Escobar escapades

So after all the expnantions of why Yunel Escobar applied his face paint to infuriate the Red Sox,  and the press conference to allow the spin doctors to explain why this idiot thought it was just a joke, what are we left with ?

Questions anyone, cause I sure have some.


Question # 1 - Dear Alex Anthopolous, can you tell me why spanish speaking coaches Luis Rivera and Torey Lovello never noticed a spanish phrase on the kids face and said WTF Yunel, take that stupid remark off.

Question # 2 - Edwin Encarnacion, Omar Vizquel, Rickey Romero, none of you guys recognized the phrase and through a lasso around # 5 ?

So it was detected only by a camerman from a distance ? C'mon, you have to do better than that folks, So are we left to blame the kid alone, yes. Is he blameless, hell no, he is an idiot, but has the team simply lost all sense of reality.

Guys and girls, if this happened in Boston, oh wait it did happen in Boston, and it cost Francona his job when it assumed Tito had lost the room to the lunatics.

Is it fair to blame John Farrell, yes, he is the manager. Was it his fault the kid's head is not screwed on right, no, but there's that whole captain goes down with the ship logic. It happened on his watch, he takes some blame. Francona did, and he had to walk the plank. Will Farrell receive the same fate ?

And what do the Boston Red Sox think ?  Is this the manager they desparately want to run their team ?

This lost season cannot end soon enough for me, and my last question is, and we might have all winter to find out the answer. That is, what direction is the team headed, if they jettison Farrell, then they have to re start a search for another manager. That took a long time, can we speed up the search using old resumes ?

What pieces are missing on the roster, what happens to Rickey Romero ? Is Villaneuva going to get a shot at a starters position ? Is Alvarez back, or can they send him to Buffalo to learn. Yes Buffalo, our new farm team is now the Bisons. Is Santos going to be a factor, or do will still need a closer ?
Shortstop ? The Kid or the Idiot ?

The outfield, is Gose ready ? and can he hit ? Does he need another few months at Triple AAA ?

Yesterday was the tipping point for me with the organisation, because I thought they were still all there ( in their heads ) and now I think it will rats jumping off a floundering ship.

Anthopolous has many holes to plug, and the free agent market looks quite lean. Too bad we were not more active last year.

If Farrell returns, expect a raft of changes, he cannot stand Lind, or Kelly Johnson, or Escobar, or most his bullpen, so if he is still the manager, and that is a big if, you will need a program to tell these players apart.

September

Here we are mid way into September, and where have I been ?
First blog in 3 weeks, so what has being going on. Well, in three weeks there has been such a downpour of events.







 > The Yankees insurmountable lead has disintegrated and they are life and death to hold  their division spot.
 > The Washington Nationals followed through on their promise and shut down Strasburg.
 > Melky Cabrera got a 50 game suspension for a banned substance
 > The Dodgers acquired Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett, and Carl Crawford and have fallen backwards in the standings.
 > The Oakland A's have vaulted past the Angels, and are threatening even the Texas Rangers
 > So far despite all his efforts, Bobby Valentine is still employed by the Red Sox.
 > Here come the Baltimore Orioles....no really.. the Baltimore Orioles.
 > The Phillies, given up for dead at the All Star Break are 5 games out of a playoff spot. Hell, they dumped Hunter Pence, they dealt Victorino to LA, they added nobody.
 > Roger Clemens is pitching for a Skeeters team in the minors looking to pitch for the Astros, and he wants a shot at facing a real contender.  Why, to push back his Hall of Fame inducement 5 years.
 > The Pirates finally imploded, and their good news story has ended.
 > There are more teams in the playoff than ever before.

So, we are 3 weeks from mthe finish line, and the potential for tie breaking games is huge. The Rays, O's, A's, Angels, Tigers , and Yanks are all candidates in the AL. In the NL, Brewers, Braves, Cards, Dodgers, are all potential 1 game participants. 

It seems like it raining baseball news. Maybe I had better keep up with current events a tad better.

The Spaceman Cometh and the Goeth

How do the Irish handle defeat ?

Easy, they drink away their sorrows.

How does a baseball pitcher deal with rejection ?

Easy, snort coke, smoke weed, buy lap dances, and generally dive deep into the abyss of self deprocating activities.

Such was the way Bill Spaceman Lee dealt with his demons, the Establishment, or MLB.  Whether it was Jim Fanning or Claude Brochu, they put him ouit on the street, and passed the word around baseball that this guy was bad news, and please avoid all contact.

