Jays Roundup - Well, He Must of Thought That is Quite a Joke

Friday, August 20 2004 @ 10:06 AM EDT

And it got a lot of laughs from a' lots of folk,
It seems I had to fight my whole life through.

No game yesterday, so little to talk about.

1. Another battle of righties in tonight's 7:05 game in Baltimore. The O's are sending the 3-3 Dave Borkowski to the hill, while the Jays counter with the 8-4 Josh Towers. It's always fun to watch Josh pitch against the Orioles, an organization he seems to still have a great deal of animosity towards. Spencer Fordin's game preview is available here
   
   
2. In Jeff Blair's "Selig hitting for the cycle" we learn that Bud Selig's contract renewal has positive ramifications for the Jays:
   
   
   The Toronto Blue Jays have about $5-million (U.S.) reasons this morning to be thankful that Bud Selig has been given a contract extension to continue as baseball's commissioner through 2009.
   
   It is because of Selig's good grace that the Blue Jays have received their currency equalization payments from the special discretionary spending fund operated by the commissioner.
   
   
   I wonder what heights the Canadian dollar must reach before the Jays stop receiving these payments.
   
   
3. Mike Rutsey thinks that the Jays are losing not because they're dogging it out there, but because they're just not very good. In his article "Jays just plain bad: Talentless club playing hard" he states:
   
   
   It would be nice to report that the Blue Jays are mailing it in, and that's the reason they have lost 13 of their past 15 games.
   
   Sadly, that's not the case. They're just that bad.
   
   To mail it in, a team first has to have some degree of talent and then when the season looks hopeless, simply go through the motions, playing out the string.
   
   But the Jays haven't reached that point. They're just a bad team...
   
   
   In yesterday's "Prospectus Triple Play" we saw that the Jays are "a bad team" because Hinske, Delgado, Phelps, and Woodward are all hitting well under expectations and that as a team the Jays are hitting 10% less doubles than last year and 30% less homers. Does anyone have any theories on why the Jays are hitting so many groundballs this year?
   
   
4. Rutsey Notes on the groin injury that is slowing down Frank Catalanotto. Rutsey points out that "since returning from the disabled list on July 20, Catalanotto has batted .231 (18-for-78) and his average has dropped to .296" Ouch.
   
   
5. Yesterday, I mentioned my dissatisfaction with the Jays marketing efforts. In the Star's "The Jays' Mission Impossible?" it sounds like things may be changing under new Jays marketing exec Laurel Lindsay. Specifically:
   
   
   Lindsay will instead focus on telling people about the other enjoyable elements of going to a baseball game, hoping to maximize attendance once the Jays do start winning again. She said internal surveys show that people attending games are having fun, even as the Jays get throttled, and hopes a planned partnership with Baseball Ontario can draw more young fans.
   
   
   Anyone have any suggestions for Lindsay? Bringing back the Starpass would be a good start, as would some sort of deal with the Cheer Club that would liven up the Dome a little bit. I'd much rather have enthusiasm generated from the spectators rather than being forced upon by the Obey-o-tron. Just my two cents. Care to give yours?
   

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https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20040820100652999