Game 58 – Confusing Playoff Results

The line on Marcum looks a lot worse than it actually was. Of the 11 hits the Angels recorded against Marcum, I would say only 4 of them were hit hard. That is a lot of bloops and broken bat hits.

Very bad time to get caught off of 1st when there is already a runner at 3. Eckstein should know better and the key is to just freeze in those situations where a line drive is hit near an infielder. Not like the Jays are hitting great w/RISP anyways, but you’d like to have another shot at getting a hit to drive in the runner from 3rd.

It certainly does not help the Jays offence woes when having to face Lackey, Rodriguez, and Shields. I’ve always liked the Angels pitching staff and can never figure out why they haven’t had better success in the playoffs. They haven’t exactly had offensive juggernauts, but they have a lot of team speed and use that to manufacture runs. Come playoff time I keep thinking this team has the pitching to shut teams down and all they’ll need is a couple runs, but other than 2002 they have haven’t found much success in the playoffs.

I must say that I’m glad to see an umpire make a controversial call in the 9th inning go against the home team for once. Although in reality there should be no controversy about it, Willits was well inside the line when Barajas’ throw hit him. It’s just not a call you see very often and so I get the fans booing since they are probably unfamiliar with the rule, but why did Mike Scioscia have to argue for so long.

It was nice to see Gibbons trust Frasor in an important spot, just too bad he couldn’t come through and will now find himself back in the doghouse for a couple wks even though it wasn’t him who loaded the bases.

It is amazing to see the number of ill-fated throws made by pitchers to one of the bases. For guys who are paid millions of dollars based on their ability to throw the ball accurately to the catcher they sure seem to have a lot of trouble throwing the ball anywhere else.

Let’s see some stats:
Adv+: Kendrick
P-Adv+: Marcum (3)
NAdv: Stewart (4), Anderson
P-NAdv: Marcum (4), Lackey
WG: Rolen (5)
ME(r): Eckstein (2)

Day 63 – California Baseball Fan

Slept in nice and late today after getting limited sleep during the bus trip from OAK. Once I got up just walked around Anaheim, saw all the hotels and scouted out some restaurants for the wkend. Made my way down to the ballpark early to walk over to where the Honda Center is.

I have now witnessed first hand the California baseball fan who walks in 2 or 3 innings late and then leaves in the 7th or 8th. It was unbelievable how much the ballpark filled up in the middle innings.

I have to say I was very disappointed in the Angels fans in the 9th inning when they started throwing balls onto the field after the umpires ruled batter interference on the bunt by Willits. Granted they were just wiffle balls, but they shouldn’t be throwing anything onto the field. One of the balls looked like it hit Overbay. It was a great call by the ump as Willits was running well inside the line and as soon as the throw hit him, the ump was all over it calling it immediately.

Game 57 – Double Digits

Amazing, the Jays actually scored double digits runs in back-to-back games. Lyle Overbay played a big part w/a pair of HR’s and an RBI single as he took advantage of the short wall in RF. The Jays once again had a strong showing w/RISP going 6 for 12.

I don’t know what Peavy was doing sending Stairs in the 9th. He would have been out had it not been for Napoli dropping the ball. Now I’m not one to say don’t run up the score b/c I believe in the fact a game is never over until the final out is recorded and therefore you should never stop trying to add-on runs. However, it does not mean you should be running on plays where you have to rely on a mistake from the other team.

I don’t get Gibbons continuing to bring Inglett in as a defensive replacement for Stewart. I actually think Stewart is the better defender. Yes Stewart’s arm is horrible, but Inglett’s is no great heck either (he is a converted infielder). Stewart is not as fast as he used to be and Inglett is probably faster but I’ve seen a few balls that Inglett has struggled to judge and therefore does not get good jumps on them. Stewart meanwhile makes up for what speed he has lost by getting good jumps and taking good routes which come from his yrs of experience playing LF.

It was nice to see McGowan have a decent start on the road. He doesn’t seem like the type of pitcher that would have drastic home/road splits, but at least so far early in his career he has been much better at home. Solid job by the bullpen coming in to finish it off w/o giving up a hit over 3 innings and striking out 6.

Now for the stats:
Adv+: Rolen (2)
P-Adv+: Weaver
NAdv: Stairs (3), Kotchman, Napoli
P-NAdv: McGowan (11), Frasor (2), Oliver
ME(r): Matthews

Day 62 – Change of Scenery

I got on the bus in SJ and had a nice sleep as we made our way to LA. Once in LA it was about a 2.5 hr wait before getting on a bus to Anaheim. Once in Anaheim it was about a 20 min walk to my hotel, which is near Disneyland. Well after complaining that the California weather wasn’t that warm, it was a different story today, quite warm out.

Angel Stadium is about 2.5 miles east of Disneyland so I made the walk finding a place to eat along the way. One of the things I noticed was quickly the area changed from Commercial to Residential. One minute I’m walking along seeing all these hotels and restaurants and then a block later it is completely residential. You would never even know you are only a few miles away from Disneyland.

Angel Stadium is pretty nice, nothing spectacular. I like the rock pile they have in the OF. They had some ok fireworks after the game.

Game 56 – One Sided Affair

This turned out to be not much of a game, far cry from the last one. The Jays pounded out 12 runs on 17 hits and all this done against 3 LH’s from OAK. Apparently the Jays hitters finally figured out a lefty, at least for one game. The Jays also gave a boost to their pathetic RISP #’s by going 9 for 20.

Not to be overshadowed was another strong start from Litsch. He went 7 shutout innings extending his scoreless streak to 16 innings. He only faced more than 4 batters in an inning once. Of note 5 of 7 hits he gave up came on AB’s where he threw a 1st pitch ball.

The Jays were certainly able to take advantage of Cust’s defence. Cust is a major liability in the field and I’m not sure his bat is strong enough to warrant living w/his sub-par defence. He should DH or sit on the bench. There is a reason this guy has been up and down between ML teams and AAA.

It was a good day for a # of Jays, most notably Barajas who was 3 for 4, with a BB and all 3 hits were 2B’s. He also drove in 3 and scored 2. However, it was not a good day for Rios as he grounded into 3, count ‘em 3, DP’s on his way to an 0 for 6. Although at least he stole a base and scored a run thanks to reaching on a FC.

What little damage OAK did mainly came from Hannahan and Brown as they combined for 5 of the 8 hits. However, the 2 batters who hit after them, Crosby and Ellis respectively went a combined 0 for 7.

Now lets check the stats:
Adv+: Mench (1), Barajas (3)
P-Adv+: Braden 2
NAdv: Wilkerson 2 (4), Bowen
P-NAdv: Camp (1), Eveland, Braden
WG: Litsch (2)
DE: Ellis

Day 61 – Sea Lion Spotting

After the afternoon game I made my way across the bay to SF. I was walking downtown and managed to see a sign for AT&T Park (or whatever it is called now) so I followed the signs to the ballpark. It certainly looks like a nice park from the outside and the brief glimpse I got inside from beyond the OF wall by McCovey Cove. I definitely want to actually go see a game there; Maybe once OAK gets a new ballpark I’ll take in the both of them.

From the ballpark I walked along the bay for awhile then headed back into the main streets. It is amazing how steep some of the streets are. It wasn’t easy walking up them, but it was just exhausting. It may actually have been harder coming down b/c you really had to control yourself.

I managed to make my way to Fisherman’s Warf and saw the Sea Lions that have taken up residency at Pier 39. I also could see Alcatraz from the pier. And before I knew it it was time to head back to my hotel to pick up my bags as I had an 11:00 bus to catch.

I had to transfer buses at San Jose and I got there a little before midnight. The bus to LA was scheduled for 12:40 am. The only problem was they close the bus station at that time of night so I had to wait outside the terminal. I’ll continue from SJ in tomorrow’s blog.

Game 55 – Pitching Duel

What a great ballgame to sit back and watch. Harden and Halladay were both dealing this game. And to top it off the Jays pulled out the victory thanks to a RBI 2B by Rios in the 9th that scored a leadoff walk. Tonight was an example of what Harden is capable of if he could ever just stay healthy. Put it this way Harden is like Burnett but less healthy and more effective when he actually does pitch. On the other side Halladay just keeps going racking up innings and even strikeouts and finally is getting some wins to show for it.

I was very surprised to see Suzuki still attempting to bunt w/2 strikes. Sure he is the A’s 9 hitter but he is not that bad, it’s not like he is a pitcher.

That swing by O-Bay on the hit and run was one of the most ridiculous swings I have seen. But he was trying to do his job and put the bat on the ball no matter where it was pitched. Since he didn’t make contact it left Stairs as a dead duck at 2nd.

Despite 9 k’s from Halladay, Cust was not one of them in fact Cust enjoyed success against Halladay, picking up 3 1B’s in 4 trips to the plate. Cust is in the middle of a hot streak and he certainly fits the mold of a very streaky hitter.

Onto the stats:
WG: Hill (6)
DE: Brown

Day 60 – California Weather

In the morning I took a walk around Hayward, then later I headed to the ballgame early and did some exploring of the area surrounding the ballpark. Hayward was a nice place, but OAK was not so much.

Weather was much nicer, not enough to wear shorts at night but at least no sweater req’d.

Add OAK to the list of stadiums that have $ dog nights. I was able to stock up on them before the game so I wouldn’t have to leave my seat during the game.

Game 54 – Battery Mates

What’s new, another lefty shutting down the Jays. The Jays managed just 6 hits (all singles) off Smith in 6.2 IP and could not score. They did add 2 more singles off Embree and w/the help of a BB sandwiched in between avoided the shutout. In total they went just 1 for 9 w/RISP. At least Mench is starting to show how he has hit lefties his whole career, picking up 2 hits in 4 trips to the plate.

