1990: pitched poorly, lost to Ryan. Not sure why Stieb, coming off a very good year, didn't get it--he started the next day.
― clemenza, Sunday, 3 April 2016 22:27 (eight years ago) link
Minor injury perhaps?
― Mad Piratical (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Sunday, 3 April 2016 22:32 (eight years ago) link
Had 'em, um, all the way.
― clemenza, Sunday, 3 April 2016 23:01 (eight years ago) link
Stieb slept on his moustache and was pushed back, yes.
― Andy K, Sunday, 3 April 2016 23:10 (eight years ago) link
Mystery solved. I should have paid attention to where the games were (from a Toronto Sun piece last year):
And there were extenuating circumstances as to why Stottlemyre was given the ball in the opener...his 35th career start.
There had been a work stoppage that spring, so when the season began the Jays opened with a one-game series in Arlington against the Texas Rangers and the next afternoon played the home opener at the SkyDome.
Jays management gave Dave Stieb the option, start the opener Monday night in Texas against Nolan Ryan in Arlington or pitch the home opener Tuesday afternoon against Charlie Hough?
Stieb picked the home date and beat the Rangers 2-1, a day after Stottlmyre lost 4-2 to Ryan.
― clemenza, Sunday, 3 April 2016 23:24 (eight years ago) link
What a choice. "Let me give it some--Jesus, I'll go with Hough."
― clemenza, Sunday, 3 April 2016 23:27 (eight years ago) link
I'm sure a lot of pitchers might choose Ryan actually
― Mad Piratical (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Monday, 4 April 2016 00:11 (eight years ago) link
At home, perhaps--not sure about Ryan in Texas vs. Hough at home.
― clemenza, Monday, 4 April 2016 00:27 (eight years ago) link
Donaldson homered, Pillar dove headfirst into the wall, it's starting to feel a lot like 2015.
― NoTimeBeforeTime, Tuesday, 5 April 2016 09:46 (eight years ago) link
New for 2016, tho: Saunders also had himself a day.
― Mad Piratical (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Tuesday, 5 April 2016 12:03 (eight years ago) link
Gibbons still doing his excellent folksy-guy-from-another-era routine. (Excellent when you're winning; maddening when you're not.)
― clemenza, Tuesday, 5 April 2016 14:10 (eight years ago) link
If we lose the division title by a game, it's Chase Utley's fault.
I've seen arguments for both sides of yesterday's call, but to me it was clearly BS -- Bautista slid directly into the bag and didn't change the path of his slide with the intent to initiate contact with the fielder (or whatever the exact wording of the rule is). If they call that, then practically any slide into a base can be called as interference if the fielder is in contact with the bag.
― NoTimeBeforeTime, Wednesday, 6 April 2016 10:51 (eight years ago) link
Yeah. My first reaction, after hearing the play described but before I actually saw it, was "They changed the rule, and you can't have it both ways." But now that I've seen it, there was nothing at all reckless about Bautista's slide. What exactly is he supposed to do--make a right turn and help the fielder out?
― clemenza, Wednesday, 6 April 2016 11:36 (eight years ago) link
i don't think there was anything wrong with the slide itself -- it was the fact that he needlessly reached out and grabbed the dude's ankle
― mookieproof, Wednesday, 6 April 2016 12:36 (eight years ago) link
also 'maybe we'll come out and wear dresses tomorrow' is nagl
― mookieproof, Wednesday, 6 April 2016 12:44 (eight years ago) link
If that small grab is illegal though, I don't see how anyone can legally break up a double play. On paper, the rules still allow a hard and potentially dangerous takeout slide directly to the bag, even if the fielder is there. Bautista's slide wasn't hard or dangerous, was directly into the bag, but the fielder came slightly off the bag to make the throw. I thought the rule change was about preventing injuries, not judging whether contact is incidental or not if the fielder steps half a foot off the base.
