Awesome. I just got home in time to watch the Jays load the bases on a HBP and two walks, and Carlos goes deep -- to the opposite field -- for four more RBI (that's 145). 4-0 Jays, and Phelps has singled; Cliff Lee still hasn't retired a batter.

Has he re-entered the upper echelon of the MVP race? The Jays aren't a playoff team, but if they can win 86 in thsi division, that still looks pretty good.

My apologies to readers who are used to me posting more often; I'm going to be scarce around here for a little while, as we deal with a family emergency.

Thanks to Will Carroll of Baseball Prospectus for coming to town, and to Darryl Rose for making the Pizza Feed happen. It was a wonderful day -- meeting many of you for the first time, watching a great game, and seeing the look on Doc's face when it ended are all the kinds of memories that can help a guy survive the offseason.

I don't have time to share everything Will said, and he swore us to secrecy on a few things, but one of his many great ideas is for "us" (Toronto baseball fans) not to wait for the next Pizza Feed to get together again. I couldn't agree more. Early next season, a Batter's Box night will be scheduled, and we should have a recruiting drive for the Cheer Club, which performed admirably yesterday.

Being put up a 4-spot Josh Towers is in a great position to go 8-1. Spring Training'll be the deciding factor but there's no question he makes the trip north.

The Kevin Cash hit streak is now at TWO!

Can't get this game live, did they pinch-hit Woodward for Bordick or did something happen to him?

Delgado, Bordick and Wells were taken off the field at the beginning of different innings so the fans could applaud them.

Delgado's got to be a solid MVP candidate; he leads the AL in OPS, and has a humongous lead in RBI, which the writers love. He's good for sabrmetric and old school people alike. Grimlock's guess: he finishes second to ARod.

Esteban Loaiza has logged 5 innings of shutout ball en route to win #21 (White Sox are leading KC 5-0).

Apparently he's trying to tie Valenzuela's record for win in a season by a Mexican born player, thus the start on 3 days rest.

Loaiza's shutout is now through six and is more impresive than I first realized -- he's throwing a no-hitter.

I was hoping Loaiza's start today would push his ERA over 3.00 since a sub-3 ERA looks awfully good to the voters. I think a sub 3 ERA for Esteban gets him the Cy Young (not that I think he deserves it. I just think he'd win it).

Congratulations to the '03 Blue Jays on a great season, that was also a highly entertaining one. Another Congratulations goes to the 'staff' of the Batter's Box as well as it's frequent posters; this site has made the season that much more eenjoyable :-)

No apologies neccesary, Coach.

The no-no's over. Halladay takes Cy.

As far as who's deserving of the Cy Young, Hudson and Halladay are neck and neck but I'm gonna give more value to Halladay's K's and IP than Mr. Gleeman and go with HLH. As far as who will win, I'm going with Loaiza and his 21 W/2.90 ERA

Props to the Cheer Club. My ladyfriend and I were sitting in 526, and had a nice view of your impressive "Carlos Delgado: Best Jay Ever" sign. I think it's fairly clear the sign contributed to the grand slam.

Hey, was anyone else here among the sixty or so people who got a Vernon Wells-autographed ball on-field before the game? I was easy to spot: the only one without a crazy-person assemblage of plastic shopping bags.

When the voters consider the Cy Young candidates, the equation is simple: [quality of each inning] x [number of innings].

The contents of the first bracket will vary, but the contents of the second bracket are objective. Roy has such a lead in the number of innings, that even if a voter were to forget all about Roy's superior k/bb and Loaiza's high-school-tough schedule, Roy should still get the nod.

This reminds of when Steven Soderberg's great movie Traffic lost out to Ridley Scott's vastly inferior Gladiator for the Best Picture Oscar. When you watch Roy, you know that he should win; and if somebody feels that Loaiza is a better candidate, then that person is simply wrong. Sure, some of the analysis is subjective, and it is rare to find a situation wherein it can be wrong to state an opinion, but: Traffic is a better movie than Gladiator... and Roy had a better season than did Loaiza.

I think the fact that Loiza fell apart when his team needed him most and then when the pressure was off decided to pitch well again (and got all excited about some Mexican pitching record!)is enough to sour voters on him.

I'd be interested to hear comments on Delgado's getting pulled after the first inning. Some people thought the timing was perfect, but a lot of people around me at the game today were pretty disappointed to only get to see him bat once...especially when it looked like he might be about to have a monster day at the plate. Oh, and once again the crowd was way higher than what was announced.