This seems to happen a little too often, Burnett walking the 9 hitter. This time he walked Suzuki w/2 out nobody on and then gave up back-to-back hits leading to 2 runs representing the difference in the game. You hate to ever give up a 2-out walk, least of all to the 9 hitter.

Jack Cust stayed true to form adding 3 more K’s to his totals and drawing 1 walk.

For all those who think Zaun has a horrible arm then Barajas must too, as he allowed 3 SB’s (although he did throw 1 out). Note however the CS came w/Tallet on the mound. That is my point here that it is not all Zaun when it comes to the steals against the Jays. Yes Zaun’s arm is below avg. but it is not horrible. When it comes to stealing you have to look at the pitcher/catcher combination. When McGowan, Burnett or Halladay are on the mound they are simply not good at holding runners and therefore it doesn’t make much difference who is behind the plate. The runner is going to steal the bag off the pitcher.

Now for some stats:
NAdv: Stewart (3)
P-NAdv: Smith
WG: Scutaro (6)

Day 59 – Taking the Long Way

Didn’t bother to go to sleep last night since I had to leave my place by 2:30 am to catch a bus to the airport (no subway available this time of night) that would get me there in time for my early morning flight. Its going to be a long travel day as I have 2 connections and I’m not exactly headed in the most direct route to OAK. First it was to Houston, then to LA and finally a short trip to SF. I slept on all 3 flights even the SF one which was only about 40 mins.

Once I had arrived at SF airport I then had to take the BART train up around to the other side of the bay and then down south of OAK to Hayward where my hotel was. It was hard to imagine it was only about 3:30 in the afternoon given how long I had been traveling. I guess that’s what happens when you gain 3 hrs due to time change.

Once I was all checked in it was off to McAfee Coliseum. The coliseum is not a nice stadium, very plain. The high stands in the OF take away any view you might have and it kind of makes you feel indoors and not at an outdoor stadium. I guess that’s what happens when you use a football stadium. I hope OAK goes ahead w/building a new stadium, they sure could use it.

Speaking of outdoors, I thought California was supposed to be warm, especially in May. I actually had to wear my sweater and there were several people near me who were layering on jackets and blankets.

Game 53 – Finish Them

Good to see the Jays put the hammer down and sweep the struggling Royals. Another good outing from Marcum, even though he beaned 3 batters. In fact two of those led to the only runs he gave up. He hit back-to-back batters to lead off the 6th and then after some sloppy defensive plays the Royals managed to push across 2 runs in the inning w/o registering a hit.

I’ve criticized Peavy a lot for his calls at 3B, well what was the Royals coach doing waving Gordon home in the 8th down by 5, especially w/only 1 out. When you are down by that much late in the game you cannot afford to have any runners thrown out at any base. Even though it took a great throw from Rios a player shouldn’t be sent in that situation unless there is no doubt.

The Jays managed to put together a nice 3 for 9 w/RISP this game. They also had the power going w/2 HR’s and 3 2B’s. It was also good to see the Jays add on runs and not just sit on their early lead giving their opponent a chance to get back in the game. It seems that has one happened one too many times this season.

On to the stats:
Adv: Butler
P-Adv: Marcum (3)
NAdv: Stairs (2), Stewart (2)
P-NAdv: Tomko 2
DE: Marcum (1)

Day 58 – Coast to Coast

Went to work in the morning to make sure everything was in order w/regards to the Q2 work I had done on the wkend and then it was off to an afternoon ballgame. After the game it was time to head home and get ready for the final 3-city 10-day road trip of the season. This one is going from coast to coast (OAK and ANA, then NY).

Day 57

Baseball, Work, Eat, Sleep.

Game 52 – By the Book

Kind of a textbook game for the Jays, starter goes 7, bring in the setup man for 1, and closer for 1. Although McGowan gave up 9 hits, it was a good sign that he did not walk anyone. I wouldn’t have a problem leaving McGowan in for the 8th but w/3 of the next 4 hitters being LH it is not a bad idea to go to the LH Downs. Plus after 2 straight CG’s the entire bullpen had at least 2 days off.

Once again Gathright is dropping down bunts. Barajas made a big mistake on Gathright’s bunt in the 5th. After fielding it he took a look at 3rd, then threw to 1st but was too late. Barajas has to know the speed of the runner and that he doesn’t have time to spare w/Gathright running.

The Jays managed an ok 3 for 12 w/RISP. The good thing was 2 drove in runs and the other setup a 1st and 3rd none out. Meanwhile the Royals managed a 2 for 5 w/RISP but neither scored a run as Rios nailed Guillen trying to score on Butler’s 1B in the 4th and the other hit was Gathright’s bunt single which loaded the bases w/none out. That setup the Royals only run on a SF but thanks to Stewart throwing out Pena at 3rd on the play the Royals only got the one.

Let’s check the stats:
Adv+: Gathright, Barajas (2)
P-Adv+: Meche, McGowan (5)
NAdv: Overbay (6)
P-NAdv: Gobble
WG: Pena, Gathright, Rios (2)
DE: Gordon, Scutaro (2)
ME(f): Barajas (1)

Game 51 – Designated Runner

Impressive performance from Litsch giving up just 7 hits and 1 walk for the CG shutout. Also impressive was the fact he needed just 103 pitches. Litsch held the Royals to an 0 for 8 w/RISP. Every start he makes he is convincing me a little more.

Only Joey Gathright could get away w/such a bad bunt. I think he is the faster player in baseball. If only he could get on base more. It is no wonder he tries to bunt for a hit so often, he struggles getting hits the conventional way and even a half decent bunt he can beat out.

I can’t entirely blame Peavy for sending Stewart in the 1st on the Hill 2B b/c I thought he would score too, but we were both wrong. I underestimated Pena’s arm and that is something 3B coaches have to know, not just the OF’s arm strength but the INF’s who will be the cutoff men. Clearly that was not a risk Peavy should have took w/nobody out. You hate to ruin a chance to take a big lead early but luckily the Jays picked up Peavy and ended up w/4 on the board thanks to Wilkerson’s slam.

Hochevar settled in after the 1st until running into a little jam in the 6th. It will be interesting to watch and see if Hochevar can join Greinke at the top of the Royals rotation and give them a solid 1-2 punch in a couple yrs.

On to the stats:
NAdv: Gordon, Wilkerson (2), Rolen (2)
P-NAdv: Hochevar, Ramirez, Litsch (2)

Day 56 – Cut Peavy Loose

I am a big fan of Butterfield as both an infield coach and the 3B coach and the more I see Pevey out at 3rd I realize what a mistake it was moving Butterfield to bench coach. I know they had their reasons behind the coaching shifts but now they may have to make some more. They are not going to switch back but Pevey has had enough time to improve and he is still making too many mistakes. Of course they still need someone who can work w/the OF’s, so that means whoever they bring in will also need to be able to do that. So I think the 1st guy to lose his job should be Pevey.

Game 50 – Amazing Catch

You have to love these outing from Halladay. Giving up just 4 hits, no walks and just 1 run while going the distance in a game that took just 2 hrs 14 mins to play. Halladay was sharp all game but he really settled in retiring the final 15 batters. Halladay only threw 7 first pitch balls out of the 31 hitters he faced.

That catch by Hill in the 7th may be the best play I have ever seen live. I couldn’t believe he was able to range that far.

Marco Scutaro came up big in the game w/2 2-out 2-run singles. Impressive day from the 4 and 5 spots in the order as Rolen and Overbay combined to reach base all 8 times they came to the plate, going 5 for 5 w/3 BB’s.

As for the stats:
NAdv: Mench 2 (4)
P-NAdv: Greinke, Mahay
WG: Gathright, Dejesus, Stewart (2), Hill (5)

Day 55

Work, Baseball, Eat, Sleep.

Game 49 – Luck

Burnett was great through 4 innings but got hit in the 5th and 6th. Nice to see the Jays offence come back though in the bottom of the 6th to retake the lead. The Jays were an impressive 4 for 8 w/RISP and there were signs things are starting to turn in those situations. First it was Wilkerson’s hard line drive in the 3rd that was actually about a ft or two right of the second basemen rather than right at him. Then in the 4th Stewart and Barajas came up w/back-to-back bloop hits. Maybe the Jays are finally on the right side of the bounces.

It is not something you will see often but the Jays used 3 lefties to each pitch 1 inning to close out a 1-run game. Only the Jays and their lefty dominant bullpen are able to do that.

I’m sure how much longer the Jays stick w/Wilkerson. I’ve said before I think Lind is ready and should be up here. Wilkerson hasn’t been a good hitter since he had the shoulder problems.

Now for the stats:
NAdv: Wood, Rolen (1)
P-NAdv: Santana, Burnett (5)
ME(r): Rolen (4), Wilkerson (1)

Day 54

Work, Baseball, Eat, Sleep.

Game 48 – Never Make Assumptions

The Jays showed improvement going 3 for 11 w/RISP, but that only got them 3 runs. Their other problem aside from hitting w/RISP has been the lack of x-base hits and it showed tonight as they had 10 1B’s and 1 2B and the lone 2B came w/no one on base. Furthermore, the Jays hit into 3 DP’s for the 2nd straight game and continue to lead the majors in that category.

Meanwhile the Angels only had 3 AB’s w/RISP and managed 1 hit but it was a big one as Vlad hit a 3-run HR to add to his solo HR earlier. The mistake by Marcum was neither one of the Vlad HR’s, it was the leadoff BB’s to Figgins and Matthews in the 3rd prior to the Vlad HR. It is one of the reasons Litsch has been so successful this yr despite giving up his share of HR’s. He refuses to walk guys. Marcum hasn’t exactly walked many either but it is all the more important for him as he is more of a flyball pitcher which leads to the occasional HR.

