In Retrospect (2.0)

If you’re a fan of roller coasters, then the current edition of the Blue Jays might be perfectly suited to your tastes. But, if you’re easily afflicted by motion sickness, then perhaps a few Gravols may be in order. We recommend consulting your physician first.

Such was the case this week after the Jays completed a sweep of the Royals on Monday and then followed it up with 4 straight losses, including a sweep from the Baltimore Orioles. So that’s 5 competitive teams in the AL East.

Last week, the Red Sox were in shambles and falling apart. This week they have reeled off 6 consecutive wins and all things seem peachy in Boston. Except for the accents, those are still terrible. New York is finding wins, and Tampa has played well against the Rangers, handing them their 5^th loss (only) of the year.

In years past it would be easy to write off Baltimore’s hot start as just that, and then there would be no surprises when the inevitable occurs. This year feels different however. They are buoyed by consistent starting pitching, except for Matusz, and a decent lineup anchored by young, athletic hitters, not to mention the fact that Mark Reynolds – typically and second half performer – hasn’t done anything for them yet.

So what went wrong in Baltimore? The offense. With the exception of JPA, there was very little, if any offensive production. Last weeks lame duck – Eric Thames, did manage to get his name etched in Baltimore lore, by hitting a 410 ft bomb onto Eutaw street. Only the 58^th person to do so.

Thames is batting .310 (somehow) and coupled with the injury to Travis Snider in Las Vegas, fans should temper their restlessness regarding his demotion.

In the media this week, ESPN reported that the Jays were actively looking for a middle of the order bat and top of the rotation starter. By the end of the week Shi Davidi of Sportnet reported that AA hasn’t had any discussions with GMs regarding acquiring players and MLB.com reports that the trade market will remain quiet until after the June draft. So, that’s that then.

Following, the struggles to Baltimore, Jays fans were rewarded by a rejuvenated effort against the Mariners. But then again, we should temper our enthusiasm because its the Mariners. The same team that Phil Humber pitched a perfect game against. That’s right, Phil Humber (no offense).

The Jays managed to take 2-of-3 from the M’s on the bat of Edwin Encarnacion. Man, Edwin is mashing right now. He’s hitting .250 with 3R/3 doubles/2 HR/.838 OPS over the last 7 days. But he’s the only one producing at this rate.

Joey Bats continues to struggle at the plate. And fans are getting tired of listening to Tabby and Buck refer to his struggles as just a matter of getting that front foot down a little sooner. Seems to be a bigger issue than that. I vote for a clean shave look – that worked last year, didn’t it?

If there’s anything reassuring regarding his struggles thus far its this:

Player A: .187 AVG/.670 OPS

Player B: .226 AVG/.588 OPS

Any guesses? Well, Player A is JB and Player B is Albert Pujols (pron. Poooo-holes).  I’m confident JB will get things in order.

Can’t have a week without mentioning Buck. Truth be told, he didn’t do anything to really grind my gears this week. He did arrange a lunch with JPA, Lawrie and George Brett. How thoughtful. However, he did refer to Jason Vargas as Justin Vargas on a number of occasions. Par for the course I suppose.

In “Phils and Spills” this week. Brandon Phillips put together a nice week hitting .353/1.097/4 RBI, while Delmon Young got arrested for harassment charges in New York after police say he attacked a group of men and yelled anti-Semitic epithets. He’s also automatically enrolled in the deuche bag of the year category.

That is all, Go Jays!

In Retrospect

I’ve always wanted to say that and not feel shame. As in, “what was he thinking”

As avid Blue Jays fans, and fans of the game in general, we’re familiar with popular ‘week-in-review’ articles and posts. Many blogists such as DJF and Tao do an enviable job of summarizing the week that was. With this in mind, the intent of the following is to identify some notable occurrences from the last 7 days. And this being the inaugural edition of “In Retrospect”, I don’t expect it to be perfect, and if you don’t like what you see then please add your insight below. Alternatively, you can stop reading and go to TSN.ca, where you can read all the intelligent posts in response to Jays coverage.

