One of the things I enjoy most about baseball is that it can be played well by a variety of different people, and in a variety of different ways. Every baseball player has his own set of strengths and weaknesses, and his own approach to getting the job done. Also, some players develop a unique on-field relationship with the fans who pay to watch them.
An example of distinctive mannerisms: every Blue Jay fan (at least, those who get to watch games either in person or on TV) knows that Tom Wilson has an unusual batting stance. He leans back in the batter's box like somebody who is getting into a rocking chair butt first. And Tony Batista had an even more unusual stance, which I don't think I need to describe for you in detail (one foot pointing towards home plate, one towards third base, stepping into the box as the pitcher delivered). Everybody can recall Wilson and Batista, but there are a lot of people on this board who probably don't remember Garth Iorg's equally unusual stance, a variation which could be called Charlie Lau Extreme (weight on back foot, leaning way back, helicoptering bat over his head). How much of this information is in danger of being forgotten if we don't write it down somewhere?
As for fan relations: for example, anyone following the Jays in 1989 remembers that Mookie Wilson was greeted by loud cries of "Mooooooooooo" whenever he came to bat. But do you remember that fans used to get on Bobby Cox in 1985 when he wouldn't bring Bill Caudill into close games? There were apparently loud cries of "We Want Bill" as the late innings approached. I only rediscovered that when I went into the microfilm archives of that year's sports pages looking for something else. If nobody remembers this stuff, it'll be forgotten, and that will be a shame.
If I had more money and more time, I'd devote a significant chunk of both to trying to build a repository of this stuff: such as, for example, Lloyd Moseby's habit of wearing both his cap and his helmet when at the plate (or John Olerud's habit of wearing his helmet in the field, for obvious reasons). Since I don't have unlimited money or time, what I want to do is start collecting this information and keeping track of it, and then adding to it as I get the chance.
What I was wondering is: how many unusual mannerisms, fan reactions, approaches, or anecdotes do you remember about Jays of the past? Here's a couple more, to get you started (these are mostly obvious ones, but it's a starting point):
- Dave Stieb used to slam the rosin bag down whenever someone got an unexpected hit off him. You could also tell how well he was doing by how long he took between pitches: like many pitchers, when he was on his game, he couldn't wait to get the ball back so that he could throw another of those nasty sliders.
- Roy Lee Jackson and Steve Trachsel were the slowest-working pitchers I ever saw.
- When Tony Fernandez first came up, he used to sidearm the ball to first.
- Tony Batista had the quickest release of any Jays infielder I've ever seen - he would sling the ball to first practically as soon as he got it.
- The fastest Jay I ever saw was Junior Felix when he first came up.
- When Shawn Green came to bat, the PA system would inevitably play Blur's "Song 2" (the song that has a "woo-hoo!" in the middle of it).
- And no list like this would be complete without a mention of the late 1970's cries of "We Want Beer!"
The Blue Jays have given us a lot of memories, and I, for one, don't want to forget any of them. What little things do you remember? My goal is to remember what it was like to be a Blue Jays fan in 2003, or 1993, or 1985, or whatever.
I'll probably repost this thread every few months or so - if I collect enough of this stuff, I'll summarize it somewhere/somehow.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20030813023903999