Fridays Feathers Flying

So a call to arms as the end of August arrives, and the pennant races heat up, and the Jays are poised to battle Tampa, possible to unseat them as the 3rd place team in the AL East.


Actually there are only 2 races left to discuss, as the
Yanks and or Boston will be division and or Wild Carder, and the Central is almost settled.


In the NL, the Phils are home and cleared, the brave have the Wild Card, and the Brew Crew have the Central sown up.


It's just the 2 western division were there is still battles raging on, at least for now. The Giants are chasing Arizona and the Angels are trailing the Rangers, and that , as they say, is that.

No sense causing a fuss or a riot, September is going to be a rather quiet month of playing out the string, packing up, and reaching personal stat goals to get incentive bonuses, and prop up bad years going into free agency.

Unless MLB changes their minds, and adds a second wild card team, races could be over in week or two, and where's the drama, why go watch 19 yr old kids fight for playing time. That's why we have spring training !

I have a hard time watching the Jays scuffle against Oaklnad and Kansas City, they just look like they are sleepwalking through these games against weaker opponents. Never progress until they develop a killer instinct.

Maybe they need a can of RAID.

So, onto some truly weird stuff.

Matt Holliday - aka Moth Man

I have seen a lot of bug infestations, Jacobs Field, Joba vs the gnats, but Matt had the luck of having one fly into his ear.
They used a flashlight, and bugger woulkd not come out.

Finally they used a pair of tweezers to extracate the moth.

B ug Off

Posada, aka Billy the Exterminator

Jays looking for brighter feathers

News on the Toronto Star this morning reports that as early as next season, the Jays will have yet another redesigned uniform, as Rogers seeks to bleed the customers with a patriotic red and white, with a sprinkling of blue. I mean, aren't Jays blue ?

Please feel free to colour this blank slate as you see fit.  Making this public allows Rogers to use their fan base to provide ideas, or better yet, market feedback on what most fans want. Presumably if 20,000 core fans like a retro style, 20,000 fans will buy it.


I can only hope it means the end of Mikey DC's fave black jersey, my personal opinion is I am tired of teams wearing black, it does not make them look tougher, or more imposing.

I sense it is yet again time for Rogers to try and sell us more sizzle when they have no steak.
 Oh and the village idiot just called me, says even he sees through this sham.

Of course I asked a few Ardent Jays followers, the ones that bleed blue by it, hook, line and sinker, the skeptics see it as I do, it's the art of misdirection at work.  Like watching Christian Bale in The Prestige.

Now these are not the best new ideas , but I hear this design is high on the dart board of potential new uniforms.

One advantage would be if the wings actually worked, it could allow us an unfair advantage on balls destined for the seats.

However I think the creative folks are looking for more Maple Leaf / Patriotic garb, so maybe stitch the flag across their backs. 

If this new uniform does not work, may have to sell space on uniforms to corporations, like Nascar and Formula One.  Now that needs MLB approval, and the Yankees and Red Sox won't do it, so likely that one dies on the vine as well.  Can we just find us some bullpen, another 2 starters will experience, a 2nd baseman that can hit, and promote Travis D'Araud , and perhaps we can win more games, be a real contender, and sell them as a winning franchise, instead of gimmickry, bobble heads, and bringing your dog to the park, which I am sure the grounds crew and stadium cleaners just love afterwards.

My idea, scarp the black, use the Red and White ( July 1st Canada Day ) as home jersey, but add more blue, and use good sense adding talent to augment what you have. Spend your time and cash on giving the fans better players in the uniforms than new uniforms on poor performers.

Play your cards right

 Arod has potentially dealt himself a body blow, depending on how Bud Selig sees the severity of playing or even sitting watching these high stakes poker games.


Alex says he will co-operate, because he is scared shitless of what this can mean, especialy after his self confessed PED involvement. While not being totally illegal, it is highly immoral.



What reaction is there out there in the baseball community ?


Does this make Arod someone that could have serious  gambling ties, or could he be in to the sharks, or worse, the mob ?  We all know he has multi millions so the gambling losses do not mean much, but it's potentially a target for extortion, blackmail, who knows ?