After a rough stretch against the Rays, the Jays have turned things around against KC. Not sure what it is about the Rays, but I feel that for whatever reason they are like kryptonite. I like our chances better against the Yanks or Sox. Sure they have great starting pitching, but their offense does little to remind me of the Rangers. The week started with a win on Tuesday, thanks largely to Joey Bats, to which Buck mused “Heeee’s baaaaack” (more on Buck later).  The following night was a forgettable 12-2 loss, followed by another loss on Thursday.  Thursday’s game comes to mind because of that awkward play at the plate involving JP and Hendo.  Joey Bats hustles to a ball in right and throws a laser which skips past JP and hits Hendo in the collarbone leading to a run. Seriously, that ball was traveling faster than a nebula and had JP made the catch, it would have resulted in an out. Now, I’ve been very impressed with JP behind the plate this year and I’m not about to say that JP should have made the play, but ... he should have made that play. So the Jays go 1-2 against the Rays, taking their worst loss of the season thus far.

I’ve already stated that I dislike playing the Rays. Our record against them in recent years has been less than stellar. But here’s another reason why I dislike playing them. It seems that every time the two teams get together we are inundated with “news” of the Jays following the Rays blueprint for success and how similar they are. Honestly, I’m so tired of listening to this drivel.  The only thing that makes these teams similar is that they field 9 guys who try and hit a ball with a wood stick. I mean, since when has stockpiling prospects and developing talent become such a phenomenon. Even the way in which the two teams accumulate such assets is completely different. The Rays were terrible for 10 years leading to priority draft selections. The Jays on the other hand, have been overpaying prospects and taking fliers on previously injured or undesirable players. I’m tired of hearing about the Jays/Rays connections.    

 Rant over, moving on.

The Jays then went to KC to take on the slump-busting Royals – winless at home thus far. We’re all familiar with the on-field success against KC so let’s focus our attention on some of the other notables from the series.  I’ve made this point before to other members of the CC and I’ll make it again. I think that Lind is as good as Overbay – defensively. Seriously, I don’t think the Jays have lost anything in first base defense since having Lind play there full time. He scoops more balls and makes more plays than I think he gets recognition for. And on that note, how about that triple play he turned on Friday - the first one in 31 years for the Jays.  I think it’s time Lind get his dues for being a solid first baseman. Also, in response to people calling for JP’s head, he goes about improving his AVG by 100 points and does so while getting barraged by negativity on Twitter. That exchange with the NY radio personality was pretty humerous and yes, he was fat. So clearly JP wasn’t being mean, he’s just observant. Last night JP got flack from someone on Twitter, who sarcastically said you play for the “Blue Jays” and added “you’ll always be overshadowed by the Yankees”. I was tempted to rip this guy on Twitter, but I stopped after I read his profile: “I’m a 22 year old male, living in New York. I work for an auto detailing company and love WWE” – this is a perfect recipe for being a deuche bag and therefore his life must be hard enough, can’t be easy being a virgin loser.

Have you seen a prettier swing than Colby Rasmus’. I could watch that allllll day long, and the way he runs the bases – like a gazelle.  Unlike Lawrie, who has more of a bull-rush mentality on the bases. Although he did do some pretty toe-tapping rounding third last night. I’d say that the double play he turned is a POY candidate, but I think he’ll make those look routine by the end of the year. During the Cleveland series the over/under on balls he takes off the chest was arbitrarily set at 73. Well if you took the over, it’s looking like a safe bet. Last thing I wanted to touch on was Thames. Enough said.

I mentioned there would be more on Buck. We’re all familiar with the mistakes he makes, like Mark Moustakis instead of Mike. I can live with that. I’m a fan of Bob Cole and he makes more mistakes than anyone, but I’m not about to correct him – he’s an icon. Buck and Tabby are a good tandem – not great, I’d rather Jamie Campbell and Darren Fletcher, but then again Buck does make me laugh – sometimes. Like when NY came back from 9-0 to beat Boston 15-9, Buck quipped “Do you think Bobby V is missing the commentators box right about now”. I laughed. But I swear, listening to him sound-out Humberto Quintero was like listening to Marlee Matlin read Shakespeare. Ooooo-mmmbbbbeeeerrto, Ummmmberto, Hubertoooo – just say “The Catcher”. But that wasn’t even the best one. After one of Lawrie’s ridiculous plays at third, Tabby goes “Good athletes can make their bodies do .... um (insert awkward silence) .... things!” No shit, thanks Tabby.

