Happy!

Since July 29, they've gone 42-14. That's .750 ball for almost two months. Wow.

This is fun. Congratulations to all. Go get 'em in the post-season.

Marvelous. What a fun season. Congrats to the 2015 AL East champions!

Jays lineup for Game 2 of the double-header:

Pompey 8; Pennington 7; Carrera 9; Colabello dh; Hague 3; Thole 2; Kawasaki 5; Barney 4; Jonathan Diaz 6.

Does nobody care about the Royals??

It's as close to a punt as one could imagine.  Yet this lineup might even win.   That's just the way things have been going for the Jays these days.

Great moment. Most of us, if not all of us, have suffered through the entire 20+ years. Makes this that much sweeter.

The post All Star break 2015 Jays are the best Jays team I have ever seen. (And I've seen all of them, literally.) I've never seen a month like what they put up in August.

Congratulations to the 2015 AL East champions!

I'd like to thank all of you for sticking with this maddening, mercurial ballclub. It's the fans that make baseball what it is.

What a ride.

Me Grimlock speechless! What a two month run.

Whoa, first Dr. Zarco makes a reappearance, and now Grimlock! This truly is a special Jays team :)

Congratulations not only to the team, but also to the front office, which did such a brilliant job in acquiring the following players over the last year:

Martin
Donaldson
Travis
Estrada
Tulowitzki
Price
Revere
Smoak
Hendriks
Schulz
Hawkins
Lowe

That is a massive infusion of talent.

Yeah a lot of props go to Alex and his staff. I thought he had a great off-season and obviously a great trade deadline. I did not like/agree with all of his moves (Castro/Osuna making the team in particular), but it seems like almost every move and/or hunch he had paid off in one way or another. AA went from a lameduck GM to someone who I would trust long-term. A GM that values WAR, framing, and many of the other components he's been acquiring since November of last year is a huge asset. Major props go to him and also Gibbons.

A rocky start to the season, and quite frankly it looked a bit depressing in the first 3-4 months, but man what a 2nd half. Amazing.

fun thing is that this jays team (and last year's) seems almost as the baseball gods' proof that things like chemistry and momentum exist.

Definite congrats to the Bauxites! It just goes to show that with loyalty, being a glutton for punishment, bickering over minute details, following the minor leagues religiously, and imbibing scotch (single malt, natch), sometimes you catch a break. Well deserved for you fine folks.

Now let's discuss the play-offs at a level of detail that our friends and family can neither appreciate nor condone.

I think some kudos for John Gibbons are in order. This year's Blue Jays hitters seemed to communicate as a team much more than any other edition I can recall, and the manager likely deserves a lot of credit for nurturing that. (And the front office! And the players!)

Good Guys™ just went up 1-0 on the Royals.

What a beautiful season

Not only have the acquired players shone, but a major development this season, to me anyway, was the emergence of Kevin Pillar and Ryan Goins as everyday contributing players, It's good to see home-grown talent establish themselves, and you can add Osuna to that list also. Oh, and we're Division Champs ! Woo-hoo !

Congratulations to this team and this crazy ride! I really didn't think it was even in the realm of possibility that we could play .750 ball for 2 months. The closest thing I can remember to a ride like this was the '84 Tigers who just caught fire at the beginning of the season and never really seemed to look back.

Just an unbelievable season - two seasons really.  There was the first half, and then August and Everything After (which those of us of a certain vintage may also recall as a great Counting Crows/T Bone Burnett produced record, which coincidentally enough came out just a month before the Jays won their second World Series title).  Obviously a long time coming, but what a payoff - thanks to everyone involved with this site for keeping the flame alive during some rather dispiriting stretches. 

I'm happy my son's eight year old season ended better than mine (1987)

Well it has been raining in Baltimore lately Four Seamer

I've been posting here since 2005 at least, and attending Jays game for more than 2 decades now. Yesterday, I sat down and thought of the notable games that I've ever seen in person, and immediately thought of 8 horrible games, and struggled to write down 1 great memory, and then quickly rattled off 8 great ones, which the Jays didn't even win all of. I always thought that the champagne celebrations for division crowns were contrived, phony and totally unnecessary. Today 100% changed my mine. I never realized how much I would care to see these guys celebrating their current accomplishments. I owe a huge "Thank-You" to everyone at Da Box who has helped to indulge my mania, and provided an outlet for this obsession that I held (and still hold) even when I was not commenting.

Today is a good day, but hopefully it is followed by even better days.

Congrats all around on a well deserved title. After having high hopes for so many previous Blue Jay teams it's hard to grasp that this year it finally all came together.

With the 92nd win yesterday these Jays sit 5th all-time for the franchise. 3 wins in the next 4 games would tie them with the '93 team. 4-0 would match the '87 and '92 squads.

That was a fun ride. For me the last two months were the most incredible part of the season. It seemed that no matter what the score the Jays would find a way to get back in the game. I just had total faith in the team.

