My Favourite Blue Jay

On Tuesday, I will attend my first Blue Jays game of the season. The last couple of seasons, there was always a reason to attend. Whether it was Doc Halladay on the mound or the chants of “Marco Scutaro” that came from the stands when he strode to the plate.

If I wasn’t going to cheer on Hallady or Scutaro, I was probably there to root against someone. Last year, sitting right behind the Yankees dugout the target was Alex Rodriguez. Every time he came to the plate or had to walk to the dugout we would flash photos of Madonna and author Selena Roberts. Whenever Miguel Tejada comes to town, he gets boo’s rained upon him for deserting Oakland and taking the big money pay day in Baltimore - where he is again this season after playing for Houston for two seasons, and will get booed loudly again when he arrives.

This season though, when attending the Jays game I really want a favourite player to cheer for, not just there to heckle the opposition (by the way, Alex Rios will be the target on Tuesday).So, I am going to choose my favourite Jay player…

Let’s start by eliminating a few of the players to make the choice a little easier.

-Vernon Wells, his contract is too big, he hasn’t performed to a high enough level and I can ignore his 4 home runs to start the season no problems.
-Overbay, Encarnacion and Bautista, all these players are decent, but don’t have long term future with the club. I really don’t want to go through this process every year
-John Buck and Jose Molina, love cheering for catchers, but neither is the future of the club. The Jays have so many catching prospects, just waiting for one of them to break through.
-John McDonald and Randy Ruiz, both will get some playing time this year. McDonald is a great defensive player but I want my favourite player to at least know how to hold a bat. Ruiz probably won’t get enough at bats this year to cheer properly and the games I go to, I want to know my guy is playing.
-Kevin Gregg had a chance, with the glasses and the long hair, but then he lost the closer gig to Jason Frasor. Frasor had a chance but he blew his first save attempt, so they are both out.
-Brian Tallet shaved his mustache, otherwise he would have gotten huge consideration.

So after eliminating half the team from contention, who do I have left to cheer for;
Adam Lind
Aaron Hill
Travis Snider
Shawn Marcum
Ricky Romero
Dana Eveland
Jesse Carlson

Another round of elimination…
-Adam Lind and Aaron Hill are out. Going against the grain is something I pride myself on, so making one of the two best Jays my favourite player just seems wrong.
-Marcum and Romero. Cheering for guys coming back from injury is a great story, and one of them is in line to be the ace for years to come, I just don’t want to choose the wrong guy.
-Jesse Carlson, the tattoos are a huge bonus (cheering for a rebel is cool), but he might have trouble staying with the big club all year even though he is a lefty and Gaston likes him. He won’t get the innings needed to be my favourite unfortunately for him.

THE WINNERS
Travis Snider and Dana Eveland
With the chance to play everyday now, Snider will be considered one of the cornerstones for the Jays. He has a chance to hit 20 home runs this year and he hustles in the field and on the base paths. You can tell by how red his cheeks when he hustles down the line. So when I get my chance to attend games this season, left field is where I will be.

Traded from Oakland for cash considerations in the off-season Dana Eveland had a great spring training to win the 5th starter role ahead of Mark Rzepczynski. His first start for Toronto was a gem and he will give the Jays innings and has a bright future. When I have a chance to see a particular pitcher, I will make sure it is Eveland.

Who do you think I should have picked?