Last 10 games: 2 - 8 Overall: 57 - 73 Projected Finish: 71 - 91 - High draft pick????.....ug I hate being that guy Two blowout losses in a row to the lowly Astros. Well, we might look back at this season and chuckle when we are raising the pennant in 2014 (NO, YOU'RE BEING AN OPTIMIST), but I can't imagine this season ever being viewed as funny, unless maybe you are a Marlins fan.
The team has played so far below expectations, it is hard to remember why expectations were high to begin with. We have been in last place the whole year. Massive underperformances (either through crapatacular play or injury) from 2nd base, SS, 3rd base, LF and all of the projected starters who do not own pit bulls.
Reason for Frustration #2
The team has faced the hardest schedule in baseball, is in the hardest division in baseball and miraciously it actually has a winning record outside of the AL East. This is our curse.
Reason for Frustration #3 Injuries. 7 out of 10 starting batters have spent time on the DL. But don't fear, there is still time for JP and Lind to get hurt. Let's hope EE stays healthy.
Additionally, the aforementioned Buerhle is the only SP who has not battled injury. Most of the bullpen has been injured at some point as well.
Every team goes through injuries, but it seems like the Jays have been a bit cursed the past few years. It's not an excuse this year, since thay have played like garbage since Day 1, but it does cloud our judgement a bit.
Reason for Frustration # 4 The Blue Jays had this city by the balls from December to April. They had everyone's attention. They raised everyone's expectations. They sold a ton of tickets. Then they did this.
Reason for Frustration #5 The future is unknown and there is no way of knowing that it will turnaround. GULP!!This tragedy may continue into 2014 and well beyond.
*Not an exhaustive list. There are not enough words in the English language for such a list.
As the Jays continue their extremely frustrating season, I thought I would take a break and provide some quick reviews of some Blue Jays related reading. Sadly, these books have pretty much the same winning % as your 2013 Jays. CAVEAT: Writing is hard. I am not a writer. Even the two lame books in this post are much better than what I could pen.
First up, "Wherever I Wind Up - My Quest for Truth, Authenticity and the Perfect Knuckleball" by R.A. Dickey and Wayne Coffey.
When the trade for the reigning NL Cy Young award winner was made, it was acknowledged as a huge gamble by AA. And sadly that gamble has yet to pay off. At the time, I truly believed Dickey had a chance to be a true hero to the city of Toronto.
That being said, his mediocre year does not diminish the story of Dickey the Human Being. I was sceptical I would enjoy this book as I am not a religious man and Dickey is a born-again Christian. But it is not at all preachy. Instead it is a very authentic and honest self-examination. It is sometimes painful and oftentimes extremely uplifting. Wherever I Wind Up is a fantastic read written by a man with an extraordinary story to tell. There is a lot of truth in his words and I found them very moving and inspiring......which absolutely never happens to me. Dickey the Best! Now if only his season had gone as well as this book.....
Unfortunately, my other two recent Jays related reads were just dreadful.
"100 Things Blue Jays Should Know and Do Before They Die" by Steve Clark feels like it was hurriedly tossed together. It is essentially no more than a bathroom reader...and a very poor bathroom reader at that. Out of the 100 "things" I probably already knew 98 of them. Now admittedly I'm a bit of die-hard, but I am sure with a little more research, Clark could have found a few more nuggets of interest. He also has a tremendous hate-on for everything JP Ricciardi ever touched....which is a bit revisionist and unfair. JP did acquire Bautista, he did actually make some good moves. Ultimately his reign was unsuccessful, but it was not the clusterf&ck the author would have the reader believe.
Lastly, we have "Full Count: Four Decade of Blue Jays Baseball" by Jeff Blair.
This was definitely the book I was most looking forward to reading, but it was also my biggest disappointment. I was an ardent fan of Blair's columns in the Globe & Mail up until about five years ago. However either his writing has declined (unlikely) or my standard for baseball journalism has risen (yup). I can't say I have enjoyed too much of his work over the last few years. He is certainly no Stephen Brunt.
That said, I still had very high hopes for the definitive Blue Jays book from someone who knows the team so intimately. Sadly, the story is only half-told, and the chapters are unfocused. It definitely has some interesting pieces (e.g. Delgado's forced departure) but far too often, Blair will bring up a story or subject and not fully explore it. He seems to mumble and stumble his way through parts of the book, much like his on-air work at the FAN590. I don't want to be so critical, but it just was a big old disappointment after I had such high hopes.....kinda like this whole freaking year.
Well we are at the 3/4 pole. I presume the Jays are in a 1st place battle with Tampa and are looking like a pretty sound bet to at least get a wildcard? Wait? What?
Last 10 games: 5 - 5 Overall: 55 - 65 - Do you realize they were 40-40 at one point? Projected Finish: 74 - 88 - Does it matter? Dead last in the AL East Tonight's win was nice, but mercifully this Blue Jays season only has 42 games left in it....that much I am sure of. Otherwise most of my beliefs and predictions have been quite wrong this year. I guess I could give out grades again.....
Instead let's look ahead to next year and make more assumptions, suggestions and predictions! Let's double-down on my wrongness!
DH - Please, please end the Adam Lind era. He can't hit LHP and he doesn't offer any speed or defensive value. One dimensional DH's are fine if they can hit both RHP and LHP. But a DH that essentially needs to be platooned is not worth the $7M option it would cost to bring him back. Cut bait please. I would also love to see Carlos Beltran fill this spot, but he ain't coming here because of the stupid turf! Grass already please. That being said, this spot should not be too hard to fill with an ageing slugger looking for a one or two year deal.
