Looks Like Last Year...

One Week, Some Things

1. Been a horrendous week for the Jays, but there were signs of what was coming in the White Sox series. Yes, the Blue Jays won all four games, but the Chisox are terrible, and the Jays were making their pitchers look much better than they are. The fact is that the bats have gone silent in the clutch. As it stands, the Jays are hitting about .100 the past week with runners in scoring position. Vernon Wells is hitting about .160 on the year with men in scoring position. The key this past week is that Lind has hit a mini-slump. Wells may hit fourth in the lineup (can you say, Big Papi) but Lind and Hill are the engine on this team. Just a quick note about the batting order because it's been done to death, and people have asked why it matters where Wells hits in the order. The difference is what we saw last night. Hill gets a double in the ninth, and Wells leaves him stranded at third with a chance to tie the game. If Lind is hitting fourth, where he should be given the OBP of both Scutaro and Hill, the jays have a much better chance to win the game. As it is, Lind has spent the majority of the year driving in runs with two outs, because Wells has been consistently out in front of him.

2. Kawakami did not "out duel" Halladay! Who writes these dumb ass headlines, anyway? (This was the lead for the Toronto Star's Sports Section this morning.) Halladay pitched seven scoreless innings and then left for a pinch hitter in the eighth. How was he outduelled? He didn't give up any *(*(&& runs? Can we please have people who know something about sports doing the headlines? The Blue Jay hitters didn't show up. The loss had nothing to do with Halladay.
Note to headline writers: A pitcher is "outduelled" when they give up one run (sometimes two, usually one) and the other pitches a shutout. Not when they both throw shutouts.

3. The unbalanced schedule is unfair.
Jerry made a good point during the broadcast last night, it's simply not fair that teams in the east in both leagues have to play their divisional opponents 19 times. It's blatantly unfair. Why do you think the Dodgers have the best record in baseball? Because they're THAT good, even without Manny? San Francisco is above .500? Do they even have a major league hitter on that team? It's garbage. Selig needs to wake up and even things out for the teams in the East (both the NL and AL).

4. Remember that this is the point last year, when the Jays were making a run, that they blew up, no matter what Wilner says about them having only two bad months. Let's see if they can get some clutch hits the next two games before they go back to Boston. this thing could get ugly in a hurry.

-Steve

All About Adjustments

1. What makes a player great in any professional sport is not simply talent or even hard work. The essence of games is adjustments. Case in point, the AL Rookie of the Month, Scott Ritchmond. He's had problems his last two starts, and last night he didn't get out of the second inning. He couldn't locate his slider, and he had nothing else to fall back on. The Yankees ripped his fastball, as well they should have, because without the threat of the slider his fastball is very average. Over the course of the year Richmond will have to make adjustents as the hitters adjust to him. What will he do if he can't locate a certain pitch? What happens if he is having an "off-stuff" night?

Incidentally, this is what makes Halladay one of the top two pitchers in the game. Kevin Cash, the backup catcher for the Yankees who caught Halladay when he won the Cy Young in 2003, noted after Tuesday's game that Halladay can now throw his cutter and sinker to both sides of the plate. That is, he's a better pitcher now than he was when he won the award for the league's best pitcher! When people call Zach Greinke, who is having an unbelievable season with the Royals, the best pitcher in the game, baseball purists should be objecting to that kind of hyperbole. Yes, he's a great talent, but when he is able to do it year after year, when the hitters are consistently behind and off balance, well, we check back. Until then, recognize the great players, like Albert Pujols and Doc, have been great for a long time. And it's all about their ability to make adjustments.

2. What happened to the fans on Wednesday night? Where did everyone go? To watch the Leafs? We're a fickle town, Toronto...

3. I'm glad Jay Triano got the head coaching gig for the Raptors. Very good news for Canada basketball. However, I'm not convinced the Raptors will be any good next year. Get us a wing, Brian!

