Blue Jays’ Martin honoured with Chelsea baseball field
A baseball field named after Toronto Blue Jays catcher Russell Martin was unveiled on Friday in the Quebec municipality of Chelsea, about 10 km north of Ottawa.
“I grew up in Chelsea (but) I really didn’t play much baseball there and I don’t want to pretend like I did,” said Martin, who was born in Toronto and raised in Quebec.
“But I went to elementary school there, I stayed with my mom in Chelsea. My memories of Chelsea is a lot more of just being in the country and hanging out with my mom and my stepdad and my sister. The baseball stuff is mostly with my dad in Montreal, coming to the Big O (Olympic Stadium) and stuff like that.”
Martin joked that he hopes someday they name a park after him in Montreal.
BUSY WEEK FOR JAYS GREAT
Wearing his Blue Jays cap — as he did when he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2011 — former Toronto second baseman Roberto Alomar was in New York on Friday for the annual CapsOn tradition to celebrate baseball’s opening day. The 12-time all-star rung the Opening Bell at the New York Stock Exchange.
NOT GETTING ANY LOVE
The authoritative baseball site Fangraphs recently rated the Blue Jays rotation as the 16th best in the MLB, despite Toronto being the No. 1 starting rotation in the AL last season (leading AL in ERA 3.64). After a hue and cry, Fangraphs writer Travis Sawchik later wrote a piece suggesting that perhaps they were being too pessimistic with the original rating, though there is the suggestion that the Toronto rotation will be hard-pressed to stay as healthy as they were last season and that fifth starter Francisco Liriano is a bit of an unknown.