN EPIC
This may sound a bit ridiculous, but once my heart rate and blood pressure stabilized after the end of today's 19-inning Canada Day celebration of baseball, and I started thinking about how I could possibly do justice to this day on “paper”, a certain song from The Sound of Music started running through my head.…
JUNE 30TH, INDIANS 4, JAYS 1: CARRASCO FIASCO
The incredibly long grind of 162 games that makes up the regular season of major league baseball can be a source of joy but also great frustration for both the fan and the player. Every one of the 162 games offers the opportunity for either the joy that comes with a win, or the sadness…
JUNE 29TH, JAYS 5, ROCKIES 3: AARON SANCHEZ TO THE BULLPEN? NOT SO FAST, BUD!
Today's deciding game of the Jays-Rockies interleague series at Denver's Beer Barrel Park offered a number of interesting story lines. Would the two teams, both built to take advantage of cozy dimensions in their home parks, continue to put up the big numbers they had in the first two games, in which they scored a…
JUNE 28TH, JAYS 14, ROCKIES 9: JUST SHOVEL OFF THE ICE AND PLAY BALL, ALREADY!
There's just enough of a kid in me that as a general rule I really, really hate rainouts. I guess I never was very good at delayed gratification. The only exception is when the game is out west, in a later time zone. In that case, I'll take a rainout any day over a long…
JUNE 27TH, ROCKIES 9, JAYS 5: HOW DO YOU SPELL RELIEF? CERTAINLY NOT T-O-R-O-N-T-O
For some odd reason, and despite the overwhelming emphasis on relief pitching in contemporary major league baseball, there is currently no major award allocated to the best relief pitcher in each league. This strange omission to the parade of post-season awards is likely to make little difference to Roberto Osuna, the Jays' terrific young closer,…
JUNE 26TH, WHITE SOX 5, JAYS 2: “TAG SALE”? NOT SO MUCH
There was a Sale at the ball park in Chicago, but no bargains on offer for the Blue Jays, as Chris Sale dominated for seven innings while the White Sox nibbled away at a fifty-percent-better Marcus Stroman to secure a 5-2 victory, and a series win against our heroes. In certain jurisdictions, primarily the UK,…
JUNE 25TH, JAYS 10, WHITE SOX 8: FOUR STRONG WINDS
On a bright, sunny Saturday at Mobile Phone Park in Chicago, the Blue Jays held on for a 10-8 win in a crazy slugfest of a game, of a kind that you may never see again in your lifetime. Here's a question for you about the relative value of poker hands: do seven homers beat…