So, in a day game I imagine both the Jays and the Royals will both want to wear their black shirts - is there a coin toss in such a situation?

My bet is the Royals will come out in their sloppy sleeveless tops as the Jays will be the true blackshirts of this series.

Thank You ESPN ! What American DISH officer !

Go Jays ! I am going to turn on the office TV while I work.

Affeldt's name makes me think of that insurance commercial with the duck.

Former Blue Jay World Series Hero Joe Carter is part of the ESPN Broadcast Team today.

Bad Weather may impact the game today , they say showers could be moving in. Yuck ! Come on LILLY , shut these guys down.

I'm wearing the Ten Run Hat at work right now.

Allard Baird looks like Whatley the dentist on Seinfeld.

Allard Baird looks like Whatley the dentist on Seinfeld.



Did he become a GM so he could make jokes?

Reed singles to open the game.

Doh! And then Cat grounds into a double play.

Allard Baird looks like Whatley the dentist on Seinfeld.

Did he become a GM so he could make jokes?

If he ever got traded to the Devil Rays, there'd be no stopping him!

Vernon safe at first on an error.

Hey, TV viewers, were those last two outs ground balls?

Beltran belts one a long way left :(

Berroa struck out, Beltran homered. 1-0 bad guys.

Dan Shulman doing the commentary on extra innings :)

"Hey, TV viewers, were those last two outs ground balls?"

Jays hit into a doubleplay !

Well that did not take long! Gopheritis has always been a problem for Lilly. His career line is considerably higher than 1HR/9innings so I guess this should not be a surprise. The home runs and high pitch counts are what keeps him from being a top level starter.

Woodward on DL, who comes up? I read a rumor of Adams or Pond, but I just dont see Adams getting the call yet./

I would say that of all the middle infielders Rich is the most deserving but I think that you need someone to be able to play SS so, if in fact, they bring up someone it would be Adams or Sequea.

Zaun whacked in the elbow by the back swing of a Royal.

if it hit his funny bone then Eowwie!

Not a good day yesterday at all! I only just realised that Woodward and Speier are both injured.

And now Zaun is looking pretty hurt too!

I think the solution is to trade Berg for Nomar, Myers for Posada, and Gagne for Speier.

I think Harvey has something against Zaun since he hit him slightly again on the back swing.....

The first inning was a full display of the good and the bad of Lilly. The good, he can strikeout righthanded hitters at a tremendous rate. The bad, one homerun and 28 pitches to get through the inning. He may be able to work on the bad, but at his age, what you see (which is by no means terrible) maybe what you get.

That was MUCH better from Lilly

Three up, three down for Lilly.

How was O-Dog's at-bat? I was with a customer when he came up.

Named for hank: Just tell your customers not to interupt the game. :)

O-Dog fouled off a few then worked the count full. Struck out on pitch #7.

Wish I could, sweat, wish I could.

Zaun singled, Gomez walked, Reed at the plate.

Sigh. The KC commentators (well one of them) is ragging on moneyball. This guy starts complaining that it's too passive and you don't score enough runs. The other commentators points out that the Blue Jays scored over 900 runs last year. The first guy replies "and you finished where?" (in the league).

Doesn't he understand that you can't ask the offence to do more than score lots of runs?

I wonder how many pairs of batting gloves Reed goes through since he plays with them after each pitch....

Aaaaaaaah double plaaaayyyyyyy...

Ok David Justice is gonna drive me crazy....sac bunt to put pressure on the D, gotta move that runner over....Gomez walks ....not a damn word....most not be as much pressure with runners on first and second no out.....oh wait double play.....see let off the pressure.....this going to be a long game

Andrew K - the other commentator who is saying "and you finished where?" is David Justice - former Yankee i think

The Royals most valuable pitching commodity may be Jeremy Affeldt. Affeldt has thrown the ball in his fiurst two years in the major, but he's been bothered by blisters. His strikeout rate has dropped considerably in 2004 (17 in 37.1 IP) - something to keep an eye on in the coming months.

From reading R&R on the Royals, early in the season the Royals were stressing to Affeldt to stop going for strikeouts and try to get batters out with fewer pitches. This obviously did not work out too well (except for the lower Ks). It seems like that has been scrapped as in his last few starts he's had better success.

Ugh. How many double plays can this team hit into?

Confidence in your catcher so you can throw a breaking ball in the dirt because you know your catcher is going to block it????

so nothing to do with a pitch that got away and went into the dirt Mr Justice?

Isn't he the former Mr. Halle Berry?

This guy?

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?statsId=4326

If he plays for the As he really ought to be onside with the moneyball philosophy!

