Gone but not forgotten

Beautiful Photos of days gone by.

Jarry Park, their first home park until they moved into the Big O.

Celebrating early home runs, and their media guide.

Bob Bailey, Ron Fairly, Boccabella, Le Grand Orange, Mack Jones, Steve Renko and John Bateman. Just some of the early Expos who played for Canada's first expansion team.

They were close in 1994, until the strike shut them down, they had Pedro, and Vladdy, amongst other stars.

The story is a very sad one, through the loss of a World Series birth, the fans never forgave the tea unfortunately. They stopped coming in droves. They turned to other sports and it cost them their fan base.

In 2 official languages, we enjoyed baseball but now they are silent.

I miss having the other Canadian team.

Can't we turn back the clock

As we approach September, part of me wants to turn back time to April, heck maybe be even mid March, but here we are , on the border of August and September, with one month left to go

Too bad we don't really have our own Way Back Machine that Mr.Peabody and Sherman used to revisit importnat dates in history.

I would settle for Opening Day

Waiting for the leaves to appear, not to turn brown, and waiting for 1st pitches, 1st innings, and warmer spring days. Of course it could be that here in Southern Ontario have had a pretty crappy summer, both weather and local ball team. This was punctuated today in Boston when the Red Sox beat up on Roy Halladay and we may not have many more Halladay Blue Jay starts, as we anticipate a winter trade.

September baseball is the most cruel, it is the most harsh. Every game from here on seems to mean more, especially for those still with hope. Hope to win a division, or Wild Card slot, hope to play well enough to assure a job next year, and the best stats possible to help for then next contract.

Then there will be only 8 teams left and the playoffs

Then the fields will fall silent an cold for another winter, until rebirth again.

Close play at the plate

Fair or Foul, safe or out, , the umps generally get the majority of the calls right, but is it just me, why are more players and managers getting tossed out of games.

Arguing balls and strikes has always been a cardinal sin, and an instant ticket to the showers and the wet bar, but bang bang plays at 1st, 2nd or 3rd get questioned all the time. Players and managers have different angles, sometimes players are wrong too. Managers are never wrong, just ask them.

I just find it happens more frequently than 30-40 years ago that players, and coaches, and managers get the have ho very quickly. Is it the TV cameras, is trying to collect 'scalps', their reputation at stake, a combination of all 3, who knows.

I watched a spring training game last March, it was only the 3rd such game, and the manager got tossed for arguing from the dugout. Funny story because the manager was actually arguing with a player, and the ump thought it was all about his balls and strikes calls.
















The umps are human, but I just get this feeling that they are trying to strike at the delicate balance and maybe it's causing them to take matters too seriously, and over react.

Now we have instant reply on potential home runs, or are they foul balls, now the ump can gt a reply called. It will not happen that close base calls get reviewed, because it would just slow the play down even more than it is.

Is it possible the umps hate this, and are tossing players, and mangers in an effort to exert some control, or show the powers they have. They had better be careful this trend does not get worse, because I am pretty sure you don't pay $ 50 a ticket to watch the ump gyrate his strike 3 call.

Did ya ?? Thought as much.

September arrives next week, and we'll look at the races in earnest.

The Miracle of 1969

It was 40 years ago, and it yet to me it seems like yesterday.

All my friends at school were Baltimore fans, while I rooted normally for ST.LOUIS, but this was a crappy year for the Cards, and there were these other guys, the New York Mets, and they didn't suck that bad this year.

All during the spring, and summer and the back
into September, it was all about how easy it was for the Orioles to win the Series, a veritable cake walk.

Well, you get tired of hearing this, so you lash out , at least at 14 years of age , you don't think twice, so I told Paulie, and his older brother Jimmy that I thought the Mets could beat the O's, and boy that caused quite a laugh. I wasn't even sure I had said, but all through September in school I had it thrown back at me. " What an idiot !", "Mets Suck", " You're Nuts".



So it's late September, we just get our class photos taken and I hear again the Mets Suck chant as we stroll back to the classroom, so I remember reading Milt Dunnell, a longtime columnist with the Toronto Star write that the Mets might have a chance toi beat the Atlanta Braves, so I retort that I would wager my lunch money on the Mets getting to the Series.


Then the darnedest thing happened, they won, and easily, Seaver and Koosman, Gentry, Nolan Ryan, Tug McGraw were all dominant.

Then they lost Game 1, the O's and Dave McNally mowed down the Amazin Mets.

All seemed lost, or at least according to the fates.

Then they made the most incredible plays, and Koosman won, and Seaver did, an Al Weis hit the ball, and Ed Charles made great stops, Agee and Cleon Jones, and Ed Kranpool dove for balls, and it was contagious and infectious. Great plays begat more great plays.

