Batter's Box Interactive Magazine Batter's Box Interactive Magazine Batter's Box Interactive Magazine
We've come to expect the unlikely when the Jays play the Rays, who have won the last three series between the teams. Twice this year, it's been arch-nemesis Joe Kennedy (6-0, 3.56 vs. Toronto in his career; 12-27 and over 5.00 against everyone else) continuing his strange mastery, which I swear will end tomorrow.

Back in April, tonight's starter Mark Hendrickson was cruising along with a shutout through seven, only to lose 4-3 on a succession of bloops and seeing-eye flares in the eighth. Five days ago at SkyDome, Lurch was hit harder -- including a broken bat off his leg -- while the Jays blasted about a dozen frozen ropes right at the Tampa outfielders; the final was 7-6, completing the most frustrating sweep imaginable.


Last night's debacle may indeed have been rock bottom, as some writers and commentators are saying, the low point of a wildly up-and-down campaign that is right on the .500 mark with 50 games to play. I sure hope so. One reason to anticipate better things tonight is pride; the hitters will be determined to atone for leaving so many runners stranded.

Jorge Sosa was incredibly lucky to survive 5.1 innings last week; he threw over 100 pitches and walked five, but because of the "atom balls," gave up just three hits. The guy is 6-15, 5.23 in his career, and that fluky win makes him 2-2, 5.87 against the Jays. It's time for the Law of Averages to assert itself.

Something must be wrong with Greg Myers; badly slumping Tom Wilson is the catcher, even though it should be his turn against the lefty tomorrow. Dave Berg, of all people, is the DH, so this must be the one day per week when Josh Phelps is supposed to sit. Carlos Delgado is limping out to first base again; he's played good "D" most of the year, but has been tentative in the field lately. Mike Bordick is 20-for-47 (.426) during his 13-game hitting streak, so you know he'll be in the 2-hole for a while.
Game 113: What's Next? | 52 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
Coach - Tuesday, August 05 2003 @ 08:01 PM EDT (#95519) #
The "out-of-town" scoreboard is just as interesting as this grudge match. Rich Harden got out of quite a jam and now the A's have given him some runs; is anybody watching or listening to that? Jeter's hit two homers already. Lackey's outpitching Suppan.

Meanwhile, in Tampa, Sparky and Bordick are doing their thing, but the Jays let a big inning slip away. Lurch, keeping his outfielders involved, leads 1-0 after two.
Gitz - Tuesday, August 05 2003 @ 08:05 PM EDT (#95520) #
Dave Berg is a passable, if not above average, utility infielder, but he should never take at-bats from Josh Phelps.
Coach - Tuesday, August 05 2003 @ 08:27 PM EDT (#95521) #
I'm a big Tom Wilson fan, but he's on an 0-for-16 slide and needs a rest, not more work. If Crash is banged up, they need Cash right away.
_Donkit R.K. - Tuesday, August 05 2003 @ 08:47 PM EDT (#95522) #
I don't like Travis Lee anymore. But I still like Hendrickson and think he should be starter no. 5 next year behind Halladay, Escobar (I've always wanted him resigned. Now I really want him resigned), Thurman and Arnold. Or you can flip flop him and Arnold. Then, Walker can spot start for the rookie and the 'rookie'. If Hendrickson is poor, he and Walker can change jobs.
Coach - Tuesday, August 05 2003 @ 09:02 PM EDT (#95523) #
1-1 after six on a very nice job by Lurch, except for the high strike on 0-2 to Lee. That one was supposed to be higher, or farther outside, and he pounced on it.