Justice is horrible....that where did you finish, BS....I wanted to throw my remote at the TV....

justice is the dork who I think cheated on Halle Berry....he wasnt impressed with her....how can you trust his judgement

Heh, I like your thinking, Duane.

My god how much can they talk about that play at first.....

Maybe you guys need to mute the KC feed and listen to the Jays' radio team.

Maybe you guys need to mute the KC feed and listen to the Jays' radio team.

What's the time delay like?

Jerry just called that -- he said that the way the outfield was positioned, a ball could drop in easily, about ten seconds before it did.

I don't know, I'm listening on an old-fashioned radio. ;)

The radio broadcast itself is completely live, no delay. Dunno about the web feed.

Justice hasn't played for the A's since 2002, also known as the Moneyball year.
Where did you finish that year, Mr. Berry? 102 wins? 103? With a 20 game win streak? And...wait for it, the fewest steals in all of MLB.

Slight delay on the radio feed vs the video but i would much rather listen to Tom and Jerry and watch the game

Go Zaun go!!

Woot caught him in a run down! Have some of that small ball!!

Is it on thefan590? I can't get the radio feed to work; it might be because of trying to stream two windows media things simultaneously.

http://tecnologia.tiscali.it/sfondi/celebrita/media/berry5.jpg
justice is the dork who I think cheated on Halle Berry....he wasnt impressed with her....how can you trust his judgement

How many times a day do you think Justice smacks himself in the head?

How many times a day do you think Justice smacks himself in the head?

Maybe that explains his one-track moronic commentary?

http://www.cjcsradio.com/livecjcs.ram
Usually the Fan's web feed blacks it out (which they are supposed to). Try CJCS (COMN).

It's exactly 30 seconds behind the radio feed, I just counted. ;)

I wonder how far behind the streamed TV feed is?

After listening to Justice call this game do think he has any clue that he messed up in regards to Berry....the man is clueless.....you know when you don't run you don't get thrown out stupidly like Sweeney judt did....of course ole Dave forgot to mention this ...

Is that another DP?

NFH I am listening to the game on the FAN 590 fine by using the standard link. COMN

Double plaaaaaaaaaaaay, aaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!

Aye that it be Rob

Ugh. How many double plays can this team hit into?

Maybe I should stop asking such questions.

Argh unfortunately the digital radio feed is about 10-15 seconds ahead of the mlb.tv video. So I got to hear that DP first and then watch it in glorious motion picture colour later.

Alex, that's CJCL! Same game broadcast, different commercials.

Ahhh.

Oops!

Alex,

Nope, the thefan590 feed doesn't go. I'll have to stick to mlb.tv audio and think evil thoughts about David Justice.

Slightly concerned by the amount of Base hits that KC is getting and the lack of BH that the Jays are getting

http://www.thegamelive.com/baseballmlb.html#tor
Andrew, try these (COMN for a list of stations carrying the Toronto game).

Andrew have you tried opening Media player and imputting the URL when you choose Open URL?

Yaaaaaaaay double plaaaaaaaaay!!

YAY DP!

now if only can keep the pitches from riding high i wont have a heart attack each time they make contact

I always liked those 5-4-3 double plays.

Thanks very much! 980KRUZ is exactly synchronized with the mlb.tv feed.

Surprisingly the Jays are in the middle of the pack when it comes to GIDP. The Jays have hit into 26, although Delgado and Wells are third in the AL with six each. Cleveland with 35 and Oakland with 34 lead the AL.

Joe Carter on the mlb.tv feed

Anybody know what Lilly's pitch count is through 4?

65, Christopher.

Hinske walk, O-Dog single.

I can feel it building...

Triple play for KC maybe?

Right. 2 on an 0 out, time to execute.

Bunt them along and then a sac fly... only joking!

NOOOOOOO DOUBLE PLAAAAAAAY!

Zaun's bunt was CAUGHT, Hinske was caught away from the bag.

Hmmmm ok DP then

Holy cow. I didn't think he'd actually try to bunt. Let alone have the runners screw up to turn it into a DP.

Something must be wrong with Justice's mike... it didn't seem to pick up him pointing out how effective small ball is after the DP...

That sounded fantastic on the radio. Was the catch as spectacular as they said?

All they needed was the runner to be off first base and throw him out as well :(

Yes, it was a full-length sprawl to catch it. Very impressive. And he got up quick to throw to 2nd to get Hinske.

C'mon, Gomez, think of The Hammer...

YEAH! Now c'mon, Reed, remember The Hammer!

Hammer Time!

Finally!
I think you're onto something here NFH.

Proper!

YEAH!! Now Cat, think of The Hammer!

Hammer Time!

I'm sorry, but I can't take anyone seriously when they say this.

Rofl Moffatt

Please Jays, Let's Hurt 'Em

Your turn, Vernon!

