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Game Threads Game 4: Welcome Dome
I tried to think up a clever title that tied into Rogers Centre somehow, but I couldn't come up with one. It's just not a name that lends itself to flights of wordplay ... which is a shame, because there's plenty of competition out there among sports stadia.

The Air Canada Centre is the ACC or The Hangar. The Molson Centre in Montreal is The Keg. Minute Maid Park in Houston is the Juice Box, while Pac Bell Park in San Francisco was all too briefly The Phone Booth. Bobby Higginson gave Detroit's spacious stadium the moniker Comerica National Park. Even debt-ridden Olympic Stadium was known for ages as The Big Owe. The list goes on.

Personally, I suggested aRC: The BallpaRC (the RC standing for Rogers Centre) a while back, but for some strange reason that didn't catch on. And I don't think Ted Rogers would much care for the Negative Option Billing (NOB) Dome. So, Bauxites, what nickname should we bestow on the new field?

Setting aside such frivolous pursuits, let's now turn to the Big Event: the Blue Jays' 2005 home opener, and what a homecoming opponent: the World Series champion Boston Red Sox. After pushing around the undermanned Devil Rays in Tampa to start the year, the Jays get an early acid test, as one of the best sea-level offences in years takes the field for Boston. Opposing the BoSox, in what is easily the biggest start of his young career, is Dave Bush, who has a chance to put himself on the map (in a good way) tonight. The Red Sox will respond with lanky 2004 surprise Bronson Arroyo, who must cause a fair bit of teeth-gnashing in Pittsburgh every time he pitches well. No three-game series can tell the whole story, but the degree to which the Jays truly are an improved team will start to be made clear over these next three days.

Finally, tonight's game also features the prime-time debut of the afore-mentioned Rogers Center, complete with new FieldTurf, 21st-century scoreboard, and the 300-level electronic ad banners. How will the new Turf play? Will it affect the speed of batted balls and, accordingly, the pitch selection of the staff and the positioning of the infielders? Will the other changes to the Dome affect the stadium's Park Factors? There is no shortage of storylines for tonight's game, so settle in for one of the highlight matchups of the season.
Posted by Jordan on Friday, April 08 2005 @ 05:40 PM EDT.
Game 4: Welcome Dome | 125 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
Rob - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 05:43 PM EDT (#110012) #
Nickname for the Rogers Centre -- the Cable Box.

This is still a 7:15 start, right? I guess the thread is up early.
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Flex - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 05:47 PM EDT (#110014) #
How about The Converter.
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Ron - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 05:48 PM EDT (#110015) #
I personally just call it RC, short and simple.

BTW I think Sportsnet is doing their news program live at the RC at 3:00. I expect to see a lot of Jays coverage. There will be a one on one interview with Delgado.
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Mick Doherty - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 05:53 PM EDT (#110017) #
Ah, just call it The Neighborhood. (You know, "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood"?)

It's a beautiful day at The Neighborhood
Good day for a game at The Neighborhood
Won't you be here?
Won't you come cheer?
For the Blue Jays?
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best400 - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 06:14 PM EDT (#110021) #
does anyone feel worried that Koskie is hitting 091 for the season, i know its early, but still
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BCMike - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 06:19 PM EDT (#110022) #
With 50,000+ expected at the RC, is it too much of an exaggeration to suggest that this will be the most important game of the year for the Blue Jays? (Barring meaningful games in Sept. of course)

An exciting win over the defending champions is a good way to set the tone for the season. On the other hand, getting stomped on by the Sox could quickly kill any 'buzz' the Jays currently have.
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Craig B - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 06:20 PM EDT (#110023) #
Worried that Koskie is 1 for 11?

Every player in baseball will have multiple strings of 1 for 11 (or worse) this year. Last year, the two players who won the batting titles (Ichiro and Bonds), who were also probably the two most consistent players in baseball, had two and three such strings respectively.

It's nothing.
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King Ryan - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 06:36 PM EDT (#110025) #
Craig, do you know of a tool that we could use to find out exactly how many 1-11 strings Ichiro had last year? I'm intrigued.
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Pistol - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 07:01 PM EDT (#110028) #
"I tried to think up a clever title that tied into Rogers Centre somehow"

What, 'A Whole New Ballgame' didn't work?
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rtcaino - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 07:07 PM EDT (#110029) #
MAN this is weak. I rush home to listen to Wilner on the pre game show, and Jerry's play by play, and Warren's... well Warrens on the broadcast too. And what do I hear? Paul Romanuck (spelling?) doing the Raptors pre game. So weak.
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BCMike - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 07:12 PM EDT (#110030) #

MAN this is weak. I rush home to listen to Wilner on the pre game show, and Jerry's play by play, and Warren's... well Warrens on the broadcast too. And what do I hear? Paul Romanuck (spelling?) doing the Raptors pre game. So weak.

That's almost as bad as the high pitched sound(on Game Day Audio) for the 5 minutes after Prime Time ended... can't wait to get home with some beers and steak and my first sportsnet game of the year :)

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Anonymous - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 07:13 PM EDT (#110031) #
They mentioned on 680 today that the game will be on 610 instead of 590 for anyone interested. I can't imagine why they wouldn't move the Raptors game instead, but...
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BCMike - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 07:15 PM EDT (#110032) #
Argg, now I'm getting the Raptors on Game Day Audio... guess I'll have to endure the Boston feed for the next 45 minutes.
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rtcaino - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 07:16 PM EDT (#110033) #
Wow, I've never been so happy to hear Warren's voice. Beer and steak sounds good. Economics exam tomorrow does not.
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King Ryan - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 07:19 PM EDT (#110035) #
TRAILER PARK BOYS!!!