Now, for something new. You’ve heard of “Studs and Duds”, “Hot and Not” etc. Well in honour of Phil Humber and the Boston Madness I’ve come up with “Phils and Spills”.  As you can guess this weeks honours go to Phillip Humber - who threw the 21^st perfect game in MLB history.

Let’s take a moment to appreciate that .....

Let us also consider that since the dawn of ball-play only 19 men have been “perfect” (20 if you count (Armando Galarraga). So if you’re a female reading this post, stop and think for a second. If only 20 men have ever been perfect, then you should appreciate your man for who he is.

The dubious Spills distinction goes to none other than the entire Boston Red Sox team, for looking stupid in white throw-back uniforms, giving up 15 consecutive runs, having a terrible bullpen and a lunatic for a manager, and to Pedro and Kevin Millar for showing up hammered to the 100 year anniversary. However, we do condone afternoon drinking so Spills is more of a literal term here. And, of course, Eric Thames, for, well, “spilling” in left field.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the inaugural edition of “In Retrospect”.

GO Jays !

New Sportsnet Ad

In the past two years I've been very impressed with the Sportsnet ads, in particular the one last season leading up to the Home Opener, the "I'm Coming Home" ad. That thing still gives me a hard on ... In a totally non-gay way. Well, slightly gay...

However this new ad featuring City and Colour's song Fragile Bird is brutal. It's so inappropriate for a commercial, especially one that is supposed to get people excited and interested for the Jays. I feel like it's targeted towards a type of person who goes to a douchey, overpriced cocktail bar and discusses cricket, rather than drinks beer and watches baseball. Next, the fact that the song is called "Fragile Bird" and it was chosen for a Blue Jays commercial is downright retarded. I really hope that somebody lost their job for that, seriously. Not only are Blue Jays vicious birds in nature, but who in their right mind refers to their team as fragile in a positive manner? Nobody who knows baseball, that's for sure. Try soccer, those guys are fragile, not to mention little bitches.

Anyways, this commercial really bugged me. I've been very impressed with the Sportsnet ads thus far, but this one was equivalent to Brett Lawrie trying to steal home, with the bases loaded, and Jose Bautista at the plate. "What the hell were you thinking?"

Bandwagoners...my rant at 4-4

Okay, so clearly today's loss effing sucked sausage, but the seasons gonna be like that. There will be ups and downs and most real jays fans know that. Right now, twitter is full of morons that are losing their minds after todays loss complaining that we've lost the games we have in the manner that we have. I will refer to these 'fans' as twittiots from here on out. Toronto is full of fans like this and I hate it. They are So quick to hop on the 'Jays are young and gonna be good' bandwagon and if the jays are anything less than amazing they are all over them on social media and TSN message board I'm sure (these people may be the worst sports fans out there) They're also probably the same fans that chucked a potato on the field today...seriosuly a POTATO?!?! I know that the team knows that these are the fans that will come out to games once they can prove that they're a 'winner'. Rogers cranked the hype machine to full this preseason and people got amped for what could be in 2012. The problem is though that these people haven't been struggling with this team over the years and they are quickly looking to get off this bandwagon at the first site of failure. I can't lie, there's a large part of me that wants to give them that last push that they need to go over the rear of the wagon. I want fans that will love the team and the game no mater what. Is that possible? Do those fans exist any more? Or are the new generation of fans only attracted by flash and success?

Perhaps there's something wrong with me but I've been cheering for this team since 1988 and have never waivered. There was glory in those early years, but oh my shit was there ever disappointment. Year after year of sub .500 or barely .500 baseball. Through those years we saw players come and go through the system. Players that were advertised would help the jays become a competitor in the AL East. It never happened and people quickly broke up with the Jays and have yet to consider a reunion. For one reason or another, I'm still here. I'm beyond excited for this team but not as much as I am for what they'll be in the next couple of years. Are we hopeful that this team will be successful THIS year? Of course we are. Do I realize that it's almost just as likely (if not more so) that this team may come up short (or even quite short) this year and maybe next year? Yup. If they fail to make the playoffs am I still going to support them? Without question. So why are there so many people out there that are so quick to drop this team with a few blown saves/leads?? A part of me could care less if these twittiots arent fans, do we really want chumps like this? I know that its puts $ into the organization and then we can overpay free agents in the offseason...but these these twittiots can stay at home as far as i'm cocerned.