Moffat,

Why do you have a picture of MC Hammer close at hand?

Did he just say that the Jays would turn the fossett on? What's a fossett?

Apparently Vernon just fouled that off of the KC broadcast booth. Think he was aiming for Justice?

Wow 2 runs in with no small ball....huh yet still no mention from Justice

Faucet. Turn on the taps, let the water flow.

Andrew - same as a kitchen tap

Doh! *slaps forehead*

You chaps over that side of the pond really need to learn how to say vowels properly!

Carlos, FEEL THE POWER OF THE HAMMER OF WISDOM...

Come on Delgado!!!

Go Vernon! The Hammer of wisdom served you well.

Carlos: think of The Hammer.

http://www.realitytvworld.com/index/articles/story.php?s=992
Apparently Hammer has signed a sitcom deal. Who says tv execs are running out of ideas?
COMN

Why do you have a picture of MC Hammer close at hand?

Google Image Search. Best. Tool. Ever.

Is there an issue with Delgados right elbow? on the mlb.tv telecast it looks like it is bandaged or something.

Hysterically, this is exactly what a real-life cheer club event is like, except that we're screaming about the hammer.

Too bad for Delgado, but we take the lead!

NFH, how many charges does the hammer of +10 wisdom have?

Delgado looked really annoyed after that pop up since he threw his bat away in disgust

As I understand it, The Hammer is unlimited in its power until it becomes creased or folded, at which point I will print off another one.

How big is this Hammer NFH?

The next couple of innings will be crucial for Lilly to keep his stuff together.

I hope this game doesn't go to extra innings. I'm so exhausted I need to get to bed (even though it's currently 9pm local - I've been working very hard recently)! I might take my laptop up with me :)

The Hammer is just under three feet long.

This will be a good test of the "leadoff walks always come around to score" theory.

Ow, that sounded like a bad one from O-Dog.

This aint good.

Ouch. Sloppy.

Always. Always always always.

Arggghhhh *buries head in hands*

O-Dog how could you?

TV watchers: What just happened? All I have from CBS Sportsline is "Berroa doubled to center, Relaford scored on [second baseman] Hudson´s fielding error."

He'll make up for it when he comes up in the top of the next inning.

Rob throw came in from the outfield and hudson had it but dropped it and it went away from him - he casually went and picked it up and had his back turned to the plate and didnt see the guy on third run home.

He apparently had his back to third, picked up the ball and just casually tossed it to second. Relaford had already stopped and was going back to third, but saw that Hudson wasn't paying attention and ran home.

Relaford was running home; O-Dog was the cutoff man for the throw from Johnson. He fumbled it and couldn't throw out the man at second. He didn't realise that Relaford was going for home all the way from first and so slowly turned his back to stroll back to pick up the ball he had fumbled. In the meantime Relaford had changed direction, headed back to 3rd, saw he had time to score after all, turned round again, and made it home not even running.

I think we're heading for a bullpen moment.

92 pitches and the bullpen is warming up with Nakamura warming up

Thanks. Now that I know what happened, I echo Craig's, Named For Hank's, Alex's, Christopher's, Andrew's, and Tom Cheek's comments.

Weird thing: I read Alex and Andrew's accounts of the error, then I refreshed the page and NFH's post came up between them.

Maybe the hammer only works for hitters. Could you make a wrench or something for the pitchers?

Thing i have noticed about Lilly today is that he gets ahead 0 - 2 and then tries to nip the corners or just outside and then falls behind 3 - 2

Maybe the hammer only works for hitters. Could you make a wrench or something for the pitchers?

How about a WHIP?

Oooooh, good one.

They might get the wrong idea Rob.....

How about a WHIP?

Just as long as it's small. :)

I got another one: a DIPStick.

Okay, I'll stop.

Slightly off topic - isnt it good to see the ChiSox hitting came about AFTER the Jays series and against baltimore last night?

Not only does The Hammer only work for hitters, it only works when men are on base.

Judging from that Hinske AB, it looks like we caught Grimsley on a good day. When he gets that ball down, down, down he's very tough.

That MC Hammer pic came from a site called www.80smusiclyrics.com, Moffatt. Are you sure you had to Google it? ;)

Go O-Dog!

Hammer Time!

I have customers, someone else do the Hammering for me!

Hammer Time!!

I think O-Dog wants to hit a bit higher in the order. At the rate he's going, he can take Phelps' spot.

That MC Hammer pic came from a site called www.80smusiclyrics.com, Moffatt. Are you sure you had to Google it? ;)

Wow. Nice catch.

I was kind of surprised when that came up on Google, because I've been to the site about ten times in the last two days. :)

Intentional Walk for Zaun

Does the Hammer cover intentional walks? How many teams walk someone so they can face the leadoff man?

