The week of Nov 11-17, 2012 has proven to be monumental for
Blue Jays fans, a population that is desperate and competitive by nature. Now
we can consider ourselves competitive and, perhaps, arrogant. I for one am
embracing the change.
THE WEEK! The week that changed everything, the week that
morphed 2012 from a one-night stand you aren’t proud of into a trophy wife. It
has been the week that righted a sinking ship and, for those of us who are spiteful,
the week that pushed back against the giants in the AL east, most notably John
Farrell and the Boston Red Sox.
Like many fans, I try my best to keep in the loop with
regards to all things Jays related. I am dialed in to the twitter feeds of all
the regular contributors and I stay on top of the written contributions from
our favourite local sports writers. What I have found astonishing, besides Mike
Wilner’s impressive ability to maintain rationality, is the amount of people
coming out to warn off our fans about the risks associated with THE DEAL and
subsequent Melk man signing. How is this anything but a tremendously positive
step in the right direction for our ball club. Sure there will be heightened expectations,
sure there are injury risks, sure it’s a lot of money. Is it yours? Is Rogers’
bottom line going to be significantly impacted? NO. Injuries happen and owners
inevitably get richer. Let’s forget about all that and get excited about this
team. Excited like Jose Reyes in his new Jays duds. This team is going to be
ready to bring some serious game to the AL and I am looking forward to every
minute of it. My fondest dreams of a routinely packed Rogers Centre and of
opposing teams dreading the trip north of the border because they know they’re
facing an uphill battle are that much closer to coming to fruition. I can
picture Matt Wieters saying conversing about scenarios with Reyes and Bonifacio
on 2nd and 3rd during his flight to Toronto. I can
picture James Shields talking about how Joey bats has his number…about not letting
those speedy guys get on base…about how there will be no easy outs.
With all that’s been done during THE WEEK that changed
everything, few would agree that things are finished. Questions remain unanswered.
We have too many catchers, we have some serious OF depth and, oh ya, we need a
captain for this ship. A leader to manage not only the players, but the renewed
expectations, a leader to take the reins of this mighty steed and guide it to
the promised land.
Pitchers and catchers report in 3 months.