Missed opportunities will haunt the Jays if they don't score soon. Sosa's at 100 pitches -- maybe he's vulnerable -- and Hendrickson will be on a short leash now, so the bullpens will decide this one.
_the shadow - Tuesday, August 05 2003 @ 09:26 PM EDT (#95524) #
Greg Myers suffered a bruised bicep when struck by a foul tip at Anaheim
Coach - Tuesday, August 05 2003 @ 09:32 PM EDT (#95525) #
You give away an out, it costs you a run. Especially if it's the third out. Tosca just used three lefties in an inning. This is unbelievable.
_Scott Shepherd - Tuesday, August 05 2003 @ 09:33 PM EDT (#95526) #
WTF just happened in the 7th?
Will someone explain to me why Hendrickson is pulled *for another lefthander*, who gets one out, is then pulled for Lopez, who allows a hit, who is then pulled for Kershner...who walks in the go ahead run.
What is Tosca smoking?
_DS - Tuesday, August 05 2003 @ 09:35 PM EDT (#95527) #
This is ridiculous. Who does he plan on pitching for the last few innings? The triumvirate of incompentence (Sturtze, Avecedo, Service)? It's not like they are protecting a lead. The game is still tied. This is how a team loses ballgames. I would not want this man in charge of my team during a pennant race.
_DS - Tuesday, August 05 2003 @ 09:37 PM EDT (#95528) #
I'm a little slow on the draw. It's 2-1.

But I still don't think Tosca should be manager when this team is close to contention. His bullpen management is abysmal.
Coach - Tuesday, August 05 2003 @ 09:45 PM EDT (#95529) #
Delgado took one for the team, and Hinske delivered a big double. Phelps "cashed" the tying run on an infield dribbler, and Tommy Wilson, who singled last time, is now officially out of the slump with a huge 2-run double. 4-2 Jays. [sigh of relief]
Coach - Tuesday, August 05 2003 @ 09:54 PM EDT (#95530) #
Service just worked a great eighth; two strikeouts and a grounder from Huff. Politte will face Lee in the most critical AB. What I don't understand about the seventh is why Lopez was wasted on one batter. That was Acevedo time.
robertdudek - Tuesday, August 05 2003 @ 10:05 PM EDT (#95531) #
I don't understand why the Jays didn't try a suicide squeez with Hudson at the plate: his chances of getting a hit were pretty small.
_Cliff Politte, - Tuesday, August 05 2003 @ 10:14 PM EDT (#95532) #
I swear, if he blows this . . .
robertdudek - Tuesday, August 05 2003 @ 10:21 PM EDT (#95533) #
F'ing unpire should be fined 20% of his monthly salary for blwoing that call!
_Grimlock - Tuesday, August 05 2003 @ 10:24 PM EDT (#95534) #
Me Grimlock mad!
_Chuck Van Den C - Tuesday, August 05 2003 @ 10:25 PM EDT (#95535) #
I don't understand why the Jays didn't try a suicide squeez with Hudson at the plate.

Perfect opportunity to pinch-hit with Berg.

What? Berg was in the starting lineup? As DH? That's some might fine personnel usage!

Glad to see so many AB's being parcelled out to such important cogs in the Blue Jays' future as Bordick and Berg.
Coach - Tuesday, August 05 2003 @ 10:27 PM EDT (#95536) #
Un-freakin-believable. The Jays finally beat this team and Lance Barksdale misses the easiest possible call. If he doesn't take his eye off the ball, he sees Anderson run right into the tag. I think the ump is as incompetent as the player, who didn't slide.
_Ryan - Tuesday, August 05 2003 @ 10:33 PM EDT (#95537) #
At one time I was very opposed to instant replay in baseball; I liked having the human element in the game and some degree of variability. In the last couple of years, however, I've completely changed my tune. There's no excuse for such terrible calls being allowed to stand. It was obvious to everyone in the ballpark and everyone watching at home that he was out (except to everyone except Barksdale, I guess). Utterly ridiculous.

The Blue Jays must've done something to really annoy the baseball gods a month ago. It may be time to sacrifice a bat boy.

I haven't had the opportunity to follow the Jays much the last few days. I heard Rob Faulds mention that Frank Catalanotto isn't currently with the team. Can anyone fill me in on the reason?
_David - Tuesday, August 05 2003 @ 10:33 PM EDT (#95538) #
What is Tosca smoking?