I didn’t think Gibbons would bring Tallet back out for the 9th but Tallet was v ery good through 2.1 IP keeping the Jays within a run. The Jays offence just couldn’t get that run. Tallet continues to pitch well and it is all the more reason the Jays need to look at trading one of their LH relievers. Excluding Ryan since he is the closer, the Jays have 3 LH’s coming out of the bullpen which is unnecessary and none of them deserve to be sent down, in fact Carlson is the only one who can be sent down w/o having to clear waivers. Once Wolfe and/or Accardo come back, and no one else in the bullpen gets hurt they need to seriously consider shopping some of their relievers. Maybe you package one or two w/one of their prospects (ie. Purcey/Cecil/Ginley/Lind) for a big bat.

I thought the PB in the 7th was fouled off too, but you should never assume. If it was indeed foul the umpires will send you back. That is why Rios should have been standing on 2nd. Granted Hill took awhile to get going and Rios cannot take off for 2nd and Hill leaves but it is his responsibility (and the 1B coaches) to go as soon as he sees Hill leave.

Let’s check the stats:
WG: Stewart (1), Barajas (2)
ME(r): Rios (4)

Day 53

Work, Baseball, Eat, Sleep.

Game 47 – Remembering Old Bad Habits

Back to the old ways of not hitting w/RISP after they hit pretty well on the road trip (at least after CLE). It was 1 for 10 in this game and the glaring aspect was the failure w/the bases loaded. First in the 2nd inning they loaded them w/2 outs and Hill couldn’t get the big hit. Then in the 8th they loaded them w/nobody out but Stairs went down looking and Stewart hit into a DP. And finally in the 9th they loaded them w/1 out but Hill popped out and Rios struck out looking. I found it funny that all the TOR papers were pointing out the fact that Rios went down looking to end the game but I think the bigger AB’s were Stairs and Stewart in the 8th and Hill in the 9th. All 3 AB’s came w/less than 2 outs and therefore they didn’t require a hit to knock in a run, a fly ball or a well placed ground ball would cash a run, in fact all Stairs had to do was basically put it in play to anywhere but the pitcher to score a run, even if it means hitting into a DP.

Not sure I would have pulled Frasor in the 8th w/only 1 lefty due up but Carlson has shown he can get both LH and RH hitters out. Carlson got the job done only giving up the intentional BB to 1 of the 2 RH’s.

It was an ok outing from McGowan. He walked too many and that led to a high pitch count but he held the Angels in check. Of course the Angels have had similar problems to the Jays scoring runs, as evidenced by their 2 for 9 w/RISP. I’m not sure if all the hype in the preseason about McGowan breaking out. especially in fantasy baseball, has McGowan trying too hard to strike everybody out and consequently throwing a lot more balls but I haven’t seen the same McGowan as last yr.

I think Hill would have scored on the Rolen single in the 8th but w/nobody out if doesn’t hurt to hold him. You have to expect he will score in that situation over 90% of the time and its not like he was the tying run.

Now for some stats:
Adv+: Guerrero, Rolen (1)
P-Adv+: Shields, McGowan (4)
NAdv: Anderson, Rodriguez, Zaun (2), Stairs (1)
P-NAdv: Lackey, Shields, McGowan 2 (10)

Day 52

Work, Baseball, Eat, Sleep.

Day 51 – Planning on the Fly

So after arriving at the bus terminal in NY and making my way to the greyhound departure area I find out the 11:45 pm bus was delayed (that’s the one I would have been on had I made the 9 from PHI). Unfortunately, there was once again a long line and I wouldn’t make it onto that one. So it was another long wait in the line until the next bus at 1:15 am. From NY it was on to Buffalo where I had to transfer buses, so once again it was get in line and wait. I had arrived in Buffalo around 8:30 am and had to wait until 10:15 to catch a bus. By about 20 after 2 in the afternoon I was finally back in Toronto, only about 4.5 hrs later than planned.

The good news was the Jays did not have a game that night. However, I decided not to head into work due to the late arrival home plus it was Victoria Day. It also allowed me to catch up on things around my apartment and get settled back in after another 10-day road trip.

Game 46 – I Don’t Care if I Never Get Back

The Jays lost 2 out of 3, but yet still won the game. The 2 of 3 referring to the portions of the game between each rain delay. The Phillies won the 1st part 2 – 0 covering one inning. The Jays won the next part 6 – 2 in 5 innings (we’ll include the final out of the Phillies 6th even though it was recorded after the 2nd delay). And the Phillies won the final part 1 – 0 in 3 innings. It is a good thing it means nothing, you could do the same thing w/any game, break it up into innings or parts, but all that matters is who scored the most total.

The 2 rain delays certainly caused both teams to exhaust their bullpens and it hurt the jays a little more b/c the 1st rain delay caused both teams starters out, but the 2nd rain delay caused the Jays to lose their reliever, while PHI was in the midst of changing theirs (they PH in the bottom of the 6th). What it meant was Roy Halladay strolling out of the bullpen. I couldn’t believe it when they announced it. I wasn’t in my seat yet, I was still hiding under cover when over the speakers they said now pitching for the Toronto Blue Jays Roy Halladay. Initially I assumed he would be in there to finish the 6th and pitch the 7th. They would then hand it off to Downs and Ryan, thereby saving Halladay for his next start, not to mention the pitching spot in the order came up in the top of the 8th but Gibbons let Halladay bat. The outing for Halladay would just act as one of his side sessions. This was not the case though as Halladay also pitched the 8th, although he only threw 23 pitches in the outing (compare that to Ryan who had to throw 34 in 1 inning). As we then found out this did push Halladay’s next start back a few days though.

The Jays ended up not using Downs or Benitez out of the bullpen. I’m not sure why as both pitched Sat, but neither threw many pitches and neither worked on Fri.

I think Gibbons could have left Tallet in there longer which may have helped save him from using Halladay. Sure, Tallet had given up 3 straight hits, but the 3rd was an infield single. I would have liked to have seen Gibbons give Tallet the chance to work out of the bases loaded jam he put himself in.

The Jays managed a nice 3 for 7 w/RISP including a 3-run HR from Overbay. I didn’t like the fact that Gibbons started Wilkerson over Overbay, but pinch hitting Overbay certainly worked out well. If Gibbons wants to give Overbay a day off he should do it against a lefty. At least he did it w/Marcum on the mound for the Jays given he is their biggest flyball pitcher.

Now to the stats:
Adv: Werth
P-Adv: Camp (1)
NAdv: Rios (8)
P-NAdv: Seanez

Day 50 – Best Laid Plans

Checked out of my hotel in the morning and it looked like a gorgeous day out. It was sunny and warm so I never even had a 2nd thought about taking my sweater. Clearly that was a mistake as once game time was approaching some dark clouds started to roll by and there was a light rain falling so they had the tarp on the field. The start of the game ended up being delayed for about 10 mins. In the bottom of the 1st it really started to rain. Luckily it was still warm out so the fact I had a short sleeve shirt on and was getting wet wasn’t as big a deal. They finished off the 1st and then that was it on came the tarp and I headed for cover.

The weather wasn’t letting up and there was nothing but dark clouds in the sky so it looked like we could be in for a long wait. They had to do everything they could to get the game in as the Jays do not have any more games in PHI making it impossible to schedule a doubleheader.

In order to entertain those who decided to wait out the rain they played a Richie Ashburn video (a preview of a DVD coming out), other ball games and then none other than a hockey game. Who would have thought that in the US, but of course the Flyers playoff game just happened to be starting at 3 that afternoon so they showed part of it on the video screen.

After 2+ hrs the rain had come to a stop and it was time to play ball again. The game went on for awhile until in the bottom of the 6th here came some more dark clouds and suddenly it just started pouring. It was really coming down hard this time and there was a pretty strong wind blowing too. So once again it was off to find shelter to wait it out. This one didn’t last long, only about 25-30 mins but boy it sure did come down during that time. So for a 3rd time it was game on and this time no more interruptions.

The select fans who stuck it after the 2nd rain delay.

When it was all said and done the game finished around 6 hrs after the scheduled start time which threw a little wrinkle into my travel plans for getting home. By the time I got out of the stadium (didn’t take long since there was almost no one there at the end, the 2nd rain delay really cleared the place out) back to my hotel to pick up my luggage and to the bus station downtown it was around quarter to 9. Now this wasn’t so bad since I had actually planned to try for the 9 pm bus. The only problem was there was a long line and I didn’t make it on to the 9 pm. That meant I had to wait in line for a little over an hr to get on the 10:15 bus. That bus took me to NY where we arrived shortly after midnight and that’s where I’ll pick it up in tomorrow’s blog.

Game 45 – Responding to Boo Birds

Good for Barajas to shut up those fans by hitting a grand slam in his 1st AB and for good measure adding a solo shot in the 9th leading the Jays to victory.

The Jays were an impressive 4 for 9 w/RISP while holding the Phillies to a 1 for 7. Who knew the Jays could get that many in a game, I figured there was a cap on it.

I hate to say it, but another bad send by Peavy, 2 out or not, getting Inglett thrown out in the 1st inning. However, I don’t fault him for Scutaro getting thrown out in the 4th. It was a close play and w/2 outs worth the gamble.