Now would be a REALLY good time for Gomez to say.....whack the ball over the fence?

Gomez is up next, not Johnson. they're going for the 9-hitter.

Still, an intentional to Zaun with 2 outs is surprising. Let's make the most of it

Never mind my last comment. I thought Zaun was hitting 9th.

Grrrr

Force out at 2nd

When in doubt, walk the guy hitting .500, I suppose.

Strategy novice here, why do you walk Zaun? They already have two outs.

~155 comments in the middle of the sixth inning. Will we set a new record for posts during an untelevised day game?

Probably because of his average being over .500 at the moment and he got a hit last time out

What's the record?

No clue. :) 155 seems like a lot, though.

hopefully the bullpen can shut down the KC offence and the blue jays can eek out a run or 3

Only a month and a half into the season, the league leading Rangers and Tigers have driven in 109 more runs (180) than the bottom feeding Expos (71), sigh.

2 SO for Nakamura so far

And he still hasn't walked a batter.

This season, that is.

For his career, he's sporting a 29/2 K/BB ratio. Nice.

Nakamura basically rules. 29 strikeouts compared to 2 walks lifetime according to yahoo fantasy. Mindboggling.

Walking Zaun with 2 outs in the sixth of a 2-2 game and Hudson on 2nd is poor strategy. Zaun and Gomez are about even as hitters over their careers. The real risk with walking Zaun is that it significantly increases the danger of a big inning.

For his career, he's sporting a 29/2 K/BB ratio. Nice.

D'oh!

Remember the hammer, Vernon.

bah SO

In Bed with the Box

Thanks to the wonders of laptops and 802.11b, I'm now tucked up in bed to watch the end of this game, after which I'll go straight to sleep.

With a pack of Jaffa Cakes nearby, I have all my favourite things in one go - being in bed, eating chocolate, watching baseball, and conversation with intelligent types (that's you).

Mmmm Jaffa Cakes - people always seem to nibble the outside first and leave the orange in the middle for last

Actually I'm a serial Jaffa Cake eater. I take them in one mouthful. They come in packets of 12 and I never eat less than 12 in one sitting.

I had to Google "Jaffa Cakes" because I didn't know what the heck you guys were talking about. I had no idea they were such a serious issue in the UK.

Who else had to Google "Jaffa Cakes" to find out what they were talking about? :)

Wow, I swear I didn't see his post.

I had a similar problem in that I thought those biscuits you have in North America were called Orioles. I couldn't understand why you would call a baseball team after a snack. It wasn't until I visited Canada last year that I realised the biscuits are called Oreos.

jaffa Cake Central......COMN

even has a gallery :)

Wow, I swear I didn't see his post.

Really? I thought you just copied "had to Google "Jaffa Cakes" " from my post. :)

RE: Local dessert food. I used to live in the Netherlands, so I got "educated" about all sorts of weird cookies. I can't figure out why anyone would think it's a good idea to put chocolate sprinkles on toast!

Gah pop up for 3rd out.

hehe we need NFH and the power of the Hammer!!

All those intentionally walks are going to burn Pena sooner or later.

Make that "intentional" walks.

Salesperson who didn't put the hat and jersey and game blaring on the radio together to realize that I wanted to listen to the game. I'm happy to look at the stuff, but no smalltalk, dammit!

What'd I miss? Anymore double plays?

This game thread contains references to the dentist from Seinfeld, The Aflac duck, Halle Berry, MC Hammer, pitchers getting whipped, and Jaffa Cakes. Did we miss anything?

And in all honesty Mike, our simultaneous posts were another example of the miracles of Greymatter...or something.

Wow, just logged in and there's 180 posts ... doesn't anyone work around here? ;)

I bet the Twins are kicking themselves when they look at Nakamuras stats so far as a Blue Jay

A walk by Nakamura? What's next, Bonds bunting?

There will be games like this. Through 7 innings for the good guys: 9 hits, 6 walks, only 2 Ks, but 4 DPs and 10 men left on base, and therefore just 2 runs for all that good effort.

Patience, patience.

Eep first walk for Nakamura

Maybe he is going for the GIDP to end the inning

doesn't anyone work around here?

Just because I'm at work, that doesn't mean I'm doing work.

Almost another double play.

Good pitching from Nakamura again.

Eep first walk for Nakamura

I didn't see the AB (I think Rogers is airing billiards or parcheesi or some such thing).

I expect that Nakamura was very careful with the LHB, as I expect will be his tendency all year long. Such is the life of the side-armer.

Just on an off note i am looking forward to receiving Moneyball and Ball Four books from Amazon UK - all for the great price of £15 (minus postage)!