Was the Expos actions intentional, in their minds, probably not, but their treatment spelled "this player is toxic" and not even Erin Brockovich could have helped.

These events happened 27 years ago, but they still happen. Players still have their demons, and they choose to exorcise them to rationalise the end of their careers, because they are not ready to accept that the end has come.

Bill Lee refused to accept it, and joined several semi pro leagues, inn Quebec, Maine., Vermont, and New Brunswick, where he now lives. 

Manny Ramirez is toxic, Jose Canseco is pure nuclear waste, and what is Roger Clemens ?  Once he was the toast of the game. Now at age 50 he wants more, like Oliver Twist. But Dickens was forgiving, and Oliver was the better for it, eventually. The jury is still out on Roger.

Are the Houston Astros truly so bloody desparate that they need sully themselves with what will be a carnival show atmosphere ? 


Lee hit rock bottom, lost almost all he had, he kept only the clothes on his back, his records, and his first baseball glove. The Expos tried to claim it was Montreal property.

Propriety does not permit me from what Bill told them to do with that.

So the Spaceman and the Rocket Man have something in common, neither want to give up the game, and both suffered from their reputation. MLB does not suffer fools or problem childs lightly. We will see if The Rocket walks back on a major league mound again, but then again, these are the Houston Astros, and they look nothing like a major league ballclub.

Anger Management

Well it had to happen, sooner ot later, the Jays resort to gimmicks to fill the seats, and Olympians were going to cut the mustard, so we asked Joe Carter, a big name in his own right, to ask Mr. Nutbar ( see above ) to toss out the first oitchj.

Well it must be August, and we are well out of the race here in Toronto, that's a mouth full, we've been out quite a long time, but like Charlie, we refused as Blue Jays Nation to face reality. Perhaps the wave of injuries to positional players, Jose, JP, Lawrie, Rasmus, and Lind was enough to seek medical help, or admit we are done.

In August, if you ain't in contention, it is time for gimmicks. Dog Day, Thunder Stixx Day, more bobbleheads, free ice cream, sausage races ( careful there, it has proven dangerous ) just to name a few attempts. Now singers and movie stars, hell the Cubs have been trotting out Will Ferrel and Bill Murray for years. Obama couldn't resurrect the Cubbies.

Charlie has seen better days... his attempt was a bit off, like the actor. But no blow ups, but Sheen took shots at Canada Customs, ( can't say I blame him there ).

Time for the Jays to start selling hope rather than ice cream and actors, so the Ninja proclaims we have an All Star bullpen and starting 9, which I ask you , is that a stretch ( sit down Micheal ) . I think I agree more with Greg Zaun ( part lunatic himself ) when he disagrees with AA, by saying it is a good line up, but it wilts when they face a Verlander, Sabathia or Hernandez.  I am forced to agree the point.











    Will Ferrell in action

Real pitchers in action against the Tampa Bay Rays tosses Mariners first team perfect game.

  Congrats to the king, his first perfect game

Topps 71

Once I started doing  some research on one sided games, I was forced to review old box scores from 77, 79, etc. One thing leads to another, and in my case, it lead to collecting this series.

In the first package I ever opened, I got this card above.

 So, some 41 years ago, my summer was spent from the end of June to Labour Day. Days at the beach, a summer spent slowly collecting small pieces of baseball history.

Whenever my parents wanted milk, bread or a daily paper, I would volunteer to ride down to the closest store, a 20 minute ride, because they would allow me buy a couple of packs of cards, going for 15 cents.


Here are some of the cards that for whatever reason I just seem to gravitate to, in a 715 card set.

Clemente, that year his Pirates upset the favoured Orioles in 7 games











Wilbur Wood, a knuckleballer who played for both red & Whiote Sox, and won 22 games one year, with a microscopic ERA.

Joe Rudi, a member of the 3 time World Series Oakland A's champs. A clutch hitter and made memorable out field catches.











Anyhow, I lost the complete set, thanks Mom, whn we moved to West Hill in 72.

Not worry, it took me over 17 years to recollect the set again, and it was a tad more expensive.

Worst lop sided scores

16- 0

Did the Oakland Raiders breeze through town ?



Well I have been following this team (Jays) since 77, even before that actually, but as the SF Giants did not move, it's a moot point.

After Tuesday, as I choose to sip the last of my beer, I reflected on some of the worst drubbings we received or been on the right side of.

The 16-0 loss to A's eclipses a record that goes back to 2006, when the Orioles beat us 15-0, and when I say worst , I mean by shutout, not by sheer runs scored. No children, grab a seat, and Uncle Jimmy will recount some doozies.