― NoTimeBeforeTime, Wednesday, 6 April 2016 14:22 (eight years ago) link
Wendy Thurm @hangingslidersIt must be confusing for the Respect The Game crowd to defend Jose Bautista.
If that small grab is illegal though, I don't see how anyone can legally break up a double play.
i'm cool with that. there is no other situation in baseball where it's okay to interfere with a fielder -- and it's particularly striking since the runner in question is already out. edwin sliding into first and grabbing the first baseman would break up the double play too; no one advocates that. it's just an 'it's always been this way' thing, and it should stop
― mookieproof, Wednesday, 6 April 2016 15:27 (eight years ago) link
there is no other situation in baseball where it's okay to interfere with a fielder
http://deadspin.com/yankees-protest-game-over-confusing-baserunning-call-1769350452
― Immediate Follower (NA), Wednesday, 6 April 2016 15:31 (eight years ago) link
Normally not big on the Twitter, but I like that one above. If you want to read a great rebuke to the Respect the Game crowd, read the Posnanski interview with Dale Murphy I posted a few days ago (Dale Murphy thread).
― clemenza, Wednesday, 6 April 2016 15:48 (eight years ago) link
Sliding into a base isn't interfering with the fielder. The runner has rights to the base, not the fielder, he has to slide there and his momentum will carry him into or through the base -- and through the fielder if he is standing there trying to make a throw. That is all perfectly legal, and more dangerous than Bautista's play. The rule is supposed to cover runners who intentionally slide away from the base and into the fielder, that's not what happened here.
"Already out" isn't relevant here, the runner can't stop dead in his tracks and disappear from the field the moment the out is recorded, he has to slide.
― NoTimeBeforeTime, Wednesday, 6 April 2016 18:12 (eight years ago) link
Donaldson just scored a 3 run homer :)
That end to the game last night was beyond deflating. Though perhaps in line with current stupid rules? bautista intentional touches - ever so slightly - the fielder with his hand, it wasn't a part of the slide etc. Infuriating anyway.
― trickle-down ergonomics (jim in glasgow), Wednesday, 6 April 2016 18:15 (eight years ago) link
http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/story/jose-bautista-slide-toronto-blue-jays-replay-tampa-bay-rays-logan-forsythe-ken-rosenthal-040616
― mookieproof, Wednesday, 6 April 2016 19:36 (eight years ago) link
Figured they'd come back and have a great day. Very close. They lost 5-3, and Donaldson left the game with an apparent injury.
― clemenza, Wednesday, 6 April 2016 20:17 (eight years ago) link
he is day-to-day, was fearing worse
― Van Horn Street, Wednesday, 6 April 2016 20:20 (eight years ago) link
Month-to-month?
― Mad Piratical (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Wednesday, 6 April 2016 20:54 (eight years ago) link
Do the other 29 teams have to go through the full customs rigamarole every time they travel to TOR for a road series, or is there an expedited customs process, or do the bigger pro sports leagues manage to skip that stuff altogether?
― Honor thy pisstake as a hidden intention. (WilliamC), Friday, 8 April 2016 22:29 (eight years ago) link
almost 100% they have to go through customs as any commercial passenger does
― trickle-down ergonomics (jim in glasgow), Friday, 8 April 2016 22:35 (eight years ago) link
teams have expedited processes for domestic flights though, like just off the coach onto the plane
Why does our bullpen hate our team so much?
― Mad Piratical (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Saturday, 9 April 2016 02:00 (eight years ago) link
I really like that R.A. Dickey uses words like "confluence" in his post-game interviews. I just wish he were a better pitcher.
― clemenza, Sunday, 10 April 2016 12:48 (eight years ago) link
R.A.D indeed one of the most loveable personalities in baseball.
― Van Horn Street, Sunday, 10 April 2016 13:53 (eight years ago) link
Looking down his last 3 years over Fangraphs, 1.7, 2.0, 2.0, I'm actually pleasantly surprised.