And new books as well!

Good pitching from Nakamura again.

Nakamura has assumed the ROOGY role (though it's really for a run of righties, not just one) that Ligtenberg would otherwise have, if Tosca had any confidence in Ligtenberg.

I found a copy of Ball Four in my parents' basement, which I'll get around to reading some time this summer.

Remember, gentlemen, The Hammer is to be invoked only when men are on base.

And in all honesty Mike, our simultaneous posts were another example of the miracles of Greymatter...or something.

Another festivus miracle!

I may have been premature with my Ligtenberg remark. I'm thinking that with RHB in the 3-7 holes, Ligtenberg looks like a good bet to start the 8th.

Yeah, good choices Alex from the UK. I finally read Moneyball and it didn't quite live up to the hype for me (after having read so much about it on the internet) but a quick read and very interesting nonetheless. It's been a long time since I've read Ball Four but that's a classic.

I'm currently on the road and hence rediscovering the suckiness of dial-up. Of course this would be the day with

a) no TV (and no local radio coverage), so i'm dealing with three words of Tom and Jerry followed by two seconds of dead space as I try to listen to the game.
b) the game thread is reaching record levels
c) the reloading of this page keeps getting stuck at a picture of one MC Hammer.

I can't believe how much of an internet junkie I've become.

Ok walk for Hudson - Get that Hammer going :P

YAY Single men on 1st and 3rd !

go Zaun!

Zaun got the hit before I even had The Hammer raised!

Actually after re reading my last post it should read

Single! Men on 1st and 3rd

rather than

Single men on 1st and 3rd (Ie O dawg and Zaun are single)

Chris Gomez, The Hammer was created in your honor! Do justice to The Hammer!

YEAH GOMEZ!

BASE HIT!!!

Continuing the Seinfeld references..
I could watch this game if I had ESPN via illegal cable, but what if I get caught...
Oh, you're not gonna get caught....Man, it's the nineties, it's Hammer time!

Come on Reed, The Hammer is here for ya!

I'm late to the ball today and just now reviewing all 100+ Hammer related posts.

Are people aware of the MC Hammer baseball connection? I believe that a couple of Oakland A's (I want to say that one of them was Dwayne Murphy) helped finance MC Hammer to get his career off the ground. The A's players never got repaid and by the end, couldn't even get a dime from the bankrupt Hammer.

Got your money. Can't touch this.

Mr. Catalanotto, meet... The Hammer!

A few A's jerseys made it into the 'U Can't Touch This' video.

Vernon Wells, feel the power of The Hammer!

Come on Wells!

Feel the power of the Hammer!

This is scary that we posted the same thing and earlier on someone posted the same thing about Jaffa Cakes

Go Vernon go!

Carlos Delgado, the power of The Hammer is channelling through you!

walked em! Come on Delgado get outta that slump - Feel the Power of the Hammer!!

It's the cross-continental psychic link between baseball fans.

Noooooooooooooo!!

Wow. Pena staying with the RHP against Delgado.

ARGH!

To say that was slightly disappointing would be an under-statement.

If the Jays win this they are going to have to capitilize more with runners on base because the teams that are coming up will punish the Jays BADLY if they don't

Good play from the O-Dawg

O-Dog, you are officially forgiven.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=kurkjian_tim&id=1800081
ESPN has a column up right now (COMN) talking about good young catchers in the league, yet managed to ignore Cash. I agree Cash doesn't project to be an offensive machine but he seems to have figured out how to get together a reasonable offensive game to go along with his superb defense.

Hmmm 2 outs - runners at 1st and 3rd.....tying run 90 feet away.

Must get Santiago. Can't let Beltran bat in the 9th.

Gomez has no lateral.... one of the earlier games already was lost by his immobility. Good that he's been hitting though....

That play was virtually impossible for anyone who doesn't have an absolute cannon for a shortstop arm.

Adams comes back for the ninth, right?

This is an exciting game. Maybe too exciting, I keep getting stressed out during the KC at-bats.

Let's get some insurance runs here.

Hey, Gomez got one :)

Does anyone else think the Jays should have the folks at Pearson give newly-American Manny Ramirez a hard time coming into the country tomorrow? Maybe a little fingerprinting, interrogation, and a rubber glove is in order.

Let's get some insurance runs here.

Just have to clear the 5-6 holes before the hitters come up. :)

I didn't see that play just now - but have seen enough of him this year. I like him, but am glad he's not the everyday guy (Gomez).
I don't know what his defensive stats are like in terms of range factor etc... perhaps he's better than he looks, like a reverse Jeter.

An insurance run or two would be most welcome. Time for Phelps to step up.

