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To greet you with a smile.



  1. Fordin Notes on the bullpen, today written by Justice B. Hill. Is that supposed to be a pseudonym, like I. B. Chillin or Chesty La Rue?

  2. Justice also serves yesterday's boxscore. I now see why title writers use really bad puns; it's easier than coming up with something creative. Headlines are like a prison, a prison with no walls.

  3. You can also read the Associated Press version of the game report in the Star.

  4. Fordin reports that "Jays play Spring Training 'Survivor'". Never cared much for the show; wake me when they start playing Spring Most Extreme Elimination Challenge. Indeed!

  5. Larry Millson of the Globe also has a Notebook, his with content on the Jays Justin Miller. Do Millson and Fordin have actual media notebooks, or do they have to type things directly into their iMacs. Do they also get a fedora that has the word PRESS on it? That'd be pretty sweet.

  6. Millson also reports on yesterday's game in "Unknowns hook Hentgen". Pat Hengten gave up his mustache? Now who is supposed to be the cop when the Jays parody the Village People?

  7. Geoff Baker of the Star reports on the rebuilding of Hentgen's arm in "Blue Jay father-son act: Pat Hentgen and dad lean on each other for support". It turns out they could rebuild him. They had the technology.

  8. Dave Perkins of the Star writes that "The stars don't come out for spring trips". That's nice, but where's Griffin today? Is he warming up his arm? I publicly challenge Griffin to a baseball throwing contest. I'd easilly win against that old curmudgeon, plus I'd even hit the cutoff man.

  9. In Bob Elliott's "The Last Word ", he reports that "[i]f the Blue Jays stars are any barometer, a majority of major-leaguers would not only agree to steroid testing, they would encourage it." To save you from reading the article, I'll let you know that the last word is "members".


Welcome back to the workweek.

Jays Roundup - I've Come Across the Desert | 31 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
Pistol - Monday, March 15 2004 @ 08:30 AM EST (#76133) #
http://www.hardballtimes.com/
Hey - These names in the lineup sound familiar. COMN.
Pepper Moffatt - Monday, March 15 2004 @ 08:39 AM EST (#76134) #
http://economics.about.com
Hey - These names in the lineup sound familiar. COMN.

Is there anyone Gleeman DOESN'T write for? I'm going to be pretty creeped out if I see his name in the next issue of Penthouse Letters!

"I never thought it would happen to me... I'm a journalism major at a large midwestern college..."

Cheers,

Mike
_Harry Heatherin - Monday, March 15 2004 @ 08:40 AM EST (#76135) #
Stranglers? Nice 'n Sleazy???
Pepper Moffatt - Monday, March 15 2004 @ 08:44 AM EST (#76136) #
http://economics.about.com
Stranglers?

Nope.. it's not the Stranglers (who rock!). This band does start with the letter "S", though. Same time period, but this band is more pop/new wave and less punk.

Cheers,

Mike
Craig B - Monday, March 15 2004 @ 08:45 AM EST (#76137) #
There are four Blue Jays on Aaron's Top 50 Prospects List, at least so far. 1-25 are still to come.

26. Dustin McGowan
27. Guillermo Quiroz
42. David Bush
46. Gabe Gross
_Harry Heatherin - Monday, March 15 2004 @ 09:01 AM EST (#76138) #
Oh, gawd, not SQUUEZE!
_Harry Heatherin - Monday, March 15 2004 @ 09:01 AM EST (#76139) #
Er, SQUEEZE.

Which is sorta baseball-like, innit!??
_Bill Liming - Monday, March 15 2004 @ 09:37 AM EST (#76140) #
http://www.phillies-fan.com
What makes you think Gleeman hasn't already written for PH letters?

