The Blue Jays
 

Are you folks in the Toronto area getting excited by this team ?

As a Yankee fan, they're starting to make me nervous.

Re: The Blue Jays
 

be afraid..be very afraid..
;)
Red Sox are up for a whoopin this week..White Sox went down for all 4 games ...
Doc rocks..Jays are #1
oh yeah...

Re: The Blue Jays
 

Another Yankee fan. It's pretty early yet; I wouldn't mind seeing the Jays sweep the Sox, and then fall apart. What worries me more than the Sox or the Jays are the Yankees themselves--aging, hurt, no bullpen, shaky starting pitching. Looks like third place again unless things turn around.
DQ

Re: The Blue Jays
 

Mets fan here. I prefer the Sox to whup the Yankees but any port in a storm...

Your Yankees concerns are right on the money. The core of the team is too old now and they have no bullpen. They have a ton of work to do if they want to get another run going. Working against them is the fact that some of the old guys are already Yankee legends so they can't do anything about the situation until those guys retire - Posada and Jeter being chief among them.

This is actually the area where the Sox have them. The Sox get younger and yet continue to contend. The Yankees let the farm system get away.

The Mets are another story. They just have the curse of being the Mets. Five errors last night and lose it on a base running error. Doh!

Re: The Blue Jays
 

One thing you might notice about the Sox is that in 2003 they hired Bill James to be their personnel guru, or whatever title they gave him. Basically he was in charge of figuring out which players would really help, and which wouldn't. In case someone doesn't know who Bill James is, he led the wave of "sabermetrics", or the deep mathematical study of baseball statistics (if you can find any of his Baseball Abstracts from the '80s and '90s, they're absolute gems). When they hired him I, they Yankee fan, said "Uh-oh--the curse is over". It happened the next year.

The Sox have been smart about letting veterans go at the right time (Pedro, Nomar and Manny are notable examples) and building the farm system. They may not be infallible, however. And the whole Big Papi problem is, in my humble opinion, a 'roids thing. No proof, but... 1) his big surge came when almost everyone was either doing them, or suspect; 2) his decline came when the testing got tougher; 3) he's Dominican, and almost every Dominican is suspect. Drugs or supplements that are outlawed or prescription-only in the U.S are not only available, but easy to find. And it's also interesting that the Sox traded Nomar for almost nothing, when he was at the top of his game--look at the Sports Illustrated Cover of him, and it just screams "steroids", and now Manny is suspended. Of course, he was just taking a medication that mostly is used for fertility problems in women. I can just see the banners--"Manny--will you have my baby?"

As a Yankee fan, I'm also not excusing the FAR too many 'roid users in that clubhouse: Giambi, Sheffield, A-Rod (probably but not provably as a Yankee), Randy Velarde from earlier years, Clemens and I'm sure many more. All of them, Sox and Yanks and beyond, should be punished more than they have been.

DQ

Re: The Blue Jays
 

Yeah, Bill James caught my eye right away when they grabbed him. A lot of teams were trying to hire a Bill James type of guy. The Red Sox were smart enough to hire James himself. Not like he started as a Sox fan. He's a Royals fan.

I loved his old baseball abstracts - informative and fun reads.

Re: The Blue Jays
 

Red Sox 2 : Blue Jays 1

So much for "The Curse of the Moderator".

Re: The Blue Jays
 

rm, you applied the curse by starting the thread... like a potential no hitter, can't talk about potential playoff possibility til the dog days are here, even that might be premature

ahh, it's all about injuries, imo...let's see who has the depth

right now Scutaro (mister 24/7/365 baseball) and Hill (last i checked had most hits in the league) are out, BJ Ryan (tre-overpaid) demoted to set up man behind unproven closer Downs and even though we avg about 6 runs scored a game, what would we be doing if Vernon Wells (clean up) was hitting more than a back and change with RISP...what if, what if

hoping for a fun season...based on dollar outlays, i don't know how anyone can compete with Sox and Yanks...i must say i was happy for the Rays last year...i think teams should be ranked by wins divided by total payroll...question: why no cap in baseball?

another question: anyone ever spend late nights in the 70's drinking, smoking and playing Stratomatic baseball with other fellow wannabe managers ? that's when i really got into the James Abstracts

note: char bleeds powder blue;)

Re: The Blue Jays
 

Whatever works. And I have no problem with stroids either.

Re: The Blue Jays
 

I LOVE Flashback Fridays at the Dome when the boys wear their powder blue pyjama's a la late 70's, and an alumni sits in the field level seats along first base line..LOVE it!
That's Doc wearing his pj's in your pic.. LOVE Fletch doing play by play too..he's easy on the eyes and should be on camera more..lol

Hey james - wanna go to a game when they have the two Jays world series teams in town in august? Bring Harrison too!

We'll see how the Jays play tonight in Beantown..oh yeah..

Re: The Blue Jays
 

i agree, rm...and i think we should have an All Stroids Olympics

Ben Johnson (he nudged out Marion Jones) will chair the committee and later declare it the greatest games yet

...btw, it's knuckleballs that make me (and Yuek) nervous

hoping Jays rebound tonight...Cecil starts (Beanie tomorrow)

note: we got the Beantown game feed last night, who is the young colour hottie? is she the new bonnie bernstein?

