That's good. Keep saying "Mercenaries." The boys from the Bronx welcome the Jays fans who keep bringing bad karma on themselves.

Hey, they're all mercenaries. Some are just paid better then others.

Hey, when did this start? The newspaper says the game's at four! Ahhh, must run to TV!

Gabe Gross makes his ML debut in left field, batting 7th. Let's hope this is the start of a successful career.

Now I get it, the Jays have beat the Yanks one time out of six this season. Stupid me thought that the game was in progress and we were losing.

Too much coffee, too little sleep. I needed the weekend to start on Wednesday.

I bought my ticket and I'm all set. It's about time the Jays make me some money! They better not lose by more than one run!

Batting third, fifth, and seventh for the Blue Jays today:

Your outfield of the future. Enjoy.

Good luck in your debut, Gabe!!

---------------------
C. Gomez, SS
F. Catalanotto, DH
A. Rios, RF
C. Delgado, 1B
V. Wells, CF
E. Hinske, 3B
G. Gross, LF
O. Hudson, 2B
K. Cash, C

Gabe Gross is only one member of Rob's Dream Lineup:

R. Adams, SS
A. Hill, 3B
G. Gross, LF
V. Wells, CF
E. Hinske, 1B
A. Rios, RF
Rob, DH
G. Quiroz, C
O. Hudson, 2B

See you in 2006. ;)

Someone come up with a catchy Welcome to Toronto slogan for Gabe Gross and I'll make a banner of it before the next homestand. I'll be offline during the game, but I'll read the thread afterwards, or if you have some really good ones COMN and e-mail me.

We already made "WELCOME TO THE SHOW, ALEX", so we need something different.

By the way, I'd like to give a big, public shout-out of thanks to the Jays and the crew at SkyDome who have left our Pat Hentgen addition to the level of excellence hanging ever since we put it up a couple of days after his retirement. I thought for sure it would be removed during the road trip when the soccer games were inside the Dome, but nope, it was still up on Tuesday and Wednesday. Right on! Thanks a lot!

How about:

SCREW THE METRIC SYSTEM - GO GROSS!
I GOT YOU, GABE

I GOT YOU, GABE

Hahaha, that's brilliant.

If Gross had already been with the Jays, sent down and called back up, I'd suggest
GABE: WELCOME BACK ...
BACK HERE, WHERE WE NEED YA

(Too obscure?)

Welcome back Kotter!

Brilliant...maybe a touch too obscure though.

Once Gabe starts slumping bust out the

"EWW Gross" sign

Yeah, I didn't get the Welcome Back Kotter reference. What is that?

Or maybe I'm just partial to my suggestion. ;)

Wow I just took a deep breathe .... and realized Chris Gomez is our new leadoff man ........... Chris FREAKIN Gomez .... we would have laughed if somebody mentioned this before the season.

Oh yeah if JP wants to get a solid veteran for a cheap price get Tony Clark.

[I] I just read the following [/I]:

"That Carlos Delgado turned down trades to contenders did not sit well through the industry, ESPN.com's Peter Gammons reported."

"Gabe Kotter"

I like "I got you Gabe!"... but it might not say "welcome" clearly enough.

What about that outfield of the future line??

How about, "Wells, Rios, Gross... The future is here"

Or...
"Wells, Rios, Gross... The future is now"

Actually
"Welcome to the Show, Gabe"

also has a little bit of "symmetry" to it.. I wouldn't discount it out of hand

let's go gabe!

Whew. Still 1-0.

For an encore after the game, Ted Lilly will cross Niagara Falls on a tightrope.

Oh that is so awesome. Nice first hit for Gross making Jeter look silly.

GABE MERRY XMAS - DEREK

I'm not watching the game (blackout due to Fox game of the week), but that sounds like a cheesy way for Gross to get his first hit.

Gross is now a career 1.000/1.000/1.000 hitter.

He has Hall of Famer written all over him.

GABE MERRY XMAS - DEREK

LOL!!!

Thank you, Gabe. That was my favourite first career base hit by a Blue Jay this year EVER!

What a gross first MLB hit.

Man do I love laughing at Jeter. Way to field that one...uh... no-field.

hooray for gabe!

first major league lesson: don't be afraid to hit it at jeter.

just so eveyone knows jp is going to be on the radio with jerry in the 7th to talk about yesterdays trade.

Gross hesitated by a millisecond and missed a hanger on 2-1 then fouled a fastball straight back before getting one of the cheaper first hits in MLB history. He's still grinning ear-to-ear.