― Van Horn Street, Sunday, 10 April 2016 13:55 (eight years ago) link
At the salary he's paid, that's a pretty good deal. Maybe not so much worth the prospects the Jays gave up for him tho...
― Mad Piratical (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Sunday, 10 April 2016 20:04 (eight years ago) link
I'll put it this way: we traded for the other league's Cy Young winner, and we're into our fourth year of an okay third starter. I think we were looking for something that fell maybe halfway between.
― clemenza, Sunday, 10 April 2016 22:17 (eight years ago) link
agreed and agreed.
seeing the Jays at Fenway, next saturday.
― Van Horn Street, Sunday, 10 April 2016 22:43 (eight years ago) link
venditte!
― mookieproof, Wednesday, 13 April 2016 18:14 (eight years ago) link
Job opening:
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/instagraphs/job-posting-toronto-blue-jays-baseball-operations-data-architect/
I don't see "owns a lot of old Street & Smith and Zander Hollander annuals" anywhere, so I'm going to pass.
(Don't think I realized till now that Zander Hollander was an actual person, that he lived to be 91, and that he died only two years ago.)
― clemenza, Saturday, 16 April 2016 16:16 (eight years ago) link
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CgWCqOPWIAIfyfT.jpg
― mookieproof, Monday, 18 April 2016 18:19 (eight years ago) link
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/joe-biagini-playfully-irreverent-rule-5-blue-jay
― mookieproof, Tuesday, 19 April 2016 18:14 (eight years ago) link
It seems like every game this season has ended 4-3 or 5-3. Our pitching has been better than I expected. It's not like I expected a repeat of last year's offense, but the stars and scrubs lineup is getting a bit worrying. Offense is way down in the AL so far this year, so maybe there's something bigger going on.
― NoTimeBeforeTime, Thursday, 21 April 2016 12:16 (eight years ago) link
http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/04/22/blue-jays-agree-to-milb-deal-with-of-michael-bourn/
― we can be heroes just for about 3.6 seconds (Dr Morbius), Friday, 22 April 2016 19:42 (eight years ago) link
really could not parse "with of michael bourn" for a few seconds there
― yellow despackling power (Will M.), Friday, 22 April 2016 20:16 (eight years ago) link
http://www.tsn.ca/jays-colabello-suspended-80-games-after-positive-drug-test-1.476705
― -_- (jim in glasgow), Friday, 22 April 2016 20:33 (eight years ago) link
jesus montero time imo
― mookieproof, Friday, 22 April 2016 20:34 (eight years ago) link
fucking hell.
― Mad Piratical (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Friday, 22 April 2016 20:47 (eight years ago) link
muni's walk-up music with the triple-a iowa cubs: drake, '6 man'
;_;
― mookieproof, Friday, 22 April 2016 21:56 (eight years ago) link
Grim scene, baby, grim scene.
― clemenza, Saturday, 23 April 2016 01:03 (eight years ago) link
today was not a fun day.
― Mad Piratical (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Saturday, 23 April 2016 02:51 (eight years ago) link
I know Dickey turned it around last year, and I know he's probably an okay investment in terms of WAR-per-four-syllable-word-uttered/IP or some such formula. But if the Jays gave him his outright release tomorrow and ate his contract, I wouldn't care.
― clemenza, Wednesday, 27 April 2016 04:14 (eight years ago) link
Brett Cecil has managed to lose five of the Jays' first 25 games.
― clemenza, Sunday, 1 May 2016 03:43 (eight years ago) link
EE at 1B full time can work. Morales can be the full time DH.
I like how the Jays are making their moves early before the winter meetings and before the bidding for FAs gets ratcheted up. It worked for them last year too.
― NoTimeBeforeTime, Saturday, 12 November 2016 11:05 (seven years ago) link
stained-glass edwin
http://imgur.com/a/KxGMf
― mookieproof, Wednesday, 14 December 2016 17:15 (seven years ago) link
EE had a press conference today (can't bring myself to post this on the Indians thread...) and had a funny answer when he was asked if the parrot was making the trip: (paraphrase) "I'll have to check with immigration."
