There was a sound bite on TV last night in which Pat Hentgen was asked if he was "quietly" rooting for Roy Halladay's continued success. "No, I'm openly rooting for him," replied the first Jay to win a Cy Young award.
In his column today, celebrating their similarities, Richard Griffin called a pre-game meeting between the two righties "a nice torch-passing moment," and obviously respects both men.
Of all the Blue Jays' aces over the past decade, Hentgen and Halladay resemble each other the most — the kind of people you would want your sons to grow up to be like.
The Orioles, rumoured to be shopping for high-ticket items like Vladimir Guerrero this winter, might not exercise their $4 million option for 2004 on Hentgen, who Griffin suggests would like to finish his career in his hometown of Detroit. I'd be very happy if he returned to Toronto; he's 5-2 with a 2.85 ERA in his last 11 starts, fully recovered at last from the Tommy John surgery he required in 2001, and would be a wonderful mentor for Doc and the other young hurlers.
The riddle wrapped in the enigma that is Kelvim Escobar is on the bump for the Jays, the only team in the majors with a winning record on the road and a losing mark at home. Kelvim, 3-7 with a 6.21 ERA in 12 starts and eight relief appearances at the Dome, is one of the primary reasons for that oddity. He did pitch OK against the Yankees here ten days ago (6.2 IP, 3 ER, no decision) but has just one win in his last 10 home starts.
It could be a very good pitching matchup, though I hope not -- my fantasy teams are really counting heavily on Carlos Delgado. The Walrus is tied 6-6 with Billie's Bashers entering play today, trailing by .020 in OBP and a mere .001 in SLG. The Jays, now 3 games over .500 and 8-3 for the month, look to win their fourth straight. This is being posted early (it's a 4:05 start) because I'm on a lunch break at work. No idea what the lineup will be, but I'm expecting to see Crash and Cat. I'll be going straight from here to the game, where I look forward to meeting some of the Box regulars.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20030913013134999