The gang’s all here,
Blue Jays former greats — Stieb, Alomar, Delgado, Gruber — hold forth on 2012 team . . . as told to Brendan Kennedy
3B KELLY GRUBER on Brett Lawrie
From what I understand he plays very, very hard — he doesn’t hold anything back — and certainly that was the school I was from. I think that’s why I was so well-liked. Let’s face it, man, by the time you take your family to the ball game, buy some tickets, pay for parking, buy a souvenir, concessions, it costs you an arm and a leg, so you don’t want to come to the ballpark to see somebody hit a pop up and not run it out, you know? We’re not in control of how many errors we do or don’t make; we’re not in control of how many strikeouts we get, or how many hits we make; but we are in control of the almighty effort level that we put in. The very least we can do, win or lose, is give 100 per cent. From my understanding, certainly he does that.
RP DUANE WARDON the Jays bullpen
The bullpen looks a lot better. They’re starting to define the roles better, and once you get those roles defined you can get a lot more out of your bullpen. You know that if the game starts getting out of hand in the fifth or sixth inning you know they’re probably going to go to these two or three guys; if it starts getting out of hand a little later they’re probably going to go to these one or two guys. And if it’s in hand and it gets to the ninth, you know who’s going to pitch. You got to find that consistency and I think they’re going to have a lot more of it this year. And it helps the starting pitchers when they know they can hand the ball over to the bullpen and they know they can handle the job.
RP TOM HENKE on Darren Oliver, Sergio Santos and the bullpen
They got Darren Oliver? That old goat? We played together my last two years in Texas. He’s a good guy, great guy . . . I think for a good functioning bullpen it’s important to know your roles, because bullpen work is such a mental game — especially for the closer. I don’t know this kid they got down there from Chicago (Santos), but every team that usually wins has a good closer, and if you don’t have that good closer your team will struggle. . . . Darren’s in his forties, isn’t he? I’m going to go down and see that old goat. I’m going to tell him, “What’re you still doing playing?”
2B ROBERTO ALOMARON Yunel Escobar
Escobar right now is one of the best shortstops in the league. He has all the tools. I got to see him last year almost every day and to appreciate a ballplayer you have to see him every day. A lot of people don’t give him credit, but I think Escobar can go out there every day and be a great ballplayer. The more confident he gets, the better ballplayer he’s going to be. The team’s chances? I think we need to be more consistent. Right now we have all the tools. It’s a long season and I always believed the key to success is to stay healthy and if you stay healthy then you put yourself in a great situation.
RF SHAWN GREEN on Alex Anthopoulos
The Jays are actually in a really good launching position right now. I think they’re going to be in the hunt and I think this could be the year when they finally get back to the postseason. I really like what Alex has done with the organization. He’s made some really good decisions and he’s kind of brought that passion back. When you look at some of the top young GMS in the game, he’s definitely got to be in that mix.
1B CARLOS DELGADO on the Jays’ promising future
There’s going to be a time when that young talent is going to come up and it’s going to make an impact. I think the Jays have an opportunity, but it’s definitely not going to be easy playing in that division. In order to win for any team they have to be able to execute consistently to win. This sounds simple, but the problem when you have a real young ball club is that the guys may have a lot of talent, but they do not have the experience to execute day in and day out. When those guys get more comfortable and more consistent, they’ll make that big jump. I think it’s going to be interesting.
SP DAVE STIEB on Ricky Romero and the starting rotation
I think Romero’s outstanding. He just seems to be getting better with each year. He’s got great potential, a good mound presence. He doesn’t get too excited up there, pretty even keel. He’s got good stuff and good control and all those things bode well for a starting pitcher. Obviously a lot rests on the support he gets. Morrow looks like the world beater every time he goes out there — striking out a lot of guys, throwing real hard. He’s got to figure out a way to be more consistent. There’s a lot of unknowns with the rest of the crew there. The bottom line is they’re in a tough division and you’ve got to be on top of your game and have everything clicking to come out on top in that division.
LF JESSE BARFIELD on what made the 1985 Jays successful and what the 2012 squad can learn from them
We all came up to together and we knew each other very well. When you’re together and you have that kind of camaraderie, it makes a difference. It’s like a family. Those things are important. We always pushed each other in a positive way.
C DARRIN FLETCHER on J.P. Arencibia and the Jays’ chances
It’s always nice to have a little pop behind the plate. Even if your average is a little low, it’s nice to have a guy with the potential to hit a home run out of the catcher spot. But it’s all going to come down to pitching in the end, that’s true for everybody. If the pitching holds up, stays healthy, and with the addition of this wild card playoff thing, it’s going to be more exciting. You want to make sure you’re keeping the fans coming in late August and September.
CF JOSE CRUZ JR. on competing in the AL East
You gotta be fearless. It’s tough going into Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park and playing those guys. Those games are marathons. They grind the starter down and then just tattoo the so-so middle reliever that has to come in in the sixth inning. So obviously you need a bullpen. And you’ve got to have two dominant starters and a couple .500 guys. The best example is the Tampa Bay Rays. They’re a young, fearless group. They play well together, they compete and they find a way. It’s going to be tough.
SS ALEX GONZALEZ on the new logo
Now that we went back to the real Blue Jay uniform, the way it should be, I think we have a chance. I like the youth of the team, I like how they’re building on their pitching staff. The chemistry is there for the team to be successful. I think the biggest thing is for those young pitchers to be able to have good years and stay healthy. If you have setbacks with a young pitching staff or a young team it can be like quicksand. I’m looking forward to seeing how this team continues here.
DH JOSE CANSECO on Jose Bautista and Jose Canseco
The Blue Jays have a good chance — Bautista is awesome — but they would have a better chance if I was DH. I could give Bautista some protection.