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I wish I'd thought of this when there were more than two games left in the season. But what the hell... you guys have been watching the Blue Jays all year long, right?

One of the enduring charms of baseball, for me anyway, is the infinite number of tiny personal mannerisms individual players have. Just the different ways they do the same things. So let's try to assemble a few of those for this year's squad, while the vision is fresh in our minds.

I'll both start the proceedings (and give you an idea of the type of trivial stuff I'm thinking about!) with some examples.

1. Vernon Wells' one-handed twirl of the bat as he stands in the batter's box waiting for the pitcher.

2. Josh Towers' leg lift in mid-motion. He doesn't have a leg kick as such. He lifts his left leg so that it forms a kind of reversed capital P, and his left foot actually "breaks the plane" of his right leg for an instant.

3. Roy Halladay's twist. Just as Doc starts the leg lift in his motion, he makes a very short and very sharp upper body twist away from home plate.

4. Reed Johnson's tripod. We can't overlook that!

5. Alex Rios's sag. After he gets settled in the box and takes his practise hacks, Rios seems to visibly sag for an instant, like a deflated balloon... his knees fold, his posture slumps, the bat falls on his shoulder... and he then kind of springs back into his hitting stance.

More! More! More!

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The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
VBF - Saturday, October 01 2005 @ 12:03 PM EDT (#129383) #
6. Miguel Batista's stutter step on the warning track before he comes in.
VBF - Saturday, October 01 2005 @ 12:05 PM EDT (#129384) #
7. Orlando Hudson pointing to God after he reaches home.
VBF - Saturday, October 01 2005 @ 12:08 PM EDT (#129385) #
Corey Koskie hitting the points of home plate before assuming his stance.
Paul D - Saturday, October 01 2005 @ 12:08 PM EDT (#129386) #
7. Orlando Hudson pointing to God after he reaches home.

I always figured he was pointing to Doug Christie's wife. :)

Gwyn - Saturday, October 01 2005 @ 12:39 PM EDT (#129389) #
The first time Hudson comes to bat every game he pats the umpire and actcher on the back as he walks past them to the plate, just to say hello and be all friendly and ODog like.
Alex Obal - Saturday, October 01 2005 @ 12:41 PM EDT (#129390) #
Russ Adams stepping off the home plate dirt cutout and swinging once hard as he can before every PA.

The Dave Bush Ritual. Before every inning (or maybe just the first - I can't remember for sure), Bush circles the first-base side of the mound. He stands behind the mound, facing home, and kicks dirt off his shoes. Then he walks forward onto the mound, bends over and brushes any dirt off the rubber with his glove, using one stroke in each direction. That's one cool superstition.

Justin Speier's Ninja Crouch.

Vinnie Chulk's glove twitching as he holds the ball in it with his throwing hand as he comes into the set position.
VBF - Saturday, October 01 2005 @ 12:52 PM EDT (#129391) #
Roy Halladay's warm up music.

...

As I was typing I'm watching TWIB and Batista made it with his 4 strikeout performance. Good for him.

I'm gonna miss this team :'(

Flex - Saturday, October 01 2005 @ 12:59 PM EDT (#129393) #
Corey Koskie at the plate before he gets into his stance, holding his bat in front of him and repeatedly hitting it with the heel of his hand, as if to wake it up.

Scott Schoeneweis taking the throw from the catcher and walking up the mound backwards with a gunslinger's swagger.
DepecheJay - Saturday, October 01 2005 @ 02:08 PM EDT (#129395) #
Scott Downs - Before every outing Downs circles the back of the mound, picks up and slams the rosen bag and then crouches down and I don't know if it's a prayer he's reciting or what, but he just starts mumbling stuff to himself. Pretty interesting.
Magpie - Saturday, October 01 2005 @ 02:32 PM EDT (#129396) #
It would be nice to come up with something for everyone, even if we're reduced to stuff like Gregg Zaun's hair! Eric Hinske's curses! Ted Lilly's smirk!

I do have another, though!

Frank Menechino's walkabouts. Frank doesn't just step out of the box and take a practise swing. He tours the infield. He backs way, way out of the box, abandoning the dirt cutout completely. He sometimes finds himself near the on-deck circle before he remembers - hey! I'm up to bat!

Rob - Saturday, October 01 2005 @ 02:44 PM EDT (#129397) #
The Ted Lilly Face.

We must include that.
Magpie - Saturday, October 01 2005 @ 02:58 PM EDT (#129399) #
NFH just sent me a picture of Towers a split-second before the pose I was thinking of:

The angle is different from the image in my head. Many of you probably see Towers from behind, the centre-field camera view. Aaron presumably took this picture from the third base corner bay, and I'm thinking of the perspective from the third level behind home plate.

