Blue Jays Starting Nine for Opening Day?

On April 2, the Toronto Blue Jays will line-up for opening day against the Cleveland Indians, but fans won't be seeing the same nine that took the field in September. General Manager Alex Anthopolous is probably not finished tweaking the line-up, but until the next blockbuster deal, here is my take on what fans would see in April (this is assuming the trade between the Jays and Marlins is approved);

SP - Josh Johnson
C - JP Arencibia
1B - Edwin Encarnacion
2B - Emilio Bonafacio
SS - Jose Reyes
3B - Brett Lawrie
RF - Jose Bautista
CF - Colby Rasmus
LF - Melky Cabrera
DH - Adam Lind

For fun, here is how I would bat them;
Reyes
Bonafacio
Bautista
Encarnacion
Cabrera
Lawrie
Lind
Rasmus
Arencibia

What do you guys think? Does Lawrie hit second? Is Bonafacio the starter over Mike McCoy and Maicer Izturis?

Baseball Playoffs, Almost Always Fantastic!

There aren't many things wrong with the baseball playoffs. There is so much to like between the drama, unsuspecting heroes and champagne celebrations, but there are definitely some things that could use a fresh coat of paint, so to speak...

5. Late start times - much has been made in the past 5-10 years that kids aren't watching as much baseball and young athletes are choosing other sports. Well if a 12 year old can't stay up until 9:35pm to even see the first pitch, how is he going to fall in love with the sport? Also, I can't stay up past the 5th inning!

4. Extra umpires - they don't help at all as witnessed by the botched call in Atlanta and we got through a 162 game schedule with only 4 umpires per game, why change now? We don't add extra refs in hockey just because it is the Stanley Cup or an extra back judge during the Super Bowl. So why do it for baseball?

3. Rally _____ - fill in the blank with whatever ridiculous stunt the team has dreamed up. Whether it is monkeys, squirrels, towels or tomahawk chop, we don't need it. It is so nice to see full stadiums (I dream of this one day again at SkyDome) why do we mess it up with swag

2. Pitchers wearing winter coats on the base paths - no other explanation necessary

1. New York Yankees - has there ever been a team that 90% of fans wanted to see lose more than the Yankees? They have the most championships of any organization, don't you think it is time to give someone else a chance? Their bloated payroll currently features 8 potential Hall of Famers and they robbed the Mariners of Ichiro at the trade deadline. I don't really care who wins the World Series this year (c'mon Oakland), but as long as it isn't the damn Yankees, I'll be happy

Go Yankees?

It may be blasphemous to say "Go Yankees" around these parts, but for the next month, the Yankees are pretty much the team I will be rooting for during the MLB playoffs.

Why the Yankees you ask when there are so many better options. Well, let me break it down for you.

1 - the National League is not for me. So that obviously rules out both the Phillies and the Giants. Although, I do have a soft spot for Roy Halladay, because of his connections to Toronto, but that is as far as my "brotherly love" goes. The Phillies have been free spenders on the free agent market and have mortgaged their future for the present. If they can bring another championship to Philadelphia, I guess why not. I just won't be cheering for them.

The NL West is probably the division I follow the least in baseball. Besides playing late games and therefore never really being able to watch them on TV and missing their highlights constantly, the teams are blah. The Giants and Dodgers would still be better served playing in New York. The Giants don't have much going for them besides Tim Lincecum and Pablo Sandoval so why would I cheer form. Besides that fact, they have little to no chance of beating the Phillies, so why would I waste my time cheering for four games.

2 - The Rangers and Rays are both the up and comers of the American League and while it might be fun to cheer for them for awhile, as a fan I will just get frustrated watching their young players try and make it through the post-season.

Also, the Rays "fans" bug me. They averaged a little over 20,000 fans per game which ranked 22nd out of 30th in the Majors. Now, they are pulling back tarps to uncover seats in the highest parts of the stadium to accommodate the new support. If they didn't start the games at 5pm, they might not average 10,000 fans as all the seniors in Tampa need to head home early for the news.

The Rangers have tried to be the Yankees for as long as I remember. Overpaying for over the hill and mediocre talent and then they are shocked when they finish last in the AL West. This year they finally made a trade that made sense when they acquired Cliff Lee and hit the jackpot when they poached Josh Hamilton from the Rays, but even there recent all-stars like Michael Young have fallen on hard times. It will be nice if they win a playoff series so they can say they have done it, but other than that, the Rangers aren't a team I will cheer for.

