Views from a Die-Hard

Game #1 - Opening Day

2009-04-06T12:18:00.004-04:00

I have been waiting months for this day to arrive, and what do I get? The crummiest weather to hit this area in a few weeks. Regardless, I will be making the trek to Rogers Centre to catch the Home Opener.. it is finally here.

I plan on blogging about each Jays game this season, and if that proves to be a daunting task, I will at least attempt to post several times a week to cover my thoughts and views of the games that week.

I will refrain from making any predicitions for the upcoming season, but I'm really excited, as any Jays fan should be this year, about watching the progress of the younger players on the team. Snider, Lind, Romero, Purcey, etc. should all make good strides this year... and we are ALL eagerly awaiting the arrival of the much-balywhooed Cecil.

PLAY BALL!

Peace out, Rusty...

2009-02-05T17:17:00.005-05:00

Soooo close, but yet, so far away...

Well, it's official. Russ Adams was designated for assignment today, and as seen above in a picture that perfectly illustrates his Blue Jays career; you know, he's REALLY trying out there, but, it's just not quite enough... and Posada is in the way, too. Drafted in the first round of the 2002 MLB Entry Draft, Adams has turned out to be an incredible flame-out draft pick of everyone's favourite GM these days, JP Ricciardi. I can't say that I ever disliked Russ Adams, because as I mentioned above, I think he was always giving his all at shortstop. I mean, let's face it, he's no Chris Woodward, so he had a shot, right? Man, I really hated Chris Woodward. Anyway, Adams got a pretty wicked case of the 'yips' a few years ago, and was shuttled down to Triple A to hone is wares at second base. When even that didn't work out, he played last year in the OF, but just couldn't reach the offensive numbers that were expected of him as a first round draft pick.

Here's to hoping that he can catch on with another team, because as I said previously, I don't dislike the guy at all. Good luck, Rusty... you're going to need it.

Loewen Making Huge Strides?

2009-02-04T22:58:00.004-05:00

According to several news outlets today, Canadian baseball player Adam Loewen (he of the former-pitching variety for those OTHER AL East rejects, the Baltimore Orioles) has really been turning some heads with his hitting ability. After his career as a promising left-handed pitcher was cut-short due to several elbow-related injuries, he has decided to make a comeback as a position player with the Blue Jays.

Now, as has been said on other blogs already today, this could really turn out to be quite the feel-good story for the feeling-not-so-good-so-far Blue Jays this off-season. As fans, we are absolutely REELING from the lack of activity on the part of Mr. Baseball himself, Blue Jays GM JP Ricciardi, so this news about Loewen is a welcome breath of positive news. Russell Martin, another fine Canadian player for the LA Dodgers, has said that Loewen has, and I quote, "Morneau-like ability" in the batters box. That is not something to be taken lightly. I, for one, would be happy if Mr. Loewen had 2/3 the ability of Justin Morneau. Don't know who Morneau is? Oh, he's just the AL MVP from the Minnesota Twins. The guy is a monster. Oh, and he's Canadian, too.

Anywho, more to come in the very near future. I sure hope I get better at this...

Blue Jays Hit the Pacific Rim

2009-02-04T22:51:00.003-05:00

The Blue Jays have finally landed a player directly from the seemingly-hot Japanese baseball leagues. The Blue Jays have signed Ken Takahashi to a minor league deal. Keep in mind, my friends, that this is no Daisuke Matsusakakakkiki, and not even close to an Ichiro... well, if Ichiro was a pitcher... anyway, it just shows one important thing: that the Blue Jays have finally dipped into the Japanese baseball hot-bed and came out with, well, a bite.

Keeping in mind that Takahashi is almost 40, I can't see him making much of an impact. However, the silver-lining here is that he is a lefty, and that it would take the other teams in MLB quite a while to 'figure him out', so to speak. So, perhaps he does break camp with the team and heads North for Opening Day. If he does, however, does this mean that Scott Downs could be on his way to the rotation? Questions, questions... and not a lot of damn answers this off-season.

This is how it goes...

2009-01-23T14:18:00.007-05:00

Labatt Park, London, ON - Ain't she beautiful, folks? Oldest Baseball Stadium in the World*, to boot.

Greetings, Blue Jays Nation... well, if there is a Blue Jays Nation. Often times, I find myself wondering if I indeed am the only Blue Jays fan who truly lives and breathes the hilarity and/or frustration that comes with being a Blue Jays fan these days. However, the past few days I have stumbled upon quite a few blogs that relate directly to the Blue Jays and the on-goings (or, this off-season, complete lack-there-of) of our beloved MLB franchise.

I don't have much time to write a huge introductory post, but I just want to lay out how I want to approach this blog for all of you readers... if there are any yet, that is.

First off, I tend to have an eternally positive outlook on most situations in life, and as such, this is also how I view my favourite MLB team. I take a lot of flack for trying to find the silver-lining in all things Blue Jay, and yes, I often even tried to explain the sea of retarded-ness that was Josh Towers. Looking back, even I will admit that Towers was pretty damn terrible. Whoops, that was negativity. Oh well.

Secondly, I am going to try and take a page from Mike Wilner's blog (link to be added when I figure out how) and try my best to post my thoughts with a level-head, and without any sort of SEVERE homerism. It's hard at times, but I like to think I can really take an even approach to all things Blue Jay.

Wish me luck. I think I'm going to need it...

*Some field in Massa-two-shits claims the actual title, but it's complete crap. Email me if you want all the inside info.