I believe it was a mistake by the HP umpire to wave Scutaro safe on the play at the plate then change the call to out. I couldn’t tell whether or not Scutaro got a piece of the plate but if the umpire indeed didn’t see Scutaro touch it then don’t wave safe. If indeed he was initially calling him safe then why change the call b/c Scutaro reached back for the plate. What if the runner was just trying to be sure? On the other hand if he was just trying to show that the catcher missed the tag, I think he is better off making no signal and yelling out to the players no tag. I certainly took the signal to mean safe, not no tag, and I have to wonder had Scutaro not reached back the call may have stood, then again maybe he yelled no tag while making the safe call and at least the players would know what he meant.

Not sure if the Jays were actually attempting a double steal there in the 9th or not, but if they were Luna got a horrible jump from 3rd. He left well after Coste had thrown the ball. The only way that play works is for the runner at 3rd to get a good secondary lead and be off as soon as the catcher commits to 2nd.

Normally, I don’t mind the attempt to tag from 1st and go to 2nd by Scutaro on the Barajas fly ball in the 6th, but w/the pitcher spot on deck I don’t think it made sense. Yes the ball was hit deep to straightaway centerfield and it took a perfect throw from Werth but w/the pitcher due up next you could have just had him bunt the runner over to 2nd. Sure if he is safe the pitcher could then swing away but how likely is it Burnett gets a hit, or you could have him bunt him to 3rd but w/2 out that doesn’t increase the likelihood of scoring that much over him being at 2nd.

The Jays seem to have caught Howard at the right time. He is really struggling and the fans are letting him know it. When he is hitting HR’s, you can kind of overlook the strikeouts since they are just another form of out, but when you are hitting under .200 and have more strikeouts than total bases they become very glaring.

And now for some stats:
Adv+: Scutaro (1), Barajas (1)
P-Adv+: Eaton 2
NAdv: Wilkerson (1)
P-NAdv: Gordon
WG: Utley

Day 49 – Sports Central

When I woke up I decided I needed a break from all the sightseeing so I took a book w/me and went to a nearby park and just sat and read for awhile. Of course w/the afternoon game tomorrow on getaway day I figured I should get some sightseeing in since this is my only day to do so in PHI. So I headed downtown to check out Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. It took me a little longer than expected to get there and so my time was pretty brief, but enough to take a quick walk through.

From downtown it was then on the ballpark and it was a much nicer night so it was easier to enjoy the stadium. The ballpark is south of downtown and is located near both the Eagles football stadium (Lincoln Financial Field) and the Wachovia Center (76ers and Flyers) as well as the Wachovia Spectrum, which I believe is a concert hall or something similar. I like the idea of having all your sports stadiums in one location and even though it is a few miles out of downtown there is a subway stop right by the stadiums making it easily accessible.

Game 44 – 3-HR Game

Sadly, it was another loss to a LH starting pitcher for the Jays. This time it was the 70-yr old Jamie Moyer who held them in check. I don’t know how he is still successful at his age when he doesn’t even hit 85 on the radar gun. At least Tim Wakefield throws a knuckleball, Moyer relies on a fastball, change, and I think he has both a curve and a slider. Although he hasn’t enjoyed the same success as guys like Maddux and Glavine, especially early in his career, he is a perfect example of pitching being about location and changing speeds. It doesn’t matter if you’re throwing 95 and 80 or 85 and 70, it is all relative, as long as you are hitting your spots. That is the one big difference, the harder you throw the more likely you get away w/a mistake pitch. Moyer’s late blooming career just shows how sometimes it can take a player a long time to truly develop into a pitcher and not just a thrower.

Although the Jays got blown out, at least they managed to go 2 for 5 w/RISP. Its just when your opponent goes 5 for 7 things aren’t good.

Werth’s 3-HR game was now the 3rd time I have seen one live. I saw Vernon hit 3 against BOS and Beckett in 2005, and I saw the Big Hurt hit 3 against BOS and Wakefield in 2007.

What was Coste thinking on the flyball to Stewart in the 6th? My only guess was he never picked up the ball b/c he couldn’t have thought it was going to drop and I can’t see him mixing up the # of outs given there were none. Of course when you are up 9-2, I guess it doesn’t really matter.

Obviously not a good start for Purcey, and the control problems were once again there, but this was only one start regardless of outcome and maybe it just shows he still needs time in the minors. On the other hand he has been very good in Syracuse and it may be more a matter of him trusting his stuff at the Major league level and not being afraid of the hitters, not unlike the struggles McGowan went through when he 1st came up. If the fans learned anything from McGowan it should be that 2 starts doesn’t prove anything about a pitcher. Pitchers tend to take a lot longer than position players to truly develop into the players they can be.

I know both of Purcey’s starts have simply fallen on a day where they needed an extra starter but interesting to note they have come against 2 ageless lefties, first Rogers and now Moyer. You can only hope Purcey learns a little something from these 2 guys seeing how long they have managed to stick around.

As for the stats: I don’t like to count CS as a Mental Error, but when you attempt to steal a bag that another runner already occupies like Victorino did, I have to give one to him. Speaking of that play, how often do you see a CS2U (that’s Caught Stealing, catcher unassisted for you unfamiliar w/scoring)?

Adv+: Werth
P-Adv+: Purcey (1)
NAdv: Moyer
P-NAdv: Litsch (1)
WG: Rolen (4), Mench (1)
ME(r): Victorino, Coste

Day 48 – The History of Baseball

After a couple hrs sleep in Chicago Airport it was off to Philly. Got to my hotel shortly after noon and my room was already available so I got checked in and got a few more hrs sleep before heading out to find somewhere to eat.

As I walked around the area, it was mostly residential, but I have to say many of the sidewalks were not in very good condition. I really had to watch where I was walking.


It was then on to the ballpark, Citizens Bank Park. It is a rather nice stadium where you can see downtown in the distance over the OF wall. I’m not sure the stadium has that lasting look though, I think once it is no longer so new it may not be that nice a stadium.



As I took a stroll inside the ballpark I noticed they had a Philadelphia baseball history area where they had pictures and captions along a timeline highlighting Philadelphia baseball history. It’s always interesting to find out more about a team’s (and city’s) history. I think it is something more teams could try to incorporate and keep the new fans aware of the history behind the team (and a way to help remember for the older fans). The history of baseball, all the records and information that are out there, are part of what make this game great.

As for the game itself, well it may very well have been one of the worst baseball going experiences of my life. There was a light rain the whole game and it was a little cool especially since I was wet. Furthermore, I had to keep my scorebook in a plastic bag and reach in to keep score. Throw on top of that the fact the Jays lost pretty handily and it doesn’t make for a very fun night.

Game 43 – Mighty Joe

Great to see Mighty Joe Inglett coming up w/the big hit in extras to put TOR ahead. With that hit and the following out by Wilkerson, it left the Jays 2 for 11 w/RISP. Not exactly helping your pitchers out. Of course the Twins were not any better going 1 for 8.

Despite not a great start from McGowan he did battle himself through 5 while only giving up 2 runs on 2 hits. The problem was he walked 5 and hit a batter. The bullpen however came in and shut down the Twins the rest of the way only giving up 5 hits over 6. Benitez is the one guy I don’t have faith in coming out of the bullpen, but he looked good against the 4 RH’s he faced.

Mench’s attempt at bunting in the 11th shows what can happen when you try to bunt w/a guy who doesn’t practice it. The only practice most guys get is the one mandatory bunt they have to lay down when they start BP. The situation did call for a bunt since it was extra innings and you only need to play for 1 run, but its one of the reasons I’m not a fan of bunting often, too many players don’t know how to properly bunt.

I hate to see a CDN struggle, which is why I would have rather not seen Crain come out of the Twins bullpen. He has looked a little shaky in this series and seems to be falling down the pecking order in the Twins bullpen. He may be another clear example of how inconsistent relievers can be from year to year. They seem to be the one position that you can’t always go on their track record.

The Jays got a big boost gunning down 2 runners at the plate. Harris was thrown out on a well executed relay and with 2-out you have to take that gamble. However, I don’t know what Kubel was thinking running through the stop sign and trying to score from 1st on the single to shallow left that Scutaro retrieved and easily threw him out. Even w/2 out you don’t take that big a risk, hence the stop sign from the 3rd base coach.

I was kind of surprised Mauer was used to PH for Everett and Redmond leading off the 9th, but I guess Gardenhire liked having the Redmond (RH) vs the Benitez (RH) more than either Everett (RH), or Lamb (LH) vs Carlson (LH).

Now for some stats:
NAdv: Mench (2)
P-NAdv: Crain
WG: Scutaro (5), Rolen (3), Monroe
ME(r): Kubel

Day 47 – Lego Land

Afternoon game here on getaway day so I booked a flight overnight to Philadelphia. It is a good thing my flight was late at night since the game went extras, but I still had plenty of time to make my flight. After the game I went to the Mall of America, my hotel was only a few blocks away and the Mall of America was the train stop. I’ve been to the mall before so it wasn’t that big a deal, but I have to say even now that I am older I still love the lego section. I don’t know how often they change the setup, but that must be a lot of fun setting up those big lego displays.

So after wandering around the mall for a few hrs it was off to the airport to catch my flight. The flight actually got me into Chicago just after midnight, and then I had to wait there until my next flight to Philadelphia just after 6 am.

Game 42 – Head in the Game

Most nights the game would have been over after Stairs hit the grand slam w/Halladay going but he struggled in the 1st and the Twins got 3 back and then added one more in the 3rd to tie it. However the Jays offence came up w/a couple more big hits, back-to-back 2 out singles to cash in a walk. And if not for Jesse Crain’s wild throw, when Rolen took off too early trying to steal 3rd, leading to what proved to be a huge insurance run who knows if the Jays hold on. After Rolen tripped and fell getting all twisted around stopping to go back to 2nd then heading to 3rd, he looked so slow coming around 3rd I thought he was going to be a dead duck at home. Glad that wasn’t the case.