Re: The Blue Jays
 

i don't know who she was - a beantown girl but cito certainly was all smiles when speaking with her..
lolol

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Absolutely !! I love enhanced performance. I think it would be great to see someone pole vault 45 feet. I'm not concerned about the record books.

Re: The Blue Jays
 

rm ,we have a consensus: all prescriptions will be permitted...a medic will be on standby should the enhanced pole vault competition exceed the four hour threshold:whistle:

char, i dialed in last friday's retro night but they musta run out of old Jays, instead i had to listen to some Bills chew peanuts

speaking of dog days, august sounds interesting...i'd drive to the lake and catch the lakeshore line in since the darn CPR doesn't run from here on weekends...harry finds baseball boring, so far...golf and football and hockey too...even lightfoot, lol...oh well, mini-soccer starts tonight (speaking of boring)

note: within the decade, it will be hard to tell Clemens and Mickey Rourke apart

Re: The Blue Jays
 

bring harry - i'll have him lovin' baseball by the 3rd inning. lisa started going to ballgames when she was 5. stayed for all 9 innings too.. she taped american idol last night so she could watch the baseball game..
lol
i saw those two buffalo bills players last week..hell if they can't find an ol alumni they should call me! i'll park my butt down there with a glove!

will the pole vault be scored on height jumped or 'hang time'??
lol

Re: The Blue Jays
 

lol, just a matter of time before sir john mounts this thread

will Ross Giabagliati be lighting up the big torch in BC 2010?

YouTube - Ron James: West Coast Wild (Snowboarding)

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i was just joking...but these organizer guys might be serious:

http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/636701

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just read that! lol
and GovGen gets to head to greece to begin the toke up..er i mean torch run..
lol

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oh dear. not a good night for my boys again..
:(

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My mojo must be cookin'...........

Since the curse was cast, the Blue Jays are 0-7.

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I don't know how to stop it.

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I can think of several ways to stop the curse..
;)

and we play Boston again this weekend at home..
I may have to head to The Dome and offer up some 'in-person' support.

I wonder if Gord is busy this weekend..
hmmm...

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Medic !!!

0-8 !!!!

Maybe 'Doc' Halladay can stop the bleeding tomorrow.

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from your lips to Doc's ears..
what a time they're having..

but i am so glad that the Penguins have advanced!

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0-9

Life support !

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it was all good till Doc left the mound..
oy.
my heart is hurting..
tomorrow is a day off for the boys..oh lordy they need to do some serious re-grouping.
i 'll volunteer to give cpr to a few of the guys..
;)

Re: The Blue Jays
 

OK Jimbo you asked for it
Err Um I really only have one word to say on this subject:-
ROUNDERS
http://www.baseballbeforeweknewit.co...nbook-1828.jpg
Caption

This explanation of how to play the game of rounders--from The Boy's Own Book, 1828--is the earliest known description of a baseball-like game to appear in English. The name rounders was adopted in England in the early 19th century, but the game itself was at least a century older, and was known as "base-ball"!

Re: The Blue Jays
 

i am disputing my earlier claim...its not ALL about injuries but its a factor...right now, our ace starter and new ace reliever are sidelined as well as all starters but one...thats the pitching update...as for hitting, our cleanup guy is hitting abut .150 this year with RISP...the wild card spot is starting to look like more like a joker

Re: The Blue Jays
 

I noticed the Blue Jays have a new pitcher for tonight's game :

Help me out......how do you pronounce this last name ?

Rzepczynski

Re: The Blue Jays
 

Rzepczynski

don't pronounce the R - then it's zepsinski - doesn't quite roll off the tongue

Re: The Blue Jays
 

Rzepczynski

don't pronounce the R - then it's zepsinski - doesn't quite roll off the tongue yet .

Re: The Blue Jays
 

Thank you.

Re: The Blue Jays
 

yeah, or just go with Zep like most seem to

rhymes with Rluzinski (which we never had a problem with)

6 IP, 2H, ok...and wasn't tagged with the L, which is now a primary objective for each pitching staff member (ever since the curse was laid)

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farewell to our 'saviour'...lol

http://www.thestar.com/sports/baseball/article/662963

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dreams do come true..
lol

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Are the Jays throwing in the towel ? Or just hurtin' financially ? I heard today that they will discuss trade proposals for Halladay. I feel more and more guilty about inadvertently casting the curse.

Re: The Blue Jays
 

injuries/finances - curses..
sheesh...

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Less fans at the games for certain than some previous years. I blame it on the Matt Stairs trade ! lol !

And then again it may be the garbage strike ! :biggrin:

I was watching a Yankees game some night ago, at their brand new Stadium, it seemed to be full to capacity.

Re: The Blue Jays
 

This weekend in Baltimore we'll see if y'all can maintain that .500 record, LOL

Bill :)

Re: The Blue Jays
 

:(