Suddenly a week into the series, there were no taunts in the hallways, and the same dudes were not making eye contact.

It was actuall fun to got to school, like when the Leafs were winning cups in the 60's.















They strung 4 straight gems, and the 100 win Orioles were vanquished 4 games to 1.

I walked tall for a week, and me , a Cardinals fan, soon to be an Expo fan, was taking credit for the upstart Mets. The Mets would return in 1973, with Willie Mays in tow, at 41, but bowed to the A's and Reggie. Still another chance to reflect on what was a miracle season.

It was 40 years ago ( sounds like a Beatles intro ) and it seems like yesterday.

This blog is dedicated to Joe Costa, a good friend of mine, a true blue Mets fan.

Joe's Mets were the 1986 version, of Knight, Mookie, Strawberry and Gooden

Joe's Mets of 2009 have a rough year, and with Johan Santana the latest casualty, I thought I remind him ( he reads me occasionally that he should "Believe in Miracles"

Some quick hits

Carlos Gonzalez

My advise, let someone cut your meat for you.

It seems that he dropped his knife and in an effort to grab it as it fell, his damn good reflexes caused him to have it jabbed into his hand, of course stitches were required, and he's out a few days at least. And he was lately their hottest hitter. Brilliant move pal.

John Smoltz

Who said he was done, stick a fork in him ( ask the guy above about cutlery ). Smoltzie tossed 5 scoreless innings of 3 hit shutout ball, and struck out 9, and never walked a batter.
Maybe he's just a National League guy after all. Sorry Red Sox....

Randy Ruiz

Who the heck is this guy, and why couldn't he have been brought up earlier in the year, when Millar wasn't hitting, or the entire team for that matter. Now he sports a .310 average, with 3 home runs, and his 3 run double was the killer yesterday, as it came again with 2 out and the sacks drunk.

The Oz man speaketh

Ozzie Guillen, never one to mince words, collectively through his hitters under the bus after their
effort against Jason Berken of the Orioles, who came in with a 2-11 record, and a horrible ERA.
As his team is still in contention for the Central division, you'd think he could keep his trap shut for
a few minutes, but noooooo, he actually made a bee line for the reporters, and once again , openly critical
of his team. Some things stay the same.


Let's get 3 outs in one play, we have a plane to catch !

The Mets had runners at 1st and 2nd, with none out clinging to a 1 run lead, and Jeff Francouer lined the ball towards centre field, however Philly infielder Eric Bruntlett snared it, and stepped on 2nd which made Met 2B Luis Castillo a dead duck, then proceeded to chase Daniel Murphy, who like Castillo were attempting to pull off a double steal. Murphy was tagged, and the game was over. Most releived player was Brad Lidge, who was staring at another blown save. I think Bruntlett should get the save, as he recorded all 3 outs.

A 10th Inning !

Just received word from crack reporter and follower Clark that documentarian Ken Burns has begun work to add on an additional inning to his 1993 PBS series "Baseball" .
The 23 hour 9 inning production will likely pick things up just as baseball will cancel the World Series, and chronicle such great moments as Cal Ripken's 2132 nd game, and the whole steroid issue, the Red Sox beating the curse and where the game has been taken in the last 16 years. It will air sometime in 2010 on PBS.
Those who have watched the previous work done by Burns and enjoyed it will be anxiously awaiting the next installment.

New Blood in the post season races

Here come the Texas Rangers, still fighting for the AL West, but only 1 game back of Wild Card holders Boston.
Wow, it seems they have some pitching this year, and are getting MVP production from Nelson Cruz, and Michael Young, and a now healthy Ian Kinsler.
In the NL West, shade of the Rockies pennant burst striking again. Well Colorado just dusted Tim Lincecum off and are at the worst the Wild Card leader, but are not far off the struggling Dodgers.
Remember the Rox won 22 straight, and that one game playoff against Jake Peavy of San Diego, well the Blake Street
Bombers are back at it. We'll see come September if they still have enough stamina to make it.

What's that white stuff

Now Speaking of the Colorado Rockies, if they manage to get to the World Series again, the 1st pitch is set to be thrown on October 28th, so we will have November baseball, and by the way, it's been known to snow in Colorado in November. Get those parkas and woollen mitts out ! Heck New York is darn cold in November for that matter, maybe pray for Texas and the Dodgers to make it.

Enjoy

Put me in coach

It is a long way to get to the majors, some kids never get the chance, some find it hard to just to even play.