Tosca just used three lefties in an inning.

They confiscated his Montecristos at the airport; the local weed is making him dyslexic.
Craig B - Tuesday, August 05 2003 @ 10:35 PM EDT (#95539) #
The real question is, what the heck was Barksdale looking at!?

As an umpire in that situation, the only you are looking at is the leg and the glove, watching for them to come together. So what could possibly have distracted him? There is nowhere else to look except at the leg and the ball.

Hinske bobbles a straight-up grounder and the mental letdowns continue. Is it just me, or does this team play more slack as Tosca's management shows more slack?

Probably just me noticing it more as the losses mount.
_Andrew Edwards - Tuesday, August 05 2003 @ 10:36 PM EDT (#95540) #
I just checked in - 10th inning. Could Tosca possibly have used more pitchers?
Coach - Tuesday, August 05 2003 @ 10:40 PM EDT (#95541) #
Tom Cheek says a supervisor of umpires is in the press box tonight, and has seen all the replays. Barksdale could have asked for help, or he could have changed his call, but arrogance comes with the territory. I think he got suckered into thinking it wouldn't be close because Anderson didn't slide, and stopped watching.

Acevedo should have been used between the lefties if Tosca insisted on three relievers for two outs three innings ago; this would be Aquilino's game right now instead of everyone waiting for Juan to fail.
_Mark - Tuesday, August 05 2003 @ 10:40 PM EDT (#95542) #
It's been awhile since I've been raging so much at the Blue Jays game (OK, actually it's only been a few days). That missed call on the "stolen base" with 2 outs in the 9th was brutal! And previously, the 4 pitchers in one inning. What a mess. It's just a matter of time before this game is lost.

That guy riding Hinske really needs to grow up.
Craig B - Tuesday, August 05 2003 @ 10:40 PM EDT (#95543) #
So much for that
Craig B - Tuesday, August 05 2003 @ 10:41 PM EDT (#95544) #
Cat has a "medical situation" but no more details than that from the team, apparently.
_A - Tuesday, August 05 2003 @ 10:43 PM EDT (#95545) #
That hurt. A lot.
_Ryan - Tuesday, August 05 2003 @ 10:45 PM EDT (#95546) #
(except to everyone except Barksdale, I guess)

Bleech. When I get angry, my redundancy gets redundant.
_Grimlock - Tuesday, August 05 2003 @ 10:46 PM EDT (#95547) #
How the hell does Tosca go through 7 pitchers in a 10-inning game in which your pitching staff only allows four runs? Once Fat Ass-evedo was brought in, it was only a matter of time.

Another thing, don't ever go into extra innings against Tampa... Rob Faulds has concluded that they have "extra-inning magic." Man, me Grimlock hate that guy!
_Elijah - Tuesday, August 05 2003 @ 10:50 PM EDT (#95548) #
Mike Wilner must be reading this blog.
_Elijah - Tuesday, August 05 2003 @ 10:51 PM EDT (#95549) #
Or at least think like a man with an average baseball acumen.
robertdudek - Tuesday, August 05 2003 @ 10:51 PM EDT (#95550) #
Each team should have the right to appeal to a video umpire once a game. This rule NEEDS to be enacted. I've had enough of blown calls swinging the outcome of games.
_Donkit R.K. - Tuesday, August 05 2003 @ 10:52 PM EDT (#95551) #
Remember when there was a thread in Da Box about guys who always killed the Jays. How about Travis Lee, ca. 2003. This sin't his first big game against the Jays (or maybe it is, but I seem to recall at least a home run against them not so long ago). He did enough damage tonight to get on the bench of that team anyway. And as for this bullpen usage ... *shudders*
_Ryan - Tuesday, August 05 2003 @ 11:15 PM EDT (#95552) #
The details on our favourite AAA umpire call-up:

Lance Barksdale, 67
CAREER: Made his first major league appearance in May 2000...attended the Harry Wendelstedt School (1992)...previously worked in the Appalachian (1992-93), South Atlantic (1994-95), Florida State (1995-96), Southern (1997) and Pacific Coast (1998) Leagues. PERSONAL: Robert Lance Barksdale...born on March 8, 1967 in Brookhaven, MS...currently resides in Terry, MS...has a wife, Jennifer, and two children, Jordan and Hayden...has a business degree from Mississippi College.


