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The Royals did their best to give this one away, but the Jays resisted the temptation...



A few notes:

The team's 21st Blown Save was charged to Jason Frasor, but when you come in with a one run lead, no one out, and runners on second and third... it's a tough one.

Ambiorix Burgos also gets a Blown Save, and about as Cheap a Win as it's possible to get.

If the Jays clubhouse is like most others in the major leagues, the pre-game music is selected by that day's starting pitcher. And in that case, Dave Bush needs to find some new tunes, because he keeps putting his own hitters to sleep. In his 24 starts, the Jays have now scored 0 runs six times while Bush was in the game, and just 1 run four other times.

The Royals play a brand of defense with which I am not familiar, and today they gave us an opportunity to see Rule 10.18 in action. The Royals two errors with one out in the seventh meant that all six runs that followed were unearned. That's six unearned to the team and four unearned to starter J.P. Howell. But the two runs Ambiorix Burgos was charged with count as earned runs against Burgos. He doesn't benefit from errors made while Howell was pitching.

Frank Catalanotto drove in three runs for the fourth game in a row this afternoon. Needless, to say no other Blue Jay has done that this year.

Cat also hit into two double plays. That has been done before: once previously by Catalanotto himself, once each by Aaron Hill, Reed Johnson, and Corey Koskie, and three times by Shea Hillenbrand.

Jays 6, Royals 7 | 26 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
westcoast dude - Saturday, October 01 2005 @ 08:57 PM EDT (#129414) #
So...what kind of music does Bush play, anyway?
How about a new clubhouse rule: no music before games, and the starter's pick gets played after a victory?
VBF - Saturday, October 01 2005 @ 09:01 PM EDT (#129416) #
Gotta have music before the game. It pumps them up.

Dave Bush used to listen to Scorpion's "Ride You Like a Hurricane". He now appears to use some sort of early 90s slow rock. Alex Obal or Magpie should know.
westcoast dude - Saturday, October 01 2005 @ 09:54 PM EDT (#129417) #
I would suggest Bush wrap his ears around HammerFall if he wants to pump 'em up; what my 18 year old son grooves on. My own preference would be Do It Again by the Beach Boys for starters; works for me while I'm waiting for Commodities to open...
Named For Hank - Saturday, October 01 2005 @ 10:27 PM EDT (#129419) #
If I were a pitcher, I'd come out to the strains of Toots and the Maytals cover of Louie Louie.

Seriously fantastic.
VBF - Saturday, October 01 2005 @ 10:37 PM EDT (#129420) #
Mine would be "Girls Girls Girls" by Motley Crue, "Tom Sawyer" by Rush, or Hinske's "Duality" by Slipknot. Heck, can we keep Hinske on the team next year just so we can hear it?
brent - Saturday, October 01 2005 @ 10:46 PM EDT (#129422) #
JP's first priority should be looking at ways to close the 20 point OBP difference between the Jays and the Sox/Yanks. He needs to find a way to cut down on the strikeouts too, they are nearly at 1000 K's for the year as a team. Unacceptable for a team with so little power. Then worry about upgrading the starting pitching.
Wildrose - Saturday, October 01 2005 @ 10:59 PM EDT (#129423) #
In the glass is half full category, todays loss assures the Jays will not loose their first round draft choice if they happen to sign a type A free agent. The team can finish no higher than seventeenth.
VBF - Saturday, October 01 2005 @ 11:00 PM EDT (#129424) #
Question: What reason did Gibby have for bringing in Walker and not Frasor? Does Walker dominate the Royals?
Jonny German - Saturday, October 01 2005 @ 11:58 PM EDT (#129427) #
VBF, were you in 518 Friday night? I was on the third base side in the 100s (the ol' free seat upgrade) and saw a couple guys in 518 with jerseys, wondered if they were Cheer Clubbers. Also, since this seems to be your specialty: What is that horrible "music" that Gabe Gross comes up to?
6-4-3 - Sunday, October 02 2005 @ 12:02 AM EDT (#129428) #
The Jays currently rank 23rd overall in team strikeouts, 11th in the AL. The Jays rank 5th in the AL in runs scored, all four teams ahead of them (NY, Cleveland, Texas, Boston, are ahead of the Jays in strikeouts. On average, they've struck out 98 more times than the Jays. In fact, the top three AL teams in strikeouts rank 3-4-1 in runs scored.

Put another way, Oakland's overall line (.262/.330/.407) is almost identical to Toronto's (.265/.330/.407). The Jays have struck out 138 more times, but have scored a few more runs (762 - 760).

The Jays do need more power, but cutting down on strikeouts shouldn't be a priority.
VBF - Sunday, October 02 2005 @ 12:17 AM EDT (#129430) #
VBF, were you in 518 Friday night? I was on the third base side in the 100s (the ol' free seat upgrade) and saw a couple guys in 518 with jerseys, wondered if they were Cheer Clubbers. Also, since this seems to be your specialty: What is that horrible "music" that Gabe Gross comes up to?

Yep, that was me and Alex. A closed Dome does wonders for a broken cowbell.

That song has been the reason of laughter the last few games. Alex can tell you more about it, but all I know it is....

