| Hey , Im soooo sorry for not posting in several days. I plan to post this friday, tomorrow on the Blue Jays home opener series which they are looking to split 2-2 putting there record at I believe 7-3. Anyways im sorry, homework, sports and my new job have kept the posts few and far between but check back later friday to get the newest update! Thanks!
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Thursday, April 15, 2010
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Welcome Home!
6 Games, 8 days, and numerous miles! That was the picture for the fatigued Toronto Blue Jays as they rolled into T.O early Monday morning. Early success though (a 5-1 start to the season) had the young ball club giving little thought to all the travel. They were relaxed, and why shouldn't they be? They were coming home, to the Rogers Centre to play in the season opener, behind what would be, a full sell out crowd of 49,539.
Unfortunately, the White Sox, had a little bit of spoiling do to as they downed the Canadian Boys, 8-7 in extra innings. The Jays were up, 7-6, but my favorite closer ever, (Sarcasm intended) Jason Frasor, decideds he doesn't want any of that, letting the Sox cash in the game tying run in the top of the 9th. Toronto's bats couldn't get going at all, as they fell in the 11th, after Mark Teahen hit the go head triple to drive in Omar Vizquel. Teahen, virtually a home-town boy, also hit the game tying homer off Frasor in the 9th.
Although he has encountered recent 9th inning struggles, I still believe that Jason Frasor is a solid relief pitcher, just that he can not handle the stress of closing games in the ninth, as we have seen so far this year, but i'd still take him over B.J Ryan any day of the week... In my opionion, even as a Cito Gaston fan I think he has been managing poorly, not utilising Frasors potential to possibly set-up saves in the 8th, yet perhaps that includes too much pressure, and I wouldn't like to find out the hard way.
Luckily for Toronto, their home opener was avenged Tuesday night with a 4-2 win over the White Sox, in which saw the Jays improve their record to 6-2. They would win the series against Chicago at home to top a 7-3 record before a sweep at the hands of the ever-dominant Los Angeles Angles.
Still enjoying a homestand over 10 games in as many days the ball club was able to take two against the Royals to hit 9-6, and are looking to steal another one and hit four games above .500.
Unfortunately I haven't updated the blog in well over a week and a lot has gone down, that i havent been able to discuss more closely but hopefully I'll be able to cover the Tampa Series on the road this weekend!
Unfortunately, the White Sox, had a little bit of spoiling do to as they downed the Canadian Boys, 8-7 in extra innings. The Jays were up, 7-6, but my favorite closer ever, (Sarcasm intended) Jason Frasor, decideds he doesn't want any of that, letting the Sox cash in the game tying run in the top of the 9th. Toronto's bats couldn't get going at all, as they fell in the 11th, after Mark Teahen hit the go head triple to drive in Omar Vizquel. Teahen, virtually a home-town boy, also hit the game tying homer off Frasor in the 9th.
Although he has encountered recent 9th inning struggles, I still believe that Jason Frasor is a solid relief pitcher, just that he can not handle the stress of closing games in the ninth, as we have seen so far this year, but i'd still take him over B.J Ryan any day of the week... In my opionion, even as a Cito Gaston fan I think he has been managing poorly, not utilising Frasors potential to possibly set-up saves in the 8th, yet perhaps that includes too much pressure, and I wouldn't like to find out the hard way.
Luckily for Toronto, their home opener was avenged Tuesday night with a 4-2 win over the White Sox, in which saw the Jays improve their record to 6-2. They would win the series against Chicago at home to top a 7-3 record before a sweep at the hands of the ever-dominant Los Angeles Angles.
Still enjoying a homestand over 10 games in as many days the ball club was able to take two against the Royals to hit 9-6, and are looking to steal another one and hit four games above .500.
Unfortunately I haven't updated the blog in well over a week and a lot has gone down, that i havent been able to discuss more closely but hopefully I'll be able to cover the Tampa Series on the road this weekend!
Monday, April 12, 2010
Two Straight Series Wins!
5-1, yes those are the numbers. The Toronto Blue Jays improved their record to 5-1, building on early success during opening week of the 2010 campaign. Once again the game was a come from behind late inning rally for the W... Something that has it's pros and cons, as noted in my last post. "AL East Lead".
The Jays completed the sweep of the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday , April 11th with a 5-2 win, fueled by an eighth inning bombardment that included two homers and three runs to push the club up 4-2. Also ruining the gem of a game that Oriole pitcher Kevin Millwood had logged up until the 8th.