Barks, if this umpiring thing doesn't work out for you, be sure to send your resume to these folks. They could use people like you:

http://www.arthurandersen.com/
Coach - Tuesday, August 05 2003 @ 11:24 PM EDT (#95553) #
It's all the ump's fault. Just like the catcher interference non-call that would have ended the game in Boston, Barksdale's gutless safe call on a play that wasn't even close avoided the wrath of the fans.

Tosca screwed up, Politte and Acevedo gave up regrettable walks and hits, and Hinske made another error to put the winning run on, but let's not forget the O-Dawg's contribution to this latest waking nightmare. He was late covering second for what should have been the third out back in the seventh, which led directly to Kershner walking in the second run. Then there was his weak at-bat from the right side, when almost anything but a 1-2-3 double play would have been OK. Since there was no bench, the squeeze was the play there.
_Matthew Elmslie - Wednesday, August 06 2003 @ 09:04 AM EDT (#95554) #
I've never seen so many different things conspire to go wrong over the course of a season series. Jay Bates said it best when he said, "What's next, a $#!+-rain on my head?"

The Jays aren't playing all that well... but they're playing a lot better than the results they're getting.
Craig B - Wednesday, August 06 2003 @ 09:05 AM EDT (#95555) #
Agreed, Coach, the squeeze should have been the call, and Hudson was absolutely late in covering second, an unforgiveable play though I didn't see the play unfold, just that he was late.

I've played some second base. One thing I was taught was that with the force in play, on *any* ball, liner or grounder, to the shortstop side of second you RUN (don't hesitate!) to the bag. It doesn't matter what comes of the play, running to the bag is ALWAYS going top put you in a closer position to your play, whether it be cutting off the throw from the outfield, taking a force at second, or picking up a deflected ball by the shortstop.

That said, it looked a bit like Rolls jumped early from first and he may well have beaten Hudson even if he did take off instantly.

Bordick should have made the play to first, I think he had time to look, but I guarantee you he didn't even look at second because he knew Hudson was going to be there. Whoops.

Slack play all around, and this team is becoming known for it. You get the feeling over the last 30-40 games that late in tight games, they are going to beat themselves if given a chance.
Gerry - Wednesday, August 06 2003 @ 09:10 AM EDT (#95556) #
A couple of non umpire observations .......

1. We have all heard about the Jays hitting with runners in scoring position. What I find even worse is the inability to move runners over. Hudson was a prime example last night, but there have been numerous times in the last two weeks when that has happened. In Mondays game Hinske had a lead off triple and did not score. The Jays are not playing as a team.

2. One of the reasons the Jays have trouble against Tampa is Tampa likes to run and the Jays are not good at throwing out runners. Cash may not hit .250 next year but he should keep more runners at first than Wilson can. Is it better to have Wilson hitting .275 with a low caught stealing % or to have Cash hit .230 and cut down the SB's? I'll take Cash.

