maybe if they changed the color of the screen from green to blue to match the wall, it might help... i completely lost the ball and didnt know where it went... it bounced on the warning track actually... the screen is too bright!

fyi: 1st time I've seen TSN show the Jays in HD (though I wasn't home for their first domecast this year).

cat looks lost out there in left field. those were some pretty atrocious reads/approaches on those two doubles. both of which were catchable. Not easy plays. but definitely catchable.

I don't think it's a colour issue. I think it's a brightness issue. According to someone on Blue Jay Way, the brightness had been toned down.

Like I said, by the end of this series, Bernie Williams will have thought he was in hell :) V-Dub will get used to it.

Lilly sure has been getting hit hard though. Let's hope he can settle down.

That was bizarre. I'm listening to the Yankee feed on Gameday Audio(because the stupid Raptors game is on the Jay feed), and they called ARod's hit a homerun... very strange. Stupid scoreboards anyway.

i think if they change it to a dark blue color, it will help, as dark colors downt give off as much light...

You can get the Jays feed through 980 KRUZ here.

How can an ump be so close to an obvious call and blow it?

because the ump is an IDOIT!!!! god, thats the most easiest interfearance call ever!!!!!!!!!!!

I've never seen a play where both managers had a case on the same play to come out and argue with the ump

I thought that was pretty obviously interference as well. What's Zaun supposed to do, throw it and let it hit Sheffield in the head?

...actually...

Decent crowd on hand, looks like about 24,000 today even without the few Yankee fans in attendance.

It seems Ted Lilly is calming down now. Let's hope he can get the Yankee hitters in a lull, while our bats get going.

And yes they have, nice hit Rios. On the old turf, that could've been a bizarre inside the parker.

Russ Adams' value is with the glove? Maybe someday, but not yet.

i love the new turf... if u think about it, this will be a benefit cause now the new turf plays like grass and the jays wont have to adjust like last year between astro turf and grass...

exactly... let it hit the batter... Zaun should have thrown it the first time instead of double clutching...

Why is everyone crowding the plate like that when that's where Pavano likes to throw his fastball?

What's funny is that even after GGGZ double-pumped, he still had a decent chance of catching Bernie Williams.

The crowd is really into it. They're creating an atmosphere. I haven't heard a "Let's Go Blue Jays" chant for a while, by all the patrons inside.

LOL!!!! omg!!! that hit the cat!!!! POSADA did that on purpose!!! thats how u get the umps attention! i hate the call, but Posada did the right thing!

Lilly is really struggling. Almost every fastball is letter-high. Just hope he can hang on for five and keep us in it.

That was doubly bizarre given what happened earlier. If it is interference isn't Adams out?

i think the ump gave in a bit and didnt call him out... just sent him back to second... thats why gibbons didnt come out of the dug out to argue...

Someone on Primer noticed Posada hit the ump on the backswing. Maybe that's why. Anyone else notice?

Paul, the Yankee broadcast mentioned the same thing.

Not a good night to be Frank Catalanotto...Thrown out at second trying to stretch a single...5 doubles hit his way already including at least 2 he should have made a better read on...And he's been hit in the head by Posasa

Then again, Ted Lilly's night hasn't been much better

hehehe the funny part of the game is when someone fouls it straight back, the people sitting behind the protective nets duck for cover! relax! u have protection!!!! LOL

If Sheffield didn't interfere with the throw to 2nd then there is no such thing as batters interference. I guess the Evil Empire even has the umps worried ;)

anyone know why they sent League down to AAA?

Zee -

There's a discussion about League's demotion in yesterday's game thread.

hehehe thanks... *hangs head in embarassment*

In case anyone didn't see it Posada tried to throw out Adams stealing and it hit Cat in the head and bounced into left-centre field and Adams got to third. The ump sent Adams back to first. (This after missing an obvious interference call on Sheffield.)

