So here's what happened...

We have a once-proud franchise, one that had been scuffling on the margins of irrelevance for more than a decade despite the presence on their playing roster of some truly outstanding players. All else having failed, team ownership decided to entrust the team to a hometown boy. It's an internal promotion - the new guy had been an assistant to the outgoing general manager. The new GM slowly assembles the talent required to make this team a contender. There are setbacks along the way - it took a few years to find the right manager, there were some trades that didn't work out, there were some unique issues with team ownership. Eventually, however, in his sixth year on the job - thanks in large part to a key trade and fuelled by a remarkable second half hot streak - it all came together in a 93 win season that ended, alas, with a memorable showdown against the eventual World Series champs.

Naturally, said GM isn't going to see a seventh year on the job.

Here's some windy baseball lore, to tide us through a Day With No Baseball.

You see, it struck me that we might have just seen, in a little more than 24 hours, the worst start by a Blue Jays pitcher in their post-season history, quickly  followed by the best start in the team's post-season history.

A passing remark from my man Dave Till:

"All I can say for sure is that I've never seen a period of short-term dominance greater than what the Jays were doing this August."

It's mid-September and the Blue Jays are in Yankee Stadium for a crucial four-game series with their division rivals. The Jays hold a slim lead atop the AL East, they've got their ace ready to pitch the opener... and some of us have been here before.

As Matt Boyd laid an enormous turd on the Rogers Centre mound last night, Bauxite scottt was moved to express a cri du coeur:

Worst start in Jays history?

One of the game's most famous and most remarkable records has now stood for exactly one hundred years. (Well, now it's one hundred and three...)

It was exactly one hundred years ago today that one George Herman Ruth - you've heard of him, right? - made his major league debut.

That's a pretty cool anniversary, no?

We're down to the Final Four, and here's the question on my mind.

What's in it for me?

This is just an exercise in checking an old ballplayer's memory against the record. The record always wins, of course.

These are the best seasons by Blue Jays pitchers. Something to cheer us up in these dark times. Thank you. I feel much better now.

It was another pitcher named Josh who inspired this exercise, in the wake of another disappointing season of under-achievement.

Josh Towers. We owe him so much.

Four times in franchise history, the Blue Jays have had the best starting pitching in the American League. I propose to look at those four starting rotations.

In the last 32 seasons, the Blue Jays have lost 90 games exactly once.

Why does baseball have the best all-star game?

After the Cardinals dispatched the Brewers in the LCS, a considerable fuss was made of Tony LaRussa's managing of the Cardinals bullpen.