Although the Jays bullpen gave up 1 run, I think Gibbons did a good job handling them knowing B.J. was unavailable.

The Jays managed to go 2 for 4 w/RISP, whereas MIN went 0 for 8. The big inning may have been Halladay getting out of the 3rd only giving up one run after having 2nd and 3rd none out. If the Twins score more than 1 there to take the lead it would have really shifted the momentum. Instead the Jays score 1 in the top half of the 4th and Doc never looked back settling in for 3.2 more innings.

How about this for coincidence, Rolen has an 11-pitch AB then Stairs homers on the 1st pitch, and last night Rolen had a 15 pitch AB and Stairs homered on the 2nd pitch afterwards.

Loved to see Zaun backing up the play at 1B and being there to nail Young who took to big a turn around first. It is something you’ll see from very few other catchers. It is something that all kids should learn in little league, that no matter your position and where the play is there is always somewhere you can be backing up. It may only come in handy once every 100 times, but once is better than never.

On with the stats:
NAdv: Morneau
P-NAdv: Halladay (4)
WG: Lamb
ME(r): Young, Gomez

Day 46 – Dollar Dogs

When I arrived in Minneapolis and was looking through some of the tourist pamplets I saw one showing a Star Wars exhibit at the Science Museum. When I went online to find out more about it and where it was located, it was to my dismay to find out the Star Wars exhibit did not open until late June. So instead I had to settle for heading downtown to the ballpark early and walking around.

At the ballpark I gave in and bought and ballpark food, but it was for good reason. It was dollar dog night, every Twins Wed home game they sell hot dogs for $1 (limited to 2/person, but really they had no way of knowing whether you had already bought 2 in a previous trip).

Game 41 – Powering Up

Although the Jays only went 2 for 8 w/RISP they still managed to score 5 runs in part due 3 x-base hits. Its good to see O-Bay really getting his x-base hits now. He started so slow in terms of power, but he has always been getting on base and now the power is coming. This is not unlike 2006 when he only had 2 2B, 1 3B and 2 HR in Apr. but ended up with 46 2B, 1 3B and 22 HR.

This is no excuse for Stewart (you should always run out every play) but when Harris dropped the line drive I think the umpire should have ruled it a catch. I’m not 100% sure on this but I believe it is at the umpire’s discretion as to whether or not the player purposely dropped it and can rule it a catch regardless. This only applies w/a runner on 1st base, since they already have the infield fly rule for 1st and 2nd, or bases loaded and there is no advantage to dropping the ball w/bases empty. The reason the infield fly rule doesn’t apply w/a runner on 1st is b/c theoretically there is no advantage to dropping the ball as you would simply get the out at 2nd, but the batter would reach 1st base essentially trading runners, so no outs are gained. It is a heads up play by infielders to know if the batter is running out of the box, if indeed the umpire cannot make a judgement call and rule it a catch if the defender purposely drops it, since they would then have a shot at a DP. Even if the batter is running it out, it can still be advantageous for the defender to drop it if the runner at 1st is faster than the batter. By dropping the ball you can force out the faster runner at 2nd and put the slower runner at 1st.

I think it was the right move having Stewart bunt in the 8th, you’re already up by 2 and it pushes a runner to 3rd w/less than 2 outs if successful. At the same time I don’t mind that Gibbons took it off at 2-1. If the pitcher doesn’t want to take the free out and gets into a hitter’s count why not take a shot at hitting something hard and ending up w/a hit. I was surprised however to see Stewart actually show bunt w/2 strikes. I wonder if Gibbons actually put it back on or if Stewart was doing it on his own. It may be a good thing Bass did not throw any more strikes and ended up walking him.

I don’t get the reasoning behind pulling Litsch so early. He had only thrown 70 pitches and he wasn’t showing any signs of tiring. His last 4 outs were recorded on the ground and the 2 hits in between were both hit on the ground. Sure Morneau is a LH bat w/the power to tie the game but Litsch had already retired him twice in the game.

On to the stats:
DE: Overbay (1)
ME(r): Stewart (1)

Day 45 – My First Ever Major League Game

After the double header I went out and got myself some supper and then back to the hotel to pick up my stuff and head to the airport for my early morning flight. Despite the short distance to Minneapolis I had to transfer in Chicago. I made it to Minneapolis ok and I was back in some familiar territory. Growing up near Winnipeg meant the closest big league team was Minnesota, so there were many summer vacations that we made our way through Minneapolis and caught a few games.

In fact, my 1st major league game came at the Metrodome back in 1991. The bash brothers, Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco, along w/the rest of the A’s were visiting for a 4 game series. We went to see the first 3 games of the series. So I have a lot of fond memories at the Metrodome, but coming back now after visiting all these other ballparks, it sure is a good thing they are getting a new stadium. The stadium isn’t much to look at and the baggy in RF is ridiculous. The fact that they use a baggy as a wall tells you everything you need to know. Maybe the stadium makes more sense for football, but it certainly isn’t a good baseball stadium. I’m very surprised that they are going w/an open air stadium for their new one. Minneapolis is not that far south of Wpg and I know how cold it can be in April.

Game 40 – Whoever said it can’t get any worse?

Well, it was pretty cool to see an unassisted triple play. It was only the 14th such in baseball history. It also underscored just how much bad luck the Jays are running into w/RISP. They cannot buy a hit, everything hit hard is right at someone, and they can’t even get a bloop or a broken bat hit. I don’t blame Gibbons for starting the runners, trying to get anything going for this offence. Its hard to believe but it got worse for the Jays as they got robbed not once, but twice in the 9th inning when either one would have pushed across the go ahead run. All told the Jays scoreless streak was up to 31. Then came the 10th and they finally managed to push across a run on a SF before Hill added a couple of insurance runs w/a 2-run single.

Cliff Lee has certainly gotten off to an amazing start this year. For a guy who got demoted last year to the minors he isn’t pitching like it now. Of course he did win 18 games 3 years ago, but his numbers are ridiculous right now. So it shouldn’t be that much of a surprise given the way the Jays offence has been going, especially against LH’s that he shut them down for 9 innings. Even if Lee has made the necessary adjustments after hitters adjusted to him last year he is due for a couple rough starts soon.

Another great start from Marcum as he goes 8 and only gives up 2 hits and a hits batsmen. And all he gets to show for it is a no decision. He continues to be the best pitcher on this staff so far this year. His groundball to flyball ratio was down this game as he had more flyball outs but he was keeping them in the yard.

At least its not just the Jays struggling w/RISP as the Indians go 0 for 7 in the game. The Jays actually managed a 2 for 7.

I like the tag by Wilkerson in the 10th moving to 2nd on the SF. I think its something you don’t see enough of, runners tagging from 1st. Granted the throw to 2nd is a lot shorter but I think sometimes runners just don’t think about the possibility of tagging from 1st and just do the go halfway until its caught.

On with the stats:
NAdv: Overbay (5), Gutierrez
P-NAdv: Marcum (3), Lee
WG: Cabrera, Martinez, Gutierrez

Game 39 – Doubleheader Opener

For the 2nd straight game the Jays fail to score a run, this time its Carmona who shuts them down. The Jays only managed to get 2 runners into scoring position so only went 0 for 3 w/RISP. Carmona only struck out 3 Jays but he got 17 outs via the ground ball including 2 DP’s.

Burnett was great for 5 innings only giving up 1 hit, and facing 2 over the minimum (1 reached on error), but he ran into some problems in the 6th and 7th and w/TOR’s lack of offence that was enough to take the loss. I was surprised to see Burnett head out there for the 8th. Sure he was on 5 days rest but he was already over 100 pitches and had given up runs in each of the last 2 innings. Given the rainout yesterday the bullpen was rested and you cannot be worried about needing all you relievers for the 2nd game of the doubleheader.

Rolen had the right idea of trying to get to 3rd w/1 out but he was thrown out easily by Francisco. It is a good time to be aggressive w/1 out but not when you are thrown out by that much.

On to the stats:
WG: Garko
ME(r): Rolen (3)

Day 44 – Witnessing History

Doubleheader today and amazingly they are doing a traditional doubleheader. What that means is you only need a ticket for one game to get into both. Nowadays teams prefer doing day/night doubleheaders b/c that way they get gate receipts for 2 games. The only bad thing in this case is I would have been fine with a day/night doubleheader b/c I already had my ticket for Mon’s game. And exchanging my Sun ticket for a future CLE home game does me no good since the Jays don’t play there again this season. Now I’m sure they would have just refunded my money given I was from out-of-town but I decided I would rather keep the ticket stub so that I will have a complete set of 162 at the end of the season.

I have been to one doubleheader in my life. It was on my family summer vacation in 1993 and we were going to our 1st games in Milwaukee. Well when we got to Milwaukee, we were only planning on going to 1 game, but when we got there we found out the next day they were having a doubleheader (a traditional one) so we figured why not go to it too, since its 2 games for the price of one.

There is something wrong w/CLE fans. You have the chance to see 2 games for the price of one and there was maybe 1000 people at the 1st game. I think more people stuck around for the Jays 14 inning loss at Rogers Centre to TEX than showed up for this game (at least for about the 1st 6 innings). People started trickling in later since they were coming for the 2nd game.

If seeing a doubleheader wasn’t enough, I got to see an unassisted triple play in the 2nd game (turned by Asdrubal Cabrera). It must really suck for those people who were at the game but were not in their seats when it happened. One of the guys in front of me was out getting fries and missed the triple play. So of course the person he was with really bugged him about the fact he missed it for the rest of the night.

