I was at the game tonight, so let me tell you how it went.
Gus was sharp, Ali G had a clutch hit, Jays win...
Are there any lessons can we take away from the opening series?
From three games? Are you kidding? Beyond...
Now don't be sad
Cause two out of three ain't bad...
Nothing comes to my mind, anyway. So let me tell you what happened to me on my way to the game. I was cycling south on Spadina, as is my custom when travelling to the ball park. I passed King Street and saw ahead of me two policemen on horseback. They had stopped and were talking with an individual, standing near the curb, looking up, up, up at the mounted riders. And so I pulled out to pass, and the thought occurred:
I am passing a horse.
Which was a new thought. A genuine first for me. You live long enough, kids, and there's no telling what new thoughts you find yourself thinking.
Horses, when you get quite close to them, turn out to be rather large animals, and I didn't exactly have a lot of room to work with. I remember hoping that he wasn't the type of thoroughbred that might get spooked by a wheeled rider zipping past on his left flank.
Happily, the beast took no notice of me whatsoever.
As you have probably figured out by now, there was very little of interest in the Pre-Game Notes that I could share with you. Carlos Silva's control numbers do go well beyond impressive. His 0.43 walks per 9 IP last season broke the AL record set by Cy Young himself back in 1904. Silva walked just 9 guys in 188.1 IP - he walked 1 man in April (and that was intentional), and two batters in each of May, June, July, and August.
So naturally tonight both Russ Adams and Eric Hinske coaxed a base on balls from Silva - the first time he's walked two batters in the same game since late 2004.
The most interesting item gleaned from the Blue Jays notes was the curious fact that for the first time in team history, the Blue Jays did not have a single rookie on the 25 man Opening Day roster. Brian Tallet, evidently, is not a rookie. Too much service time, I presume.
I thought briefly about nicknames. We have some new guys, we have some holdovers who still don't really have anything satisfactory. I am convinced that if your team has a guy named Troy who hits the Homer... man, there ought to be something there. I'm tempted to start calling him "Hector," anyway.
I have the new Jays Media Guide to report on - perhaps, at my leisure (leisure? what a concept!) I'll go exploring its nooks and crannies for interesting bits. This book, by the way, gets better looking every year.
The first thing I do, always, is to look at the All Time pitching and hitting leaders. Well, actually, this year I read the fine tribute to Tom Cheek first (he graces the cover, of course) - and then I went to the franchise leaders. Where are the active players?
Not on the hitting lists, I can tell you that. Vernon Wells will crack the top 10 in multiple categories this summer, barring catastrophe. But as far as the counting stats go - Wells is 10th in Sac Flys and Reed Johnson is tied for 6th in being Hit by the Pitch. Shannon Stewart is much more prominent on these lists than any current Blue Jay.
Doc is moving steadily up the pitching lists. But the most startling number of all was on the All-Time Saves leaders. Where Miguel Batista stands 6th in franchise history.
How about that?
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