My guess would be when he destroyed his mask on the field. If he can get tossed for slamming his batting helmet after returning to the bench after an at bat (I think that was Zaun), showing that level of frustration on field will probably do it.

Trading to improve is great. Trading to save money is not. No one here has suggested a good return on the players they think should be traded away, other than making a profit.

Thanks for the info about the mask. I missed that part.

Neither could I. My view was from the press box - behind home plate, 300 level.

I can't stand that subjective ego-trip umpiring garbage.

Say hello to Mr John Hirschbeck, a man sufficiently full of himself to reject the strike zone as defined by the rule book because he doesn't much like it, and substitute his own. And say so.

Wells wasn't very happy with the new crushed-rock warning track when he first saw it. I don't know if that's part of the problem, or even if there is a problem, but there it is anyway.

Two bad calls really hurt the Jays this weekend. At the same time, these are the D-Rays, and bad umpiring shouldn't be the difference between a win and a loss. It's just another data point that this Blue Jays team is only okay, not much more. I'll be interested to see how they bounce back in their next series.

Yup, and guess who was getting mocked for it in the press box today?

"Friends of yours, Magpie?"

To which I bravely responded "Yeah, and just wait til they update it."

So who was responsible, anyway?

OK, I'll own up to it. I was looking up Scho's recent track record against LHB and switch-hitters, and he's been quite effective of late. I was impressed enough to throw together the digits from 0 to 9 early this morning. I suppose that if there were any repeating digits (for instance, a walk and an out would have left him at exactly .500), I would've just fudged it. Lazy, but at 4:30 I figured I'd had enough.

It looked great until the 8th inning. Sadly, when Scho coaxed the groundout out of Huff to lower his OPS against to .4824, I realized I'd left the 2 at home. D'oh. So I rounded up to .483 instead and before I knew it, the baseball gods had turned the 3 upside down. Double d'oh.

Very few of the digits survived being duct taped, so this edition of the Real-Time Schoeneweis LHB OPS Meter won't make any more appearances. (It was made of chart paper.) But if I get my hands on some more durable materials, youneverknow.

And VBF's not kidding about sticking it to Hirschbeck when he makes his triumphant return to the RC. This is name-calling war!

So, if we go on an extended winning streak, you'll be saying 'anybody who thought we were done, was dreaming".

I really hate this 'sellers' or 'buyers' dogma stuff going on.

There are two, maybe three players that are expendable. Players with good value right now, with not much upside that could be jettisoned for good young talent without creating a hole too big. Those players are Lilly, Hillenbrand, Catalanotto and maybe Batista.

Coincidently, these players, have for the most part, really contributed to the success that we have had this season. Being 5.5 games back, isn't enough to sell these players without another established one filling their place. So that basically cancels out my above statement saying that if they did go, they would be creating a hole too big.

I do not want to trade away Ted Lilly, unless there is another pitcher coming our way. A rotation without Halladay and Lilly is looking very, very suspect.

Trading Hillenbrand seems like s good idea. But that would be creating a hole too big. JFG could come up in September, but being 5.5 games out of it, just doesn't sit right. This is the same as Batista.

But not Catalanotto. We have a major leaguer ready to contribute in Gabe Gross. We can sell him.

With a fully healthy team, we are two players IMO, out of contention. A #2 starter and a bat, but easier said then done. Any trades we're doing now is going to bring established players ready to contribute, signed past 2005, with exception to if Catalanotto is gone. We can get younger players for him.

Unless we can directly fill a hole through trade, we're not going to be selling anyone.

I think they were the cadets. I'd take a stadium full of them any day.

And by the way, for all Cheer Clubbers, Thursday's game is "Camp Day" when all the camps come to the stadium. Kids are annoying, but these kind of games always have a fantastic atmosphere. They really do a good job being fans.

HE DRIVES A SOUPED UP TRACTOR TRAILER!

With the hitch, big wheels everything. It's so big, it is parked in the parking lot outside gate 8. I've never seen a car like that.

There will also be a movie theatre being built. There will be minor changes to the stands.

can you elaborate on that at all? you've peaked my interest by giving minimal information. the walkway changes are the most intriguing...

The Jays have drawn 23296 fans per game to this point. They need to average 25597 the rest of the way to hit the 2-million mark, and there are a couple of camp days and several marquee teams remaining on the schedule.

Barring a total collapse heading into September, I think it'll be close. My guess is the Jays end up drawing between 1.95 and 2 million, continuing their steady increase in attendance since 2002.

No and No. Because those calls do not affect the other circumstances of the game. the only time i will give you a loss based on an ump's blown call is in the last AB. Otherwise, your responsibility as a team is to find another way to win. this depends on the quality of the opposition, of course, but that was not - or should not have been - an issue in this series.