“Kevin was pitching great,” Toronto manager Cito Gaston said
Miguel Tejada misplayed a ground ball to third base, where Tejada was occupying, although straying from his forte of shortstop. The error allowed Johnny Macdonald to reach base, then Bautista went yard for the lead. Sealing the deal in the ninth inning was Edwin Encarnacion's homerun filling the score sheet at 5-2
The Orioles are struggling this year, at 1-5 and were looking for Millwood to help them get on the right track, but with 4 homeruns, Toronto would have none of that! Two statistics worth noting are; 12 of Toronto's 29 Runs this year are in the final two innings. Which pointing to my prior post, cuts it close if nothing else.. It might be nice to give the starting pitchers a little support, but the 4 homeruns helped push the Blue Jays '10 total to 11th, tied for second in the Majors and first in the American League. The fifth straight win was capped off by Kevin Gregg's 2nd straight, raising the question of who is our closer? With Frasor's 50+ E.R.A after the first game, and two straight games closed by Gregg, I believe the job isn't his at the moment...
The Jays look to Christen the Roger's Centre tonight at 7 pm for the home opener against the Chicago White Sox, and the ex-outfielder, Alex Rios. Last but not least, I am extremely impressed with acquired SS Alex Gonzalez who has 4 HR this year and has hit in all 6 games this year.
The Jays completed the sweep of the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday , April 11th with a 5-2 win, fueled by an eighth inning bombardment that included two homers and three runs to push the club up 4-2. Also ruining the gem of a game that Oriole pitcher Kevin Millwood had logged up until the 8th.
“Kevin was pitching great,” Toronto manager Cito Gaston said
Miguel Tejada misplayed a ground ball to third base, where Tejada was occupying, although straying from his forte of shortstop. The error allowed Johnny Macdonald to reach base, then Bautista went yard for the lead. Sealing the deal in the ninth inning was Edwin Encarnacion's homerun filling the score sheet at 5-2
The Orioles are struggling this year, at 1-5 and were looking for Millwood to help them get on the right track, but with 4 homeruns, Toronto would have none of that! Two statistics worth noting are; 12 of Toronto's 29 Runs this year are in the final two innings. Which pointing to my prior post, cuts it close if nothing else.. It might be nice to give the starting pitchers a little support, but the 4 homeruns helped push the Blue Jays '10 total to 11th, tied for second in the Majors and first in the American League. The fifth straight win was capped off by Kevin Gregg's 2nd straight, raising the question of who is our closer? With Frasor's 50+ E.R.A after the first game, and two straight games closed by Gregg, I believe the job isn't his at the moment...
The Jays look to Christen the Roger's Centre tonight at 7 pm for the home opener against the Chicago White Sox, and the ex-outfielder, Alex Rios. Last but not least, I am extremely impressed with acquired SS Alex Gonzalez who has 4 HR this year and has hit in all 6 games this year.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
AL East Lead?!?!
3-1, Yes I am aware that it is extremely early in the year, but still i can't
really express my excitement with the Toronto Blue Jays already. Back to back
games, they were down by one, on the road in the ninth inning, but the bats
came alive, and they were able to grasp a lead and with an iron fist hold on
to it, which is extremely surprising since after their first loss, a blown
save by Jason Fraser, their closer's e.r.a was over 50!
So, I guess that I haven't realised that my blog doesn't have to become
updated daily, but there is just so much to write about, especially with
hockey playoffs, and the MLB starting! Include the Raptors reecent, possibly
season ending slide, but you will have to bear with me!
The game was deadlocked at 3 apiece in the 6th, before the two run blast by
Miguel Tejada tied the game at 5, after T.O had gone ahead. I believe that it
was the 8th inning when, just before supper I watched the beginning of the
Jays offensive, with Vernon Wells leading off. I watched him work the count to
2-0, then foul off a pitch, and take another sitting nice at 3-1. But unlike
my previous article would have suggested, he swung at a breaking ball that
slide past the outer corner, and just like that, Wells was whiffed. After
Eating supper, and getting ready for work, I recieved a text stating the Jays
were down 5-6 in the top of the ninth, I sighed, and said aloud to the family
that the Jays were probably going to go down tonight.
After a few hours at work I snuck to the back to check my phone's inbox and
had recieved a score update stating the Jays had comeback to win 7-6 in
regulation innings!!! I was quite enthralled, yet I couldn't tell anyone
because I really shouldn't have checked my phone! Either way, my mood had
definitely swung for the rest of the night.
A little bit of small ball helped the Toronto club win a narrow one. In the
top of the ninth Travis Snider got bumped to third by a sacfrice, and Jose
Bautista knocked a sac fly to score the go ahead run, while Kevin Gregg came
in and snatched his first save of the year. The win also pushed the Jays into
a tie for the lead of the American League East Division!
