Toronto Blue Jays 2018: Our Team Was Founded by Regular Canadian Guys, but It’s Being Run by People from Cleveland

The walls are closing in--conceding that I've hardly watched the Jays at all the last couple of years, I've never seen Gibbons chew out a player before.

https://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/pillar-thrown-stealing-third-draws-ire-gibbons/

Us and the Orioles, 162 games, winner take all. Come on, Baltimore, man up.

Yeah I'd be surprised if Gibbons was the manager next season.

I was looking at a WAR leaderboard the other day, trying to find the first Jay. Had to go down to the 180th spot or something to find Smoak around 2.0 (Happ was about even with him when he left).

You've got to go back to 1979 to find a year when the Jays didn't have at least one guy (and usually more ) at 4.4+. So even when the team was terrible, there was always somebody to root for and a reason to watch--Hentgen, Wells, even Rios led one year in the mid-5.0s. And when the team was winning, there was usually at least one or two guys with MVP-type numbers. Depending upon how excited you are by the two young starters, there is literally nobody worth watching right now.

Obviously, you weren't rooting for Hentgen and Wells to achieve a certain WAR, which didn't exist then. I'm just using that as shorthand for compiling numbers and having good seasons--you could root for someone to his 30 HR, knock in a 100, compete for the ERA title, whatever. I remember James writing once that these benchmarks take on extra meaning when you're following a losing team.

I kinda forgot about Josh Donaldson... after spending almost a month in the start of the season on the DL for his right shoulder, he went on the 10-day DL in May for a low-grade calf strain and has not been heard from since.

you liberated Canadians

http://awfulannouncing.com/local-networks/nbc-sports-philadelphia-intro-for-phillies-blue-jays-game-gets-a-look-at-naked-guy-in-toronto.html

Some full-court second-guessing on the call-in show today: the host (not sure which guy it was) was all over Shapiro and Atkins for not trading Donaldson in the off-season. Honestly, I didn't want them to make that trade. I assumed Donaldson would be healthy and that we had a chance at the second wild-card.

ya - a lot of people were saying to trade him in the off season and write 2018 off essentially. i don't blame them at all for seeing how the season went - there's no way to know your star player is going to be injured at the deadline. but it's a dumb call in show, where everyone is better manager than Gibbons the day after and i wouldn't put too much weight behind what they are saying. tho some people did earn the right to say "i told you so" on this one.

kendrys homers again, 7th straight game

I was at the game, had to explain the basics of the game to my parents and they really enjoyed it. Seeing 6 homeruns and Maikel Franco goofing around helps. Now, I’m almost certain learning about the game is easier when you see it live rather than on television.

Also the Skydome is not nearly as bad a ballpark as some people make it out to be, if only for the convenient location. I much prefer it to Nü-Yankees Stadium.

Shi Davidi of Sportsnet reports that Josh Donaldson is out of the High-A Dunedin lineup due to soreness in his calves and legs.

Maybe time to take up chess or origami?

Us and the Orioles, 162 games, winner take all. Come on, Baltimore, man up.

They did, they did--I am duly humbled.

vlad (and bo) named to the arizona fall league, so presumably will not be called up in september

A few years ago, we started hearing about Rowdy Tellez. I saw him a couple of times in Buffalo, and he had such an air of career-minor-leaguer about him: .270 hitter, medium-range power, big and immobile first-base/DH-type. He finally got his first MLB AB last-night towards the end of a blowout. First pitch, RBI double. I was laughing out loud, it was such a great moment. Found out later that his mom died three weeks ago, so I was extra happy for him.

vlad (and bo) named to the arizona fall league, so presumably will not be called up in september

― mookieproof, Thursday, August 30, 2018 2:19 PM (one week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

The Arizona Fall League is a great place to improve defence iirc.

Watch the clip up top till the end: Rowdy's hit, plus him leaving a tribute to him mom in the dirt.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/rowdy-tellezs-big-league-debut-nothing-short-amazing/

"his mom"

Rowdy has six doubles in his first 10 major-league AB--six! And he didn't even get a sidebar mention on the MLB site.

Home run, Rowdy! He's got 7 XB hits in his first 4 games, first time since 1913. Slugfest going on, so he may get another AB.

rip gibby

Thank you John Gibbons for leading our @BlueJays and for all the great memories. I want to wish you good luck in the future! Toronto will miss you, Gibby! Proud to proclaim today as John Gibbons Day in Toronto. #BlueJays pic.twitter.com/ZwtJuJjTD9

— John Tory (@TorontosMayor) September 26, 2018

I wanted to see the end of the game but got held up at the dentist. Ended up with the second-most wins behind Cito, and today's win assures he'll finish up with a winning record (barely). No one will ever surpass him in Stengel-like post-game meandering.

These days managers only need to keep the peace in the clubhouse while still finding time to memorize the reports from the analytics department -- not exactly Gibbons' best skills.

Russell Martin manager shows excellent judgement in sitting down Russell Martin player.

so i didn't realize until he did it Sunday – but Kevin Pillar hit 40 doubles! was rather surprised. has only happened 25 times in Blue Jays history – with 16 players doing it. (two accomplishing it three times as Jays)

Ed Sprague was interviewed for the managerial post today.

Oh god

i'm hoping Stubby Clapp gets the job.

I don't want Eric Wedge, otherwise no preference. Don't know anything about Sprague's credentials, other than his recent job with Oakland.

(xpost on Pillar)

He's been a pretty consistent doubles hitter the past three seasons: 35, 37, 40. As frustrating as he can be, I can envision him thriving in a situation where he's on a good team and can bat eighth or ninth and not be expected to carry any offensive load; just play defense (which has slipped the past couple of years), and any offense is a bonus. Because he does contribute with the bat--the doubles, 10-15 HR, and he keeps his average over .250. He's got one huge glaring weakness: the hideous walk rate (111 for his career now, in over 2,500 AB). Hidden away on a good offense (like the Jays three years ago), he can be the designated Caesar Geronimo, and his OBP is not that big a deal.