GABE, I DID MY PART. NOW YOU DESTROY THOSE PHOTOS OF ME AND A-ROD - DEREK

The difference in GPA between Gross and Phelps right now is .462, or Barry Bonds c. 2003 plus a few more triples.

Y'know it's too bad that Gross has to suffer through Hudson and Cash batting right after him. Oh well, at least his hit allowed Cash to come to the plate this inning instead of wasting an out next inning.

Because I dropped the ball this week on the Ask Jerry Howarth (Vol. 2) interview, the floor will remain open while the Jays are on the road. Go ahead, ask Jerry what he thinks about the trade, the current season, the future. I'll try to sit down with him next weekend for the answers.

just so eveyone knows jp is going to be on the radio with jerry in the 7th to talk about yesterdays trade.

Someone asked in the roundup thread why we seem to cut J.P. a lot of slack, and this is a good reason: he doesn't duck or hide if he makes an unpopular decision, but instead comes out and explains himself. I'll be muting TSN and switching on the radio to listen to that for sure.

he doesn't duck or hide if he makes an unpopular decision, but instead comes out and explains himself.

No kidding. Would the GM of the Leafs ever appear on the FAN every week to answer callers' questions?
Just kidding. John Ferguson, Jr would *never* explain anything.
"So, Mr. Ferguson, about those three old guys you signed..."

good point nfh.

Ahhh, that Gomez near-pickoff scared the hell out of me.

First outfield assist. But was it catchable?

Nice recovery to get Cairo at third.

can someone watching the game tell me: should gross have caught that? maybe describe the play a little bit. thanks.

From the replay he got a fulll glove to the ball, admittedly at full stretch on the run, but you'd normally expect that ball to be caught at the MLB level

What was good to see was that Gross didn't hesitate for a moment after missing the catch, and threw to the cut off man perfectly for the assist.

He was running full-tilt to get to it, and it bounced off the heel of his glove. It was a lot like that miss by Vernon last week -- it was a phenomenal effort just to get there.

Cairo gets what he deserves for disrespecting the arm of the rookie. ;)

Incidently, from the reply looked a lot like Cairo just beat the tag...

thanks guys.

Totally agree with Jimbob, Gross looked great on the recovery and throw.

Hey, if Yankee stadium is so damn good, and so much better than SkyDome, why on earth are the Yankees wanting to build a new stadium?

Gross is down to .500!

Heh, yeah, I thought he looked safe, too. But I'll take it.

Hey, if Yankee stadium is so damn good, and so much better than SkyDome, why on earth are the Yankees wanting to build a new stadium?

More boxes and seating of that ilk, aimed at the deep pockets of corporate America.

El Duque sure owns the Jays (of late, I know he's only 4-7 vs. the Jays in his career), especially in the K category. Innings like that with 2 first pitch outs don't help get him outta there.

lol @ that coach.. fearing for his life.

Someone asked in the roundup thread why we seem to cut J.P. a lot of slack, and this is a good reason: he doesn't duck or hide if he makes an unpopular decision, but instead comes out and explains himself. I'll be muting TSN and switching on the radio to listen to that for sure.

was reading the paper this morning, an article on the trade caught my eye.. it seemed to be full of little jabs at the ineffectiveness and mistakes of the Front Office... puzzled me, then I saw the by-line, "Griffin", so I put the paper down...

Did Lilly really "know exactly what he was doing walking Sierra on 4 pitches," to get a K, or is Jerry just being nice with his radio call?

Dunno, but it worked. ;)

Charlie Steiner sure has a nice voice.

Ow.

OK, now I'm really going offline like I said I was going to. ;)

The Jays are making quick work of themselves. Another first pitch out and the CS add up to another quick inning.

Heh, yeah, I thought he looked safe, too. But I'll take it.

Because as we learned in yesterday's game thread, every single call EVER goes the Yankees' way.

Damm those walks are killers.

And knowing the Jays dreadful offence they won't battle back.

JP PLEASE get some mashers in the off-season!

What's the record vs. the Yanks now 1-6?

Looks like I got a losing ticket.

That one didn't, but more than 50% do Mick.

Also, it's not very fun to listen to Charlie Steiner get to call the Yanks 2 runs when he's on the Jays radio and blow smoke up his own team's ass for how great they are and how much money they're able to make.

here we go again.. the Jeter is clutch nonsense again, give it a rest Rod.

did you hear how disappointed he was with carlos' double?