Schools, especially in Canada are switching more activities away from softball, baseball and even hockey to soccer, or sports with less equipment, and as well , the sports more geared to the cultural shift of our demographics.

So less and less kids are playing the game, plus we have the climate working against us for much of the year. This is not to say there are not some areas in the country that the game isn't thriving, there have always been pockets, certainly in BC where many of the Canadian major league prospects are coming from, but the landscape is changing.

Then there is the other reason, and this is not brought on by the economy, just made worse by it.
We have in this country too many kids living in families below the poverty line, and whether you wanted to play hockey and gave up because used skates are still 2 weeks grocery bill, or affording second hand gloves/bats or balls , it make it near impossible to play.
This hurts me, especially since I grew up in the 60's being able to play softball at school, and could at least get okay skates, or a bike.

We have to as a nation recognise that there is a growing disparity of haves and have nots, and try and be part of the cure to bridge the gap. Otherwise the sandlots will grow over, and rinks will close, and city pools will stay closed. Every year there is hand ringing about how much it costs. to run the pools and diamonds, and I do not really care how much, make it happen !!, get more funding into communities and schools for these areas, don't limit it to just rep baseball and hockey. Do not leave anyone behind.

That is not what we are.

I see too many quiet ball diamonds, and as a parent of 2 kids who each played, it is too good an experience to part with. I volunteered for 7 years as my kids played locally or in tournaments, and I will say I wouldn't trade that time for anything.

If you ever see a notice asking you donate old ball gloves, bats, remember that you still have all those great memories, and our kids deserve to make new ones.

Be well.

Read the Signs

Neither can I dance either, so that leaves me blogging like crazy. I can read the signs, I just don't always understand them, like I can't read musical notes, but I know why there are important.

If this seems rambling, quite right, so let me get to the point. If you were a Toronto Blue Jays fans, what signs and message are they sending.

Is that the take sign, or do they want the guy to steal ? Are we bunting ? Is that a white flag, or a "go" sign ? I can't tell, can you tell me.

I think I just read in yesterday's Toronto Star that they are sending Jeremy Accardo back to Vegas, what ? to pick up his table winnings, to play a few hands of poker ? Am I nuts ?

Don't answer that.

Thanks to Luke for sending me the articles relating to the worst contracts in recent ball history, many of them are Jays deals gone sour.

I would take issue with the Wells deal simply because it was not an extension, and we had true competition from TEXAS RANGERS. Wells could have "gone home" and got that money from them, so does that make us stupid ? Not as much, he had been putting up great numbers, it's just that he's been injured of late, and the contract is back loaded, and here we are just about to pay him the big moolah and the team's hopes are flatter than a pancake, and so his contract and poor numbers on the field stick out more than let say Lyle Overbay's do.

Bob Dylan has written many songs, none of them seem right and appropriate to represent our predicament , however, how about "Beyond here lies nothing"....it maybe the closest to the state of affairs.

Folks, if we are consigned to the AL East, and we cannot tunnel our way out of this forsaken wilderness, we need to watch for signs of life in the organisation once the season ends, a good start would be tying the can to JP, 7 years, that's enough partner, hit the road. We need to see the "signs" that Mother Corporation Rogers has some game plan other than to beg Paul Beeston to take off the interim Prez tag and be the permanent top dog. I don't that is the answer though, I am hoping as the bobcat is for Washington National Exec Stan Kasten to take charge of this cesspool and re route it. Hopefully with a $ 125 million payroll commitment and GM that has a proven track record.

Raptors did it.

Leafs did it

Why can't we do it.

C'mon Rogers ! Show us a sign !!! Not just a Test pattern.

Enjoy.

Here Comes the Rain Again

I suggest that after the recent moves made by the Toronto Blue Jays that we just better pack a raincoat, an umbrella and maybe hip waders, because the moment you think it cannot get any worse for Blue Jays, it does.







Thankfully our ray of sunshine is the thought that Rogers has great plans for the re disbursement of the money saved on BJ Ryan., Scott Rolen, and now Alex Rios.


Where to spend that extra $ 25-30 million in the off season, hmmmmm, well my hunch is Roy Halladay says, okay guys trade me the heck out of here. Only a miracle of the return of Pat Gillick and a Harry Houdini handbook and Gillick savvy could convince Halladay that the Jays "new" plan will actually work. Or that they even have a plan, since there are those that are thinking that they are more in line with pocketing the savings first and foremost.






Who says there's no crying in baseball ??


More importantly , for Jays fans, who's next ?

The Best Swingers

So who has the best swings these days, some like Ichiro, or Pujols, or Morneau, or maybe Adam Lind ??