― clemenza, Thursday, 5 January 2017 21:59 (seven years ago) link
so - Bautista likely returning. reading a one or two years deal at around 18 per.
― Mad Piratical (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Monday, 16 January 2017 16:26 (seven years ago) link
I'm sure EE will be thrilled to see Bautista get a somewhat comparable deal.
― clemenza, Monday, 16 January 2017 16:49 (seven years ago) link
@sportslogosnetFull line from Marcus Stroman on why #BlueJays always wear blue in playoffs: "Tulo. Tulo likes the blue jerseys. He's the man, so he picks"
― mookieproof, Friday, 20 January 2017 22:53 (seven years ago) link
Having a hard time believing that Bautista turned down more money to return. That's what I heard on the radio, and the headline of this article corroborates that:
http://www.tsn.ca/bautista-turned-down-more-money-to-sign-with-blue-jays-1.655192
When you actually read the article, though, nowhere does it say that he was offered more money elsewhere.
― clemenza, Sunday, 22 January 2017 01:40 (seven years ago) link
I just played the press conference clips, and he doesn't seems to say it there, either. All he says is that were other offers.
Somehow the idea that he turned down more money is taking hold.
― clemenza, Sunday, 22 January 2017 01:48 (seven years ago) link
Heard a Joe Biagini interview clip on the radio yesterday (not Jimmy Kimmel--still haven't watched that) that made me laugh. The reporter asked him if he'd made any adjustments this year (paraphrase): "Well...I drove down instead of flying--that was an adjustment."
― clemenza, Thursday, 16 February 2017 12:41 (seven years ago) link
i want to adopt him.
― Mad Piratical (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Thursday, 16 February 2017 14:31 (seven years ago) link
I didn't pay enough attention to him last year--he's like a character from Ball Four, the living heir to Bill Lee and Moe Drabowsky and Dan Quisenberry.
― clemenza, Thursday, 16 February 2017 19:24 (seven years ago) link
I like the Latos ml deal.
― Mad Piratical (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Friday, 17 February 2017 01:10 (seven years ago) link
I was just checking Russell Martin's career box, and something I'd never noticed before (although I've lived through it twice): among players with a decent sample size, he must be among the worst post-season players ever. In 57 games/320 plate appearances: .185/.300/.303. And his awfulness is very consistent between divisional series and league championships (never played in a World Series). He had a couple of good WC games.
― clemenza, Monday, 3 April 2017 19:57 (seven years ago) link
Morales crushed the hell out of that ball.
― Mad Piratical (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Friday, 7 April 2017 02:31 (seven years ago) link
also maybe new thread time, but also i'm lazy.
new season new thread boys
― Van Horn Street, Friday, 7 April 2017 03:52 (seven years ago) link
always so much pressure coming up with new thread names. i feel like i let everyone down with the fantasy thread one!
― Mad Piratical (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Friday, 7 April 2017 03:55 (seven years ago) link
I really liked the Fantasy thread title...Was trying to think of something for the Jays, couldn't. Feels like some kind of hangover right now after two exciting years, and I don't know where the personality on the team is anymore.
― clemenza, Friday, 7 April 2017 04:24 (seven years ago) link
loved the fantasy thread one.
can't be worse than mines!
― Van Horn Street, Friday, 7 April 2017 04:26 (seven years ago) link
Biangini. maybe something about him getting a high five? i dunno, i'm going to bed.
xpost aw, thanks!
― Mad Piratical (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Friday, 7 April 2017 04:27 (seven years ago) link
JUST IN: Sportsnet baseball TV personality Gregg Zaun has been terminated by Rogers amid allegations of inappropriate sexual behaviour.— CP24 (@CP24) December 1, 2017
― -_- (jim in vancouver), Friday, 1 December 2017 00:07 (six years ago) link