3. Acevedo is having all sorts of command problems. I don't think he can be confident he will throw his fastball for a strike. Against left handed hitters his fastball is always up and away for a ball.
_Rob C - Wednesday, August 06 2003 @ 09:45 AM EDT (#95557) #
Barksdale aside, I think what is most disheartening for Jays fans is the staggering number of blown saves this year. It begins to foster the attitude of 'no lead is safe' for the Jays bullpen, and you wonder if that gets into the heads of the players, like Eric Hinske. It's getting so bad that my son won't even watch them anymore - it's too frustrating for him. We can all see the potential there, the future laid plain, but it's easy to feel impatient with the progress. Some, like Jim Hunt of the Sun, have already given up on the team and tells readers to do the same, which is the attitude I've come to expect from Toronto media types. I keep dragging my son back, though, because after many long years as a Cubs fan, I know disappointment and frustration, and the Jays' woes are a drop in the bucket by comparison. :)
Coach - Wednesday, August 06 2003 @ 09:45 AM EDT (#95558) #
Barksdale had a concentration lapse and simply gave up on the play, but he also managed to get into a position behind Bordick, which may have obscured his vision. Send him to AAA. This photo was snapped half a stride after the initial contact, which was up around the knee:



In Spencer Fordin's game report on the Official Site, Carlos Tosca talked about the officiating.

"There's nothing they can do to reverse the call. I don't think they even out -- they haven't evened out for us yet, or we'd be right behind the best team in baseball."

The umps have been consistently wretched, most notably the homers in St. Louis, Boston and Tampa. The breaks are definitely not evening out for the Jays this season, especially when the Rays are involved. Stung again!
Mike D - Wednesday, August 06 2003 @ 10:40 AM EDT (#95559) #
Gerry, I completely agree.

The Jays aren't savvy on the basepaths, and aren't taught to cheat themselves at the plate by trying to hit behind runners (rather than to have a typically patient at-bat). But the primary reason, at least as of late, for their inability to move runners over -- and across, which is what this game's all about -- has been their alarming strikeout rate with men on base.

I know, I know -- "batter's strikeouts don't matter." But to me, that's just a platitude right up there with "anybody can find a bullpen on the cheap." In both cases, the difference between an average team and the league's best team in that particular category only amounts to a couple of wins, so you don't sent a team up there hacking for cheap contact and you don't blow your budget on middle relief.

But in both cases, being the WORST in a category can be highly deleterious to a ballclub -- it is much more harmful to have a very high strikeout rate and a horrible bullpen than it is helpful to have a very low strikeout rate and an excellent bullpen. With men on third and less than two out, strikeouts do matter. And the Jays do it more than anybody else.
Pepper Moffatt - Wednesday, August 06 2003 @ 10:49 AM EDT (#95560) #
http://economics.about.com
Some, like Jim Hunt of the Sun, have already given up on the team and tells readers to do the same, which is the attitude I've come to expect from Toronto media types.

It's because Toronto isn't a sports town. It's the front-runner capital of the world. Once the Jays start winning and the Leafs start missing the playoffs, you'll never know that Toronto has a hockey team. Plus all the "sports" fans who bitch about the inequities in major league baseball tend to be the same people who think it'd be great for the NHL if the Leafs should buy all the stars playing in small markets, such as Iginla from my beloved Flames.

Although I detest the idea, baseball in Toronto would be greatly helped if MLB went to an NHL style playoff format. Right now the Jays would get the 8th seed in the playoffs and the media would be supporting the team a heck of a lot more.

Mike
Mike D - Wednesday, August 06 2003 @ 11:58 AM EDT (#95561) #
Mike, you're just plain wrong about the Leafs. You must not have been in Toronto for the '80s, when cheering, horn-honking throngs of fans would spill onto Carlton St. -- to celebrate the team staving off mathematical elimination of the playoffs! I was there, and this was when 16 teams made the playoffs out of 21. Cubs fans have told me that their team has little hope from year to year because there is no marketing/publicity impetus for management to go for a championship; a huge fan base will love the Cubs anyway. Ditto for the Leafs.

The media/fans/Jays triangle is a complex relationship, and the reasons for the wary attitude of Toronto towards the Jays are too complex to brush away with "Toronto's not a sports town."

Sure, you have your bandwagon-jumpers who tune in when the Jays are in the playoffs. But you also have fans that have a tough time accepting that their team which formerly boasted the #1 payroll won't be anywhere north of #15 for at least the next decade.