Although comeback wins are great, it means that we were close to losing, and I
really hope the Jays can get the bats rolling a tad earlier in the game, for
to make the playoffs you must win games against your divisional teams, which
lucky for us are the power house Yankees and Redsocks. Since those teams are
much higher caliber than the Rangers or the Orioles, I dont think that we can
rely on a 9th inning surge to win those series, or games. None-the-less the
Jays are 3-1 and all worries about the major division contenders are at least
subtle while success is present!
really express my excitement with the Toronto Blue Jays already. Back to back
games, they were down by one, on the road in the ninth inning, but the bats
came alive, and they were able to grasp a lead and with an iron fist hold on
to it, which is extremely surprising since after their first loss, a blown
save by Jason Fraser, their closer's e.r.a was over 50!
So, I guess that I haven't realised that my blog doesn't have to become
updated daily, but there is just so much to write about, especially with
hockey playoffs, and the MLB starting! Include the Raptors reecent, possibly
season ending slide, but you will have to bear with me!
The game was deadlocked at 3 apiece in the 6th, before the two run blast by
Miguel Tejada tied the game at 5, after T.O had gone ahead. I believe that it
was the 8th inning when, just before supper I watched the beginning of the
Jays offensive, with Vernon Wells leading off. I watched him work the count to
2-0, then foul off a pitch, and take another sitting nice at 3-1. But unlike
my previous article would have suggested, he swung at a breaking ball that
slide past the outer corner, and just like that, Wells was whiffed. After
Eating supper, and getting ready for work, I recieved a text stating the Jays
were down 5-6 in the top of the ninth, I sighed, and said aloud to the family
that the Jays were probably going to go down tonight.
After a few hours at work I snuck to the back to check my phone's inbox and
had recieved a score update stating the Jays had comeback to win 7-6 in
regulation innings!!! I was quite enthralled, yet I couldn't tell anyone
because I really shouldn't have checked my phone! Either way, my mood had
definitely swung for the rest of the night.
A little bit of small ball helped the Toronto club win a narrow one. In the
top of the ninth Travis Snider got bumped to third by a sacfrice, and Jose
Bautista knocked a sac fly to score the go ahead run, while Kevin Gregg came
in and snatched his first save of the year. The win also pushed the Jays into
a tie for the lead of the American League East Division!
Although comeback wins are great, it means that we were close to losing, and I
really hope the Jays can get the bats rolling a tad earlier in the game, for
to make the playoffs you must win games against your divisional teams, which
lucky for us are the power house Yankees and Redsocks. Since those teams are
much higher caliber than the Rangers or the Orioles, I dont think that we can
rely on a 9th inning surge to win those series, or games. None-the-less the
Jays are 3-1 and all worries about the major division contenders are at least
subtle while success is present!
Friday, April 9, 2010
| Here i am just attempting my first blog through phone.. cheesey yes.. but very useful. Today, before heading to work i got a text update saying that my Toronto Jays were losing to the Orioles, 6-5. But for the second consecutive game, the Jays marked a top-of-the-9th inning comeback to win :), when i get more informationand access to a computer i will blogg an update of the 3-1 jays!
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Wells Surges...!
The Toronto Blue Jays are facing the road of a long, demaning regular season, backed up against the wall by spectators, critics, analyst and even.... fans.
In the middle of a rebuilding stage, set by trades of staff ace Roy Halladay, injuries to pitchers McGowan and the loss of critical, yet unreliable bats of Alex Rios, Scott Rolen and Marco Scutaro the Jays are, and still are in the need of someone to step up. On a team with multiple rookies, and young guns (Romero P, Snider OF and Lind OF) to name a few, the team if granted, would find their leader in a young player, well that was what was expected, ESPECIALLY after performance of Gold Glove winner Vernon Wells dropped recently after a hefty contract year, and the loss of many role players. But recently in the opening series against the Texas Rangers, hope was found, if only a small sliver of hope...
After a spectacular 2006 MLB season with the Jays, hitting .303 and knocking in 32 homeruns, and 106 RBI's Vernon earned himself a hefty contract, and I use the term "earned" losely, as although I LOVE sports and professional athletes I do not believe in the copious amounts of money they earn, all factors included, but i'll save that for another post. Back to the point, the Jays came to an agreement with Wells and his agent for a contract extension that would pay him a whooping 126 MILLION dollars until the year 2014. He can also qualify to earn almost half a million dollars in annual incentives if he was able to attain League M.V.P and World Series M.V.P.... yes World Series M.V.P.
