Batter's Box Interactive Magazine - A Grate Day For Baseball: The Jays' Most Annoying Opponents

A Grate Day For Baseball: The Jays' Most Annoying Opponents

What better time than the midpoint between series with Boston and New York to take a BB poll on the Jays' opponents we've always loved to hate?

Reggie Jackson once said, "Fans don't boo nobodies." So all of these players have added value to their clubs against the Jays in some way. But I'm not looking for the players that generated respect and fear (Eddie Murray, George Brett, Lenny Dykstra in the '93 Series) with their awesome performances against the Jays. Instead, I'm going for the guys that annoyed Jays fans to a point of inspiring a near-irrational hatred of them. What follows is my personal lineup, in the style of Rob Neyer's book. Please feel free to add your own.

DH Jose Canseco
I suppose he annoyed all teams in his prime. But he brought a real swagger to the Dome during the glory years of the Alderson A's. Honourable mention: Mickey Tettleton.
C Tony Pena
I loathed his roll-the-ball-to-the-mound-and-sprint-to-the-dugout-before-the-ump-calls-strike-three trick. Honourable mentions: Jim Sundberg, Rick Dempsey, Brian Harper (who always killed the Jays).
1B Steve Balboni
There was nothing pleasant about watching a Balboni plate appearance. Honourable mention: Carlos Quintana.
2B Jody Reed
The prototypical "scrappy" player who always seemed to hurt the Jays.
SS Robin Yount
Also qualifies at centre. I hated seeing the Jays play in County Stadium, because the Brewers would rake Toronto pitching year after year, in good times and bad, in sickness and health. Yount would always hit those line drives that just eluded the infield, and would make needless diving catches. Annoying.
3B Bill Madlock
A no-brainer. That barrel-roll slide still makes me mad. Distant honourable mention: Carney Lansford.
LF Rickey Henderson
It's hard getting Toronto fans to boo specific opponents, so Rickey's got to be here. I was more awed than annoyed, though, when he took over the 1989 ALCS like few players have ever dominated a series. His dropped fly ball in Game 6 in '92 was an all-time Jays Schadenfreude moment. Honourable mentions: Deion Sanders, Mike Greenwell, Phil Bradley.
CF Lance Johnson
That home run in 1993 (after zero in a homer-happy year) was just egregious. Another scrappy player the Jays couldn't contain. Honourable mention: Dave Henderson.
RF Raul Mondesi
Another fairly easy choice. So many intermingling negative feelings. Honourable mention: Kirk Gibson.
RSP Bret Saberhagen
He was amazing in '85, but he didn't have to be so smug about it. Honourable mention: Scott Erickson.
LSP David Wells
No, Boomer. You suck. It's an all-time Jays Schadenfreude moment every time Toronto beats him, but my favourite was the debacle with the White Sox in '01 when in the midst of getting shelled, he flipped the ball to the first-base ump after only the second out of an inning. The umpire ducked out of the way, the ball rolled down the line, and Mondesi circled the bases.
Setup Carl Willis
OK, if he wasn't cheating, why did he maniacally go to his neck and throat before every pitch with insane movement in '91? Honourable mention: Rick Honeycutt.
Closer Dennis Eckersley
The all-time Jays Schadenfreude moment, of course: Alomar going deep in the 9th after Eck's fist-pumping and shouting routine after fanning Sprague in the 8th. Distant honourable mention: Tippy Martinez.

I now open the floor.

Posted by Mike D on Friday, July 11 2003 @ 02:19 AM EDT.

A Grate Day For Baseball: The Jays' Most Annoying Opponents | 22 comments | Create New Account

The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.

_Gwyn - Friday, July 11 2003 @ 02:43 PM EDT (#97819) #

Can I be the first onto the Clemens' bandwagon ?

_DS - Friday, July 11 2003 @ 02:53 PM EDT (#97820) #

I nominate Mike Flanagan and Jamie Moyer for lefties. Those guys always killed the Jays.