E-10 on the Cash brain cramp, ruled an infield hit, and Bernie made them pay. Mind you, if Kevin had let the A-Rod swinging bunt roll foul, maybe he hits the next pitch out of the park.

Looks like another excellent effort by Lilly may go to waste, as El Duque has the hitters mesmerized.

Argh, if I have to listen to any more of Rod Black talking about "one of the greatest defensive plays of all time" or Jeter's clutch ability in the playoffs I'm going to bang my head against something.

You guys freaken' stink! Your major league team probably couldn't beat many AA teams. Is it too much to ask for the Yanks to play teams with real major leaguers?

so the tv telecast's announcers have their heads up jeter's ass too? what a fine planet.

Gross misplays a ball into a Clark double. Steiner says it looks like he lost it in the sun and he never really saw it.

Greg Maddux fell behind 3-0 early, but the Cubbies have battled back, staking him to a 4-3 lead through five. The Win #300 countdown is under way.

A sun-blind Gross took an erratic route on a catchable "double" -- another gift to a team that doesn't need any help.

Does anyone have a link to the broadcast?

Get Steiner out as play by play on the JAYS broadcast. Or at least tell him to tone down his homerism, it's miserable to listen to.

agreed dr. zarco. i think i'm going to skip the 5th and 6th tommorrow.

Maddux just left the game with none out in the 6th and 2 on. The bullpen has 4 full innings and a 3 run lead. Should be an interesting finish.

Gabe Gross has caught the new age "Alex Rios outfield jitters"! With any luck he'll rebound like Alex did.

Where's JP?

i'm not sure where he is but jerry said he was coming and i trust jerry. if anyone is watching tv or what have you i'll post when jp shows up.

Remember when the Jays were talking about coming back in the 2nd half and finishing the season strong ....

well they've got a record of 8-14

and most thought when Wells AND Delgado (and also Cat)came back the offence would pick up again ..

well since getting everybody back the Jays have only managed to score 3.6 runs a game

Good, I'm not the only one annoyed at Steiner (sp?).

Blatant Yankee homerism is nice for the Yankees broadcast, but I imagine if someone from Toronto did that on YES or ESPN Radio, the NY Daily News would be all over it, the Post would declare war on those SARS-carrying bastards, and Ken Huckaby would make an appearance somewhere.

http://www.thegamelive.com/baseballmlb.html#tor
Pistol, COMN.

Rod, please quit while your behind.. the triple may be the hardest but when you need a homerun to complete the cycle in the last AB then that becomes the hardest? huh? triple is the hardest, period.

Not for players like Chone Figgins or Carl Crawford. The home run is the hardest.

Gee, how come Mr. Clutch didn't knock over Hudson there, prompting the media to praise him for being a clutch superstar? If he's so dreamy, how come he couldn't run 90 feet??

Anti-Jeter rant...over.

just so eveyone knows jp is going to be on the radio with jerry in the 7th to talk about yesterdays trade.

Did he say anything noteworthy/interesting? I missed this game.

he didn't actually show up. jerry didn't say anything about why he didn't show up (or even mention that he didn't for that matter). if anyone is calling into wilner today ask him if he knows why.

Oh.

Well that's disappointing.

Maybe he's working on another trade.

Looking at the standings right now and the Jays are going to get a really high pick in next year's draft.

Who's projected in the top 5 right now?

Wow, Toronto is projected to pick fifth.

ARZ, KC, SEA, MON, TOR.

Wait. The AL picks first this year, so it's
KC, ARZ, SEA, MON, TOR

Or did they change that alternating leagues rule?

I fell asleep listening to the game and wondered about Ricciardi. On can conclude any number of things for why I only woke up when the post game show came on.

Steiner was a homer, but calling that lineup in NY is like being on drugs for an announcer. All you get is the good stuff every game. ;)

At least El Duque banked me a good fantasy result.

I thought they were abandoning the alternating draft pick practice.

The alternating leagure rule is gone for this year. It's now purely on record.

I'm pretty sure that I've read that they've canned the alternating leagues rule, so the worst teams get the top picks.

Rod, please quit while your behind.. the triple may be the hardest but when you need a homerun to complete the cycle in the last AB then that becomes the hardest? huh? triple is the hardest, period.

Anyone else notice that if a Jay hits for the cycle someone gets a Million, but no one gets anything for 4 HR's???