Now, what is to stop any catcher, upon realising that they have no shot at throwing out a runner (which is admittedly very tough to gauge in a half-instant), from throwing the ball off the batter's head in order to get the runner sent back? Yes, it's not going to happen, but is this not a possible but extreme result of this policy?

I don't know the rule, but if the ump called it right, I don't like it. Zaun shouldn't have to risk breaking a finger on Sheffield's bat to get the call. Posada shouldn't get a call when Cat was still in the box.

Walker continues to get ahead, and then nibble the Yankee to a walk. It's rather annoying.

I don't normally like to comment on the umps because the do a pretty good job but it seems to me that the Jays have been in several games that featured several missed calls so far this season. I mean like brutally missed calls where you have to wonder "How did he miss that?"
What is going on with the umps? Is it happening in other games too?

According to the Official Rules in Section 2.0 - Definition of terms, under INTERFERENCE:

(c) Umpire's interference occurs (1) When an umpire hinders, impedes or prevents a catcher's throw attempting to prevent a stolen base, or (2) When a fair ball touches an umpire on fair territory before passing a fielder.

The guys on the Yankees broadcast said that Posada came into contact with the home plate umpire and called umpire interference as opposed to offensive interference.

http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/official_info/official_rules/definition_terms_2.jsp

It's doubtful Posada purposefully hit Culbreth. In fact, contact with the plate ump would explain why Posada's throw was so errant to hit Cat in the helmet.

Rod Black should be fired for his poor announcing. He may be a top broadcaster for other sports but tonight I've had enough. He and Pat Tabler for the first 5 innings have just blabbed on and on and on and on about the Yankees! Shut up already. You don't have to be homerish to be a good announcer. All he talks about are the same things everytime about the Yankees, blah blah blah Jeter is so great, Steinbrenner is god, the Yankees are the best team blah blah blah. Its ridicolous, he cannot find anything to talk about other than the same old things about the Yanks. Last time I checked the Jays are still off to a good start and one game isn't going to change anything, but Rod is making us believe that the Jays aren't in the same league. He is a disgrace to baseball broadcasting and I cannot believe that he still is allowed to do it for TSN. His regular pompus remarks, and his regular mistakes are just too much for me.

Please remember to adhere to the Game Thread Guidelines if you are going to post in the thread.

These Game Thread Guidelines are meant to ensure that we have solid, professional records of each of the Jays’ 162 games this year. We have two goals in mind:

1. We want to ensure that the Game Threads provide excellent material from which the next day’s Game Report can be drawn.

2. We want to ensure that the Game Threads, like any other thread here at Batter’s Box, can be read coherently and enjoyably after the fact.

As with all threads, proper grammar and punctuation is expected.

right on the heels of the best game ever, we're now witnessing the most frustrating game ever.

Thanks. I didn't notice the umpire's interference, but it makes sense.

U-G-L-Y
You ain't got no alibi
You're Ugly!

That's the only thing I can think of to describe this game.

Pistol were you referring to my rant against Rod Black?

I hate to be so negative over one game, but tonight really stinks. Being the punching bag for an underachieving all star team stinks, but when its the Yankees.....arrhgh. It really gets me to get beat badly in our own house. Especially with all the walks and the poor play on behalf of the Jays. Hopefully the Fightin Jays can finish this game off with some dignity and come back tommorow and keep the unbeaten series streak alive.

Crash now has a batting average!

Perhaps the best #2 hitter I've ever seen.

"Pistol were you referring to my rant against Rod Black?"

I hadn't read that comment before I made the post, but I would say that it, and many other posts tonight, falls outside of the guidelines.

It is so frustrating to see Shea chase balls low and ground out.