Here's a shot of ARod, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, and Ben Affleck playing some high stakes poker.

I know, they're dogs and they're playing poker, easy Homer....

I can  see the humour in all  this, I just hope MLB does too.

I give him 3-1 odds he gets a 5 game suspension, if there is enough oroof, and it's just to make sure all the other players hear the words from Selig's mouth.

"baseball and gambling do not mix "

Waivers

 Players are now popping up on waivers like prairie dogs, here and there, and all around. Some receive shock from from fans, some fans say, please someone make a deal for this loser. Generally it is performance based, but many times there is a cheaper alternative in the wings, and the heavy contracts would love to be dumped.


George King III of the The New York Post recently reported that AJ Burnett, Rafael Soriano and long time Yankee Jorge  Posada were placed on waivers. Gee, they all make lots of money, are struggling, andf have cheaper replacements waiting.  No suprtise to me, but this is what happens on a regular basis, testing the waters, see who you can lure in, who will block possible deals.

In 1992, the Blue Jays placed a waiver claim on David Cone of the Mets, a late night heist when seemingly no one was looking, or were supposing that some one is going to put in a claim, and didn't.

I mean some players are used to this, and some get very offended, and some get vocal, and who know,
Wonder if any come to tears, cause there's no crying in baseball......

Time for deals

Yunel Escobar

Last year, the Jays had come to the realisation that the Braves were frustrated with Yunel Escobar, ancd Alex Gonzalez had converted one half of baseball into a very marketable shortstop, 17 home runs, extra base hits, high enough average, reliable defense, and a player not prone to the hot doggery play.

Cito Gaston knew as well the kid had much more potential, given the right circumstances, a very special one.

Deals at this time of year are generally made for need and Atlanta had a need, a shortstop that could hit and make those routine play.  Run out ground balls.

Funny that a year into the deal, that woulld describe Escobar to a tee, and in fact, he's part of the young leadership group.

The Gonzalez deal was pure sell high, and deal for the guy with potential, but little results. Anthopolous saw an opening, deal Alex quickly before the batting average tumbled, and the lustre of the early home run success would run dry.
So this was more right place, right partner.


 So Jim, handicap where the potential deals are going to be made this deadline. Okay, let's give it a whirl.

Beltran, the most sought after, or the most hyped.
I think that the Mets want 2 things, salary relief, and ready to play prospects, like Chris Davis, Marty Perez.

BJ Upton, now this is a deal that Tampa wants prospects only, no one that is making any appreciable money, a controllable commodity. San Fran will lose out on Beltran, so will need to score a bat, too bad it will likely be Upton`s. But he might flourish with a change of scenery.

Aaron Hill, and I don`t think we will get much, but I think he moves , perhaps kenny Williams has soured on Gordon Beckham, Ozzie sure has, and US Cellular is a hitters paradise, so maybe the White Sox, and Jays get a single AAA prospect, but Kenny be careful, last year we got Escobar, this year, well, just be careful.

The usual collection of relivers will drift around to fill holes, a few back up catchers, but Beltran, and Upton will be names to expect.

Everyone expected Hunter Pence, or Wandy Rodriuguez, and James Shields, but none appear to be moving, but the Phils, Red Sox and Yankees all see the finishing line, and one of these teams will make a splash, bet on it.

Players from a time gone by

I started with Roberto Clemente, since he finished with 3000 hits exactly, after the 1971 season, he never saw 1972, his plane crashed delivering supplies to earthquake victims.

 I loved watching this perennial All Star play right field for the Pirates, win batting titles, knock in over 100 runs, and man could throw out runners.
The press in Pittsburgh insisted on calling him Bobby, and he would correct them constantly, and so was considered a malcontent, but he was fearless proud of his Cuban heritage.

Born to play the game, and he patrolled center field ( just ask John Fogerty ) like no one else in the majors, in either league.  I swear he played so shallow he could hear the second baseman whisper.  Has been given a bad rap because he fought the reserve clause at a time when players were not represented in a true fashion by a union with any teeth.  Marvin Miller sure changed that ( and when does he go to the Hall, thee most influential figure in the game from the late 60's for almost 2 decades.