Christian Rock. Yes sir, Gabe Gross is God Boy.

westcoast dude - Sunday, October 02 2005 @ 12:21 AM EDT (#129431) #
I like the sound of one Type A FA and a first round draft pick. This is sounding and looking better all the time.
brent - Sunday, October 02 2005 @ 01:50 AM EDT (#129432) #
6-4-3, I thought it was established that the best thing for a pitcher is a K, and the worst thing for a batter is a K (Double Plays notwithstanding). Cutting down on the K's will put more pressure on the opposing defense and just putting a ball in play means you have a chance for a hit. It is a luck and a percentage thing. The other teams except cleveland are hitting a lot of home runs. Home run hitters usually strike out more. For light hitters, they should not (Cat-low K numbers). If JP goes after hitters that are high on base-low K guys,I will be happy. Think Minnesota, not Texas IMO
Alex Obal - Sunday, October 02 2005 @ 01:51 AM EDT (#129433) #
17th place never felt so good.

After five months of Survivor, Gross now walks out to some Christian rock. I'm 99% sure (only because I tracked it down last night and therefore haven't actually been able to confirm it at a game) that his new music is the big, uplifting final chorus from "I Can Only Imagine," a ballad by a country-rock group called MercyMe.

Surrounded by your glory, what will my heart feel?
Will I dance for you Jesus, or in awe of you be still?
Will I stand in your presence, or to my knees will I fall?
Will I sing hallelujah? Will I be able to speak at all?
I can only imagine / I can only imagine...

Walker in the 8th confused me too, but it's the last series and it's understandable to want to make sure everybody in the pen gets some playing time.

Anders - Sunday, October 02 2005 @ 02:15 AM EDT (#129434) #
I was always a fan of Rios' opening music, and Frank 'Metal Head' Cattalanato
rtcaino - Sunday, October 02 2005 @ 02:54 AM EDT (#129435) #
""In the glass is half full category, today’s loss assures the Jays will not loose their first round draft choice if they happen to sign a type A free agent. The team can finish no higher than seventeenth.""

This is great news. But, If we finish 17th, don’t we loose our pick? I thought it was 16th and up. I could be wrong.


“”Think Minnesota, not Texas IMO””

Minnesota is 30th in EQA. Toronto is 29th. Texas is 11th.

Think Texas, not the Twins. When constructing a lineup, never think '05 Twins. Just ask Aaron Gleeman.
6-4-3 - Sunday, October 02 2005 @ 03:30 AM EDT (#129436) #
It's true that if you're looking at pitchers, K's are a good place to start. Scott Kazmir is more likely to be successful next year than Kirk Saarloos.

That being said, my point was that Toronto's already cut back on strikeouts considerably.

2002: 1142 (2nd in the AL)
2003: 1081 (2nd in the AL)
2004: 1083 (4th in the AL)
2005: 951 (11th in the AL)

In the meantime, how has scoring changed?

2002: 813 (7th in the AL)
2003: 894 (2nd in the AL)
2004: 719 (12th in the AL)
2005: 768 (5th in the AL)

So, while striking out a lot, the Jays posted great, mediocre, and terrible offenses.

To put this in terms of the AL, the three teams that had the highest number of K's, from 2002 - 2005, averaged 806 runs. The bottom three teams in strikeouts averaged 777 runs.

The 2003 Tigers led the AL in K's. So did the 2004 Red Sox. Making less strikeouts a priority for the offseason won't necessarily make the Jays a better team. High slugging, high K guys could helpt this team out just as much, if not more, than the high OBP, low K players.
rtcaino - Sunday, October 02 2005 @ 03:38 AM EDT (#129437) #
6-4-3 makes a good point. K's aren’t the problem. Offence is. Whatever it is we can do to improve our offensive production, we should do it.
Pistol - Sunday, October 02 2005 @ 09:29 AM EDT (#129438) #
"This is great news. But, If we finish 17th, don’t we lose our pick? I thought it was 16th and up. I could be wrong."

You're looking at it backwards. If the Jays finish 17th they would have the 14th pick in the draft.

The teams picking in the top 15 of the draft cannot forfeit a 1st round pick for signing free agents. The Jays will pick no higher than 12th and no lower than 14th depending on today's game and what the Cubs and Rangers do.
ds - Sunday, October 02 2005 @ 09:59 AM EDT (#129440) #
Here's an idea:

Given the emergence of Ryan Howard in Philly, what does everyone think the chance of acquiring Jim Thome is? Obviously Philly would have to eat some salary (by taking Hinske and perhaps throw in some cash), and get him to waive his no trade clause. But he is a legit power bat whose health issues haven't affected his performance other than this season. I think he would fit in perfectly in the middle of the lineup, and he would probably cost less in trade that almost any other option.
Mike D - Sunday, October 02 2005 @ 10:42 AM EDT (#129441) #
6-4-3 is right. Strikeouts are a drag on batting average (and therefore OBP) but not on slugging. A team that doesn't slug -- like this year's Jays -- is hurt by striking out. A team that does -- like the '03 Jays, with big seasons from Vernon and Carlos -- isn't.

If you can't pay for slugging, then you should seek low-K players. But all indications are that the Jays can and will pay for slugging this offseason.
nicton - Sunday, October 02 2005 @ 12:51 PM EDT (#129443) #
On the downside: Last year the Jays signed a type A FA and had a 1st round pick. While I'm a fan of the Ricky Romero pick, I hope we don't see another Corey Koskie signing...
Jays 6, Royals 7 | 26 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.