Revelation: With no other day games, Wilner won't have anything on the out of town scoreboard and he can field more calls from guys who think JP traded for Sirotka.

Just have to clear the 5-6 holes before the hitters come up.

Heh. Am I happy to have O-Dog in my baseball pool this week? Yes, yes I am.

Well, no insurance today. Let's go Adams!

Last half inning lets see them hold them off.

Would be nice if the jays would cash in more of their on base runs

No walk, no walk, no walk.....

Are people aware of the MC Hammer baseball connection?

A young Mr. Burrell was a batboy for the A's.

Also, Roger Clemens (among many other celebrities) appeared in the video for "Too Legit To Quit" (which I saw the other day on MuchMoreRetro).

No walk, no walk, no walk.....

Careful what you wish for.

Allllllllllmost a double play. Damn!

Better a single than a walk... doh! Oh Carlos, whatsamata with the king?

now we have to deal with another beltran AB

Aiyah!

This guy would look good in a Jays uni...

Eek!

How is a 3-2 game taking 3 and a half hours?! This game is long, I wanna go home from work, but am glued to Gameday

I love Terry Adams, but sometimes he scares the hell out of me.

I think an intentional walk to Beltran is in order.

Heart...pounding...

No double, no double, no double....

The stress continues!

Aaaaaah I can't take it!

Noooooooo!

wow... this is how red sox fans felt when kim was closing

What's going on?

Yahoo's stuck on "O. Hudson struck out swinging" :(

Ahhhh, crap.

poop....

Crap crap crap... somebody wasn't clenching their cheeks tightly enough!

:'(

KC wins. Ball down the 3b line gets past Hinske, two runs score.

I guess it's Aquilino's turn on the closer carousel.

Man, this was such a winnable game.... how many runners left stranded? Delgado alone could have put this out of reach early...

That's unfortunate. Jason Frasor: Closer?

Well thats the game!! They needed those insurance runs and couldn't get them

They will definatly need them for the up coming part of the schedual!

Beltran scored from first? Man.

Anybody notice if Hinske should have been playing tighter? Another good pitching performance wasted....

Now, did you hear that KC crowd rallying the Royals? That's what we need at SkyDome tomorrow. We'll have the drum, but we need as many warm bodies as we can get. COMN if you want to join us.

Three runs, and one run yesterday against the KC staff.... arrgh... hopefully they breakout against the BoSox

That's unfortunate. Jason Frasor: Closer?

Adams didn't lose that game. Hinske butchered the groundball - it should have been an out to end the game.

Yeah, but Tosca will probably find another closer now.

A ball Hinske should have had, but.... can't fault only him, we did strand a bundle of runners, failed to put up some key hits, and a closer did put the runners on to win with. A solid Team Loss.

I agree Pistol...it should have been, like Delgado should have hit with the bases loaded, like Hudson should have picked up that ball sooner, like Adams Should have not put on the runners to begin with. Like I said, a TEAM loss.

On the MC Hammer-A's connection: a young Rickey Henderson was friends with MC Hammer's older brother. In his autobiography he mentions how the little kid was always hanging around them muttering to himself.

I believe that Hammer was also Charley O. Finley's personal assistant (ie - gopher and good luck charm) for a while.

I didn't see the game, but after reading this thread I'm glad I didn't. Our execution is out the window again, it seems.
Oh well, can't win 'em all - on the good side, heartening stuff from Lilly.

THIS HAS TO BE A RECORD ! 277 POSTS including this one. By the end of the night we could hit 350 !!!!!!!!!!

Jays Lose , waaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh ! Ok I feel better , Boston is going down bad.

THIS HAS TO BE A RECORD ! 277 POSTS including this one

It is. I think 207 was the previous best, last time I checked.

Hello Named For Hank,

I'll have some warm bodies for tomorrow night, possibly 4-6.
I really wanna see the Ten-Run Hat.

I wonder who is going to take Woodward place on the roster.

My bet is Sequea will be brought up.

Isn't it amazing that we haven't had a closer we could truly count on since Duane Ward!?! This is getting rediculous. What do the Jays have, like 2 saves this year and how many have they blown? Someone in this organization needs to step up and claim the closers role so the Jays can actually close out a game. Adams obviously isn't the answer. Who is going to be?

I thought the answer was Speier, but no help there for now.

Personally, I'd like to see Nakamura reprise the Doug Jones role. But I think Adams can handle it, really. You have to be careful about generalizing from two bad outings.

What do the Jays have, like 2 saves this year and how many have they blown?

I believe they have 4 saves and 4 blown saves.