-Steve

Manny + Steroids = NO BIG DEAL

One Weekend; Some Things

1. That was an impressive series win for the Blue Jays this past weekend. The West Coast has rarely been kind to them, and to think they won yet another series without Halladay pitching, has frankly surprised me. What this means in terms of playoffs has yet to be determined, because I believe the Jays will have to split their season series with Tampa Bay to get in. Too many good teams in their division. For now, the Jays roll along a series at a time.

2. Cecil was unbelievable. That is, I can hardly believe it. Who thought the Jays' pitching staff was this deep?

3. The Yankee series is just another series. Sportsnet is promoting this as the first "test" for the Blue Jays, and its good to see the fans excited, but in reality, it is just another series. Everyone keeps insisting the Yankees will be there come September, and perhaps they will, but the real tests for the Jays will be the Red Sox and the Rays.

Manny and Steroids?

Manny Ramirez and steroids? Not many people saw this coming, but I fail to see the big deal. (Except for the Dodgers, who lose their best bat for 50 games) Every sportswriter out there seems determined to brand the guys who use steroids as cheaters. I don't see it that way. Perhaps it is because I work so closely to a field that requires steroid use. (Competitive bodybuilding) Even using the word steroid is a misnomor and speaks to ignorance. It's like using the word "beverage" to describe every drink. "Oh, he's taking a beverage." "Oh no, a beverage!"

Baseball had no policy for years about certain drugs, so how can there be backlash against the players now? Most of this is fueled by sportswriters who never played the game, and were not good enough to compete at a high level. Remember, sports writers need their stories too. And yet they remain mystified why the fans don't care. Selena Roberts has been all over the news promoting her book, talking about A-Rod as if she was talking about the economy. Please! Who cares?!

I'm not promoting drug use, and as someone who has lifted weights for twenty years, I have never touched more than protein powder. As a trainer, I would never recommend my clients to use them because they can be extremely dangerous. That said, I am not a professional athlete. I do not put my body on the line for a living. I asked someone the other day if they knew what "steroids" did. He said, "yeah, they make you bigger." He was surprised when I told him that he was wrong. Steroids, again it feels ridiculous to use such a catch-all term, are used for recovery. A profesisonal bodybuilder is able to work out harder and longer, but he still has to work out. And as for hitting a baseball, drugs can't help you with that. They can help you stay healthy. They can give you a bit more pop in your bat. But they can't hit the ninety mile an hour slider or make a running catch in the outfield. Baseball is not football. I wish the white socked reporters in smoking jackets would step away from their keyboards for a minute and go field a few grounders. Either that, or report on another topic you know nothing about. Like field hockey.

-Steve

One Weekend, Some Things

Blue Jays Dominate Orioles, Split with Cleveland

Note: This title has been borrowed from the Globe and Mail's Michael Grange, for my money the best beat writer the Raptors have, and by far the most insightful. Too many blogs by burgeoning sports writers such as myself merely repeat things they hear on the raido or TV or read in the newspapers. The best blogs, the best columns, try to find the little nuances we sometimes miss as fans. Michael Grange is terrific at it, and this blog is my own humble attempt at the same.

1. Sweeping the Orioles: This was probably a more important series than people realize. Coming off the first series loss of the year in KC, there was concern that the Jays would 'settle down' to 'who they really are'. Building a winning team has a lot to do with attitude, and the transition years can be very tough. Last year, there was a sense the club was not mentally tough, as exemplified in those categories, such as hitting with runners in scoring position, come from behind wins, and batting average with RISP and two outs. The blown save in late spring last year to the Angels was the catalyst, and the Blue Jays never recovered. Baseball and golf are very similar in that they are both uniquely skilled sports that place a high value on the mentality of those who play them. In other words, they're "head" sports. Basketball and football and hockey require less in that fashion, and athleticism is generally more important than the inner psyche.

2. Rios is coming around. This is obvious, but from all the postings, please stop talking about Rios, his swing is coming around and he's been seeing the ball much better. The same is true of Wells. Better at bats. Better pitch selection. Better focus. The same can't be said for Overbay.

