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Notes from Nowhere #26
A look back on the career of Adam Lind.


Adam Lind belts a walk-off homer and is getting ready to be mobbed by his teammates after a 10th inning blast off Seattle's Shawn Kelley September 26, 2009. It was Lind's second homer of the game to help the Jays beat the M's 5-4.



Adam Lind is about to be greeted by Aaron Hill after a walk-on, two-run homer at Progressive Energy Field in the top of the ninth to complete a comeback from a 4-2 deficit against Cleveland. Lind's homer off Chris Perez gave the Jays a 5-4 victory and a three-game series sweep. Current Miami Marlins and former Lansing Lugnuts manager Mike Redmond was behind the plate that day for the Indians.

Adam Lind wearing the white retro jersey during World Series Reunion Night on August 7, 20009.

Adam Lind belts one of his two home runs off Freddy Garcia to give the Blue Jays a 3-0 victory over the New York Yankees on September 18, 2011.

Adam Lind sporting his Jim 'The Anvil' Niedhart look on JaysVision.

Adam Lind folds his arms during a break in the action against Seattle September 24.

Adam Lind chases down a pop fly in foul territory off the bat of Mariners first baseman Kendrys Morales September 25.

Adam Lind makes the catch to retire Morales with Munenori Kawasaki trailing the play.

Adam Lind gets ready in the on-deck circle.

Adam Lind digs in against Mariners reliever Yoervis Medina and lines a single to right field to score Munenori Kawasaki.


Adam Lind made his major league debut September 2, 2006 in Fenway Park and doubled off lefty Lenny DiNardo for his first major league hit in a 5-1 Blue Jays victory. His first major league homer came against Jered Weaver in Anaheim September 10. That came in the midst of a six-game hitting streak that featured four straight multi-hit efforts. His second homer came on the final day of 2006 at Yankee Stadium when his two-run blast off Kyle Farnsworth in the ninth inning helped the Blue Jays end the season on a winning note October 1. He batted .367 with an OPS of 1.015 in 65 plate appearances and was named the Eastern League's Most Valuable Player with the New Hampshire Fisher Cats.

The Jays third round pick of the 2004 draft from the University of South Alabama struggled in 2007 with a .238 average in 2007 and endured a rough start in 2008 which included a stint back in Triple-A in Syracuse. He was summoned up to the big club on June 21, shortly after the firing of manager John Gibbons, and blossomed under the tutelage of new skipper Cito Gaston to hit .282 in 349 plate appearances.

The man from Muncie, Indiana broke through with the bat in 2009 when he slashed .305/.370/.562 with 46 doubles, 36 homers and 115 runs batted in to win a Silver Slugger and the Edgar Martinez Award as the top designated hitter. His OPS the next three seasons dropped an average of 200 points and his home run output fell to 23, 26 and 11. He was plagued by back problems and was sent down to Triple-A Las Vegas in 2012.

Lind bounced back in 2013 with a .288 average with 23 homers and 67 RBI with just 100 of his 521 plate appearances being limited to lefthanded pitchers. In 2014, Lind was limited by a foot injury in early July but still hit .321 with an OPS of .860, facing lefties just 37 times in which he batted all of .061. Lind had his eventful moments off the field by telling the media his mother was the one who told him to get an MRI on his broken foot and he was outspoken about management's commitment to win, pointing to the delay of Marcus Stroman's arrival with the club. There is a feeling those developments may have helped sealed his fate with Toronto.

Originally an eighth-round pick of Minnesota in the 2002 draft, Lind will begin a new chapter of his big league career back in the Central Time Zone with the Milwaukee Brewers. The 31 year-old is expected to replace former Jay Lyle Overbay as the left-handed bat at first base in 2015.

In his nine seasons with the Blue Jays, Adam Lind batted. 273 with 196 doubles, 12 triples, 146 home runs and 519 runs batted in. Thanks for the memories and all the best, #26!
#26 | 10 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
Mike Green - Wednesday, November 05 2014 @ 08:11 PM EST (#294828) #
I remember the 2004 draft well.  In the first round, the Jays selected David Purcey and Zach Jackson, followed by Curtis Thigpen in the second, and Lind and Danny Hill in the third and Casey Janssen in the fourth.  I didn't like the draft much, until I took a closer look at Lind and had in my mind's eye, a good young hitting prospect with a sweet swing.  And that's what he was. 

I wish him good health (if he has that, everything else will flow).