C - I don't know who I want gone more. Lind or JP. I have to believe that JP has some trade value, but I am not even sure of that. There isn't a lot of high end talent out on the free agent market next year except for McCann and Salty (two guys I wouldn't overpay for) but there is a large quantity. C'mon AA, find the diamond in the rough. At least a few of the guys on this list will have very productive years next season. You just have to pick the right one.
Huh. Nothing like Buying High and Selling Low. Now I'm not going to argue he should have been the starting 2nd baseman next year, but I do think he has value. True, Boni and Rajai were redundant as speed off the bench. But the thing is....Rajai is a free agent and he may not be back. Whatever. They need an upgrade at second. I loved the Izturis signing, but he is now clearly just a utility guy. So I have no idea how they fill this hole, but it will be interesting.
3B - Do nothing, hope that Brett has finally figured it out. I might not believe in his emotional makeup, but I believe in the talent. DO NOT MOVE HIM TO 2ND BASE!! Why was this even a thing?
SS - Do nothing, hope he stays healthy. Reyes is awesome.
LF - Is Kevin Pillar the answer? Will Melky be better? I don't know, but this is the one question mark that I think can be left to the end of the off-season exam. You have to hope Melky heals up and can remember how to hit. If he doesn't, well I guess you scramble to find a solution later on. Too many other priorities.
CF - This one is tricky. I think they have to try and lock up Colby long term. He is just coming into his own and could get quite expensive when he hits free agency. If Colby balks at the Jays long-term offer then they need to explore other options.
RF - Do nothing, hope Jose stays healthy. Let's not forget he underwent very invasive wrist surgery less than a year ago. Seems to be healing nicely. Age may be catching up with him, but I think he is good for another 30 HR's next year.
Starting Staff - I have no clue. I have to believe AA can pick the right five out of Dickey, Buerhle, Morrow, Happ, Romero, Drabek, Hutchison, Rogers, McGowan, Redmond, Stroman, Nolin and possibly Johnson. There are also some interesting high risk/high reward guys you might be able to get on an affordable two year deal if you choose to move some of the others in a trade to fill other holes. This year was complete disaster in terms of starting pitching, next year can't be any worse....can it?
Bullpen - Oliver will be gone and Perez is injured, but everyone else should be back. Bullpens fluctuate year to year, I would grab another arm or two and figure it out in Spring Training. No need to go after a high priced closer. We have the closer for 2014 on the roster already. I'm just not sure if it is Jansenn, Santos, Cecil, Delabar, McGowan or Wagner.
So sadly it's next year again for this team. And we still have to get through August and September!
As us hardcore Jays fans suffer through a very painful season, I was reminded why it doesn't have to be agony if you have a little perspective.
My wife enjoyed the game because it was the whole family together. She is also able to watch a single baseball game and just live in the moment. The Jays record coming in did not matter to her one bit. She was at the ballpark, got to have a beer, some grub and cheer on the home team. She wasn't frustrated by thoughts of what could have been this year. Nope, she just enjoyed a Sunday afternoon at a baseball game. I could learn a lesson here.
My daughter had fun even though she probably watched about 9 seconds of actual game action. She loved the food, and the Wave. The sunshine and excitement. She loved walking around the Dome and just generally being at an event. She had no clue that Dickey would give up another crucial home run or that the Jays would again strand way too many runners on base. Nope, she just enjoyed something a little unique in her life. I could learn a lesson here.
My son...well what can you say.
My son is smiling because because he was doing something entirely new for the first time. He is smiling because he got to spend time with his Dad. And he is likely smiling because he has gas. In any event, if you could bottle up the wonder in those eyes and sell it, you would be a rich man. Will he ever remember this? Of course not. But he loved the afternoon for the experience and because the people he loves were with him and happy. I could learn a lesson here.....
Now in fact I did have a good time. I even would say I had an amazing time. I like sharing my interests with my family. I like that to a far lesser degree, they are also Jays fans.
I hope we have many more days like this in the future. And I hope that maybe, just maybe, the Jays will win the next time we all go the game. But if they don't, it won't be the end of the world as long as I remember to keep things in perspective.
BTW, for the record, we lasted 8 innings. My son is a champ!
Vacation called and I answered the bell, so this little blog has been dormant for almost two weeks. But never fear, I'm back with some thoughts and thankfully we get to skip the 10 Game Report #11. But for the record, this is how things looked after Saturday's embarrassing loss where they gave up a little league home run.
Last 10 games: 5 - 5 Overall: 50 - 60 Projected Finish: 74 - 88 Yeesh..... You know what else is depressing? Jack Morris might be one of only two Jays off season acquisitions who is performing well (the other being Reyes when healthy). Yes, Jack Morris....in 2013. Not Josh Johnson, Mr. Dickey or the Melkman. Not Izturis, Boneface or even Buerhle (who has been pretty ok). The radio colour commentator who I feared would destroy the radio broadcasts has actually been quite good. Regardless of his lukewarm HOF credentials and his insistence that pitching WINS matter, he has been damn entertaining. His stories play really well on the radio, his humour has been a revelation (where was this funny guy when he pitched?) and he has been damn entertaining. He had to replace Alan Ashby which was no small task, but in his own way he managed to ensure that radio still remains the best way to enjoy a game. In fact I think he is already the second best radio colour guy the Jays have ever had behind Ashby, but way ahead of Gary Matthews and the dreadful Warren Sawkiw.
Unfortunately his partner, Jerry Howarth is starting to show his age. This year, I often have no idea if the ball is going to be a deep fly ball or end up in the second deck. I know that comments like that are a bit sacrilegious for guy who has been a part of Toronto summers for over 30 years, but the end is near for the Jays 2nd best play-by-play man. The Best! And a reminder why: http://www.torontomike.com/2007/08/tom_cheeks_greatest_hits.html So anyhoo, kudos to Jack as listening to the games is still interesting, at least until the visitors come to bat........
.JPG)