That could all go to hell in the playoffs but those last two months should be something to savour for a while.

Unbelievable !!! I am happy and celebrating.

Now let's discuss the play-offs at a level of detail that our friends and family can neither appreciate nor condone.

Hear hear for the nerdiest possible call to arms!  Bring on the unpardonable detail!

The Jays had a losing record on July 28th. The last 63 days have been incredible.

A.A., Gibby, the coaches, scouts, and
entire Front Office deserve our hearty congratulations.  A.A. made some
very gutsy moves.  Shrewd, too.  The past two months have been a Golden
Age for Jays fans.  Playing at .750 is quite remarkable.  I’ve really
enjoyed the team this summer, and I’m a glass-half-fuller.   Goins,
Pillar, the incredible Stroman, and the other late arrivals.  What a
team.  Lots of stories.  Whatever happens from here on out, it’s been a
very fine season for Jays’ fans.  Huzzah!

Thanks, Dewey.  Perhaps it's time to bring back the senryu tradition of BB.  I'll start

Late-blooming flowers
'15 Jays
still sweet in November

Jeremy was 8 in "1987 The Year of Suffering." I was 41 and I remember it still today - shudder. It was like having a "LOSER" brand burned into my mind. A 96 win team that loses it's final 7 games - shudder. A safe lead squandered - shudder. A dream dashed - shudder.

I am happy today. But inside: that "Mark of the Beast" stills chills my soul - or at least the dark place where it used to reside...

I'll sit in a corner and hold my breath. Evil winds may blow. Hopefully, my current team of "Soldiers of the Light" are powerful enough to keep the demons away from me. Where's a four leaf clover, a rabbit's  foot and a horse shoe with the open end facing up not down - when you need them?

Congrats to the team, and way to hang in there for all my fellow Bauxites. Lots of suffering along the way, and disappointment. Control panel says I've been a member since Dec '05, and probably a lurker before that, once alt.sports.baseball.tor-bluejays started nosediving, for those of you who remember usenet. I got to enjoy the 80s, going to several games at the Dome. This season, especially the crazy crowd at the Dome and all the signs has really brought back a little of my childhood/youth, even though I'm far away.

Time to relax a little, enjoy, and prepare for the playoffs. I already told my in-laws, I would would be visiting them frequently, since they have cable, and we don't :-)   AFAIK, all playoff games are blacked out on mlb.tv, and this is the first time I'll actually be running into that restriction - having already cancelled many times in August already.. Maybe I'll have to dig out that HDTV antenna we have lying around somewhere :-)

Most enjoyable season I've had since really following this team in 83, especially the second half. Completely different than the previous division wins. Those were much more stressful - expectations were higher and there was no wild card.

Just to add on to the "8" theme - my oldest daughter (the one that's somewhat interested in sports/Jays) is 8 this year.

A lot of interesting comments in the latest ESPN story on the Jays. Here is one:

"The players around the league knew that ownership was not committed to win, a truth Anthopoulos and Beeston were forced to confront."

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/13775575/toronto-blue-jays-back-thinking-big

thats a great read hypobole.  love seeing how JPR still loves to make himself look good. 

http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/kawasaki-we-dont-need-bananas-we-need-champagne/

Thanks pubster, that was funny!

Thanks! I was hoping somebody would like it.

By the lineup today, it doesn't seem like the Jays care too much about being the number 1 seed.

I guess having the team healthy heading into the playoffs is more important.

Thanks! I was hoping somebody would like it.

By the lineup today, it doesn't seem like the Jays care too much about being the number 1 seed.

I guess having the team healthy heading into the playoffs is more important.

I would love the #1 seed as Texas is the team that scares me the most in the AL. Gallardo seems to always pitch well against them.

The Blue Jays, when at Home have a .7297 winning percentage since the All Star Break, but were just .5909 prior.
The Blue Jays on the Road have a .6452 winning percentage since the All Star Break, but were just .4043 prior.
Going all out for Home Field Advantage in the League Championship series is still important, but no longer vital. The Players will get their at bats, but Gibby will also rest them as is needed. With the Magic Number being 3, their chances still are good. If they need, they will win it.

Interesting Read.

On the more sentimental side of things - a nice history of Buehrle. I'll miss watching him pitch. I hope he goes in for another season close to home rather than retirement. This was a 1 hour and 50 minute gem that cemented Buehrle as one of my favorites to watch.

So true Chris- i love baseball, but it can be a slow game to watch - unless it's Buehrle pitching! I remain fascinated that he just lets the catcher call everything.

Beurhle must believe in his stuff and doesn't worry too much about what he pitches. He just trusts that it will work.

I was at that game, Chris. I believe it remains the only game in MLB history where the winner did not have a runner on base the entire game. It was a tremendous pitching duel and a treat to have witnessed in person.

There was this famous rain-shortened game, where Frank Robinson had the game-winning homer and the O's had no other baserunners.  Half a game done in 48 minutes!