It's a dumb stat, but that really is pretty pathetic. I did not see the game today, so I didn't see how Adams looked, but so far I am quite disappointed in the bullpen this year. The only guys that seem to be performing are the two guys I'd never heard of before this year (Nakamura, Frasor.) Oh well, I still refuse to really "panic" until the 50 game mark.

I wasn't watching, but it didn't sound as though it was the worst blown save ever. Adams comes in with a 1 run lead, allows 1 baserunner and gets 2 outs. He then walks the hottest hitter in the league and gets Sweeney to hit one past Hinske. It was a play which some third basemen apparently might have made.

Painful, yes. Indicative that Adams can't handle the role, no. I hope they have a 1 run lead tomorrow, and Tosca gives Adams the ball again. This wasn't the performance of a pitcher who falls apart in the role.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?statsId=6344
There are rumors that Jays have acquired Frank Menechino from the A's who was optioned yesterday to the Minors by the A's.

I do not no if this is true , some A's ESPN posters have posted this on the Jays ESPN fan site. COMN for his stats , since he was hitting only .091 in 34 at bats I find this hard to believe.

Well, if Menechino has anything, it's an eye. And Woody did just go on the DL. And this would help my fantasy team.

Still, there isn't a lot of upside there, he looks like he's lost his hitting ability over the last couple of years and he can't really play shortstop, leaving Gomez about the only on the team who can handle it despite the prescence of three backup infielders (Berg and Clark). If we were getting the Menechino of 2001 this wouldn't be a bad move, but the Menechino of 2004 can't do much but take walks. Even in 2002 at Sacremento his OPS was only .700.

I WAS watching the game today and here are a few of my thoughts on the 9th inning. Adams really got squeezed by the ump during the Relaford at bat. At least 2 of the 3 first pitches could have been called strikes (Affeldt was getting the low pitch and the outside pitch to righties all day). Leaving him in a 3-0 count, he threw a strike, and then Relaford hit a 3-1 pitch for a single. However, throughout the whole inning I thought Adams kept his composure quite well, perhaps showing he can handle the role.

The at bat to Beltran was really the problem. David Justice (it was torture to have to listen to him all game) said the Jays should intentionally walk him. Unless you're Barry Bonds, never ever put the winning run on base in a situation like that. Adams was clearly pitching around him-just throwing pitches at his eyes (and Beltran didn't figure out he was being pitched around til it was a 2-2 count). Adams (Tosca??) has got to go at him more aggressively. Make him hit a HR to beat you, instead of just putting him on (he can FLY by the way) and letting any old fluke by Sweeney beat you. I thought that was a poor decision. Obviously a better play by Hinske makes it moot, but I would still take my chances with Beltran as Sweeney's not slouch either.

I guess Berg is the 4th outfielder now? Oy!

http://tsn.ca/mlb/news_story.asp?id=83708

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/transactions
The Menechino deal is official. COMN.

I've deleted a comment (which was pretty useless anyway) by Donald Trump Jr.

We take a very dim view of using famous people's names (and some derivations thereof) as handles on this website. This is a serious forum - at least most of the time. If you wish to participate, pick a handle that does not infringe on someone else's identity and stick to it.

Thanks, Keith Talent! Send 'em up to 518.

If you're not on the mailing list already, COMN and drop me a line and I'll add you.

I'd be a lot happier if they'd get a corner outfielder who could platoon with Cat.

Reed Johnson is the one who needs to be platooned. Cat would do fine at leadoff when Johnson sits. I recall being at a game in Seattle: Cat had a leadoff homer. Why sit the Cat? He's a good Cat.

I know it's tiring to complain about the Jays and the media, but still.....

I watched the Score around 11, hoping to see the Jays highlights at the top of the hour, so I could observe the killer grounder. Instead, I get Tortorella making some comments about Hitchcock, Hitchcock responding, interview from the Calgary-San Jose series, Joel Quennville news, a Ziggy Palffy contract extension offer update and Miami-Indianopolis NBA playoff highlights and interviews. The Jays highlights were at 10 past the hour. It also gets me how the fact that the fact the Blues have given Ottawa permission to talk to Quennville about the head coach job (and I do think he's a good coach, incidentally) is enough for them to show 3 clips of stock footage of him, yet the newest Jay merits a "by the way" at the end of the Jays highlights with no footage or photo or anything, and there was no post-game interviews, either.

Ryan Roberts continues to impress after 100 ab ...I always check hbp's for him and Tingler, and there he is again tonight.

I for one am quite surprised by this move , I guess J.P likes him. Looking on the bright side his average can only go up from his present 0.91 average in 34 at bats.

According to GameCast, Alex Cora just had an 18 pitch AB, where he fouled off 13 consecutive pitches before homering off Matt Clement. Now that's persistence.

Reminds me of Rico Carty at bats many years ago.

Rico could really wear out pitcher.