It's easy to jump on a guy after he's been pounded for 4 runs in 2 innings (I questioned the move yesterday before the events of today's game) but why was Whiteside the one to be called up? Gaudin, Arnold, and Rosario (who's pitching a hell of a game tonight in Syracuse) are all legitimate prospects that should have been given the chance and they all have the ability to work longer stints than Whiteside. Even considering the fact that the Jays had to add Whiteside to the 40man roster, Mike Naninni and Spike Lundberg have been throwing better than Whiteside in Syracuse. I'd even add that a second lefty in Scott Downs or Burnside would have been a better choice. Again, I'm not trying to kick a guy while he's down, but I feel defensible in asking the question because I asked it well before he had pitched tonight.

I know what your saying S.J. but by the same logic we could dump all over Lilly and Walker.

I think everyone could agree that from time to time the Yankee's are going to pulverize any pitching staff. This game was out of control before Whiteside took the mound. The team can easily decide to send him back down tomorrow and not have to worry about a claim or using up options on younger pitchers.

I'm saying it was an asute move by Ricciardi and Gibbons.

I heard some hype before this game about Rod Black worshipping Derek Jeter.

Good to see Black didn't let me down!

You don't use up options with players though. Each player has 3 "option years" from the 1st time they are added to the 40man roster. Any one of Rosario, Gaudin, Arnold could be called up and optioned back down unlimited times this year and it just one option year. There is no fear of losing any of those 3 to waivers unless the Jays put them on waivers, which they are not going to do. All 3 are on "optional assignment" to Syracuse right now.

I didn't notice the umpire interference, but thanks Elijah. That makes perfect sense, as sending Adams back because the throw hit Cat was illogical.

Hey everyone, heads up, it's this years inaugural edition of Wednesdays with JP on the FAN right now.

Yes, thats right, but wasn't Gaudin in the majors two seasons ago with T-Bay? Is Arnold really ready? The jury is still way out on him and Rosario is still a kid the team is trying to develope.

I don't think any of them needed to come up and take a potential pounding from the Yankee's. Better the throw-away pitcher Matt Whiteside.

I'm fine with this move.

Those of you in the Toronto area can you please update the thread with JP's comments. Fan 590 audio streaming is still blacked out.

The program so far:

- The team isnt planning any parades yet but if they're in contention at the end of May, they'll re-assess and possibly make a bid for the wild card this year. That includes the possibility of picking up high salary players from teams already out of contention.
- The young kids will form the base of this team, free agents will fill any holes we have, not the other way around.
- Jays have no plans to sign Fred McGriff.
- No interest in claiming Adam Peterson from waivers. JP mentioned that their minor league pitching was pretty full as it is, and his tone sounded like he knew something else about Adam that he wasn't saying. "We're just going to turn the page on that one" was his quote.

JP just mentioned that he'd like to see Purcey in New Hampshire by "June or July."

Gaudin was optioned down during spring training, so he can still go up and down as many times as JP sees fit this year without having to clear waivers.

A good part of the reason to bring Arnold up is to see if he is ready. It's his last year with options, so he will have to stick with Toronto out of spring training next year or clear waivers. I know that's a long ways away, but now is the time to see if he can help this team now or in the near future. There are a wave of pitching prospects coming through the organization and they aren't going to be able to protect all of them. Prospects like Banks and Marcum among several others need to be protected on the 40 man roster this fall or they will be gone in the rule 5 draft. Arnold's 26 years old, if he can't help this team this year, his roster spot would be much better used by a younger prospect. Now is precisely the time to figure out what he can do. I mean Matt Whiteside is 37 years old with a well established career of less than mediocre pitching at the major league level. I don't think JP has any illusions of what he is bringing to the team, but if he is up for any longer than a week or 10 days, I would seriously question the usage of that roster spot.

