Donaldson, Martin give Jays toughness
Late Sunday night, with the tangy smell of sparkling wine and beer in the air, mixed with cigar smoke that was a flagrant violation of Ontario’s workplace anti-smoking laws, Josh Donaldson sat at a podium and was asked about his injuries.
“I want to say that I’m not physically restricted,” said the Toronto third baseman, his ALCS cap turned backward on his head.
Russell Martin, sitting next to him, said: “Just lie.”
That’s some veteran advice, right there.
Donaldson and Martin were the appointed spokespeople on the night because the pair of them were involved in the deciding run in Toronto’s wild, series-clinching Game 3 win over the Texas Rangers in the ALDS. Martin had fought off several tough pitches from Matt Bush, who had just struck out Jose Bautista. Then Martin hit into what seemed to be an inning-ending double play. But infielder Rougned Odor bounced his off-target throw to first base, drawing first baseman Mitch Moreland off the bag that ultimately led to Donaldson having the opportunity to dash home with the run that made it 7-6 in the 10th inning and sent the Rogers Centre into delirium.
It was perfectly fitting that these two players were involved, taking control of the Blue Jays, a talented team that for two decades couldn’t seriously challenge the powers of the AL East.
And now the Blue Jays are back-to-back members of baseball’s final four. These are the New Jays, infused by a transfusion that arrived in the winter of 2014.
“It was like a light switch went on,” manager John Gibbons said last week in Texas. “It wasn’t like a gradual improvement. Just happened really overnight and we ran with it.”
Well, not totally like flicking a switch.
“It all started last spring training with Russell Martin, who is our backbone, and Donaldson. You could see a switch in the attitude around here, some toughness, that kind of thing. Some guys that had been through the post-season. So in spring training you could tell there was an immediately different attitude.”
After Game 3, as the shouts from the Toronto clubhouse, mixed with the screams of the fans who still hadn’t left their seats, filtered into the interview room, I asked Gibbons what it was about Martin and Donaldson that had made such an impact.
“For one thing, they brought some toughness to us,” he said. “The previous couple of years, I didn’t think we had enough of that. I’d seen Josh from afar, playing in Oakland. Knew what he was about. And don’t get me wrong, don’t misconceive anything, but that’s just his style of baseball. We got him. It rubbed off on our guys.”
Donaldson, in his two seasons in Toronto, has already authored a handful of spectacular, and possibly insane, plays to complement his MVP-type offensive numbers. There was the headlong leap into the stands last year to catch a foul ball, and a diving, run-scoring play at home that was usurped on Sunday night by his mad scamper to the plate. Not since Roberto Alomar played in Toronto have the Blue Jays had someone with such a knack for making the right baseball play at the right time. Martin is the same kind of player. Not as gifted, but someone who contributes in little ways that can make a big difference: calling the game, framing pitches, playing good defence.
“And I’d seen Russ a little bit, but his reputation is the same way, a hard-nosed guy,” Gibbons said, again calling his catcher “the backbone of our team.”
“They made a big difference, because you can have a ton of talent, but if you don’t have some toughness, some gamers, and some guys that are really motivated to win, you know, you come up empty.”
Coming up empty used to be the standard in these parts. “I’ve been here for four years and winning wasn’t something that was synonymous with the Blue Jays,” said Kevin Pillar last week. “We were kind of the doormat of the AL East. And in the off-season last year, they went out and got some really, really good players and ultracompetitive guys and that kind of just changed the culture.” “Doormat” might be a touch harsh, but the point is made. These guys are doormats no more. Gibbons noted after Game 3 that Donaldson, who led off the 10th with a double off Bush, who was mowing down Jays like he had a scythe, was playing smart baseball even in that high-intensity moment.
“Matt Bush was dealing. What a job he did,” Gibbons said. “And Josh comes up with the — not trying to hit a home run, just took that great swing, the double in the gap to set all that up.”
And then Martin cashed him, albeit in an unusual way. The Blue Jays exploded in celebration, with mobs around Martin past the first base bag, and Donaldson at home.
Then Texas appealed the play, hoping replays might show that Edwin Encarnacion, who had slid into second base before the errant throw to first, had interfered with Odor.
“You start going through the memories of how (replay) has affected you in the past,” Donaldson said. “And you’re just — I looked at Eddie, I said, ‘Please tell me you had a good slide. If you don’t have a good slide this isn’t good. We are not cool right now if you did not have a good slide.”
And then he laughed, and Martin laughed beside him. The catcher who has been to the playoffs in nine of his 11 major-league seasons. Just laughing about another playoff win, with the celebratory alcohol still dripping from their hair.
It’s what the Blue Jays do, now. A lot can happen in two years.