Jays Roundup
Monday, October 04 2004 @ 09:11 AM EDT
Contributed by: Pepper Moffatt
- Remembering John Cerruti
- Spencer Fordin:
Still, most people remember him for his personality. Players loved to talk to him away from the camera, both for his empathy and sense of humor. Fans gravitated to him, and he seemed to have an endless supply of time and patience. His employers appreciated all those qualities and struggled to find words to express their feelings in the immediate aftermath.
- Bob Elliott:
He was a gentleman scholar from Amherst College.
He had an almost regal cerebral bearing in a game often played by those whose idea of heavy reading is gazing at the back of two baseball cards.
- Shi Davidi:
"I know John had three loves," said Rick Briggs-Jude, Rogers Sportsnet's vice-president of programming, as his eyes welled up. "He loved baseball, he loved golf and he loved his family. 'It's really, really a shock to deal with this today."
- Richard Griffin:
Immediately when I learned about the tragedy from colleague Dave Perkins, a friend and golfing companion of Cerutti's for many years, thoughts turned to a similarly tragic event, on July 13, 1993. I was with the Expos when another classy TV analyst — hall-of-famer Don Drysdale — was found dead in his room at the Dodgers' team hotel, Le Centre Sheraton. The visiting team and staff were devastated.
The Expos-Dodgers game that night went on as scheduled and the Dodger trip continued without a break. Those who worked with, played with and loved Drysdale soldiered on in sadness.
Life doesn't take timeouts.
- Allan Ryan:
"I was talking to him in the hotel lobby (for) 15 minutes (Saturday) night," Patterson said. "This is too terrible. This was just too young."
- Batter's Box - John Cerutti, 1960-2004
- Recaps of Yankees 3 - Jays 2: Boxscore:
- Spencer Fordin:
The final goal remained elusive, as had several of its predecessors. The Blue Jays could have clinched a winning record at home with a final victory on Sunday, but they dropped their last game by a 3-2 score against New York.
"The guys played good. I couldn't ask for anything more," said manager John Gibbons. "Josh Towers stepped it up, and he really wanted that 10th win. In the end I thought we had some magic going."
- Ian Harrison:
Thanks to Bernie Williams, manager-for-a-day Ruben Sierra didn't need to use himself as a pinch-hitter.
Williams hit a tie-breaking solo home run in the eighth inning as the Yankees wrapped up the 2004 season with a 3-2 victory over the Blue Jays on Sunday.
"I hoped that situation wouldn't come up, but if I have to go in, I'll go in," Sierra said.
- Shi Davidi (with a Batter's Box plug):
There was no storybook ending for Carlos Delgado, just another loss and more bad news to cap a disappointing season for the Toronto Blue Jays.
Delgado was left standing in the on-deck circle when the final out was made Sunday afternoon, robbed of a chance to prevent a 3-2 loss to the New York Yankees in what was probably his final game as a Blue Jay.
- Will John Gibbons be back as Manager?
- Spencer Fordin:
Take that tag away.
The Blue Jays are expected to do exactly that on Monday, when John Gibbons moves from interim manager to permanent. The team scheduled a press conference for 10 a.m. ET, a time frame advanced by the skipper's travel plans. Gibbons has a flight back to Texas in the afternoon, so Toronto moved things up to accomodate the man of the moment.
"I haven't been told anything directly, but I've got a good feeling," he said a few days ago. "We haven't won as many games as I'd like, but the guys responded and played hard for me. I didn't expect anything otherwise."
- Mike Rutsey:
John Gibbons has made the grade.
The Blue Jays have called a news conference for this morning where Gibbons will be named as the 10th manager in club history, ending weeks of speculation that he had secured the job.
- Tim Wharnsby:
Toronto Blue Jays general manager J. P. Ricciardi will crown John Gibbons as the team's full-time manager and name Ernie Whitt as the new bench coach this morning.
Gibbons was sworn in as the Jays' interim manager on Aug. 9, replacing the fired Carlos Tosca. Gibbons of San Antonio, Tex., guided the Jays home to an undistinguished 20-30 record.
- Will Delgado be back next year?
- Mike Rutsey:
There were no magic moments in Carlos Delgado's final day as a member of the Blue Jays.
No final home run, no victory lap for the greatest slugger in team history.