Then there's the media, who were used to covering the self-proclaimed Classiest Organization In Baseball [tm] for the first 20 or so years of its existence. Once Labatt lost control, the media became less "embedded." Now, you have a new regime that comes in with unfamiliar and un-romantic ideas of how to run an organization. Plus, the back-slappers from the Gillick/Ash lineage have been turfed out. So long, supportive media.

Finally, there's the Dome, which is still a great place to watch an outdoor game in my opinion. Nevertheless, the park which Jack Buck called "the perfect ballpark" during the '91 All-Star telecast has been discarded by the Camden Revolution, and has gone from the premiere place to watch a ballgame to one of the last of a discredited genre of stadia.
_Matthew Elmslie - Wednesday, August 06 2003 @ 12:23 PM EDT (#95562) #
I agree with pretty much all of Mike D's post. I don't think there's any way that the Jays can ever eclipse the Leafs in Toronto... but I do have quite a bit of hope that they can overtake the Raptors. Nothing against the Raptors.
Pepper Moffatt - Wednesday, August 06 2003 @ 12:30 PM EDT (#95563) #
http://economics.about.com
Mike, you're just plain wrong about the Leafs. You must not have been in Toronto for the '80s, when cheering, horn-honking throngs of fans would spill onto Carlton St. -- to celebrate the team staving off mathematical elimination of the playoffs!

I grew up in London, ON during the 80's, but was in Toronto quite a bit. My memories growing up were quite a bit different. I didn't know a single Leaf fan, even in Toronto. Pretty much everybody cheered for the Oilers, Flames, Islanders, or Canadiens. I remember going to half empty Maple Leaf Gardens watching games with my Dad. The only time pre '93 I ever went to a sold out MLG event was for the WWF. If you look at old copies of the Toronto Star from the mid 80's I think you'd be shocked to see how much more print was given to the Argos and how much less went to the Leafs. A lot of the Leaf coverage was of the "Harold Ballard is a flake" variety.

I haven't even touched on the whole "we want an NFL team so badly we won't go to CFL games" thing.

I love TO, but it's not a sports town. I mean look at how well the NASL did in a small town like Rochester compared to the Metros/Metros-Croatia/Blizzard mess of Toronto.

Mike
_Grimlock - Wednesday, August 06 2003 @ 12:37 PM EDT (#95564) #
Me Grimlock was at a party last year, and someone had put on a Raptors game on mute on one of the TVs. Someone walked by and asked, "We winning?" And them, being the Raptors, of course, they were not winning. And someone remarked, "Well, at least they're better than the Blue Jays." To which, me Grimlock replied, "How do you figure? The Jays were about 7th in the AL, the Raptors are 12th or 13th in the East?" The casual fan had no response.

In Toronto, .500 records are not created equal. .500 in the NBA East makes the playoffs or comes close, .500 in baseball puts you at least 10 games out. There is no appreciation for the fact that it's much harder in baseball to make the playoffs. The prevailing attitude here is that if you don't make the playoffs, you are a loser. It's too bad, really. The media wants to bail on a .500 Jays team, but would support the .450 Raptors/Leafs, if those two teams have a shot at the playoffs, even if they had virtually no chance of winning the title.
_Matthew Elmslie - Wednesday, August 06 2003 @ 12:46 PM EDT (#95565) #
someone remarked, "Well, at least they're better than the Blue Jays."

