Jays are toast, and other ball bites
They say you can learn something new at the ballpark every game, if you’re the kind who pays attention. A month into another big-league season, these old baseball eyes have learned, or at least noticed, a few things. Such as:
After Friday’s loss to King Felix, the Blue Jays require an 80-52 finish to reach 90 wins. That means a .606 winning percentage and good luck with that. Only one Blue Jays team ever played a season better than .593; the 1985 division winners were .615.
Even so, 90 wins appear insufficient to reach the post-season, partly because of the American League’s absorption of the Houston Astros, baseball’s answer to the free-spot. Some AL West team will earn a wild-card thanks to 15 wins over this crew.
The opponent no athlete can defeat is time. Roy Halladay seems engaged in that inevitable battle and here’s hoping he accumulates more statistics to buff his Cooperstown candidacy. He’s borderline now.
Yes, strikeouts are up big time in the majors this season, but Yu Darvish still has 58 in 382⁄ innings. Yowsa.
Sure, Jays are baseball’s biggest flops so far, but on the other hand they’ve finely honed their funny handshake and dugout bowing routine, so it hasn’t all been a waste.
Bryce Harper and Mike Trout deserve their many raves, but for good-looking multi-tool young players, Baltimore’s Manny Machado isn’t far behind.
Leaving aside his results so far, most pitchers would pitch better if they worked at the pace Mark Buehrle does.
The Washington Nationals wouldn’t let Stephen Strasburg pitch when he was healthy last year. Now, after his manager suggests he has a problem, they send him right back out there. Go figure.
Another roadblock for the Jays: 11 games in the next month against NL opponents. The Jays always struggle in inter-league, going 74-88 the past nine seasons while the rest of the AL is a whopping 242 games above .500.
Jack Morris and Dirk Hayhurst, both of whom add much to the local broadcasts, may well be correct about Clay Buchholz’s alleged Crisco act. But think of all the offence taken and hurt feelings around here when other teams suggested the Jays posted a spy in centre field to steal signals. Bet this one has the same end result.
Saturday marks the 50th anniversary of one of baseball’s enduring silly records. This day in 1963, Bob Shaw was called for five balks.
Sure, the Cubs’ owner is bluffing about moving the team out of Wrigley Field. But what a way to connect with fans.
No surprise that when the Yankees add veterans to fill injury holes in recent years — like Travis Hafner, Vernon Wells, Ichiro Suzuki, Lyle Overbay, Eric Chavez, etc. — they tend to be players who have demonstrated success in the AL.
Jose Bautista’s constant strike zone war with umpires brings to mind the NBA players always shocked to be whistled for a foul. You know that reaction: “What? Never. Not possible. Are you kidding?” Surely the ump/ref can’t always be wrong.
Paul Dickson’s recent biography of Bill Veeck reveals lots of great stuff. Example: Veeck, when he ran the Cubs’ concessions in 1934, hired a young hustler to hawk programs. A kid named Jack Ruby. Yes, that Jack Ruby.
As bad as the Jays’ defence is, they miss Jose Reyes more on offence. They have no true leadoff hitter, one reason so many of their home runs are solos.
Virtually every big-league game you see pitchers and catchers messed up on signs. Cross-ups are an epidemic. This surely shouldn’t be happening this late in the season. It’s another beatdown of fundamentals.