Jays’ playoff baseball makes managers of us all
Who knew Canadians were so passionate about baseball?
The Toronto Blue Jays’ first visit to the post-season since 1993 means Canadian sports fans are back aboard the Blue Jays bandwagon. It feels as if everyone has an opinion on how John Gibbons manages the team.
Gibbons seems to be secondguessed more than any manager in recent memory.
When the team wins he gets zero credit; when they lose he takes much of the blame. Some of his decisions have been unconventional, reckless or asinine depending on which pundit or fan you listen to.
The latest controversy centres on his decision to pull starting pitcher R.A. Dickey in Game 4 of the American League Division Series against the Texas Rangers with one out remaining in the fifth inning. Gibbons replaced Dickey with David Price.
The Jays led 7-1 and Dickey was one out away from being credited with the win. Gibbons didn’t care about personal achievements. Instead, he did what he thought was best for his team.
Toronto won and now will play the deciding Game 5 at home on Wednesday. Despite the victory, almost everyone questioned Gibbons. Why pull Dickey? Why use Price out of the bullpen instead of have him start on the mound for Game 5?
Gibbons decided before the game that young Marcus Stroman will start Game 5, over his ace Price. It was a tough decision, one Price probably isn’t happy about, but playoffs are about winning, not personal success.
Some will argue we won’t know if Gibbons made the right decision until after Game 5, but managers and coaches don’t have the luxury of hindsight when they are in the midst of the pressure-packed playoffs. The Blue Jays had to win Game 4, and they did. We can speculate they would have won even if Gibbons didn’t pull Dickey, but we’d only be guessing. Gibbons made a call and it worked.
I hope it works again in Game 5, because if the Jays move on to the American League Championship Series the second-guessing of Gibbons will only intensify.
FOUL TIP
Did ESPN baseball analyst Harold Reynolds really offend you?
During Game 3 of the Jays-Rangers game, Reynolds made the statement: “We were talking about foul balls in the stands up in Toronto and because there’s not a lot of people who grew up playing baseball in Canada, they’re not used to catching a lot of balls hit into the stands.”
Reynolds took some heat for the comment. But why? There is nothing wrong with this statement. It’s true.
Only a small percentage of Canadians play baseball, and most of us could not catch a foul ball at a major-league baseball game without a glove. Most Americans can’t follow hockey on TV, never mind trying to catch a puck when it enters the stands.
It is true that Canada produced Larry Walker, Joey Votto, Justin Morneau and others, but they are the minority. Most Canadians do not excel at baseball. It’s OK. We dominate in many other sports.
But Reynolds’ comments, while probably unnecessary, were accurate. Most of us would drop a foul ball.
NEWS AND NOTES
Hockey’s potential Connor McDavid-Jack Eichel rivalry reminds me of the Sidney Crosby-Alex Ovechkin comparisons. Eichel is more of the flashy scorer, while McDavid looks effortless on the ice. The NHL needs more star power and Eichel versus McDavid should make for great theatre.
Crosby and Ovechkin have wowed NHL fans for the past decade and have widely been considered the best two players. Crosby has won the Hart Trophy (MVP) twice, the Art Ross Trophy (scoring leader) twice and Ted Lindsay Award (MVP voted by fellow NHL players) three times. Ovechkin has two Hart wins, one Art Ross and three Ted Lindsay nods. He edged out Crosby for the Calder Trophy (best rookie) and he’s won the Maurice Richard Trophy (most goals) five times.
A similar rivalry between McDavid and Eichel would be great for the NHL and its fans.
PARTING SHOT
The Edmonton Eskimos are in the driver’s seat to host the West Division final for the first time in 12 years. The last time they hosted, in 2003, the Eskimos defeated the Saskatchewan Roughriders 30-23 before winning the Grey Cup in a 34-22 game against the Montreal Alouettes.
The Eskimos play the B.C. Lions at home this weekend, then move to Regina next week before hosting Montreal on Nov. 2.
Those three teams have a combined 12 victories, Edmonton has won 11 games. The Eskimos only will have themselves to blame if the West Final is not played at Commonwealth Stadium on Sunday, Nov. 22.