It's a funny thing. There seems to be a sort of ambient belief in Toronto that the Jays are hopeless. It's very weak and in the background, so it won't affect you if you actually pay attention, but I bet if you took a poll of non-sports fans in the GTA, a vast majority of them would believe that the Jays were one of the worst teams in baseball.
Mike D - Wednesday, August 06 2003 @ 12:47 PM EDT (#95566) #
Mike, I agree that those of us that were school age in the '80s remember a lot of kids being off the Leaf bandwagon -- depending on the class, Leaf fans usually ranged from 30-50 percent of hockey fans in my classes in Mississauga. I also agree that the Argos used to be treated like a big-league team by the media; I grew up loving the Argos and hating the Tiger-Cats with an intensity that is difficult to explain to younger Torontonians today. The reasons for the sharp decline in Argo interest are many and complex as well, but in the interest of time I won't list them.

I think your memory must be utterly mistaken, though, when you describe a "half-empty MLG." That would be 8,000 fans -- a crowd that small has likely not been seen for NHL hockey in Toronto since the team was called the Arenas. (An exaggeration, but a slight one.)

A lot of ink was spilled in the '80s making the argument that the unreasonably excellent fan support was only making Ballard rich, rather than giving him an incentive to improve the team.

If you want to play the Rochester-Toronto game, why did the NLL seriously consider moving the championship game from the home-field-advantaged Rochester Knighthawks to Toronto due to lacklustre fan support?

Bottom line: Complexity, not simplicity.
Mike D - Wednesday, August 06 2003 @ 12:57 PM EDT (#95567) #
Other factors not helping the Jays:

1. The decline of TV production quality/announcer quality from first-rate to eighth-rate (it's nowhere near third-rate).

2. Poor marketing (on both athletic and aesthetic levels) to women and girls.

3. The unfortunate habit of the contending-at-the-time Jays getting dramatically and emphatically swept in home series that have been pre-christened "Biggest Series Of The Year" in '98, '99, '00 and now '03. Other than the Boston series in May-June of this year, the Blue Jays have performed poorly in front of large walk-up crowds for several years now.
Pepper Moffatt - Wednesday, August 06 2003 @ 01:04 PM EDT (#95568) #
http://economics.about.com
If you want to play the Rochester-Toronto game, why did the NLL seriously consider moving the championship game from the home-field-advantaged Rochester Knighthawks to Toronto due to lacklustre fan support?

The fact that Rochester is smaller than London, ON might have something to do with it. Then again, London might be stealing the Argos from TO. :)

The fact remains that for a city the size of Toronto there are a lot of teams that have seen their support tank. The Jays went from massive market to small market in a few years. The city once lost a pro hockey team to Birmingham, Alabama. Whatever happened to the Marlies? I loved watching them playing against the Knights as a kid.

Mike
_Paul Z. - Wednesday, August 06 2003 @ 01:22 PM EDT (#95569) #
There is no appreciation for the fact that it's much harder in
baseball to make the playoffs. The prevailing attitude here is that
if you don't make the playoffs, you are a loser.


And there's the rub in this hockey town (country). The playoffs are
everything, and your success is measured by your ability to get to
the playoffs. The fact that baseball allows only 27% of the league
into the playoffs, while hockey allows 53% is completely lost. It's
all about the playoffs.

While expanded NHL/NBA/NFL type playoffs in MLB leave a bad taste in
my mouth, I'll bet the media coverage of this team would change
almost instantly to scrappy-young-team-fighting-for-post-season-
chance from crappy-team-becoming-Expos-West.

Cheers,
Paul
Coach - Wednesday, August 06 2003 @ 02:45 PM EDT (#95570) #
The fact remains that for a city the size of Toronto there are a lot of teams that have seen their support tank.

This isn't a recent phenomenon. The baseball Maple Leafs won AAA pennants in 1965 and 1966; I rarely missed a game, but the stadium was mostly empty. Despite the deep pockets of owner Jack Kent Cooke, and the exciting talent on the field, the ignored team folded the next year. Manager Dick Williams went on to some success, and the main reason "we" didn't win in '67 was that the core of the Leafs' players (Lonborg, Foy, Scott, Smith, Andrews) moved up to the AL to win an unlikely pennant for Boston. It's one reason I'm still partial to the Red Sox.
Game 113: What's Next? | 52 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.