Surprisingly, there wasn't much of anything -- no prolonged applause in each at-bat, no visible signs hung by his long-time fans.
The game would end in a 3-2 defeat to the Yankees, the final out by Vernon Wells leaving Delgado in the on-deck circle.
- Tim Wharnsby:
The storybook ending to Carlos Delgado's career as a Toronto Blue Jay was not meant to be written.
There Delgado was in the bottom of the ninth inning yesterday, looking for one final at-bat in a Jays uniform and one final shot to knock in his 100th RBI for the season to reach the century mark for the seventh consecutive season.
But,, with second baseman Orlando Hudson on first base, Jays outfielder Vernon Wells flew out deep to right field.
Game over.
- Geoff Baker:
It wasn't the cheers greeting his final Blue Jays at-bat yesterday that told the story of Carlos Delgado and his achievements in Toronto.
A more defining moment was his final appearance at Yankee Stadium less than two weeks ago, when Delgado was roundly booed as he stepped to the plate. It takes a lot for visiting players to continuously inspire such emotions on baseball's grandest stage and in Delgado's case, his notoriety had extended to pre-game batting practice, where he couldn't move without bumping into a microphone, a flashbulb or television camera.
"Just a quote! Just a quote!" an irritated Delgado mused to Jays media relations director Jay Stenhouse after having fled to a private lounge area inside the visitors clubhouse that day. "Everybody needs a quote. Everybody needs just five minutes and a quote. Five minutes here, five minutes there. I don't have five minutes for everybody."
- Will Gregg Zaun be back next year?
- Mike Ganter:
In a best-case scenario, Gregg Zaun would be heading home with a contract signed, sealed and delivered with the Jays.
Instead, Zaun heads home with no guarantee he'll be back.
He does enter the off-season in a much better position after Zaun established himself as an every-day catcher for the first time in his 10-year career.
- One person who won't be back is pitching coach Gil Patterson:
- Mike Ganter:
But disappointment was the overriding feeling for Patterson, who took over as pitching coach for the Jays midway through the 2002 season when Mark Connor resigned in the aftermath of the Buck Martinez firing.
"In general there is some (bitterness) because I thought the two people who knew me the most and what I stood for didn't stick with me when there is a light on the horizon," Patterson said, speaking of general manager J.P. Ricciardi and manager John Gibbons, who was Patterson's roommate the past three seasons.
Ultimately, the decision lies with Ricciardi, but Patterson said he was disappointed his former roommate didn't at least go to the GM on his behalf and ask that he be retained.
- Notes Columns:
- Spencer Fordin:
If he knows, he isn't saying.
Toward the end of Sunday's game, the fans reacted as if they'll never again see Carlos Delgado in a Blue Jays uniform, and he didn't do much to dismiss that sentiment after the game.
"Maybe it's the last time," he said. "Maybe it isn't. You don't know."
This much is certain: Delgado has spent half of his life with the organization. He signed as a 16-year-old in his native Puerto Rico, and he's spent the last decade rewriting the team's record book. He's the Jays' all-time leader in games played (1,392), home runs (336) and RBIs (1,057).
- Mike Rutsey:
Roy Halladay spent two stints on the DL this season with soreness in his right shoulder and as a result the ace of the Blue Jays staff will slightly alter his off-season conditioning program in the hope that it doesn't repeat in 2005.
"There's probably going to be adjustments that I'm going to make," Halladay said. "I might cut down on the amount of times I throw off the mound before spring training.
"I'll start my throwing program at around the same time but spend more time long-tossing and trying to build up arm strength that way. I just think it's less violent than throwing so much off the mound."
- Like Chris Zelkovich I was happy to hear "Cheek end[s] season on positive note":
On a tragic day that ended the most trying season in Blue Jays history, it was fitting that Tom Cheek closed things on a hopeful note.
After telling listeners on the Jays radio network that ``we'll all get together (in Florida) in the spring and do it all over again," Cheek then added, ``I've got a feeling they're going to come back that much stronger next year."
It was a note of encouragement that was sorely needed on a day like this during a season like this.
News of the shocking death of Rogers Sportsnet analyst John Cerutti was not made public until after the game, but listeners needed at least to know that their rock, Tom Cheek, planned to be back next spring despite his battle with a malignant brain tumour. After 28 seasons and more than 4,000 games, Cheek is as much a part of this team as anyone.
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