Anyone know where the Jays preseason prediction thread is?

Here you go, Pistol. Mick is going to compile the results sometime this week. I picked Seattle over Arizona, so what do I know? I'm resting on my 22-7 (and Cy Young) prediction for Doc.

I'd be interested to hear comments on Delgado's getting pulled after the first inning.

Happy to oblige, Rand. The grand slam brought his average up to .300, which is a nice round number to finish with. One more at-bat might have dropped him back to .299, so I'm sure that was a factor in the decision.

The Jays next game is April 6 at home vs. the Tigers (heard on the radio after today's game; unofficial of course).

Interesting thought on Delgado, but he was actually at .301 before he got the hit and finished at .302. But that raises another question. If a guy hits .2998 is he a .300 hitter? Texas pinch-hit for Blalock today after he went 0-for-3 to preserve his .300 season. However, he really ended up at 0.29982 (170-for-567).

And one other thing on Delgado. He needed two more plate appearances to have a chance to win the OBP crown. Ramirez beat him .427 to .426. Will we ever live in a time when the OBP title gets more attention than the batting average title?

Here you go, Pistol. Mick is going to compile the results sometime this week. I picked Seattle over Arizona, so what do I know? I'm resting on my 22-7 (and Cy Young) prediction for Doc.

Thanks, but I was thinking there was a thread devoted just to the number of Jays wins as well, but had no luck finding it.

April 6 is a late start to the season. This year we started March 31st. Would that potentially lead us into a November World Series?

I think April 6th would be the home opener, meaning that we start next season on the road.

What a great finale -- grand slam from Carlos! Standing Os for everyone. Smiles all around. A nice thank-you from Tosca. A cheesy t-shirt.

My only complaint is that we couldn't really get our section going. Oh well, the Cheer Club will refine its techniques for next season. :)

By the way, Cheer Club brainstorming meetings featuring pizza and playoff baseball on the Cheer Club's rather big TV may just have to occur. Of course, I'll have to run that idea past Mrs. Cheer Club first.

The Incomplete Cheer Club Injury List:

Named For Hank: two clapping blisters, sore throat
Jody Gerut: lost concentration
MLB: feelings hurt

Also, I have to give a big shout-out to David Goldberg, who gave Carlos Delgado the fourth ball (the one that didn't bounce onto the field) from his historic four-homer night.

I have to give a big shout-out to David Goldberg, who gave Carlos Delgado the fourth ball (the one that didn't bounce onto the field) from his historic four-homer night.

Did Delgado get all four home run balls then?

If so, they would make a nice addition to the Hall of Fame's collection.

http://economics.about.com
Jody Gerut: lost concentration

I thought it was really funny how he wouldn't turn around.. at all. He wouldn't even look up when he took his position on the field. Poor guy was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I had an absolute blast this weekend. Hannah and I met "Hank" and Jacko on Friday. You actually get quite a good view in 524B, particularly for $7. I loved seeing all those highschool kids out behind us. Thats what the Jays need more of.

Saturday was sweet too, meeting some Boxers I hadn't yet met and meeting Will Carroll. It's really too bad most of the Pizza Feeders were in one section over from the Cheer Club.. you guys were way too quiet! We needed help on the "1...2....3.... JOEEEEEEEE-DEEEEEEE"? I loved being a cheerleader for that one.

The funniest moment was when Will Carroll showed us the address book on his cell phone and it was a who's who list of baseball personalities. I think all of our jaws dropped.

I was worried that Hannah would be scared off by all of us baseball geeks (She has enough trouble with just one), but she had a great time as well. She was particularly impressed with Kent; in her words "I knew he was Coach immediately. He just looks like a coach. I see why you guys have so much respect for him". I'm not sure how she knows what a Coach looks like as the only other coach she knows is my Dad who looks (and often acts) like Lou Piniella. I think she's right, tho.

So thanks everybody who came out this weekend, you made the weekend great!

Mike

Hey, was anyone else here among the sixty or so people who got a Vernon Wells-autographed ball on-field before the game?

I only made it to 66 games in the final tally, 9 short of what was needed to get a V-Dub ball. Is it nice? And how many games did you make it to, you freak? :)

Were you at the 50 game autograph session with Woody, Towers and Reichert? I was at that one. My wife was at the one last week with Reed, Cash and the Cat.

Glad you could see the sign. I hope Carlos saw it.

Did Delgado get all four home run balls then?

Yep. They're in a cabinet in his house, for now.