:-)
Craig B - Monday, March 15 2004 @ 09:43 AM EST (#76141) #
"...he told me his name was "Mike" and he was a catcher for a prominent team on the eastern seabord..."
_superdevin - Monday, March 15 2004 @ 10:53 AM EST (#76142) #
lmao. hahahahaha.
_A - Monday, March 15 2004 @ 12:04 PM EST (#76143) #
I was just going through some of the content on the Yahoo fantasy site. Anyone else cringe at the poor level of analysis and even worse quality of writing? I wasn't expecting Jack McDowell to write a Pulitzer Prize winning piece but his take on steroid use was like diving head first into the shallow in. Then his "analysis" of each division in baseball was cluttered with cliches and went no further than summarizing a few of the major headlines. A disappointment.
_Nrom in Markham - Monday, March 15 2004 @ 12:48 PM EST (#76144) #
If Griffin throws a ball like he writes, he'll probably throw it backwards.
Coach - Monday, March 15 2004 @ 01:54 PM EST (#76145) #
Congratulations to Aaron Gleeman, Mathew Namee and everyone else involved with the launch of The Hardball Times. It looks great, and the lineup is awesome, including many friends of Da Box, even an alleged member of the rumoured Cabal. My coffee cup is raised to the success of THT. Cheers!

Aaron's prospect report is typically excellent. We'll see where he puts Rios, but five of the Top 50 is pretty sweet. So is the comment, "There is some serious pitching on the way to Toronto."

I also enjoyed the dialogue between Ben Jacobs and Larry Mahnken, fans who are Rivals In Exile.

Larry: I'm thrilled that the Yankees are being bold this off-season, and ultimately, I don't really give a damn what fans of other teams think.

Ben: I’m happiest as a baseball fan when the Red Sox are doing well or when Yankees fans are miserable. It’s best when those two things coincide with each other.


I agree with Mahnken's conclusion that the two-horse race is good for baseball, because it draws so much attention, and that's exactly how most "experts" view the AL East. Almost unnoticed, stalking the duelling leaders, is the plucky underdog Seabiscuit, as J.P. recently portrayed his Jays. Toronto fans, clinging to their longshot ticket, hope the two favourites burn each other out, and perhaps one will stumble down the stretch.
_Cristian - Monday, March 15 2004 @ 02:24 PM EST (#76146) #
A bunch of Seabiscuit banners wouldn't be a bad idea for Skydome this year.
robertdudek - Monday, March 15 2004 @ 04:02 PM EST (#76147) #
The Jays were pounded by the Devil Fish 10-4 today. Jayson Werth hit a homerun for the good guys. Tampa Bay has an early start to the regular season, so it's no surprise that their preparation is at a more advanced stage than Toronto's.
_Shane - Monday, March 15 2004 @ 04:37 PM EST (#76148) #
No sign of the boxscores yet? McGowan looks to have gotten spanked for upwards of five runs.
_EddieZosky - Monday, March 15 2004 @ 04:59 PM EST (#76149) #
http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/tor/news/tor_news.jsp?ymd=20040315&content_id=650942&vkey=spt2004gamer&fext=.jsp
COMN for Fordin recap.

McGowan gave up 7 hits and 5 ER. He threw 48 pitches. Werth and Cat had homers.

Zambrano was nasty apparently. Boy, I'd hate to be the guy that left him unprotected in my keeper league.
Gerry - Monday, March 15 2004 @ 05:12 PM EST (#76150) #
Wilner was saying Bush pitched three shutout innings. Allowed a walk to the first hitter then shut them down. Not sure if he allowed any hits.
_Ryan - Monday, March 15 2004 @ 05:31 PM EST (#76151) #
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=240315114
From the AP game recap (COMN):

Prior to the game, Toronto bullpen coach Bruce Walton was struck in the forehead by a bat when the bench he was sitting on tipped over. Stitches were required. ... Blue Jays hitting coach Mike Barnett was struck by a line drive on his right elbow and forearm during batting practice.

I know there's a real funny punchline to this somewhere, but unfortunately I can't come up with it. Anyone have any suggestions?
_Steve Z - Monday, March 15 2004 @ 06:12 PM EST (#76152) #
Bush also struck out 4 in his 3 innings of work, bringing the total to 8 SO's in his 7 innings of ST work.

Out in the Cactus League, 2004 Andujar Award candidate Cliff Politte looks to be back in the groove, as he prepares for his role as setup man for the ChiSox. Whatever success Politte might enjoy this year, I'm convinced JP made the right decision in letting him go, making it clear that playing injured (and hiding the injury) will not be tolerated on this team.
_Steve Z - Monday, March 15 2004 @ 06:23 PM EST (#76153) #
I know there's a real funny punchline to this somewhere, but unfortunately I can't come up with it. Anyone have any suggestions?