 Dick Allen was a sullen, angry black player, never feeling like he got a fair shake from the establishment. He had tremendous talent, and on occasion was the most feared hitter in the National League.  But he frequently wore out welcomes, moving to Chicago to play for the White Sox, then onto Oakland and Texas, and played a season with the Dodgers.  Like I say, he had great ability to hit long home runs to all fields, and he could easily stretch a double into a single, he had that type of talent.
Sad he never fully realized his true potential.

 Let's Play Two, as Banks would utter, he was a player who never played a single playoff gamer, but has Hall of Fame numbers nevertheless, playing 1st base and other posts essentially for the South Siders of Chicago.
Another feared hitter from the late 50's through the 60's, and into the early 70's, he had the zeal for the game when it paid pennies.  Players complain about unscheduled double dips, Ernie wanted as many double headers as he could get.

Played in 3 World Series, Brock stole bases, but he could stroke the ball enough that he could have hit 30 homers a year, but like Ichiro, chose the path of base hits, steals, and runs created. Played a flawless outfield, making the glide to the ball look effortless, he did not get the press that Flood did in centre, but he range baby, he could take away hits that were sure doubles. Because he could run like the wind.

Joey Bats and Clemens Rats

Time to get caught up after the All Star Game, the Jeter 3000 hit, the Beltran Buzz, and here come the Yankees to town, with no Arod, no Cameron Diaz, no current controversy lingering.

Clemens vs The US Government declared a mistrial on evidence a first year law student should know was not admissible.  Maybe planned that way, so as to trip your self up, and reduce the potential long drawn on cost on taxpayers. In the 40' s, boxers took dives because they cleaned up betting on the other guy, and so did the Govt  get good odds on a mistrial ? . 

Jays roll into the 2nd half and clobber the Yanks, while losing Joey Bats19 to an ankle sprain, which most will tell you will cost him a weekend on the shelf.  No sweat, we banged out 23 hits, most of them off Barty Colon, who stunk worse than the Hudson River.  In fairness though to Colon, not many of those hits were truly monstrous. Mostly dinks and duck farts.

Into the 2nd half with tight division races, Arizona hanging with San Fran, Tigers and Tribe, Yankees-Red Sox, Cards and Brewers, Braves and Phils, and Angels- Rangers, with a few others still hope like Tampa, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and the Twinkies. Ultimately they will cut down the pretenders into August, 3 team races usually unravel like a poorly knitted sweater. Watch out for the Twins.

Here in Toronto, we headed into he break winning 3 in a row off Cleveland, then last nights combination laugher/ cliffhanger, thanks to Jo Jo Reyes, and Andruw Jones. Imagine, a 9-0 lead, and he gives back 7, and that with half the game still to play. Still nice to exhaust their bullpen in one evening.

Key hit of the night, E5 ( Encarnacion ) a 2 out base knock that gave us an 11-7 lead, a chance to breathe again, and momentum to re-accelerate our engines. 8 runs in the first not a record against the poinstrippers, 9 scored in 1934 by the Tigers, but a pasting nevertheless.

Clemens Rats

Clemens, number 1 Rat Fink, so far denied his chance to stand up and have his record washed clean, must hope a mistrial means HOF Voters think he is innocent.  Does the Pope wear a toupee ? Does a bear shit in the woods ?

This ain't over by a long shot.


I am sure that HBO are thrilled that when they begin showing the Jeter assault on 3000 hits like Hercules ascending Mount Olympus, there are no nightly trial tidbits to tarnish Yankee icons.  Maybe here's hoping Clemens elects to wear a Red Sox hat if he gets into the HOF.

Joey Bats19

I am currently following baseball's good boy @JoeyBats19 on twitter, and yes folks, I am also on Twitter, as well as blog world.

My twitter handle is @keon2214, but don't expect Shaq like ditties, and Darren Dreger trade updates, just rambling commentary, like the blog.



With E5 hitting, Snider banging, and Thames swinging, we can survive against the Yanks if we get contributions from everyone, and start taking more pitches to wear out their arms. That's what they do.