Day 43 – Survivor

Start of the game was delayed due to rain and they waited until around 2:20 to officially call the game (at least to the fans); the start time was supposed to be 1:07. So once the game was officially called I went and found a place to eat. Once I’m done eating I walk outside and what do you know it has stopped raining and there is even some sun shining. You really have to wonder what time they actually called this game, ie when did they tell the players. My guess is it was a lot earlier than 2:20. Were the weather reports really that off saying it wouldn’t clear up for awhile that they couldn’t have waited another hr to play.

Since I now had some extra time in the afternoon I did some more walking and made my way up to the Browns Stadium.

Before long I wanted to head back to the hotel to watch the finale of Survivor. Yes I still watch it, I’ve watched it since season 1 day 1. It has lost a lot of appeal but I still enjoy watching it. It was an interesting season as the strategic votes started right away, no voting out the weak links, and lots of dumb moves. Its really turned into a huge disadvantage to be a strong competitor in challenges.

Game 38 – Sizemore for MVP

Not a very fun game to watch as Cleveland scores 6 in the 1st and never looked back on their way to a 12-0 win. Blowouts are never exciting to watch but it is all the worse when it is the opposing team and you have to sit there in their stadium listening to their fans cheer.

The Jays haven’t exactly been hitting anybody these days but they seem to really struggle against LH’s which should not be the case given the RH dominant lineup. The only thing that may be a factor, aside from them struggling overall, is 2 of the new RH bats in the lineup this yr, Scott Rolen and Shannon Stewart, do not have the huge difference in their splits like say Lefty killers Troy Glaus and Reed Johnson do.

I know Rios played CF coming up through the minors but I haven’t been impressed w/him in his limited time in CF in the majors. Of course that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t improve if he were to actually play there everyday. He got a horrible jump on the ball Carroll hit in the 5th although he still got there in time to make the catch. He really seems to struggle reading the ball off the bat when in CF. It will be worth watching as he gets extended time out there.

The Jays did manage one hit w/RISP as part of a 4-hit inning but did not score thanks to a DP and stranding the bases loaded after a nice catch by Cabrera to end the inning.

It was appropriate night for Grady Sizemore to come up big as it was Grady Sizemore fleece blanket giveaway night. He had 3 hits, 2 HR’s and 1 2B, 5 RBI’s, and 3 runs scored. With Hafner in a slump for a year and a quarter now and Martinez lacking power so this yr a lot of the offence has been left to Sizemore. He has been up to the task hitting well but one man cannot make an offence and consequently the Indians have struggled to score runs. Like the Jays though they have a strong starting rotation that gives them a chance to win even w/only a couple runs. Their bullpen however is another story, particularly the backend. I have no faith in Joe Borowski as a closer and Betancourt has struggled a bit in the closer position while Borowski is on the DL.

Now to the stats:
Adv+: Martinez, Sizemore
P-Adv+: McGowan 2 (3)
NAdv: Zaun (1), Carroll
P-NAdv: McGowan (8), Laffey
WG: Cabrera
DE: Wilkerson (1)

Day 42 – Ghost Downtown

One thing I sure do love is cities who use #’s as street names. It sure does help you keep your bearing. The other thing I really liked in CLE was they had maps of downtown every few blocks that you could look at. The maps had various pts of interest marked on them so it made it easier to find things. So using the maps I spent my afternoon walking around downtown CLE. I can’t really say anything stuck out at me, just another city.

My hotel was no more than 2 miles E of downtown and the ballpark but boy was the area just dead. Very little traffic no matter the time of day. Cleveland State University is the 1st thing you pass heading E out of downtown and from there E I couldn’t believe how few cars/people I saw. Even the university wasn’t very busy, but I’m guessing that is b/c it is May and there are limited classes going on.

They once again had a fireworks show after the game. These weren’t just short displays either, they were probably a good 20-25 mins. I’m not sure it really draws any more fans to the game but it certainly seemed to keep the # leaving early to a minimum.

Game 37 – Hesitation

Once again it is 1 bad inning that hurts Halladay, although this time it chased him from the game. I think the 4-pitch walk to Cabrera should have been a sign to Gibbons that Halladay was done and needed to be removed but it is hard to blame him for sticking w/Doc. If it was any other pitcher they would have been pulled, in fact they probably don’t even pitch to Cabrera. Ace or not, no matter how much of a workhorse a pitcher is it is up to Gibbons to get the starter out once he has tired and when a fresh arm from the bullpen would be more effective. The problem for Halladay today was his stuff might have been too good, as the Indians couldn’t make much contact going down on strikes 9 times but in so doing drove up the pitch count.

Great catch from Wells, and he had a good read off the bat. Now the Jays are more than likely going to be w/o his services for awhile. It was nice to hear the CLE fans give a good round of applause for Wells as he walked off the field.

A very late stop sign went up from Pevey w/Scutaro rounding 3rd on the Hill 2B in the 5th. Although there were 2 outs it was the right move holding him up, but that decision has to come sooner. Pevey looked kind of lost on the play as he was initially waving him once the ball was hit then he stopped doing anything as he looked out and you could tell he was trying to decide and he finally threw up a stop sign. Pevey needs to make sure he keeps waving him until he throws that stop sign up, he can’t do nothing it will force the baserunner to look at the play for himself. We’ve seen a few bad sends/holds from Pevey already this year and maybe now he is getting tentative.

Sabathia looked to be back to his 2007 form, although w/the Jays offence these days you never can tell. They tacked up another 1 for 9 w/RISP.

The reliable bullpen let the Jays down as Accardo struggled following Carlson and Halladay in the 7th and he let the Indians put the game out reach. Once CLE pinch hit w/Francisco it was the right move to get Accardo it just didn’t work out.

For the game stats:
Adv+: Blake
P-Adv+: Halladay (4)
NAdv: Mench (1), Garko, Sizemore
P-NAdv: Halladay (3), Carlson (2), Sabathia
WG: Wells (2)

Day 41 – Different Perspective

I left early in the morning on the bus to Cleveland w/a layover in Buffalo and I slept all the way to the border. The wait at Buffalo was a little over an hr before continuing on. Once we got going I watched Sidewalks of New York on my laptop on the bus. It was decent, definitely worth watching. Edward Burns still has some room for improvement directing. I’m a big fan of Dennis Farina, he has a knack for making the most of his small parts.

Progressive Field is a very nice ballpark. I would rank it just in behind Ballpark in Arlington. The location is downtown w/the Q (the Cavaliers Stadium) right next door. When sitting behind home plate you get a nice view of the city over the OF walls. They did fireworks after the game and the city back drop worked well for them.

It was a little weird seeing the Jays come out of the 1st base dugout. This was the 1st game the Jays have been on that side. At Rogers Centre the home dugout is on the 3rd base side and until now all the other ballparks had the visiting dugout on the 3rd base side.

Game 36 – Worst Defeat

To give you an idea of how many extra wins the Jays could have, they just suffered their worst defeat of the season (in terms of run differential) and it came in the 13th inning. 3 times prior they had lost by 4 runs, the other 15 losses were by 3 runs or less. An extra hit here or there w/RISP and who knows what their record could be.

This game was a little too familiar to their 14 inning loss to TEX. Once again the Jays made a big late comeback to tie the game, this time in the 9th and w/o the help of an error. Once again it was the Jays who got the best scoring opportunities in extra innings but could not push across the winning run. This time it was the Rios leadoff triple in the 10th that the Jays could not cash in. When you have a runner at 3rd w/less than 2 outs, you have to put the ball in play, but the Jays couldn’t even do that. Stewart went done looking, and Stairs at least went down swinging.

Interesting to see Wheeler intentionally walk Rolen to face the LH Stairs and then less surprising was the way he pitched Wells (threw him all breaking balls in the dirt) in order to face Barajas. The decisions worked and Wheeler pitched out of the inning.

Now I get the whole you can’t get a save at home in extra innings so why leave your closer, who should be your best reliever, in the bullpen. However, I don’t think that means you have to bring him in as soon as it hits extras. Now you don’t plan for the game to go more than a couple extra innings, but why not leave Carlson in for the 10th. He threw all of 2 pitches to get 2 outs in the 9th and there was a switch hitter then 2 LH’s due up in the 10th. Carlson has pitched well enough to prove he can get the job done, and if the Jays don’t score in the bottom half they can always go to Ryan in the 11th. If they do score then you’ve just saved an extra appearance for your closer, all the more important in Ryan’s case given he is still recovering from TJ surgery.

I get why Rolen tried for the 3B in the 4th since there was 1-out and that is the best time to risk advancing from 2nd to 3rd. However, I think it was too much of a risk and he should have easily been out, but the Jays caught a break and he made it in safely. Of course, they didn’t take advantage of it anyway.

Boy, was that Grand Slam demoralizing. I was actually thinking before it that the Jays could still come back given TB had no one warming up in the bullpen and therefore were going to leave Howell in for a 3rd inning. Wouldn’t you know the Jays did threaten against Howell getting 2nd and 3rd 1 out, but did not score. But who knows how the bottom half plays out had it been a 1-run lead.

And before I forget, lost in all this was another solid outing from Jesse Litsch. Oh yeah, and the Jays went 1 for 11 w/RISP.

On to the stats: Plays like the one where Scutaro missed the tag on Upton in the rundown in the 13th are exactly why I created the DE. It is not something an official scorer will usually charge an error on, although I could be wrong I think I have seen an error charged for a missed tag, but to all observers it was a play that should have been made.