This extension brought, as all do, plenty of questions, concerning Wells playing ability, credentials and just plainly if he deserved this amount. When an athlete is being questioned in these fields, the best way to lay down the rumors is to live up to the hype in the following season and if you can't at least help your team win, play well enough to show you were worthy of the contract, unfortunately Wells in 2007 batted .245, with 16 round-trippers and only 80 RBI's. In 07 and 08 combined Vernon went yard only 36 times, ( 16 and 20 times respectively) merely 4 more than he did in '06 alone! His performance went back up in 2008, batting .300 in only 108 games, because of multiple injuries, to his wrist in May and hamstring in July. Although he only played a fraction of the season he topped his previous years homerun totals as well as virtually equaling his RBI input (78). It looked as though a healthy Wells in 2009 could be the answer to a team looking to make its first playoff birth since their world series win in '93. Unfortunately once again Vernon had a poor season , and EVERYONE let him know it. He hit .260 with 16 homeruns and 66 RBI's. Not to mention, this happened over 158 games, virtually an entire season. But, 66, that's all for a clean up hitter being paid over 8.5 million dollars? It may be all... but it is NOT enough.
So as you can see his background of poor "pressure" results in years with the extension have been poor, so why would ANY Jays fan rely or expect him to show up this year? Well, he still has to show his worth, but it wasn't expected at all. And even though it is extremely early in the year, just the first series, he has shown leadership to a young Blue Jays squad that is in need of a bit. Perhaps it is because there isn't any pressure, with low expectations for Toronto's ball club this year, or maybe it's merely the fact that he is 100% healthy this year, but regardless whatever it is, we as Toronto fans are sure glad to have him back! Just dont leave or let up anytime soon!
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2698288
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/wellsve01.shtml?redir
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vernon_Wells#2008
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/When_was_the_last_time_the_Blue_Jays_made_the_playoffs
In the middle of a rebuilding stage, set by trades of staff ace Roy Halladay, injuries to pitchers McGowan and the loss of critical, yet unreliable bats of Alex Rios, Scott Rolen and Marco Scutaro the Jays are, and still are in the need of someone to step up. On a team with multiple rookies, and young guns (Romero P, Snider OF and Lind OF) to name a few, the team if granted, would find their leader in a young player, well that was what was expected, ESPECIALLY after performance of Gold Glove winner Vernon Wells dropped recently after a hefty contract year, and the loss of many role players. But recently in the opening series against the Texas Rangers, hope was found, if only a small sliver of hope...
After a spectacular 2006 MLB season with the Jays, hitting .303 and knocking in 32 homeruns, and 106 RBI's Vernon earned himself a hefty contract, and I use the term "earned" losely, as although I LOVE sports and professional athletes I do not believe in the copious amounts of money they earn, all factors included, but i'll save that for another post. Back to the point, the Jays came to an agreement with Wells and his agent for a contract extension that would pay him a whooping 126 MILLION dollars until the year 2014. He can also qualify to earn almost half a million dollars in annual incentives if he was able to attain League M.V.P and World Series M.V.P.... yes World Series M.V.P.
This extension brought, as all do, plenty of questions, concerning Wells playing ability, credentials and just plainly if he deserved this amount. When an athlete is being questioned in these fields, the best way to lay down the rumors is to live up to the hype in the following season and if you can't at least help your team win, play well enough to show you were worthy of the contract, unfortunately Wells in 2007 batted .245, with 16 round-trippers and only 80 RBI's. In 07 and 08 combined Vernon went yard only 36 times, ( 16 and 20 times respectively) merely 4 more than he did in '06 alone! His performance went back up in 2008, batting .300 in only 108 games, because of multiple injuries, to his wrist in May and hamstring in July. Although he only played a fraction of the season he topped his previous years homerun totals as well as virtually equaling his RBI input (78). It looked as though a healthy Wells in 2009 could be the answer to a team looking to make its first playoff birth since their world series win in '93. Unfortunately once again Vernon had a poor season , and EVERYONE let him know it. He hit .260 with 16 homeruns and 66 RBI's. Not to mention, this happened over 158 games, virtually an entire season. But, 66, that's all for a clean up hitter being paid over 8.5 million dollars? It may be all... but it is NOT enough.
So as you can see his background of poor "pressure" results in years with the extension have been poor, so why would ANY Jays fan rely or expect him to show up this year? Well, he still has to show his worth, but it wasn't expected at all. And even though it is extremely early in the year, just the first series, he has shown leadership to a young Blue Jays squad that is in need of a bit. Perhaps it is because there isn't any pressure, with low expectations for Toronto's ball club this year, or maybe it's merely the fact that he is 100% healthy this year, but regardless whatever it is, we as Toronto fans are sure glad to have him back! Just dont leave or let up anytime soon!
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2698288
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/wellsve01.shtml?redir
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vernon_Wells#2008
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/When_was_the_last_time_the_Blue_Jays_made_the_playoffs
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