More JP radio updates:

- "We like Shea alot. He fits out lineup really well. We know he doesnt walk much, but he puts the ball in play alot and he works the count well"
- Praised Purcey and Jackson a little. As well as the rest of the minor league pitching depth. Says "The entire AA pitching staff has a chance to come up and help us at some point".
- JP might shy away from drafting players who are unlikely to sign or hold out for tons of money. He's willing to pay top dollars but he wants the guys out there playing, not sitting at home.
- Sees Justin Singleton as a less offensive version of Reed Johnson. Has a chance to be a 4th or 5th outfielder in the majors someday.
- No plans to trade Gabe Gross for anything right now or any of their other young guys for that matter.
- Not actively looking to make any kind of trades right at this moment.
- Talked a little bit about how they actively tweaked things in the off-season to improve the defense (sign Koskie, move Hinske to 1B).

Well, I have no questions for Ricciardi on this move. And I would not be at all suprised to see Whiteside sent back down by the end of the week. He's just fodder.

God that was ugly. VBF, 518 needed you tonight....we were glummer than a sack of goldfish up there. Oh well, I suppose being blown out added to our lack of morale. You win some, you lose some, and you lose 11-2 some.

Sounds like a great interview. Thanks R.C.

Baseball people work in much longer time frames than some posters here believe. In the minor league thread today I said that Casey Janssen would not be promoted based on three starts. On the same basis Jason Arnold will not be promoted based on three bullpen appearances. Arnold has done well but he has not dominated. Players get hot for a couple of weeks all the time, it does not mean they will stay that way. Gabe Gross is one example of this, he was hot during spring training, he cooled at the end and at the start of the season. His true performance level is in between.

Rosario, Arnold and Gaudin are down in Syracuse to work on things in their delivery or with their pitches. It could set them back to be called up before they are ready. The main options to be called up instead of Whiteside were Justin Miller or Ryan Glynn. Whiteside was the closer in Syracuse, and he has major league experience. He might not be the answer but don't judge him on one appearance.

Gerry, I thought I made myself pretty clear earlier in the thread in that I wasn't harping on his pitching performance tonight. I said last night that I wouldn't have called him up and have stated my reasons why. If he pitched 3 scoreless innings tonight, I would have asked the same question as to why he was the one called up. I'm not judging him by one outing. With the depth of pitching that this team has right from Syracuse to Lansing. I firmly believe that a player like Arnold, who is spending his third year in Syracuse, this a good opportunity to see if he can help this team or not? And it will definitely be of more useful information to the team long-term than seeing what a 37 year old "replacement level" pitcher who hasn't pitched in the majors since 2001 can do 4 years later.

Gerry, spot on.

Can you advise how Miller has looked so far? When it came down to the last roster spots I was pulling for him to be the swing / long man. Glynn has a lot of experience but no real stuff.

An ugly loss to the evil empire and we're still 2.5 games up on the Yanks and just .5 game out of first.

We're gonna make them squeal tomorrow!

IM(H)O, no question Arnold should have been brought up for all the reasons being listed elsewhere in the thread. BUT, for some reason the guys that watch him, monitor him, and WANT HIM TO SUCCEED decided not to bring him up yet. Me thinks they know something we don't.

Mike Green questioned the move to bring Whiteside up yesterday as well in the Bullpen Project report. He mentioned Arnold, Naninni, and Burnside as players that he would have called up.

I don't know if this was the Cheer Club or not, but when we were chanting "Steroids" during a Giambi at-bat, we noticed people pointing up into the 500 level. We took a look up there, and there were a bunch of people with what looked like about a 15 foot cardboard syringe. Hilarious.

I have no insight into Justin Miller, he did not pitch in Buffalo and I did not ask Pevey about him. His stats are OK, 9 hits in 8.1 innings but only 5 K's.

I was listening to the Yankee radio broadcast and they commented on the steroids chant. They said it was the first time they had heard it this year. They were surprised that it did not come up when they were in Boston.

Attending the game this evening, the most frustrating part was watching Blue Jay at-bats. It's no secret that the Jays are most successful when they make pitchers throw lots of pitches and that the Yankees' bullpen has been suspect at best lately. Yet making Pavano throw strikes simply wasn't happening tonight. It seemed like Pavano would throw strike one and the Jays hitters would react as if they were at 0-2.

