Tough to celebrate when you’re in the middle of a doubleheader.
Blue Jays clinch East Division with rout of Orioles
BALTIMORE— Beasts of the East once again, finally. On Wednesday, in the first game of a make-up doubleheader, the Blue Jays defeated the Orioles 15-2 at Camden Yards, eliminating the Yankees from contention in the AL East and capturing a division title for the first time since 1993. That they lost Game 2 with a lineup of Buffalo Bisons and bench players meant little.
The only other time the Jays have clinched a division in another team’s ballpark was the last time — Sept. 27, 1993 at Milwaukee’s County Stadium. It was Pat Hentgen and company shutting out the Brewers 2-0 en route to the second of back-to-back World Series. Every other Blue Jays clincher had been secured at home, north of the border.
The Jays found themselves on the horns of a champagne-swilling, cigar-smoking dilemma in the minutes following Wednesday’s victory. Given just a 30-minute turnaround prior to Game 2, what should be the proper rules of celebratory etiquette when only half the team can whoop it up while the scrubs and September call-ups prepare to play? The team’s decision was made to hold off until the end of Game 2 and then cut loose with the clubhouse spray-a-thon.
But that does not mean they did not celebrate the moment on the field just as the final out was made. At 7:25 p.m., umpire Kerwin Danley signaled a foul tip strike three on Jimmy Paredes and the 157-game emotion was released. Players leaped the dugout rail and charged 42-year-old reliever LaTroy Hawkins. Out of the bobbing, throbbing pile of humanity that soon included relievers on the sprint, came Russell Martin’s mask and several gloves. The coaches and staff stood respectfully in foul territory.
When the pile started to unravel, Martin spotted the coaches on the sideline and waved them into the fray. Perhaps the happiest man on the field and usually its most guarded emotionally when it comes to public displays of feelings was GM Alex Anthopoulos. He high-fived, low-fived, roundhouse fist pumped and hugged every staff member and player down to the bat boy. When the last player had head- ed to the clubhouse to prepare for Game 2, the Jays fans that had drifted down to celebrate began chants of “Al-ex, Al-ex, Al-ex.”
He will never say how much that meant to him, but you know it did as he is a free agent in a month and has been oft-criticized in the past for not spending money. This is not the last laugh for Anthopoulos, but he can see it from here. The Jays have secured home field for the ALDS and have it for the World Series. They need to tie the Royals in wins to gain the extra home game in the ALCS.
“Home-field for us with the environment we have at that stadium, and I’ve talked to other GMs, everybody across the league is talking about what an unbelievable environment it is, to have a dome, playing conditions, all that, I think it’s a big advantage for us,” Anthopoulos said. “We’d love to get it, we’re certainly going to fight for it, but you do balance it out with having to give guys rest.”
The Orioles approached Game 1 of the doubleheader like they thought they had ended their season five days earlier.
The O’s were shut out three times by the Red Sox and have been outscored 36-5 in their five straight losses heading into the second game of the doubleheader, that they won 8-1. The Jays played well enough to win anyway, even if the O’s had been trying. But the fact is they met with little resistance on the way to planning their champagne showers.
They had to wait nine more innings, but when the moment arrived it was like they had been born for it. The goggles, the champagne flowing everywhere, the beer coolers being emptied with more being sprayed and poured over heads than actually being consumed.
Jose Bautista had been waiting years for this moment as the longest-serving Blue Jay and put it in perspective.
“It took a long time to come to fruition,” Bautista said. “I felt like we had a chance to get to at least this spot and make it to the playoffs with some of the teams we had in place before. It just didn’t happen because of different things every year — injuries, under-performances, whatever. But who cares. We’re here now. We’re enjoying it and we’ve got a chance to be the best team in the world.” A more subdued Ben Revere had found a quiet corner of the beersoaked clubhouse. His fortunes had changed from being with the worst team in baseball, the Phillies, to one that was loading up and made a run for the title. He has been a big part of that in left field.
“A couple of guys I played against, played with, they got traded at (previous) deadlines and went to potential contenders for world champi- onships and they did and went on to win,” Revere said when asked to reflect on his own reversal of fortune. “Now we’ve got the division we have to work on home-field advantage.
“Hopefully we can bring the big boy home.”
Two delayed celebrations due to strange and unusual circumstances, but in this case, the Jays showed that it’s always better late than never when it comes to achieving your goals.
The Jays played well enough to win anyway, even if the O’s had been trying, but met with little resistance from the home side