Back in 2000, we had a very strong hitting ball club, Delgasdo, Mondesi, Fulmer, Alex Gonzales, and Tony Batista ( foot in the bucket Tony ). That club could hit the long potatoe, Carlos l& Tony led with 41, and we had Jose Cruz jr hitting 31. Fullmer with 32, Shannon Stewart hit 20, Fletch had 21, even Marty Cordova hit 4, no one was left out. But that day against the Balty-more birds, we got throttled 23-1 !

Imagine that 23 runs and we got one stinking run, with all  that firepower. Oh well, they say the sun does not shine on the same dog's ass every day.  We have ( like the good book says ) giveth as well as receivith.

 We have flexed our baseball muscles at times.

My favourite game of all times, I never watched, and I only heard the last inning and a half.

In 77 we faced the Bronx Bombers, in old Yankee Stadium, and these were your fathers Blue Jays, remember they had they had the first logo that looks the like the new one, but that is all they had in common.
Bill Singer , Doug Ault, Jerry Johnson, and Roy Lee Howell.

That Saturday I was enjoying  a summers day on the golf course with a friend, and after 18 trips around the course, we grabbed a drink, and we got into the car, and we turned on the game. Well, Tom Cheek started saying he never seen such a lop sided affair, all the runs, extra base hits. Early Wynn said this was one for the books, and we looked at each other and thought "Holy Crap".

Well, as it turned out, it was holy crap, but for the Yanks, as we had a 19-3 lead courtesy one Roy Lee Howell, and his 9 RBI game. We could hardly contain our hysteria, a first year team drubbing a perenial World series champ squad, in their own yard. Babe uth just flipped over again in his grave.

That was special, and I never watched it, but have seen clips finally. Closure.

Our mostlop sided shut out on the good side was aginst the 1999 Tigers, and they were not a good squad, but never the less, we chopped them up to the tune of 15 doughnut.

But, as all these are interesting, 2 games ring out in my mind as Blue Jay high water marks,




In 1987, and boy the Oriloes do seem to factor in a lot, on my son's 1st birthday, the Jays clovvered 10 home runs and won easily 18-3. Whitt with 3, Mulliniks and Bell with 2 each, and solos to Moseby , McGriff and Rob Ducey for some Canadian content.

The other Bird Battle that stands out is the game we defeated Earl Weaver's birds 24-10, yup, 3 touchdowns and a fied goal.  Big Daddy John Mayberry hit the only 2 hone runs that day, 24 runs, 24 hits, 8 walks, 5 doubles and 1 triple, and for me the first time I could recall a non pitcher came into a game.
O's back up cathcer, the great Elrod Hendricks through 2 and a thrird scoreless innings.

Anyhow, there have been likely many other great offensive games byu the Jays, but the last two were my favourites.

It's like a fish market

 
Oh Boy, the flood gates are now officially open.

We are 6 days from the non waiver baseball trade deadline and the deals are being made.

The Jays actually started with a 10 player swap with Houston, but that seemed to spur the GM's into action, and of course there are many rumours as well.

This morning, the Fish Market was in high gear, as the Los Angelos Dodgers have acquired Hanley Ramirez, for 2 minor leaguers, This after the Marlins dealt Anibel Sanchez and Omar Infante for a package of young Tigers, including Jacob Turner.

Ryan Dempster is still a Cubbie, but he could become either a Dodger, or maybe an Atlana Brave. Okay take a breath, there have a few more smaller deals, but the Tigers, the Dodgers have begun their shopping.

Those still on the radar to maybe get dealt are James Shields, Peter Bourjous, Josh Johnson, Chase Headley, and Zach Greinke. There numbers decreased when Wandy Rodriguez to the Pirates, and the great Ichiro traded tot the Yankees.

The latter will prove to be depth moves, and not that significant as the Yanks only really gain out field defense from Suzuki, and Wandy will add depth to a solid Pirate rotation.

Names not being heard are Felix Hernandez in Seattle, and Vernon Wells, the first because the franchise is not ready to turn the ace role over to Danny Hultzen, and the latter because maybe there aren't enough suckers born every minute.

That contract will haunt the Angels fora long time. The  Halos are desperate to replace Ervin Santana with James Shields, and Shields is owed substantial money in the next few seasons, so dealing him now makes sense for the always cash strapped Rays.

As always , your intrepid reporter will ( between naps ) check the ticker for the latest developments.