I think Vlad bottomed out tonight (I was bowling and half-following.): 0-5, two strikeouts, hit into a double-play, made out in the top of the 9th with the tying run on first and one out, made an error in the bottom the fifth that would have been the third out and the Jays went from up 2-0 to down a run. Would love to hear the call-in shows tomorrow.
(xost) Funny! I honestly don't think I've ever booed a player in person. I'd have to give that some thought. I did defiantly cheer Alomar a few times when he returned to Toronto as everyone around me booed him. (This was well before the charges that made him a pariah two years ago--his big offenses at the time were, of course, the spitting, and also sulking his way out of Toronto.)
I always used to group Kimbrel/Jensen/Chapman together--the most eye-popping rate stats ever for closers before Hader--but above and beyond his personal baggage, Chapman's fallen 100 saves behind them. Also just suspended for two games:
https://apnews.com/article/pirates-aroldis-chapman-suspended-e4f02b154551c50965156d80ff90a648
For today and (probably) today-only, there's actually someone who sits between them on the career saves list: John Franco, with 424.
And whether Billy Wagner gets in next year will also matter--if he's not elected, I would think that would hurt their chances a lot...I was thinking it might be that, his annoying vulture-like contortions.
Kenley Jansen and Craig Kimbrel have a Similarity Score of 965.7 right now--that's incredibly high. As a point of comparison, Freeman and Goldschmidt, who I'm always posting about, are at 922 (and they're no longer each other's #1 comp).
Jansen: 820 IP, 2.52 ERA, 2.52 FIP, 0.962 WHIP, 425 saves, 20.7 WAR
Kimbrel: 767 IP, 2.38 ERA, 2.45 FIP, 0.984 WHIP, 423 saves, 24.0 WAR
I don't think either will make the HOF, but if one does, it'd be hard to keep the other out. There would appear to be a tiny edge for Kimbrel, but I'd go with Jansen if it's just one of them. 1) Much better postseason record (twice as many innings, half Kimbrel's ERA); 2) more consistent; he's never had a wipeout season, Kimbrel's had three; 3) Kimbrel's so disliked, for reasons I've either forgotten or never knew (is it something he did or said at one point? who can keep track anymore).
You wouldn't know this unless you follow the Jays, but Daulton Varsho has been going crazy the past week-plus. Last 10 games, after starting the season .158/.238/.184:
3 doubles, 6 HR, 13 RBI, .355/.412/1.032 (plus GG defense, which was also true last year).
Jays are 13-10, having been outscored by 11 runs. No idea which is more likely: they start to win some laughers or lose some close ones.
Picked up a nice copy of this not two weeks ago.
https://www.discogs.com/release/1684951-Norman-Greenbaum-Back-Home-Again
The Leafs are only the #2 hockey story in St. Marys (I assume they're at least that), where the Junior B Lincolns are trying to win the Sutherland Cup for the first time since 1976. They're in a round-robin with Fort Erie and Letterkenny Listowel right now, 1-1 so far--I think that's the final stage.
I collect those postcards--I'm right up to date as of the 2023 group. I look forward to purchasing my Notably Bad Whitey card sometime soon. (You know who else was a pretend architect? George Costanza.)
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