How about this headline: "Survivor" turns reality for Jays coaches!
Gerry - Monday, March 15 2004 @ 07:27 PM EST (#76154) #
From Spencer Fordin, Tosca on David Bush:

"Outstanding. He changed speeds, recognized what hitters were trying to do and threw the opposite pitch. He just really pitched, threw the ball over the plate. I thought he was outstanding." --Tosca, relaying his impressions of David Bush, who pitched two scoreless innings on Monday
_Sfeve Z - Monday, March 15 2004 @ 07:38 PM EST (#76155) #
... or Fordin's less creative "Tough day for coaches". Of note, Griffin's getting his hand checked out by a specialist. John-Ford was also among the second round of cuts, along with Hanson (setback by injury) and Harper.

Francisco Rosario (my Dontrell 2004 candidate) pitched a scoreless 9th, striking out a pair, no walks. (For the spring: 5 IP, 5 K, 1 BB).
_Lylem - Tuesday, March 16 2004 @ 01:41 AM EST (#76156) #
Has anybody heard how Hentgen is looking so far? He was encouraging late last year, and I was wondering if he was worth looking into.
Craig B - Tuesday, March 16 2004 @ 12:11 PM EST (#76158) #
The minor league reports that say he won't be homerun hitter make sense when you see his size.

Well I know listed sizes aren't very accurate, and Hill definitely may fill out in time, but he is listed at 5-11 and 195, which is plenty big. If that's even close to accurate, he has all kinds of size for a home run hitter.

My concern about Hill is that he actually may be too big... too muscular. He seems lean, so the 195 doesn't concern me overly, but to pack 195 on that frame means he has to be awfully muscly. Muscle-bound ballplayers, I think (just anecdotally in my experience) don't age as well as guys with a more normal build, and tend to get hurt more.

Hill's about the same listed size as David Bell, Jose Guillen, Nomar Garciaparra, Melvin Mora, Jose Vidro or Jay Gibbons. He looks about the same as Nomar to me (195 is an old weight for Vidro, he's much heavier now). I certainly wouldn't expect Hill to be a 30-dinger guy - more of a 15-20 type.

Also Gary Sheffield, but Sheff of course is a physical freak.
_A - Tuesday, March 16 2004 @ 12:12 PM EST (#76159) #
he won't be homerun hitter make sense when you see his size
Hasn't he been compared to a David Eckstein-like player?
Gerry - Tuesday, March 16 2004 @ 12:21 PM EST (#76160) #
Hasn't he been compared to a David Eckstein-like player?

I think that is Russ Adams.
_Jordan - Tuesday, March 16 2004 @ 12:44 PM EST (#76161) #
Regarding Hill, he measures up size-wise very well with Bret Boone (5'10", 190), with whom comparisons are being drawn in some quarters, and is smaller than Jeff Kent (6'1", 215 -- who'da thunk?). These are the two powerful second baseman who represent, I think, Hill's upside. His downside is another 5'10", 190-lb second baseman: Dominic Rich. I think he'll end up closer to the former than the latter. I agree with Craig -- unless Hill hits the Nautilus like crazy (which I don't think he should do), he'll crank 20 HRs or so per year. Put that with a .300 average, good plate discipline and fine defence, and that's a pretty attractive package at the keystone.
_R Billie - Tuesday, March 16 2004 @ 09:56 PM EST (#76162) #
As long as we're comparing to Bret Boone, it's interesting to note that Boone didn't experience a big power surge (37 homers) until the age of 32. Coinciding with a comprehensive weight training program (supposedly overseen by his father). He was essentially a 20 homer guy the three years before with decent but not great rate stats and a 12-15 homer hitter for the most part before that. Weight training if done correctly can increase strength without sacrificing flexibility or necessarily bulking up.

What Hill has going for him is that he appears to be a more polished hitter at a younger age. He already uses the whole field while Boone only developed opposite field hitting after the age of 30. But otherwise his physical profile looks quite similar to Boone's.
_R Billie - Tuesday, March 16 2004 @ 10:05 PM EST (#76163) #
Incidentally, I'll gladly take 15-20 homers from Hill if he supplies plus rate stats and solid defence. Outside of Rios he's maybe my favourite Jays' position prospect as I ranked him ahead of Gross when Bauxites made up their Top 10 prospect lists.
Jays Roundup - I've Come Across the Desert | 31 comments | Create New Account
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