Craig B - Friday, July 11 2003 @ 03:20 PM EDT (#97821) #

DOYLE FREAKIN' ALEXANDER.

Tom Brookens. Everything about that guy was irritating.

Same with Mike Hargrove, but he was actually more annoying.

Dave Stewart, Dave Stewart, Dave Stewart, and Dave Stewart would be an ideal foursome behind Alexander in the rotation.

Incidentally, Tony Pena is one my favourite players ever.

_DS - Friday, July 11 2003 @ 03:27 PM EDT (#97822) #

We might as well nominate that entire '87 Tigers roster. I think everyone would agree that was the most annoying team ever.

_nelly - Friday, July 11 2003 @ 03:32 PM EDT (#97823) #

one name to add: Frank Tanana

Gitz - Friday, July 11 2003 @ 03:40 PM EDT (#97824) #

http://www.davekingman.com/lasorda.wav
Craig, your opinion of Doyle Alexander and Dave Stewart sounds like Tommy Lasorda's opinion of Dave Kingman. (Click my name for the wav file.)

_Jurgen - Friday, July 11 2003 @ 03:46 PM EDT (#97825) #

I've never heard Jays fans rile a pitcher like they do Timlin.

And I second the Clemens nomination. Saberhagen... who cares?

Dave Till - Friday, July 11 2003 @ 03:48 PM EDT (#97826) #

Most all-time hated opponent: Bill Gullickson.

In a 1991 start, when he was pitching for the Tigers, Gullickson gave up home runs to the first two batters he faced (Devon White and Roberto Alomar). Joe Carter was next up, and Gullickson threw his second pitch to Carter behind his head. This is the most dangerous place for a pitched ball, as hitters tend to duck away from balls heading towards them. I can't help but think that Gullickson was trying to injure Carter. He was ejected on the spot.

Most of my other non-faves have already been mentioned. I'd like to put in a negative vote for Chipper Jones, though - I've always found him annoying. (The Braves, in general, are very annoying, thanks to that freaking chop. I hated it 12 years ago, and I don't like it any better now.)

Dave Till - Friday, July 11 2003 @ 03:49 PM EDT (#97827) #

I also third the Clemens nomination. I want to see him and Boomer get stomped regularly.

Gitz - Friday, July 11 2003 @ 03:54 PM EDT (#97828) #

I'll take the other side and name Blue Jays who annoyed me, since I was a Yankees fan in the mid-1980s, when the Jays and Yankees engaged in a pennant race in 1985. It seemed Kelly Gruber got a late-inning game-winning hit every time the two teams met that year. Drove me nuts, absolutely nuts, so Gruber is perhaps my least-all-time favorite Jay, and it had nothing do with his Goldilocks curls. Ernie Whitt thrashed the Yankees around a bit that year, as well, or so it seemed. Rance Mulliniks always bugged the heck out of me, too, for no reason other than he was a skinny left-handed dude who looked like he should be delivering mail. Ah, the joys of ripping your rival just because. Finally, Damaso Garcia, at the 1984 all-star workout at Candlestick Park, stiffed me and a friend out of a baseball, giving it instead to a cute blond girl three rows behind us. Not that I blame him, of course, but I hold grudges, you see.

Mike D - Friday, July 11 2003 @ 04:04 PM EDT (#97829) #

DS, I agree that the '87 Tigers were the most annoying opposition in Jays history. But the '90 Red Sox are a close second.

_rodent - Friday, July 11 2003 @ 04:16 PM EDT (#97830) #

Jack McDowell--for the sneer, Al Leiter for ingratitude, Hal McRae for his dismissive wave in '85.

We were at Tiger Stadium on that hot and sunny afternoon when Gullickson bounced one off Carter's hat...lots of Jays fans very annoyed. I'll bet Big Rectangular Bill could have filled Rich Garces' trousers.

_Jurgen - Friday, July 11 2003 @ 04:20 PM EDT (#97831) #

And don't forget Jeter, for the Huckaby snub.