Magpie - Wednesday, November 05 2014 @ 08:54 PM EST (#294829) #
It will certainly be interesting to see if or how getting away from artificial turf affects Lind.
jerjapan - Wednesday, November 05 2014 @ 11:46 PM EST (#294832) #
Lind and Jansenn made that draft.  I never liked the JP approach to drafting much, far too many safe picks in the first few key rounds, but he did look good with those two. 

Thanks for the pics, Mr. Brumfield.  I'd forgotten how great Lind was in 2009. I hope he rakes in Milwaukee. 


.





Chuck - Thursday, November 06 2014 @ 08:15 AM EST (#294836) #
It will certainly be interesting to see if or how getting away from artificial turf affects Lind.

Being embedded in such a RH-heavy lineup should help as well. He should see a good deal of RHP.

John Northey - Thursday, November 06 2014 @ 11:06 AM EST (#294838) #
Interesting to look at the 2004 draft...
1st round: less said the better... Jays took David Purcey (#16) while Phil Hughes waited until pick 23. Zack Jackson was taken with pick 32 ahead of Gio Gonzalez and Huston Street (who was a university prospect thus JPR might have thought about him).
2nd round: Jays screwed up big time - took Thigpen and 5 picks later Houston took Hunter Pence, then the Red Sox took Dustin Pedroia shortly followed by the A's taking Kurt Suzuki and Marlins Jason Vargas - all of whom had 10+ WAR so far in their careers.  Grrrr.
3rd round: Lind has the 2nd most WAR, behind Ian Desmond  (13.4 to 8.6).  #3 in the 3rd round is JA Happ (6.0) with only Wade Davis having over 1 WAR as well (4.6)
4th round: Janssen is #2 in WAR behind Chris Iannetta  (13.8 vs 7.7) no one else over 4.
5th round: no one over 5 WAR
6th round: Ben Zobrist and a lot of crap
7th round: just 3 reached, none have 0.5 WAR yet
8th round: 1.2 WAR leads this motley crew
9th round: Just 3 reached, 3.5 WAR the best
10th round: Steve Pearce got to 6.6 WAR

Overall 7 Jay picks from that draft have reached the majors.  Lind, Janssen and Litsch being the only successful ones while Purcey & Thigpen got a fair amount of ML service time.  The Red Sox, for example, had just 6 reach but Pearce did OK and Pedroia is a 'woohoo' for them and Cla Meredith a useful 6th rounder.  The Yankees had Hughes and in the 50th took Chris Davis but he didn't sign.  The Rays, despite having the #1 pick in each round, have yet to get 5 WAR from anyone, with just 3 cracking 0.5 WAR.  The O's had 5 reach, Will Venable with 12.4 WAR, Jaime Garcia  5.2 but neither signed with the O's so a disaster draft for them.  So outside of the Red Sox getting Pedroia and Yankees Hughes the Jays did pretty good vs the AL East in that draft.
Mike Green - Thursday, November 06 2014 @ 12:15 PM EST (#294840) #
I had been publicly advocating for Pedroia to be drafted.  Alas, he was not considered to have enough upside...
jgadfly - Thursday, November 06 2014 @ 12:44 PM EST (#294843) #
Batting Stance ... quite the difference with Lind's stance in pictures 3 & 4 compared to picture # 10 ... I can see why he had a 'bad back' ... Also,I remember the hoopla about Lind using only one bat in batting practice for most of one season ... also his nickname, "Sleepy" ... also, "amazing HR power to LF" ... I will not miss that godawful beard ... he should have had banjo music as his walk up to his at bat entrance
jgadfly - Thursday, November 06 2014 @ 12:48 PM EST (#294845) #
PS ... how much will Lawrie miss his post game hug ?
Eephus - Thursday, November 06 2014 @ 05:56 PM EST (#294856) #
I'll always remember Adam Lind best for how awkwardly he did everything baseball related that wasn't swinging a bat. When he came up playing left-field, every ball that was hit to him seemed an adventure not because he was a bad fielder (he surely wasn't good though) but because the way he tracked and caught the ball was just so darned graceless. Out there he looked like somebody off the street, who'd never played baseball before, asked to catch fly balls, and there was something oddly endearing about it. Even as a first-baseman he looks a bit clanky, like a big suit of armour that can only move its limbs in certain ways.

His swing though, when on, is and always has been a thing of beauty. Just smooth and effortless like pouring a tall glass of milk. Here's to hoping he mashes all those RH pitchers on St. Louis and Pittsburgh.

Gerry - Thursday, November 06 2014 @ 08:32 PM EST (#294858) #
If you can get the MLB Network on Rogers Cable they are showing an AFL game tonight with Sean Nolin starting for Mesa and Dalton Pompey in the lineup.
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