DE: Scutaro (1)

Day 40 – Adjusting Plans

Bad news today as both Eckstein and McDonald need to go on the DL. Interestingly they only brought up 1 player though, as Joe Inglett is back basically making him the 4th OF.

The Jays sure know how to pick the days to go extras. When they are playing a night game as the finale to their homestand and I just happen to have a very early morning bus to Cleveland the next day. Of course I made the mistake of not having everything ready to go in the morning before leaving for work on Thursday. I made the best of it and just took my time at night after the game, figuring the less I slept at home the more I would be able to sleep on the bus.

Game 35 – Personal Accomplishments

It took awhile, but TOR’s offence woke up once they got to the bullpen and went an amazing 3 for 9 w/RISP to lead them to the win. The Jays explosion in the 8th created near identical lines for 2 rays relievers. Dohmann went K, BB, H, and Miller went K, BB, H w/all each giving up 2 runs. The only difference being Dohmann gave up a HR, Miller a 2B.

All the offence gave Marcum a chance to go for his 1st career CG instead of him getting pulled had it stayed 1-0. Unfortunately for him, after 2 out were out Iwamura’s ground ball found a hole and w/Crawford’s speed there was no play on the high chopper and then once Upton drilled him for a double, Gibbons had to go get him. And it was the right move. The fact was Gibbons was already letting him go longer than he wanted in order to try and get the CG shutout and you can’t let something like that get in the way of winning the game. Plus lets not forget this is Marcum’s 1st full year starting and there is no need to tax him this early in the season. The way he is pitching there will be plenty more opportunities to go the distance, especially once the Jays have a few more off days and their starters will be working on 5 days rest a little more often.

I don’t agree w/Hill bunting in the 7th. Aside from the fact it didn’t work, at least it didn’t advance Overbay, I guess in the long run it worked since Barajas and Scutaro got hits but that is hindsight. I realize Hill has been struggling but why bunt when you have your 8 and 9 hitters coming up. They are not that likely to get a hit and even if they do, not every hit would score Overbay from 2nd. I would have much rather seen a hit and run in that situation. Maybe Hill finds a hole to setup 1st and 3rd or if he at least gets it on the ground it works the same as a bunt advancing Overbay to 2nd.

Now after I’ve just dissed the 8 and 9 hitters, it is nice when they combine to go 5 for 8 w/3 RBI’s.

To the stats we go:
Adv: Stewart (1)
P-Adv: Garza
WG: Rolen (2)

Day 39 – Let ‘em Play

Very surprised to see McDonald is not yet on the DL. They called up Jorge Velandia from AAA while sending down Lind, which means for the time being they are playing 2 men short while Eckstein and McDonald still occupy roster sports. In other words the only bench players are Velandia and a backup catcher. Either one or both has to be back in a day or two or they will have to DL them.

Now Lind getting sent down is no surprise, given they had already said Stewart would be playing full time in LF. There is no point having him sit on the bench, Lind should be getting regular AB’s. The question is if 19 AB’s was enough of a sample to say Lind still isn’t ready. Lind was web gemmed twice and I’m sure there were a couple other balls hit hard but just within range of the defenders.

The Lind situation is starting to look like the way they handled McGowan. After McGowan initially came up to the majors and struggled they ended up bouncing him around from starter to reliever and from AAA to the majors for a couple yrs never really giving him another sustained chance in the bigs. It is hard to say how much this affected his development if at all, maybe it even helped, but after pitching lights out to start the 2007 year in AAA, McGowan got the call up and was left alone to start every 5th day and the results followed. Maybe they need to do the same thing w/Lind, just let him play. Yes he had the chance last year but I think it was a little early when he did come up as I would have liked to have seen him succeed in AAA for longer and he knew it was only a matter of time once Johnson came back that he would be going back down. At some point w/these kids you have to run them out there and see if they land on their feet.

Game 34 – 1st Pitch Hitting

For the 4th time in 4 games, it was Percival coming out of the TB bullpen to pick up the save against the Jays. For a guy who was retired he is certainly pitching well (and not just against the Jays).

I’m not sure if this is some kind of karma, but the game after Gibbons uses McDonald as a defensive replacement not only does 1 SS leave injured, but 2 leave hurt. Based on McDonald’s reaction it doesn’t look like he’ll be back soon so I guess that puts an end to the defensive replacement discussion, for now.

Nice to see Burnett throw some good curveballs and rack up the K’s (10 in total), its just too bad he also gave up 9 hits and 5 runs. And the 5th run came from none other than the newest Blue Jay killer, Eric Hinske, who homered in the 6th providing what ended up being a huge insurance run.

Whose the tall lanky LH coming out of the Jays pen? Oh wait, that’s just Brian Tallet making his 1st appearance since Apr. 24, a span of 11 days consisting of 10 games in which he did not pitch. He didn’t show much rust, as he just walked the 2 hitters in 2 innings.

The Jays showed some improvement going 2 for 6 w/RISP and they even had 2 SF’s. However, neither hit actually drove in a run. The Jays had their chance in the 6th, but Scutaro failed to be the 3rd different player to get a hit out of the 9 spot for the Jays.

I’m not one to really get on players for swinging at 1st pitches and I don’t blame Scutaro for it on that AB in the 6th. The fact is the 1st pitch may be the best pitch you see so why not swing. Unless you’re really trying to drive up the pitch count of the pitcher or you are giving a runner a chance to steal, the whole point of an AB is get yourself into a situation where you can get a pitch to hit hard. If the pitcher throws you a 1st pitch you think you can drive then swing away. Sometimes it looks really bad like when you pop it up or hit into a DP, but other times you get a hit or even a HR. Even sometimes when hitters are ahead 2-0, 3-1 they still pop it up or hit into a DP. Now I’m no professional hitter, but I think the key in those situations whether it be the 1st pitch, or when you are ahead in the count is to look for a specific type of pitch or a pitch in a certain location, if it is not there you just take it for a strike (or ball), if it is then you take a hack.

Lets check the stats:
NAdv: Bartlett, Rios (7), Hill (2)
P-NAdv: Sonnanstine 2, Burnett (4)
WG: Bartlett

Day 38

Work, Baseball, Eat, Sleep.

Game 33 – Maximizing Resources

With the way these 2 offences have been performing why is it not surprising to see the series wrap up with a 1-0 game. The two teams combined to go 0 for 13 w/RISP as the lone run came on a solo HR.

Some good news as Gibbons finally decides to bring McDonald in as a defensive replacement late in the game w/the Jays leading. Hopefully this is a sign that they are willing to use all available tools in order to win.

Gibbons also used Eckstein in the 9 hole for the 1st time, and I think the lineup looks better that way. If Gibbons insists on batting Rios leadoff, than at least he has 2 decent OBP guys hitting 8-9 in Zaun and Eckstein and may actually still get some RBI opportunities. I’m not sure if Stewart is the answer in the 2-hole but I think he is the best fit right now. Eventually I think Hill fits the 2 spot but right now he needs to learn more patience and increase the OBP if he is going to hit at the top of the order.

I think I’ve said this before about McGowan but it is the way he has pitched himself out of jams that is impressing me. In the 3rd inning he had 2nd and 3rd none out and he retired the top of the order w/o allowing a run to score. My stats are backing that up to as this was the 8th time he has faced a man at 2nd none out situation and the 7th time he has retired the hitter w/o the runner advancing to 3rd. Of course that doesn’t mean the runner didn’t eventually score in all those situations but he is not giving them easy runs where you score the runner w/o a hit.

The walks are concerning from Ryan but hears hoping it was just a temporary loss of control and not some other problem. At least he got out of it thanks to a nifty 1-2-3 DP.

Stats:
NAdv: Cabrera, Overbay (4)
P-NAdv: Vazquez, McGowan (7)
ME(r): Rolen (2)

Day 37

Work, Baseball, Eat, Sleep.

Game 32 – Partial Perfection

Well this seems to be somewhat of a recurring theme for games in which Halladay starts; whoever pitches the CG loses. For the 1st time in 5 starts Halladay does not finish the game. I probably would have left Halladay in for 2 more batters, Swisher and Cabrera, before going to the lefty for Thome, but at the same time the bullpen is pretty fresh and you have little margin for error w/just a 1 run lead so I’m ok w/going to Carlson for Swisher. As much of a horse as Halladay is, it doesn’t hurt to pull him a little early on occasion given the strong bullpen the Jays have. This is the 3rd straight start where 1 inning has done in the Doc. In Orlando it was the 4-run 6th. Outside of that he only gave up the leadoff triple in the 8th, which scored on a SF and 3 singles, 2 of which were erased on DP’s. In BOS he only gave up 3 singles through the 1st 8, then walked 1 in the 9th and gave up 2 singles. Now he takes it a step further, giving up 3 runs (only 1 earned) in the 4th but was perfect for the rest until leaving w/1 out in the 8th.

Not to be outdone, Contreras was actually perfect outside of the 2nd and 3rd. Now I’m sure over time there have been many outings where a pitcher is perfect if you throw out an inning, but having 2 pitchers do it in the same game is a little more rare. Especially in the method they did it as its not like they gave up 1 or 2 runners in the bad inning(s) they each gave up several runs. Halladay facing 8 batters leading to 3 runs, while Contreras faced 5 hitters in the 2nd for 1 run and 7 batters in the 3rd for 3 runs. What does it all mean? Nothing really, just one of those interesting things and it makes for a very quick game finishing in 2 hrs 12 mins (still 2 mins longer than Fri’s Buehrle vs Marcum).