3 - So that leaves the Yankees. It makes sense because they are in the AL East and if the World Series champs come from the division of the Jays, at least I can say we beat the best head to head this year and it gives me hope for the future.

Also, the Yankees have tradition like no other franchise. When you have won 27 World Championships, you might not need another one in the trophy case, but why not build up the resume a little further.

This season, the Yankees have had added motivation of losing key members of the organization. The most prominent being owner George "the boss" Steinbrenner and long time voice of Yankee stadium announcer Bob Sheppard. Although most of the current players don't have any connections to Steinbrenner or Sheppard they know how much it means to the fans and the rest of the organization to see the two of them off as winners.

So there it is, I'm going to join Spike Lee, Jay-Z and Billy Crystal and don the Yankees cap for the next month...

My Wrigley Experience

On Saturday afternoon, I was fortunate enough to experience one of the joys of being a fan. I was able to watch a Chicago Cubs game from the bleachers at Wrigley Field.

This wasn't my first time at Wrigley. Back in 1991 I went to a game with my parents. We sat down the first base line. It was the only time my parents ever bought scalpers tickets to a baseball game. They let my brother and I wait against the fence where the players park their cars to get autographs (I got Mitch Williams) and then we entered the stadium as soon as the gates opened so we could be right up against the wall to get autographs of the Expos. It was only about a week after Dennis Martinez pitched his perfect game. I wanted his autograph so bad, but to no avail. After standing out in the blazing sun that August I dreamed of returning. I finally got my chance.

It is a different experience attending a Cubs game with 18 buddies rather than your parents. This time the day started a little later, since the Friday night was a bit of a party. In the cab ride to the stadium, I began to get excited. You begin to see the names of the streets that surround the stadium and you know you are getting close - Addision, Clark. After getting dropped off, we strolled around the stadium and got in line for the bleachers. The buzz outside the stadium is great. Vendors on the street, all the fans wearing Cubs gear and people already enjoying the day to the fullest.

Once inside the stadium, we were actually able to find 18 seats together in the general admission bleacher section. We sat in three rows in front of each other near the top in right field. With the sun beating down and still some time before the first pitch, we had time to absorb the surroundings and start the party all over again.

Ted Lilly was the starting pitcher for the Cubs on Saturday. He was coming off a masterful pitching performance five days earlier when he pitched 8 no hit innings to beat the White Sox. Lilly was the first Cub to take the field and it was to a great ovation as he jogged along the warning track.

Before the game started a couple of other moments...two fans won the opportunity to play catch in the outfield. Neat promo, but I would probably have taken the chance to try and throw a runner out at home. The other was actor Channing Tatum (GI JOE) throwing out the ceremonial first pitch...and then the game was under way!

Three pitches later it was 1-0 Angels as the home run went into the first row of the right field bleachers. The route was on. After Lilly struggled to get through the first couple of innings and the Cubs bats weren't hitting Weaver, it allowed the group to concentrate on our surroundings. We had a mean game of mound ball on the go, picking out random jerseys and caps (saw a couple of Expos hats) and of course cheering and heckling - the left field bleachers.

The experience of going to a game at Wrigley is different than anywhere else. This could be a bad thing or a good thing depending on how old you are. There are no jumbotrons, no replay screens and the scoreboard is manually operated. By not having all the distractions and in game entertainment, it really does make you pay more attention the game and that is not a bad thing.

The only in game entertainment was the 7th inning stretch. On Saturday it was former SNL alum Tim Meadows who did the honour with the sold out stadium singing right along with him.

As the game came to a close and fans started heading to the exit, I took the chance to sit row 1 in the bleachers. Not a great seat, but to be that close to the ivy and Fukodome was awesome. A nice reward for sitting through a 12-0 loss.

After the game, the day doesn't stop. The outside of the stadium has just as much to offer as inside. The bars with all the fans, more vendors out in the street selling t-shirts and hats and the big noodle or the statue of Ernie Banks.

As you can tell it was a great day at Wrigley Field for me, and this would be a excursion I would make every year.

Zzzzzzzzzzzz

Most sport fans are aware that baseball isn't the most exciting game, but there is a difference between me having a nap on a Sunday afternoon during the Jays game and what happened over the weekend.