What happens next is Towers very quickly bends his left knee. The heel of his left foot actually passes back beyond his right knee, towards first base. Briefly creating the following shape...

Wow. Did I make that?

garth - Saturday, October 01 2005 @ 03:22 PM EDT (#129401) #
Eric hinske throwing his helmet after he strikes out.
Pistol - Saturday, October 01 2005 @ 03:22 PM EDT (#129402) #
Wow. Did I make that?

A crooked martini?

Rick - Saturday, October 01 2005 @ 05:24 PM EDT (#129404) #
The part of that Josh Towers leg kick that I really like is that it looks like he points his toe making his shin and foot almost look straight. It just oozes finesse and control.

I also enjoy how Hudson leaves the straps of his batting gloves flapping about. Just a lovely little quirk.
Jobu - Saturday, October 01 2005 @ 05:32 PM EDT (#129405) #
Wasn't there a website that was discussed on Da Box last year that does exactly this? Gather up quirks of blue jays past and present?
Willy - Saturday, October 01 2005 @ 05:33 PM EDT (#129406) #
What a great topic. I remember some years ago somebody published a booklet of silhouettes of players' stances--and it was amazing how many of them were almost instantly recognizable. Keep the identifying quirks coming. Good stuff.
slitheringslider - Saturday, October 01 2005 @ 05:52 PM EDT (#129407) #
Aaron Hill's almost motionless stance, which displays a sense of calm and focus
JayWay - Saturday, October 01 2005 @ 06:58 PM EDT (#129409) #
Ted Lilly's undershirts.

Maybe it's just me noticing this, but they always seem to clash with his uniform. Most of the players wear team-issued authentic undershirts which look like a natural extension of their uniform. Lilly, on the other hand, seems to grab the first shirt he sees out of drawer in the morning, and that's what he wears under his jersey.

It just looks kinda weird.
Keith Talent - Saturday, October 01 2005 @ 07:56 PM EDT (#129410) #
Shea Hillenbrand always looks stoned on amphetamines:

- eyes wide open, pupils dilated, never blinking
- mouth tense in imperfect circle
- floods raw serotonin uptakes making it difficult for him to speak: strong and silent

F-Cat: "the eyes of a cat"

Hinske, Zaun: always bitching at the strike zone when they're up to bat
King Ryan - Saturday, October 01 2005 @ 08:10 PM EDT (#129411) #
Jobu:

I assume you're talking about this website, based on this thread, as well as this one.

Magpie is stealing someone's thunder again. ;)

Magpie - Saturday, October 01 2005 @ 08:18 PM EDT (#129412) #
Magpie is stealing someone's thunder again.

You bet I am. King Ryan is referring to Dave Till's depository of this sort of thing from Blue Jays of days gone by. (I believe I myself contributed my recollection of George Bell always demanding that the umpire check the ball every chance he got.)

I'm very glad you posted the links, too. I lost ALL my baseball bookmarks last week. My grief and rage and frustration... well, they're boundless.

VBF - Saturday, October 01 2005 @ 08:58 PM EDT (#129415) #
As Alex Obal tracked down, Gabe "God Boy" Gross's Stridin' to the Plate music is a Christian Rock Band. I don't remember the song though, do you Alex?
smcs - Saturday, October 01 2005 @ 11:21 PM EDT (#129425) #
Chacin's stutter step in the full windup and his wrist curl before he throws
Named For Hank - Saturday, October 01 2005 @ 11:49 PM EDT (#129426) #
Maybe it's just me noticing this, but they always seem to clash with his uniform. Most of the players wear team-issued authentic undershirts which look like a natural extension of their uniform. Lilly, on the other hand, seems to grab the first shirt he sees out of drawer in the morning, and that's what he wears under his jersey.

I've noticed on more than one occasion that he changes them during the game -- he's started with grey and then changed to black or vice versa.

I notice dumb things.
VBF - Sunday, October 02 2005 @ 12:09 AM EDT (#129429) #
Pat Hentgen was notorious for doing this between innings.

Dave Till - Sunday, October 02 2005 @ 09:54 AM EDT (#129439) #
Thanks for the shoutout to my page. If I ever become really ambitious (fat chance of this!), I'll turn it into a wiki: I've got the software, but haven't tried to install it yet.

I'll add this thread to my page sometime soon (I promise!).
Twilight - Monday, October 03 2005 @ 03:09 PM EDT (#129547) #
Gustavo's stutter-step when he delivers a pitch with no base runners. If there are runners on, he just sort of strides toward the plate.

Towers points at people when they make good defensive plays. He knows he needs 'em. hehe
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