...Not that it would have changed the game in any dramatic sense (though it was only 3-1 at this point), but with Adams on first and one out, Cat at the dish with a 3-1 count, I'd have liked to see Adams moving. Instead, he went on the 3-2 pitch with Frank swinging to protect the plate. Of course, it ended in the strikeout that included Posada making contact with the umpire (I figured it had to be the ump because Cat's allowed to stand in the box, regardless of the throw).

If my counting is correct, we're a game over against the BoSox and tomorrow we get a chance to even up the season series with the Yankees. So from that perspective, I'm pretty happy. I'm also happy that the Jays went 2.5 weeks without getting blown out of the water and that when it did happen, it was against a team that has the hired guns to destory any ball club on the face of the earth at any given point.

...What's really cooking my goose right now is that I'm headed to Washington for passover this weekend and neither the Orioles or Nationals will be at home (what use is having two baseball teams when neither are playing on any given weekend?). The Orioles, of course, will be visiting Toronto, while the Nationals play an afternoon game the day I fly in (if they could have played a 7:05 game we wouldn't have a problem) and then have a series chez NYM.

I was listening to the Yankee radio broadcast and they commented on the steroids chant. They said it was the first time they had heard it this year.

It was pretty amusing. But the best was a fan up in the 5th deck who made a massive cyringe out of foam packing material. On the side he wrote GIAMBI. Definately one of the better (non-Cheer Club) props I've seen in Toronto.

Why exactly is it not possible to bring up Gaudin or Arnold in May or June, once we see if they are truly too good for AAA?

Whiteside is acting as a roster placeholder here. The guys who are being developed into legitimate future contributors are in AAA working on their flaws. The same logic that makes the League demotion sensible (which should have come sooner) can be applied to keeping Arnold and Gaudin in AAA for now.

Rosario is being groomed as a starter and there isn't a spot open in the rotation for him right now. Let him dominate AAA for a couple months and I'm sure something will open up for him.

"Why exactly is it not possible to bring up Gaudin or Arnold in May or June, once we see if they are truly too good for AAA?"

I'll concede this point this to you and hope that's truly what they plan on doing. Let them get the feet wet and confidence up for 2 months and then make the step up and see what they can do.

However, I still don't like the decision to bring Whiteside up for a number of reasons mostly that it being poor use of a roster sport. It's a fact that Whiteside is the 25th man on this team right now. I would argue that he is poor use of this roster spot. He is a relief pitcher who if hoping for any reasonable chance of success needs to work in a short relief situation (he shouldn't be asked to throw any more than 30 pitches). This doesn't make any sense becuase if the Jays are in a tight game into the 7th or 8th inning those opportunities will be given to one of SS, Frasor, Speier. Adrian Burnside or Scott Downs would have been a defensible choice as a sceond lefty in the pen to get a key out in the 6th or 7th inning of a close game and save SS for a higher leverage situtation. I would even go further to suggest that if the starting pitching pitches like it did until the Lilly start of the Texas series, a 6 man pen and the extra bat will be a better use of the roster spot. (This has been talked about by a number of people.) But, with the current situation of the bullpen being that a lot of them could use the rest, somebody who can throw 70 pitches and eat 4 innings of a blowout game (like last night) and save Frasor and Speier from having to come into the game makes way more sense. Gerry mentioned that Glynn and Miller were the other names being talked about for a call-up. Glynn's been off to a slow start in Syracuse, so Miller would make much more sense and be a better use of the roster spot than Whiteside. Miller would have been able to eat up the last 4 innings of the game last night.

I'm not trying to kick on Whiteside and I'll stop now, but I just don't see any logic at all in the decision to bring him up instead of a number of other players.

Don't worry, TD. I will be bringing several cowbells to Friday's game.

There will be a very festive atmosphere in the RC on Friday.