One thing I don’t understand sometimes is why managers allow their pitchers to pitch to a batter in a situation early in the game, but in the same situation late in the game they’ll walk the player. For example, when Stairs came to the plate in the 3rd inning w/2nd and 3rd 2 out and the Jays about to squander a great scoring opportunity (they had 2nd and 3rd w/none out), Guillen allows Contreras to go after Stairs instead of intentionally walking him w/1st base open and a RH on deck. Even if the batter is Wells who had a couple big hits so far in the series, I would rather take my chances against him then the LH Stairs w/Contreras on the mound. Should the same situation arise later in the game, I’m sure they would walk Stairs to face Wells so why not early in the game. The fact is runs scored early count the same as runs scored late so why not treat them that way. Yes if you give up runs early you have more outs to work with to score the runs back, but why give them up in the 1st place. Plus when the other team has their ace on the mound it will not be easy to come back. In this case maybe it wouldn’t have mattered as Wells ended up w/a hit following Stairs’ double, but who knows if Wells still gets a hit if they walk Stairs to load the bases.

Now for some stats:
Adv: Wells (1)
P-Adv: Contreras
Adv+: Thome, Konerko
P-Adv+: Halladay 2 (3)
NAdv: Cabrera, Dye, Eckstein (2)
P-NAdv: Contreras, Halladay 2 (2)

Day 36

Baseball, Work, Eat, Sleep.

Game 31 – Signs of Life

The Jays racked up an amazing 3 hits w/RISP, it is too bad they had 13 AB’s. Although they did not score a whole lot against the LH Danks, they at least were getting some hits and they did drive his pitch count up early. It is an improvement over what they have previously been doing against LH’s and most importantly it was enough to win.

Another strong outing from Litsch and he went 0.1 IP longer than any previous start. He was very efficient w/his pitches only throwing 78 pitches in 7.1 IP. Sure he gave up 2 HR’s but they were just solo shots and most of the time solo HR’s alone won’t beat you, although w/the Jays offence these days maybe they will. It is the 2-run and 3-run HR’s that kill you especially when the runners on base are there b/c of walks, and Litsch did not walk a batter.

Good to see Vernon come through w/a couple of 2-out RBI hits. The Jays need any hits they can get w/RISP but those 2-out hits are always a little more demoralizing to a pitcher when he is so close to getting out of the inning.

I’m assuming Hill was going 1st to 3rd on Wells 2nd RBI hit b/c he wanted to get the CWS to cut the throw home off allowing the 2nd run to score. If not it was a bad decision, in fact even if that was his reasoning it was a bad decision b/c w/2 outs Rios got a good jump from 2nd and it was not going to be close.

Joe Crede is a solid fielder, but he hasn’t looked that way the past 2 games w/2 errors leading to 5 unearned runs. The 2 unearned runs in game 1 were the difference (actually the only runs), and the 3 unearned runs in game 2 represented the difference. You won’t see it often from him, but nice to see the Jays taking advantage of something offensively.

On to the stats:
WG: Crede, Rios (1)
ME(r): Hill (1)

Day 35

Baseball, Work, Eat, Sleep.

Game 30 – Fighting Sickness

Nice to see someone else on the losing side of a CG. What is worse for Buehrle is that he lost w/o giving up an earned run. That’s the way baseball goes sometimes. What looks like a harmless 2-out error w/nobody on in the 1st inning, suddenly becomes 2 runs w/a couple hits and those end up the only runs of the game.

Another great outing from Marcum, he doesn’t seem to be suffering any setbacks in his 2nd yr as a starter. He looked like he hit a bit of a wall in the 7th losing his control but hearing afterwards that Marcum was throwing up after the 1st and 2nd innings it makes his outing that much better.

Further going to show the lack of work for the bullpen after 7 days off Camp comes in to throw 4 pitches. Meanwhile Tallet hasn’t thrown in the same length and Frasor is working on just 1 less day of rest.

Although Marcum seems to be getting more ground ball outs this yr, if there is one pitcher that McDonald should never be starting for it is Marcum. Since he did this is the 2nd time the Jays have put this infield alignment together (Left to Right: Rolen, McDonald, Hill, Overbay) and it is hands down the best defensive infield any team can put out there. In fact if you include the pitcher, on this day Marcum, it is that much better. It was on display in this game and it is a joy to watch, but I still believe Eckstein deserves the majority of starts, especially having seen how TOR’s offence has been performing this season.

Not surprised to see a quick game, 2 hrs. 10 mins., given 2 struggling offences plus Buehrle on the mound. Over the last several yrs, Buehrle’s starts average the shortest time while 2nd to him is Halladay. So we’ll see if Doc can out pace him on Sun.

As for the game stats:
NAdv: Overbay (3)
P-NAdv: Buehrle
WG: Cabrera, McDonald 2 (4), Overbay (1)
ME(f): Anderson

Day 34 – Long Road Trips

Early morning flight back to Toronto so I just stayed at the airport. Didn’t have much success sleeping on the plane though so I had a lot of sleep to catch up on once I got home. I’m home for just a wk w/baseball games everyday and then its back on the road for another 10-day trip, and no offday this time.

Lots to keep me busy at work for the wk since it is the beginning of quarter end. Frankly I’m exhausted by the time I get home and hence the lack of blogs. What little time I do have at home is mostly spent planning future trips trying to stay ahead.

Game 29 – Alternate Ending

Well 2 for 11 w/RISP isn’t exactly breaking out but the 3 runs were enough for Burnett. Maybe it just seems like it, but Burnett seems to raise his game in important games/big media games. His control was a little off, but he was getting a few curveballs over. What was he thinking though walking Kevin Cash twice. You shouldn’t be walking any 9 hitter at all yet alone one who hits like a pitcher. The other concern was the high # of flyball outs, not typical of A.J., as he recorded 5 outs on the ground while 12 in the air.

That balk call was unbelievable in the 9th. I had to tell everyone in my section not to go anywhere that the 2B ump was waving the play off and the game wasn’t over. My 1st reaction was maybe time was called before the pitch but I couldn’t figure out why the 2B ump would be calling time. Then I saw Moss standing at 2nd and figured the only logical explanation was a balk. The way things have been going for the Jays I have to admit I was a little worried, especially once Crisp got a hit, but Ryan pitched out of it. Not that it would have tied the game but does the ump still make the call if Crisp had hit a HR or does he just say nothing unless somebody noticed him call the balk.

The whole point of the balk call is to keep the pitcher from deceiving the runner. You have to put rules in place to stop the pitcher from doing whatever he wants in an attempt to pick the runner off. The thing in this situation was the Jays were not even holding the runner at 1st. Therefore, Ryan could not even attempt a pickoff at 1st w/o getting called for a balk. It actually happened to Burnett earlier in the yr in his outing against KC where he balked twice. One of the balks was b/c he obviously had a mental block and forgot Overbay was not holding the runner (it was 3-2) as he turned to pickoff Teahen and had to throw to Overbay well off the bag, which is a balk. Now back to Ryan, so how exactly was he deceiving the runner doing what he always does and having no one hold the runner.

I don’t think Overbay should have been out of the starting lineup. Yes Wakefield actually pitches better aginst LH’s, but Overbay had 2 hits against him earlier in the yr. Of course so did Scutaro, but I would rather see Hill get a day off if anyone. Hill has been struggling a bit, including 0 for his last 7 coming into the game.

On to the stats: I decided to give Eckstein and Rolen a baserunning mental error on the same play. Eckstein should have been able to read that fly ball sooner as it hit far enough up that he could score easily, and although that caused Rolen to get stuck between 2nd and 3rd it is Rolen’s job not to assume anything about the runner in front of him, he has to pick up what Eckstein is doing, and whether Peavy is waving or stopping Eckstein.

Adv+: Stairs (1)
P-Adv+: Wakefield
NAdv: Moss, Lowell
P-NAdv: Burnett 2 (3)
WG: Hill (4), Ramirez
ME(r): Eckstein (1), Rolen (1)

Day 33 – Bandwagon Jumping

Headed to downtown BOS to spend my afternoon. Got off the subway at Downtown Crossing and just started walking trying to keep my bearings. I walked around Boston Common and over to the public garden. I then just started walking around the various streets. I passed a couple different subway stops belonging to the various lines so I figured it would be easy enough to find a subway stop once I was ready to head to Fenway so I wasn’t too concerned about my direction.

Boston is a very nice city, it doesn’t at all seem like a big city. Maybe it was just the streets I was walking but it didn’t have that big city feel to it.

So when it came time to make my way to Fenway I started looking for a subway stop. After 5-10 mins I hadn’t seen one and then as I turn a corner there was Fenway Park in the distance. Apparently, I managed to make my way in the general direction of Fenway so I figured I might as well walk the rest of the way. It ended up only taking me about another 15 mins.

I’m glad the Jays managed to pull out at least one of the games, but all 3 were very exciting nonetheless. I love to watch a pitcher’s duel, but it is frustrating to watch this offence struggle. The crowd really got into the games in the later innings and it was a nice change from Rogers Centre.

It is amazing to see what winning can do for a franchise. Ten years ago Fenway would be half empty, now they are on their way to setting the record for most consecutive sellouts, passing Cleveland who started their streak when they opened what was then called Jacobs Field, and they are continually looking for ways to add more seats. The whole explosion of Red Sox Nation really started once they broke through and finally won. I kind of feel bad for those fans that have been Sox fans their whole lives and suffered through the 86 yrs to see all these other fans just jump on the bandwagon now that they won. Of course, this basically happens in every city, there are always going to be those casual fans who only show up when the team is good. It is just interesting to see how huge it has become for the Red Sox.

I have to say the Boston fans were friendlier than expected. I ended up getting into conversations w/people beside me during all 3 games. And I hardly heard any rude comments at the game or on the subway.