Part I WBC Time! Joey is the Best! Oh no, not again…..
As I write this, a critical Jay for 2013 has just suffered a “minor” injury while getting ready for the World Baseball Classic. “Bring him back, shut him down, those guys should concentrate on the Jays, this season is too important to screw around with some exhibition tournament….” Except one problem…..It’s Canadian and Blue Jays 3B Brett Lawrie who tweaked a muscle in his rib cage.
Sigh…….I don’t know. On the one hand, I was super psyched about the WBC this year. On the other hand the Jays 2013 season is much more important. So it’s too bad, but Lawrie need to ensure he is ready for opening day and he must take a cautious approach.
Of course this raises another issue. Is Brett injury prone? I mean he plays all out, all the time. But the reality is, only last year’s injury was the result of “reckless” play. His broken hand due to being hit by a wild pitch in 2011 when he was on the cusp of a call up could have happened to anyone. And all reports today are that this injury wasn’t the result of anything crazy Brett did. So for now, we give him the benefit of the doubt and hope and hope he doesn’t turn in Brian Roberts, Travis Hafner…..or gulp God forbid Nick Johnson!!!!
Part II WBC Time! Joey is the Best!.....
As you can see from the title, this was going to a post about the awesomenicity of Etobicoke’s own Joey Votto and my excitement for the WBC. I love Joey. Not because he is from Toronto (that helps a bit), not because I have him in my keeper pool until I release him or he retires (that helps a bit more), not because he seems like a nice guy who has talked openly about his emotions and battle with depression (that really endears him to me), but because he is fuckin amazing.
Since Joey debuted, there have been more than twice as many no-hitters as Joey Votto pop-ups. Since 2009, there have been two more perfect games than Joey Votto pop-ups!!!!!
Joey Votto has already gone one full season without a pop-up!!!!!!
I mean come on……That’s crazy.
As for the WBC, I’m not sure anything can top the in person experience from 4 years ago.
Joey hit a HR in the 3rd (went 4 for 5 on the day) and the Dome was rockin. It was the most energized I had seen a Toronto baseball crowd since the glory years. Sadly they could not hold on and lost 6-5. Then the wheels fell off and they lost to ITALY 6 to 2. How does that happen?????? Ug…I can’t look back.
Here we are four years later and Jussell Martin has abandoned us, along with Ryan Dempster. Now with Lawrie hurt, the odds look slim, but it is baseball and anyone can win a game or two in a row. So I’m going to watch and cheer. In a way, I guess it’s my Spring Training, because now we are only 25 days away from the real thing!! Here’s hoping Brett doesn’t do anything stupid between now and then.
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