3. The lineup will probably hit well all year. I wasn't convinced of this in April, but to have a great hitting team means you need about six or seven of your hitters going at once. Not all nine. This never happens. Besides, when the Jays' get their arms back we will probably forget they survived the first two months on hitting. When healthy, this is a deep and well stacked pitching staff.

4. The importance of their start can not be overstated. For people who think 19-10 is no big deal, let me explain it this way: The Blue Jays could lose their next nine, three-game series, win only one game in each series, and be a .500 ball club in the middle of June. This is their best start since 1992, the year they won the World Series. My prediction: if they have the same winning percentage in May that they had in April (which would work out to about 18-11), their record would be 33-20 going into June, and they will be a playoff team.

5. My MVP's so far for this club, in order:

1. Roy Halladay - (5-1) The stud on which the whole thing hangs.

2. Adam Lind - 29 RBI's. More clutch hits than anyone on the team. Vital, especially during the struggles of Wells and Rios.

3. Mitch Richmond - (4-0)AL Rookie of the Month for April. Righties are hitting the now No.2 starter to the tune of .111. Completely unexpected.

4. Scott Downs - Simply "the man" in the bullpen.

5. Aaron Hill & Marco Scutaro - Setting the table at the top of the order. Scutaro leads the league in walks, and Hill has been the driving force of the offence.


Note: Send me your top MVP's so far this year, and I will post them on the site.

-Steve

The Importance of an Ace

Halladay: The Most Important Blue Jay

You can feel it in the dugout. It not only changes the rhythm of the day, but the rhythm of the week and the month. Once, every five days, you have a better chance to win than the other team. As a player, it is energizing and necessary, especially through the long months of the baseball season. This is the reason the Yankees paid so much for C. C. Sabathia this past off-season, and why the Royals are suddenly relevant again with the presence of the emerging Zach Greinke, the recent Sports Illustrated cover boy. Greinke beat the Blue Jays for his fifth win of the season the other night. In so doing, he surrendered his first two earned runs of the season.

Anyone who has ever played the game understands the importance of pitching and the value in having one "super pitcher." Unfortunately, that isn't always true of broadcasters and writers, many of whom were simply not athletic enough to make their high school teams. Bob McCown, the FAN590's main voice during the week (And an excellent broadcaster), has at times suggested the Blue Jays trade Roy Halladay. "Blow it up and get what you can for him." It a suggestion so ridiculous and 'unbaseball' it is almost impossible to deconstruct. Kind of like attacking Yogi Berra quotes. Where do you start?

The best thing about the Blue Jays' hot start is that they will not be contemplating trading one of the best two pitchers in baseball for the next little while at least. Halladay is signed through 2010, and at thirteen million per year (3 years for forty million), is the best bargain in baseball. Unfortunately, I'm not sure how many Blue Jay fans realize that pitchers like Halladay are rare, and while he continues to build his Hall of Fame credentials, he will have to contend with the uneducated and ridiculous notions by members of the media who have never played the game.

Greinke, the object of a good New York Times article, has single handedly turned the Royals into a dangerous team. Who wants to face the Royals, long a laughingstock in the league, for a three game series with Greinke pitching one of those games? Suddenly the pressure is on the opponent, and as we've seen this past week, the Royals were able to force the red hot Jays to submit. Without their own Ace going, the Jays lost their first series of the year.

Tomorrow, Halladay will take the hill for the Jays, and don't believe that the Orioles aren't thinking about it. It's what an Ace gives you, and why any notions of trading Halladay reveal a dangerous ignorance about the game.

-Steve

From 2002-2008, Halladay has a .698 winning percentage, 113 Wins, 9 shutouts, 37 Compete games, and 7.14 Innings Per Start, all of which are best in the American League in that time frame.

The Bills Score High Grades in Draft

Attitude and Instinct the Theme on Draft Day

There's nothing worse than being stuck in traffic with a sore back and a standard transmission. Such was the case Saturday night as I headed home in the wind/rainstorm that produced a number of fallen signs, wet bystanders and grumpy callers from Western New York about the Bills' first day draft choices.

