An Ode To The Jeroloman

Saturday, November 19 2011 @ 08:02 AM EST

Contributed by: #2JBrumfield

The Blue Jays made a series of roster moves Friday.  First, the club lost catcher Brian Jeroloman on waivers to Pittsburgh and also lost recent waiver claim, right-hander Cole Kimball, back to his original club - the Washington Nationals.  Second, the team picked up right-hander Drew Carpenter on waivers from San Diego. Third, the team added catcher Travis d'Arnaud, first baseman Mike McDade, righty Nestor Molina and lefty Evan Crawford to the 40-man roster.

Blue Jays mascot Ace wears the team's new uniform and ball cap.  He may have also been bidding adieu to catcher Brian Jeroloman, claimed on waivers by Pittsburgh Friday.



Brian Jeroloman in the New Hampshire Fisher Cats bullpen.  Note the number Jeroloman was wearing on his Jays batting helmet behind his catcher's mask - the now retired #12 of Roberto Alomar.

Brian Jeroloman, wearing Duane Ward's #31, stands on the third base line during a ceremony to honour the victims of 9-11 at the Dome.  That was as close as he would get between the lines as he never played a single game for the Jays in 2011.


Brian Jeroloman was drafted by the Blue Jays in round six of the 2006 amateur draft out of the University of Florida.  He was considered to be among the best defensive catchers available in the draft.  The Suffern, New York native made his pro debut with Auburn in 2006 and hit just .241 with no home runs but posted a solid on-base percentage of .361.  The left-handed hitting Jeroloman continued to display a discerning eye at the dish in 2007 with Dunedin by drawing a whopping 85 walks and reaching base to the tune of .421.  He hit his first three home runs and upped his batting average to .259.  For those of you who are somewhat familiar with my minor league updates, I was fascinated with Jeroloman's ability to draw ball four, coming up with the acronym BJWM (walk meter) and later BJBBM (bases on balls meter) to keep track of his number of walks. 

Jeroloman continued his climb up the minor league ladder in 2008 by splitting time with Double-A New Hampshire and Triple-A Syracuse.  He batted .270 and had an OBP four points shy of .400 with the Fisher Cats and that earned him a late look with the Chiefs, where he hit .200 but his OBP was 102 points higher in 25 contests.  Unfortunately, Jeroloman took a step back with the Fisher Cats in 2009 with a .217 batting average but he still kept his OBP 100 points greater than his BA thanks to a .330 mark.  In 2010, he had a third tour of duty with New Hampshire but upped his BA and OBP to .269 and .421 before leaving for Las Vegas, where he batted .316 in eight games with the 51s.  In 2011, Jeroloman was back in Sin City where he hit just .240 but his OBP was 95 points higher.  He finally got the call to the bigs in late August but never had an at-bat or entered a game defensively.  The National Post's John Lott wondered why Jeroloman remained nailed to the bench.  Our own Gerry was watching "America's Most Wanted" to see if Jeroloman would appear and his lack of playing time led to a spirited debate among Bauxite Nation.  According to J.P. Arencibia's Twitter account (@jparencibia9), Jeroloman was apparently hurt - something Jeroloman did not mention in the National Post story.  It turned out to be a jammed right wrist.

Now I end this piece with a song for Jeroloman, sung to the tune of Billy Joel's "Piano Man", as I wonder what might have been had he stayed at Baseball North...


Hit us a ball, you're Jeroloman!
Hit a ball long tonight !
Well we're all in the mood for a victory
to help put the Blue Jays in flight!

Fade song here!  All the best to Brian Jeroloman, who could be teaming up with former Jay Rod Barajas as the catching tandem with the Pirates in 2012. 

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