Later on I will tell you my top 5 current day players who I think have the sweetest swings, but first, the ALL TIME sweetest swings (and thanks to file footage, youtube, Ken Burns, and other videos I have seen in 40 years plus, my top 20 swingers).

#20 JOHNNY OLERUD , played for the Blue Jays and the Mets. I saw his excellent swing win a batting title here in Toronto, and so he makes my list as having the best swing of any Blue Jay I have seen play.

#19 ROBERTO CLEMENTE , who finished his career with exactly 3000 hits, could have hit 40 homers every year, but he preferred to hit line drives to the gaps, and to spray the ball to all fields.

#18 WADE BOGGS , primarily a singles hitter, but he could inside out a pitch and drive it to the opposite field, and had a great level swing and what a beautiful follow through.

#17 ROD CAREW, another sweet swing and he could do it in such a way that you thought the bat was an extension of his body, it was that effortless to watch.

#16 FRANK ROBINSON, and Frank could elevate the ball fairly well, hence the 500 plus long balls. Was an MVP in both leagues with Cincy and Baltimore. Not sure ever why Cincy dealt him for Milt Pappas, that was a bad one. His swing looked like the bat was skimming the surface of the water.

#15 KIRBY PUCKETT, now I really wish he would have stopped trying for those long balls in Minny, but the park seemed to play for power, by Kirby could just rake it. watch it in slow mo, and you appreciate all the elements equally.

#14 PAUL O'NEILL, here I am sure I can hear the dissing from the public, but you just have to watch his bat move through the swinging motion, the quick wrist action, his velocity, but his ease of meeting the ball where it pitched. A real treat, unless you hated the Yankees, then it was poison.

#13 CARNEY LANSFORD, another contemporary age hitter, but ageless, staying back with his hands, and turned on the ball when it approached the zone. He was another like Puckett who tried to start hitting long bombs, but could find another gear if the pitcher was tyring to ramp up a fastball. Ask Nolan Ryan, he could never fool Lansford.

#12 LOU GEHRIG, the big man, the Iron Horse. Well he did not stay in the lineup for his defence at 1st base. Gehrig was a big strong hitter, but his swing was that of someone with immense bat control, but one with great power. A classic hitter.

#11 PAUL MOLITOR, we saw him here in Toronto for a few seasons, and he always amazed me with his swing, able to keep it a very compact, uncomplicated , precise as a a swiss clock, and able to hit any pitch he could reach. Those strong wrists of Molitor enabled him to bring his bat through and find success.

#10 GEORGE BRETT , I guess many will remember his assault at .400, like Ichiro's, or even Puckett's attempt. Just watching him in the on deck circle, he was perfection. He could hit the big fly, but his swing was aided by Charlie Lau's hitting acumen.

#9 WILLIE MAYS , the Say Hey kid could take it anyway you pitched it, and could keep that swing nice and tight, keeping his hands back until he uncoiled his bat and delivered his blow.

#8 HANK AARON, quickest wrists I ever watched play the game, and I could run out of the proper adjectives to describe how wonderful his swing was, magic.

#7 ROGERS HORNSBY, just based on my few glimpses of his swing, we know he hit.400 a few times, I am shocked with his swing, he did not hit.500. There was a story of a young pitcher who faced HORNSBY, and fed what appeared to be good very good pitches, so I suppose he must have looked at home plate empire Bill Clem with disbelief, and then Clem said to the catcher and the pitcher "Mr.Hornsby will tell you when you've thrown a strike".

#6 JOE JACKSON, despite all the scandal talk, this guy hit over .300 in that 1919 World Series, and simply was born to swing a bat. Babe Ruth was said to have copied his swing, not bad Babe.

#5 MICKEY MANTLE, c'mon, this guy swung that well from both sides of the plate, and would have hit for a higher career average, if his knees had been healthier, would have legged out more hits. He had raw power, but a truly majestic stroke.

#4 TONY GWYNN, boy oh boy, you just have to watch Tony's bat explode through destroying perfect pitches, not trying to kill the ball , just sending ever so deftly off into the outfield, or like a frozen rope. to know his sweet swing was rooted in excellence. How can there be 3 better swingers !!

#3 STAN MUSIAL , another switch hitter who like MANTLE could bring the bat head in such precision, he hit the same amount of hits from both sides of the plate. I have seen his swing broken down on ESPN's Sports Science, his dead still, the bat is a magic wand for the long time Cardinal.

# 2 JOE DIMAGGIO , the kid from San Francisco could not only belt the ball, but his swing detonated the ball through the infield, driving the ball. He could hit singles or doubles in his sleep. No one was better, except for the next guy.

