- putting me in charge -

I anxiously await the forthcoming thread by Magpie, "What I Woulda Done, Cito" ...

Hill a righty, hit 263/324/361/685 mostly from the number 9 spot. - Inglett a lefty, hit 299/356/415/771 often from the leadoff spot.

If Hill is healthy - do we need him? Do we want him? Is his defense REALLY that much better than Joe's? Do we try him at SS?

At SS Scutaro has hit 261/342/345/687 almost exactly what Hill hit before he got hurt.

No question - where would we be this year without Joe and Marco.

Jays are starting to get some pub in the Boston media.

http://www.boston.com/sports/col...t_for_the_jays/

As for the Wilner comment. He knows a lot less about baseball than he thinks he does. I can think of a few major things he predicted in the past few years that turned out completely wrong.

Hill a righty, hit 263/324/361/685 mostly from the number 9 spot. - Inglett a lefty, hit 299/356/415/771 often from the leadoff spot.

If Hill is healthy - do we need him? Do we want him? Is his defense REALLY that much better than Joe's? Do we try him at SS?

Not sure that either Hill's or Inglett's 2008 represent their true levels of ability. Hill is 26 and had been improving steadily from ages 23 to 25 (his age-26 season was worse even than his rookie year). Inglett is 30 with only 200-odd prior major league AB.

What type of taste will THIS September leave in our mouths?

In each of the last 2 or 3 seasons, the Jays have ended the seasons with reasonably successful Septembers.  Only to come back to earth each of the following Aprils.

So my question to throw out there is this: Is there anything to suggest that THIS September is different than the rest and that it might be more of a reflection of things to come?  Or are they playing tricks with our minds again?  Thoughts...

FC, I think alot of that will depend on AJ Burnett, or the person who replaces him.  Part of this improvement has come about because he has worked his way into being a legitamite #2 starter.  IMO our other starters are having success because they are in the roles that they should be (i.e. #3 and below). If he walks and everyone else has to move up we'll be back to Halladay and pray for rain.  Maybe in a couple of years our current youngsters won't need a #2 in the rotation for stability, but right now we do. If we can bring AJ back somehow (or bring in Ben Sheets, or C.C. Sabathia hehe) then I think we'll be able to carry some momentum in the next season (particularly if we add a Giambi or Burrell).

My perfect offseason would be a trade of BJ for some prospects, letting League and Accardo fight for the right to close, using BJ's money to pay off AJ, and using the Thomas money to bring in a rent-a-DH

So my question to throw out there is this: Is there anything to suggest that THIS September is different than the rest and that it might be more of a reflection of things to come?  Or are they playing tricks with our minds again?  Thoughts...

They are beating teams that are highly motivated to win, not also-rans fielding AAA players. That's got to count for something.

I would go one step further: If the near impossible does happen, then Cito will be manager of the year. It would be nothing short of amazing.

I'd go a step further than that, even.

If the near impossible does happen, it might be time to start debating where Cito belongs on the all-time Managerial list.

If the near-impossible happens, I believe we should begin sacrificing infants in Cito's name.

(Sure, maybe it wouldn't be strictly necessary, but does anyone really want to take the chance?)

I've heard this can also stop hurricanes and cure cancer. I, for one, am totally behind this new initiative.

the problem with Wilner is that while he's got a decent handle on baseball and the stats, at the core he's still just a petty and vindictive nerd who likes to lord his newfound credibility over anyone he can find.

There's plenty of people who agreed with Wilner, and also believed that this Jays team was much better than they were playing. But not all those people feel the need to be petty about the fact that they're starting to look like they were right.

• You know about Lind already. But no one could have done it better: Cito played him every day, and started him off 9th in the order, so that he felt no pressure. Who says Cito can't manage young players?
• The hitters are attacking the ball. Alex Rios pretty much started hitting from the moment Cito took over.
• Has Cito used the hit-and-run at all? I don't remember him doing it. Gibbons used to use it twice a game. I can't help but think that this has freed the hitters to concentrate on hitting.
• The bullpen roles have been streamlined. Ryan pitches the ninth, Downs pitches the eighth, and everybody else fills in as needed. The bullpen's best pitchers are in there with the game on the line. This is forehead-smackingly obviously the best option, don't you think?
  

You know about Lind already. But no one could have done it better: Cito played him every day, and started him off 9th in the order, so that he felt no pressure. Who says Cito can't manage young players?

With all due respect Dave, but what if Lind had started off 1-for-19 under Cito's watch? How would he have treated him then? Once Lind was called up, he hit from the very beginning and didn't stop hitting no matter where in the lineup he was placed. Managing a player who does that is not terribly difficult.

Now, were Cito's dulcet tones the pixie dust that needed to be sprinkled all over Lind v2.0? Many will argue a direct cause and effect (though I am not suggesting you are). I am willing to concede that Lind may have been made to feel less pressure to perform, but given that (a) there were no real plan B's sitting in the dugout champing at the bit to take over (where is Ruben Sierra these days?) and (b) the fact that Lind has a history of hitting everywhere he goes, I see the cause and effect argument a tad overblown.

I hope the Jose Bautista experiment at 1B will come to an end!

What a painful ending...

the problem with Wilner is that while he's got a decent handle on baseball and the stats, at the core he's still just a petty and vindictive nerd who likes to lord his newfound credibility over anyone he can find.

There's plenty of people who agreed with Wilner, and also believed that this Jays team was much better than they were playing. But not all those people feel the need to be petty about the fact that they're starting to look like they were right.

I completely disagree. Wilner has to deal with petty and small minded morons on each and every thread, from the killjoys who suggest a good player should be dumped for one bad play to the wet blankets who announce the game is over as soon as Ryan trots in to the children who "call him" on the tiniest stuff (like the guy who challanged Mike when the game did not end at 9:45 as "predicted"

Why do the guests get to be childish and petty and the host has to be on his best behavior? I assure you that you'd see considerably more rudeness there if it were my blog.

Wilner has credibility because he paid his dues and found his way to a job that gives him face to face access with Jays personnel which few, if any, of those who comment on his blog enjoy. In short, the odds that he knows what he's talking about are far greater than that we do. Now, that doesn't guarantee you won't say stupid things anyway (see: Griffin, Richard) but it increases the odds.

what I can't get over is why so many people expect to be treated with kid gloves on-line. Where's the upside in tolerating stupidity and patting the moron on his pointy-head for managing to figure out how a keyboard works and very little else? Some ideas and opinions ARE stupid. I, for one, am pleased to see it when they are called what they are.

Anyone who doesn't have a thick enough skin to hear their view criticized probably ought to refrain from posting it.