Dave Till - Friday, July 11 2003 @ 04:49 PM EDT (#97832) #

Rance Mulliniks always bugged the heck out of me, too, for no reason other than he was a skinny left-handed dude who looked like he should be delivering mail.

You hated Rance Mulliniks!? For shame, Gitz! Mulliniks was one of my favourite Jays precisely because he looked so ordinary. He was a good hitter: he used the whole field, he had lots of doubles power, and he seemed like a good guy. (He and Garth Iorg, his platoon partner, did a funny promotional commercial for the mid-1980's Jays in which they argued who was going to get to play Tuesday and who was going to get to play Wednesday.)

A related category would be Jays I Found It Tough To Root For (maybe that would be a good thread). Jack Morris is #1 on this list.

_rodent - Friday, July 11 2003 @ 05:17 PM EDT (#97833) #

Ah, but Jack just kicked your ass, he was never, like the Rocketeer, "watch me kick your ass."

How about Dave Stieb? Tony Fernandez?

Gitz - Friday, July 11 2003 @ 07:08 PM EDT (#97834) #

Dave, put Mulliniks on the Yankees and he's easily one of my favorite players.

On the enemy he's a mosquito that buzzes you late at night while you're trying to get over the hangover from the evening before when Mulliniks had beaten you with a dinker to left-center field off Brian Fisher.

_Graham Hudson - Friday, July 11 2003 @ 07:44 PM EDT (#97835) #

I HATED Rickey Henderson as a Blue Jay fan for most of the 1980's, especially how he ran rampant over them in 1989. It was real tough to cheer FOR him when he became a Jay (albeit briefly). He won me over when he stepped out of the batters box against Mitch Williams in the 9th inning of Game 6 in 1993, causing Mitch to hold on to the ball at the end of his wind-up/pitch motion and (in my opinion) injure himself. I'm positive that it's why the Wild Thing went completely to pieces (more than normal) in that inning.

After that (and some more sabremetric indoctrination) I became a fan of Rickey.

_Ranth Mullinior - Friday, July 11 2003 @ 08:58 PM EDT (#97836) #

Long time lurker, first time poster. All players, both home and opposing, were irritating when seen through the fog of rage that beset me for 10 minutes each time Fergie Olver appeared on a Jays broadcast.

_Bench Jockey - Saturday, July 12 2003 @ 10:50 AM EDT (#97837) #

I'll bet Big Rectangular Bill could have filled Rich Garces' trousers.

One man to a pair of pants out there!

_Mick - Sunday, July 13 2003 @ 01:21 AM EDT (#97838) #

Rance Mulliniks was pretty much Randy Velarde, wasn't he Gitz? (Mulliniks was probably a better player, though.)

I honestly can't think of any Jays I've really hated, and hey, I was living near Detroit in '87 and a huge Frank Tanana fan, and like Gitz, have always been a big Yankees fan. Bill Gullickson was one of my favorite players -- we've been through this on Da Box before -- because he's a bigtime public advocate for the American Diabetes Association, a physical condition (along with being shaped disturbingly like a Weeble) we share.

Both the Tigers and Yankees were down when the Blue Jays won their back-to-back titles, and I more or less hated the Braves and Phillies, so my mild rooting interest in those two Series was for Toronto.

But I gotta ask ... why is FrootLoops Tettleton on this list?

Gitz - Sunday, July 13 2003 @ 04:24 AM EDT (#97839) #

Randy Velarde was a muscle-bound guy who could play anywhere, and he would not embarrass you in the process or if you brought him home to your mother. Mullinkis was a skinny weasel with glasses who was lucky to reach first base on a throw from second, and your mother would kick him out of the house because he looked like Melvin P. Nerdlestein. Not that I'm biased or anything.

_Andrew - Wednesday, August 27 2003 @ 07:54 PM EDT (#97840) #

Pedro Martinez. For a guy that has such incredible control, he sure hits a lot of batters solid. It's not on purpose, is it? (yeah, right)

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