#1 TED WILLIAMS, like the song says, "simply the best". Nobody studied the way to hit a ball more, and no won spent more hours refining his craft, hard to believe he lost 4 years to the war when he was at his peak in the early 1950's. Last hit before retiring at age 42, was a home run in Fenway Park. He is the best there ever has been , the best hitter with swing.

Now of course there are those who wonder where Ruth, , Rose, Kaline, Mel Ott, even Josh Gibson, or Cool Papa Bell, but the 1st 3 names had good swings, but Ruth had this upper cut swing which he used to generate power, Kaline would have been # 21, and the same goes for Pete Rose.

Now I promised the best current 5 swingers, and I hinted at 2 of them, Ichiro and Pujols are 2, the other 3 are Hanley Ramirez, plus Jeter and Joe Mauer.

Enjoy !

The Divisional Races

As we head into the weekend, a look at the races in each of the 6 divisional.

National League East

The Phils have a strong hold
that only injuries or their own bad play will erase.

They are the best bet of the division leaders with Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels at the top of their rotation.
Their infield of Rollins, Utley and Howard and Feliz may be the most dangerous.


National League Central

This one is a dog fight, and will b e because neither the Cubbies or the Cards have knock down drag out good rotations, but their offenses make up for it. Both have war tested managers in Piniella and LaRussa, and both teams have flaws.

My feeling is that the Cards have a good run still in them, and the Cubs bullpen will fail them when it matters the most. Edge to the Cards, but this will go down to the wire.


National League West

Another easy one, but the Dodgers have tapered off from their torrid start, partly due to having Manny Ramirez back in the line up. It's as if the rest of the team said, good, " let him carry us for awhile"




American League East

The other dog fight race, but unless the Red Sox get their pitching to produce at a higher level they will have troubles catching and passing the Yanks, and do not forget the Rays, who if Kazmir and Shields get hot, watch out, they will make it tougher on either the Sox or the Bronx Bombers.
My guess is, the Bombers will succeed, they are just out hitting any shaky pitching they are getting, and Rivera closes 99 % of anything he touches.




American League Central

The Tigers added Washburn, but the White Sox added Peavy, plus Carlos Quentin is getting his groove back. Plus, the teams are separated by one game presently, but if the Sox get a healthy Peavy in a few weeks, and they can ignite their offense even higher, my guess is they will pass the Tigers in September. They do need Mark Buehrle, and John Danks to step it up though.
I have this feeling the Tigers have peaked, and may not have another speed to gear up to, so the White Sox may have the edge.



American League West

The Angels are the second best perched team at the moment, despite a wonkie bullpen, and injuries woes to Torji Hunter, and Vladdy Guerrero.
I think the Rangers and Seattle are having fine years, and with at least one top of the rotation arm in Texas, and a healthy Josh Hamilton, it would be a different story. But Kinsler's hurt, they got hurt by a poor start by Chris Davis, and just do not have the experience on the mound to compete. Joe Saunders and John Lackey may be having off years, so is Ervin Santana, but they manage to cobble together a rotation that stacks up in the division, so they should win it in the west.



As for the 2 wild cards, my hunch is the rotation of the San Fran Giants will guide them through, but the Rockies have that " hey, we've got another great run in the tank, so don't discount us look ", but pitching in September, and adjusting rotations for key match ups are in SF favour.
In the American League, my hunch is that Tampa is going to slip by Boston and be the wild card rep.

Sorry it's been awhile between blogs, had some computer hardware issues just resolved, so expect more in the coming days.

Enjoy

Open letter to Jim Balsillie

Hi Jim,

I know you have this thing going on in Glendale, Arizona, with the NHL and the ownership of the Phoenix Coyotes, but should endeavor falter, perhaps you might want to cast your eyes to Toronto, whereupon you will find a franchise urgently in need of passion, and a fresh approach.
I suspect that you might be thinking about the Toronto Maple Leafs, no, not them, I think Brian Burke and his people have that on track, or at least they better.

No, I was referring to a certain baseball organisation called the Toronto Blue Jays. Maybe you should reconsider the whole hockey thing because I think you could work out a deal with Rogers, let them sell the team but maintain the right to promote their products and network, and keep the park named for at least the next 5 years.

But Jim, consider that you do not have to move the team, just find a way to cross promote your products, and with your business acumen and ability to galvanize fans around the 7th NHL team in Canada concept.

The Rogers folks I think would gladly consider ridding themselves of the team, and the civic responsibility, and your passion for the local Canadian sports scene would be received extremely well by the baseball fans. Of course I would expect you'd pony up some serious coin to make this team competitive with th Yankees and Red Sox. If you need any help, just call me. On my blackberry !!!!