Sure I'm frustrated that the jays havent played to their potential so far, but we're 8 games into the season folks...calm the eff down.

Batting Lineups: Biased and unqualified!

With the regular season upon us (well for M’s and A’s fans), we need to start harnessing our excitement towards productive means. Things such as; fabrication of your Opening Day 2012 Signs, heading down to the Jays Shop to load up on Vizquel gear, planting the seed towards your “get out of work free” card next Thursday at 2pm, playing rock-paper-scissors to see who doesn’t get the last ticket to the opener and coming up with your guest list for any pre-game festivities…preferably involving kegs and bbq’d meats.

For me, I have channeled my energy towards this posting. I have decided to play manager for the MLB roster and come up with my ideal batting lineup. The reason for doing so, besides boredom/interest, is that I don’t see myself agreeing with the “expected” starting batting order that would likely have Lawrie buried down to the depths of Sean Rodriguez, Jason Kipnis, or even, dare I say, Alexi Casilla. Most of the current projections that I have seen have the Jays order looking like this…even though KJ is making a case to lead off coming out of spring.

1.       Escobar

2.       KJ

3.       Joey Bats

4.       Lind

5.       EE

6.       Rasmus

7.       Lawrie

8.       Thames

9.       JPA

Here is my proposed lineup…

1.       Escobar

2.       KJ

3.       Lawrie

4.       Joey Bats

5.       Lind

6.       EE

7.       Rasmus

8.       JPA

9.       Thames

Sure there are only subtle differences, but I see them as being substantial. To take a page out of the Moneyball approach, to win, SCORE RUNS! Sure there’s the “I want Bautista hitting in the 1^st inning” claim but really can you think of a better (albeit unproven to some degree) 1 -2 punch with our current crop of talent? Lawrie at 3 is a high average, high OPS workhorse with speed to not only drive in runs, but further set the table for Bautista (and Lind). Think about the pitches he’s going to see batting in front of arguably the most feared batter in the league. Bautista proved last season that he really doesn’t NEED the protection behind him in the lineup to produce….regardless, he’s still got Lind behind him which doesn’t change anything…except his 1^st inning ABs. I DO like the R-L-R combo to start games, to allow good opportunity for early hit and run scenarios as well as tougher matchups for bullpen substitutions. Beyond the infusion of Lawrie at the top of the lineup, really I’ve suggested minor tweaks that likely would iron out in the wash…lets see what happens!

To take it one step further, let’s compare to what I think are the scariest lineups in MLB.

Lineups to reckon with…
	BOS	NYY	DET	TEX	LAA
1	Ellsbury L	Jeter R	Jackson R	Kinsler R	Aybar S
2	Pedroia R	Granderson L	Boesch L	Andrus R	Kendrick R
3	Crawford L	Cano L	Cabrera R	Hamilton L	Pujols R
4	Gonzalez L	Arod R	Fielder L	Beltre R	Hunter R
5	Ortiz L	Texiera S	Young R	Young R	Wells R
6	Youkilis R	Swisher S	Avila L	Cruz R	Abreu/Trumbo L/R
7	Ross/Sweeny (R/L)	Ibanez L	Peralta R	Napoli R	Callaspo S
8	Saltalamacchia S	Martin R	Dirks L	Moreland L	Iannetta R
9	Aviles R	Gardner L	Raburn R	Borbon L	Bourjos R

Each of them has at least 1 left handed bat in the first 3. All of them have their 4 hitter bracketed by a solid batter (perhaps with the exception of Mr. Wells). We may not stack up 1-5 with each of these lineups…but 1-9 we are right there and with the 5^th best offence in the AL last season, there is little reason to think the Jays will be taking any steps backwards.