I have to admit, I was a bit concerned myself when I looked up and saw Michael Oher, one of the top rated tackles in the draft still on the board at 23, and the Bills making no effort to trade up. Eric Wood, projected as a second round choice, was the Bills's choice for the first round pick they'd picked up from Philadelphia in the Jason Peters' trade. And the fans were not happy about it. For over an hour I listened to callers complain about the Bills penchant for "reaching". You'd have thought they'd done the scouting themselves, by the way they frequently referred to the Bills' needs and what the team should have done.

Of course, that's the great part about being a fan. And the Bills haven't been in the playoffs since 1998, so they have reason to be cynical. When I looked through the descriptions and scouting reports however, I found a common theme among the Bills' choices.

Not a single problem athlete. As a rule, the Bills drafted hardworking players who will put their nose to the grindstone, play with injury, and work well with their teammates. This has been the mantra of New England (who always escapes criticism from the experts because they've proven to be very effective at picking in the later rounds) for the past decade, and they've done pretty well.

Take the case of Eben Britton, the highest rated tackle still on the board before the Jags picked him with the 39th pick. His quote, "every team that passed on me will regret it for the rest of the history of their franchise'' says everything you need to know about why the Bills passed. The reason they traded Peters was essentially his poor attitude. (I'm better than two of the guys on the line, so why are they making more than me.) After which, he went out in 2008 and had an ordinary year, while demanding top dollar.

And when we talk about attitude, I'm not talking about confidence or a mean streak. Those are good things. (Center Eric Wood, who New England apparently loved, possesses both of those qualities) We're talking about arrogance, the kind that kills a locker room. Any one who has played team sports understands how important this is, and that a team can be greater than the sum of its parts if they play together. (Which makes the Terrell Owens deal even more mystifying)

The other theme behind the Bills' draft choices is that they chose football players over great athletic ability. (See Raiders, Oakland, for comparison) Even Maybin, still raw after essentially a one year career at Penn State, is considered an instinctive, smart, fluid player.

The second day of the draft looks even better to me, especially the tight end from Southern Miss., Shawn Nelson, who should immediately upgrade the passing game. The Bills will have a number of corners for their cover 2 zone in camp, and hopefully Maybin will address their pass rushing issues. The only question, really, is whether Langston Walker can hold up at left tackle. If he can, than this draft goes from good to great.

-Steve

The Rhythm of the Game

(Thanks to MLB for the pic)

Baseball has oft been considered the most literary of sports. With its history and pacing, it is easily the most cinematic of sports. Themes of life and culture blend seamlessly into the history of the game, whether it is Jackie Robinson breaking the colour barrier or Curt Flood challenging the owners and creating the most powerful union in sports. Despite this, many casual observers still believe that a game consists of 18 separate half-innings, that because baseball is not a "flow sport" ala soccer or hockey or even football to some extent, that there is no rhythm to it. And yet, for those of us who played it, it is easy to discern the rhythm to each game that is unique to the next. It is felt in the dugouts and enacted on the field nearly always to form.

Teams do come from behind to win games. That's true. The majority of games however, are not decided inning by inning, but by one or two moments that decide the outcome. Take last night's game against the White Sox. With runners on first and second, Aaron Hill hits a rocket up the middle that appears will put the Jays back in the lead. Except White Sox second baseman Brent Lillibridge makes a diving stab to his right to end the inning. A few innings later Vernon Wells hits what looks like a sure double, only to be robbed by an unbelievable catch by White Sox centerfielder Jerry Owens.

Contrast that with the Jays. Down 3-2, emergency starter Burress is facing White Sox backup catcher Corky Miller, a career .182 hitter. He walks Miller to load the bases, and two batters later Alexis Ramirez hits a grand slam. Although it is only the fifth inning, the game is over.

Winning in baseball is about winning the majority of these confrontations, and they are sometimes harder to spot than we first think. (It isn't simply about the hit that drives in the winning or go ahead runs) If you win the key moments, you control the rhythm of the game, and your record will reflect that. The Jays have the best record in baseball because in the first two weeks they have won the majority of these moments.

-Steve