Sorry I'm posting so late. I was out of town with friends durring the game and couldn't post. I was listening to the game the car radio on the trip back and even brought THE HAMMER OF WISDOM with me yet it all exploded in the 9th. I don't understand what went wrong, does THE HAMMER need to be in direct visual contact with the players? Did all this talk of new hammers anger the HAMMER OF WISDOM? Im trying to talk to THE HAMMER right now to find out why the punishment, but so far I'm getting the silent treatment.

Tough luck for Adams tonight, however, it was Adams own fault for allowing those base runners aboard in the first place. I think this end of game pitcher-can't say closer-will be a hot topic on this board for a while yet. If I'm CT I get A-Lo into some low leverage situations and build his confidence. As it grows I slide him unannounced into a tough situation say a tie game in the eight or ninth. If he succeeds then he's my man. But the big butt here - is he healthy or burned out from over usage last year. I think thats the question in need of an answer.

Frasor? I leave him where he is. He's doing fine right now and i don't mess with his success. Finally there is nothing wrong with any of the Jays relievers if thats what they indeed are and is all that is expected. Middle relievers the lot of em, not closers.

The HAMMER is a HAMMER of WISDOM, and so perhaps the prevailing wisdom is that an angry local 9 (or 25) is more capable of putting the Beantowners in their place than a group that cruised through 2/3 of the cream of the mighty bastion known as the AL Central.

The HAMMER also sez that if Solo home runs were a roto category, us Mike Lowell owners would clean up

Lefty, I don' think burnout is an issue in Lopez' case - he was a 27-year old pitcher last season, and I don't think he had any surgical layoffs while he was convincing the M's he was 4 years younger.

Man, you guys sure pack 'em in.:)

I know it's tiring to complain about the Jays and the media, but still.....

Hey, I've been noticing that the Jays have moved up to page three of the Globe and Mail's sports section. It's not page one, but it's not page eight, either.

"I can remember when the Toronto Maple Leafs couldn't buy their way onto the front page of the newspapers."

That I'd have to see to believe.

So frustrating to watch this game while at work (Gameday on MLB.com). Just turned it on when Zaun bunted into a DP. I was thinking 'here is a great chance for the hot bat to do something big' and that *#&^!( Tosca has him BUNT?!?!?! I swear Tosca is trying to get fired with all the times he has tried to bunt lately. Since JP does understand stats odds are he knows the bunt is a play best reserved for late innings tie game/1 down when one run is all you need, or to be done as an attempt for a hit by a speedy runner (ie: not a vetern catcher).

Sigh. Long season. Just one game. Must keep repeating that.

I was surprised to see the Jays put at the back of even the Toronto Star's sports section. Being in Vancouver I could understand why the Jays were a periphery item. But here, buried deep in the pages the morning after they play at home? It's wrong. In Vancouver even a BC Lions pre-season home-game which draws 4,000 fans makes the front page of the Sports section.

I certainly don't mind playoff hockey coverage coming first. But when it's Ziggy Palffy contract updates, or - God help us - the NBA - that comes before the Jays... unbelieveable.

I just checked out Gameday at MLB.com. The Jays left 24 men on base, Delgado 8 by himself. Such a shame we couldn't pull this one out and narrow the gap on the Red Sox.
I guess we'll have four games to do that now.

The Jays left 24 men on base

They actually left 13 men on base. Your figure includes double-counting (i.e., some of the men Delgado left on, Phelps also left on).

To my mind, aside from their hittig woes, the Jays really hurt themselves in the 8th inning. Had Ligtenberg not allowed 2 of the 4 RHB he faced to get on, the inning could have ended sooner, thereby reducing the possibility of Beltran and Sweeney batting in the 9th.

They've not seen the playoffs for more than a decade.


If the baseball playoffs let in 50% of the teams like they do in hockey, I'm sure the Jays would have made several playoff appearances.

JKCL, let's try not to compare apples to oranges, ok?

Keith, I agree that Reed Johnson has to be platooned. But Cat is a poor option for a cornerfielder against lefthanders. His obp vs. lefties is below .200! And this isn't a team that kind of performance can be buried on. Their best hitter, Delgado, has an obp of .278 vs. lefties, and overall the team has a league-worst obp of .318 against them.


Given how well Cat played against the KC LHP's he faced, I'm really surprised to see his stats are so terrible against lefties this year.

Historically, he's been pretty terrible against LHP, but players can learn to do it eventually (see "Green, Shawn").

Given the current roster options, I'd prefer to see Cat out there against lefties over Berg.

And is anyone else completely baffled about the Menechino trade? I thought it was a SS we needed, not another 2B. We already have Hudson, Berg, and Clark on the roster.