Blue Jay Depth

Two months ago I looked at the Jays and thought, not unlike many people, that the Jays had a solid starting 8 in the lineup.  But, I was worried about the lack of depth the Jays actually had, in the event that a player went down with an injury, as is typically inevitable over the course of 162 games.  I'm not anymore.

If spring training has shown us anything, it's that the Jays have a plethora of talent capable of stepping into the lineup.  Over a full 162-game schedule, we don't know.  But to come in for a few weeks, absolutely. 

Starting with the outfield, there's the likely starting lineup of Snider, Rasmus and Bautista.  Now granted, you can't replace Bautista's bat, but waiting to fill in here we have Thames, Davis, Francisco, and from the looks of it, Encarnacion, should we be required.  Even Gose is a possibility.  This is a very nice group of solid, veteran outfielders (and Gose).  Granted, none are superstars, but all are very capable.

The infield has a completely different kind of depth.  D'Arnaud and Hech have been outstanding in spring training.  Seeing them up in the majors this season is quite likely.  The possibility of Arencibia perhaps spelling Lind at 1st to get D'Arnaud some starts is an interesting prospect.  At third, the natural replacement for Lawrie will be Encarnacion.  However, if long term, I'd be more inclined to move Bautista to third and have one of our other outfielders move into RF.

We all hope none of this is required.  Everyone staying healthy would be fantastic, but it won't happen. But spring training has shown how far many of our prospects have come and if forced into the majors at an early date, many have shown they're capable.

Looking forward to an exciting, healthy season!

We would like to welcome our foreign affairs correspondent, Fielder's Choice, to the mix. Unfortunately, like most start up companies our budget is restrictive or as some say our "payroll has parameters". None the less, Fielder's contributions are welcomed and informative.

Fielder's recent post regarding the challenges experienced whilst trying to follow the Jays in Florida got me thinking...which ultimately lead to frustration. 

Over the past two days Rogers Sportsnet ... owners of 6 cable channels and multiple radio stations, not to mention ancillary media have (over the past two days) decided to air both the Red Sox and Yankees on SN. Said again - the RED SOX and YANKEES ! And we're here talking about watching the Phillies and Jays ON TV NEXT SUNDAY. Is it just me, or is this grievance legitimate.

I posed this predicament to another member of the Concrete Convertible and we agreed that there are significant costs associated with airing spring training games. However, I don't buy this as a legitimate argument. With the exception of the Phillies, aren't the Jays owned by the wealthiest corporation. There's more, most of the Rogers MLB staff is already in Florida: Davidi, Cormack, Carson, Alan, Jerry, Blair ... Zaun owns a home in Tampa and Jamie Campbell seems like a guy who was born to wear Hawaiian shirts. So basically, chuck in a flight for JC and he can shack up with Zauny. I'm sure Zaun would be fine with this. 

However, accommodations aren't the only associated costs. There are also camera crews, audio-visual crews, lighting crews, producers, etc.  This is easily remedied. Has anyone ever seen a Spring Training game on TV ... its hardly Fox Sports pennant race coverage. There's one fixed camera behind home plate and maybe a couple of mobile units. Hardly huge production, and that is not what fans want, we just want to see some ball. So if Rogers is unwilling to rent a U-Haul and pile some gear in it, how about contracting someone like FSN south or TBS to provide the gear and operators and Rogers can foot the bill. 

Still not convinced this is viable ? How about this. We have all seen and heard of the HBO 24/7 success, and Oil Change, hell even the Argos have a dedicated program. So how about filming an insider series such as those mentioned above. How cool would it be to track the Jays through spring training and get an inside perspective of the club house and relationships between players. I think there are many compelling stories this spring, such as left field, the rotation, Rasmus, Drabek - I can go on and on.  The success of this program would generate huge revenue and interest. 

Further, Rogers could sell spring training game coverage to TSN or CBC.  TSN has curling and golf going on two channels and CBC shows skiing and saturday night hockey. This would provide a huge boost to rating that are suffering until March Madness kicks off. 

There are no doubt other ways of making this proposition a reality. But I leave you with this: If Cormack develops tendinitis from tweeting play-by-play and has to go on the IR who is going to take responsibility. So if Roger's won't do it for fans, then do it of Cormack's thumbs. Another positive: we'll get the f@cking 'Sox and Yanks off tv.