Future Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. has been struggling this season to say the least, so his at bats are becoming further and further apart. According to reports, with the Mariners struggling and looking to make changes Griffey might be the victim. There is a good chance in the next couple of weeks he will be off the 25 man roster and what reportedly happened won't help his case. Apparently, Griffey was unavailable to pinch hit in a recent game because he was asleep in the locker room. Although it is not unusual to see a player disappear into the dugout they usually come out after the inning, not Griffey apparently. He has disappeared and not returned because he was watching the games on the television. Well, at least he knows when his career his over.

The other sleeping baseball star is Keith Hernandez. The former Mets first baseman known for his mustache and his work on Seinfeld had "the snooze" episode of his own over the weekend.



Like I said, there is a difference between me having a nap on the couch and a ballplayer doing it. Although we both get the tap on the shoulder to go back to work.

Bud Selig Looking Good In Bronze

It was announced yesterday that the Brewers will erect and unveil a statue of Bud Selig outside of Miller Park.

Bud Selig is being honoured for his "vision and dedicated effort" and I'll finish the sentence - "vision and dedicated effort" in ruining baseball. To have a statue of yourself raise 7 feet off the ground, you should have contributed something to the community where you live.

Selig did do one good thing for Milwaukee, he brought baseball there in 1970 when he bought the Seattle Pilots and moved them to Wisconsin, after that it has been pretty down hill. During Selig's tenure as club president, the Brewers participated in postseason play in 1981, when the team finished first in the American League East during the second half of the season, and in 1982, when the team made it to the World Series, under the leadership of future Hall of Famers Robin Yount and Paul Molitor. Selig was part of the owners' collusion in 1985–1987, resulting in the owners paying $280 million in damages to the players.

Then in 1992 Selig was named Commissioner of Baseball. More follies ensued...
-> Institutes Wild Card and Divisional Playoffs
-> Suspends Marge Schott for repeated prejudicial remarks and actions
-> Reinstates George Steinbrenner from a lifelong suspension
-> Has not reinstated Pete Rose
-> Represented MLB during the 1994 strike that almost killed baseball
-> Canceled the World Series, making it the first time it had not been staged since 1904
-> Implemented interleague play
-> Selig held a vote on contracting two teams, reportedly the Minnesota Twins and Montreal Expos. This action led to Selig (along with former Expos owner Jeffrey Loria) being sued for racketeering and conspiring with Loria to deliberately defraud the Expos minority owners.
-> Decided to end the 2002 All-Star Game (which was being held in Milwaukee) in a tie
-> Decided to award the winner of the All-Star Game home field advantage in the World Series. The American League thanks you
-> Commissioner during the PED era and did nothing about it
-> Was going to retire in 2009, he then pulled a Brett Favre and decided to extend his tenure to 2012

That is quite the resume....so with all that Bud Selig has accomplished and now that the bar is set quite low for getting your own statue, I think these are the next few people who should be immortalized;
-> Barry Bonds outside PNC Park in San Francisco
-> Roger Clemens outside Fenway in Boston
-> Vince Carter outside the ACC in Toronto
-> Conan O'Brien outside the NBC studios
-> Brett Favre outside Lambeau Field in Green Bay

What random and bad choices for statues do you think are out there?

(Thanks to Wikipedia for information on Bud)

Stars and Stripes Hats

Alright, so I ranted on the state of baseball's third jersey a while ago...now the caps will get the treatment.

Alot of people have an affinity for New Era caps. They are the best in the business and everyone wants a "crisp New Era". They do have quality control issues with sizing and width of their letters, but we deal with it because they are the only ones who produce official caps.

In the past decade fashion caps have become all the rage. Take a NY Yankees fitted make it purple, put a green NY symbol and you have a best seller. Pro teams haven't taken this to the field, until July 4th this year. New Era has turned every teams hat RED and made the logo with the stars and stripes (the Jays have a Canadian flag) and teams will be wearing them twice this season - July 4 and September 11. I assume the Jays will get to wear there's a third time on July 1.

For the past couple of seasons we have had the stars and stripes design, except they were in team colours, this is taking the process a little far. New Era has to make certain they don't upset a lot of uniform purest.

Stars and Stripes For Every Team