I think that the knee-jerk "it's over" reactions are dumb, frankly. How much further has this series put the Jays out of first place? One whole game, if the Red Sox beat the Yankees tonight. That's right: you guys are giving up because the Jays are ONE game worse than they were before the Texas series. That one mighty game that makes a run impossible!

With respect, because I won't presume you are familiar with my posts elsewhere, you don't know me. Over at Fanhome I've taken a lot of grief lately for rejecting the overwhelmingly aggressive pessimism of a few posters. I am a true optimist when it comes to the Jays and do not easily dismiss them.
I do NOT jump back and forth. In fact, I had started and never finished - because of Doc's injury - a Pinch Hit submission for this board comparing the schedules and potential starters of all the wild-card contenders, plus Boston from Thursday last until the end of July, with the intent of showing that it was not unreasonable to think the Jays could own at least a share of first place before the month was out.

I'm not "giving up" because of how much further out we are...we were too far out to start with. what this team needed desperately was that one thing that practically every contender who's closer than we are has had - at least one incredibly hot two week streak where they pile up a ton of wins. THIS was the prime time to do that, both in terms of the lack of quality in the opposition, and also because it was a time where they could have sold JP on the idea of pulling out a few stops to make some magic.
Reeling off a string of wins around Labor Day will help the final record but it will be too late in that regard.

Further, this series has cemented the notion that the Jays play up or down to the level of their opposition. I've seen this spoken of before, and I believe it's documented: What separates the contenders from the pretenders every years is that the contenders - the ACTUAL contenders - beat the teams they are supposed to beat and more or less split against the other good teams.

It's Okay, though -- the next time the Jays are on a winning streak I will be gracious and allow you to get back onto the bandwagon.

How gracious of you. I've been a Jays fan since 1983. and I live in - get this - MISSISSIPPI. do you know how many non-playoff games I've actually, you know, WATCHED in the last 22 years? Something like 40-50 games.
And yet I stayed. I memorized stats and lived for the highlight reels of Robbie and Devo and cursed the baseball gods when Green was dealt for Raul-friggin-Mondesi.

And I ALWAYS had hope. I have hope now. I hope we sign AJ Burnett (or trade for him) or at least Matt Morris this winter...I hope we can land Dunn or even Morneau and that some poor deluded fool will trade for Eric Hinske and that Quiroz is the next Posada and Rosario is a poor man's Pedro and that McGowan is winning large in the bigs by next August and that Aaron Hill really can hit .350 for a whole season.

Man I got TONS of hope. So I don't need or want your condescension.

I've got hope but I'm not blind. Contenders win these games. In spite of umpires and anything else.

Now, having said all that, all one needs to do is look at this year and last year's Astros to know that it CAN happen. Only a fool really and truly says it's impossible for this team to come back and even win the division this year. For all I know the Jays could have that magical 12-2 fortnight against the Yankees and Red Sox for all I know. And no one will have to wonder where I am. I'll be right here saying "Thank God and Greyhound I was wrong!"

BUT....BUT...I think it's even less rational for you to express any sort of realistic analysis which would make you confident that was going to happen. The history of 100+ years of baseball demonstrates that MOST bad teams stay bad and mediocre teams stay mediocre and good teams stay good.

Am I certain beyond doubt that this is a .500 team that is, for all practical purposes, out of the race? No. But it's a far more reasonable assertion than that the Jays can pass 5 or 6 other teams to make the playoffs with this group of players playing as they have been playing against weak teams.

I very much hope that I'm wrong and you get to serve some crow. Despite my insistant tone here, i'm not angry for what you said - I've said much the same thing to pessimistic posters (and I mean REAL pessimists - you have no idea!) on other boards and I understand where you are coming from. just don't class me with that crowd because I'm not a fly-by-night fan.

If you draw a line from gate 3 to gate 7, it will represent the new walkway, from what I have learned. As you walk along the walkway, heading South, you will look to your right and see the playing field. Sort of like 'Utah Street' in Baltimore (I know I spelled that wrong. Is it Youtah?) As you keep walking, the walkway wil end I guess, or go down stairs or something. Maybe it will continue around the stadium elevated. I like this idea too because its an effective way of covering up some seats that are constantly empty. The club level is the least filled part of the park per seat.

I do know that we'll all be very shocked at how different the RC will look from the inside. And there's obviously going to be quite alot of painting everywhere to cover up the concrete. As soon as the deal closed, Paul Godfrey went *everywhere* all over the rich business types around the city getting people to put up restaurants and stuff around the RC. The outside, inside and everywhere else will all be looking very different in 2006. I can't wait.

That's cool Will. I occassionally post over there too, and you're as loyal as they come.

I think I read somewhere that he actually lives in that trailer. Anyone else confirm?