I'm psyched. :)
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Paul S - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 07:21 PM EDT (#110037) #
I hope Julian sloshing rye and coke on the field doesn't effect the new turf.
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bird droppings - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 07:24 PM EDT (#110038) #
Is it sad that I am listening to this game at 2:30 in the morning in Athens, Greece? I think not.

GO FIGHTIN' JAYS!!

I will be mentally pounding the O Drum here.

And Bush starts the game off with a hit... ah well.
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bird droppings - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 07:26 PM EDT (#110039) #
Damon on 1st. Singled.

Nixon flies out to Cat at the track.

1 away.
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robertdudek - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 07:31 PM EDT (#110040) #
b.d.

The new policy for game threads is to not do straight play-by play.
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BCMike - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 07:32 PM EDT (#110041) #
According to the Boston guys, Hudson won the Gold Glove last year.
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rtcaino - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 07:33 PM EDT (#110042) #
Bush is missing alot. Good visit by the O-Diggity. Millar hitting into a double play would be fantastic.
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Paul S - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 07:34 PM EDT (#110043) #
Bush is nibbling a lot. Not a good idea against these guys.
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rtcaino - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 07:36 PM EDT (#110044) #
That's a situation where having Gross' arm in left is helpful.

Nice, one run is good with the bases loaded and one out.
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Paul S - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 07:46 PM EDT (#110045) #
That one was crushed. At least he's throwing strikes now, right?
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Paul S - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 07:48 PM EDT (#110046) #
And thus ends Bellhorn's streak of Ks or hits.
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Elijah - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 07:48 PM EDT (#110047) #
Looks like Adams put all he had into that throw to turn the DP. Needed all of it, too.
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rtcaino - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 07:52 PM EDT (#110048) #
NICE! Good work by Adams on that one. That would have been a bad time for a rookie mistake.
Seems it's been the pattern for Bush to get a bit behind the 8 ball early in the game last few starts. Hopefully he can settle in and get some some outs.

Nice, good inning after the homer. Two keys ground balls. Time for the bats to pick him up.
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Stellers Jay - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 07:52 PM EDT (#110049) #
42 pitches through 2 innings for Bush. I think we'll be seeing the likes of Chulk and Walker by the 6th inning at the latest.
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rtcaino - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 07:53 PM EDT (#110050) #
Rare first pitch swinging by Koskie.
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Elijah - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 07:56 PM EDT (#110051) #
It's good to see Hinske going to left center. That's what he did in his rookie year.

Nice new scoreboards BTW.
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Elijah - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 07:58 PM EDT (#110052) #
Woohoo! Good to hear the full house crowd and they need stuff to cheer about.
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CeeBee - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 08:00 PM EDT (#110053) #
Nice to get one run back. Hopefully Bush will settle down and get in a bit of a groove now.
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rtcaino - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 08:01 PM EDT (#110054) #
That's what I call situational hitting. Very nice base hit by Zaun. Brings Gross to the plate. Flies out.

Good inning though. Cut the deficit in half A la Paul Martin. Well call these next few innings the mid/late nineties.
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King Ryan - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 08:01 PM EDT (#110055) #
Jamie Campbell seems a bit shaky so far. I'm sure he'll settle down.

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King Ryan - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 08:04 PM EDT (#110056) #
God, this lineup is so tough. None of them would bite on Bush'ds breaking pitches, and the two times he leaves a fastball up, they've been knocked out of the park. I'm sure he's wondering why he didn't get to face the D-Rays like everyone else.
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Stellers Jay - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 08:09 PM EDT (#110057) #
Fantastic diving play and throw by Koskie to get Ramirez. It must help to have played on a similar surface for a year already.
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Elijah - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 08:11 PM EDT (#110058) #
Hopefully that'll get Russ Adams some more starts against lefties. I really don't want to see McDonald start more than a once a week.
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sweat - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 08:12 PM EDT (#110059) #
2 comments on the game so far:
1) It seems like Jamie and Pat are doing a little too much "Hip hip hooray Rogers Dome" tonight, hopefully they dont do that past this weekends series.
2) Bush is obviously having a little trouble with a tight strike zone, especially with his curveball. The redsox have noticed this, and are sitting on that 3-2 fastball down the pipe and making him pay. The guy who just flew out to end the inning swung at a pretty low fastball, and was obviously swinging all the way at fastball. Fortunately, bush missed low, or went there on purpose, the latter being the better situation.
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Paul S - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 08:15 PM EDT (#110060) #
That scoreboard in going to give Jamie Campbell more trouble than the fielders.
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rtcaino - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 08:16 PM EDT (#110061) #
Good time for Adams to snap out of his mini hitting slump.

It sounds like the joint is jumping. Can't wait to hear what all the guys who were at the game have to say about the crowd.

Wish I heard Slash play. I keep playing his guitar solo from Tokyo where he played the Godfather cover. Download it if you are a fan of rock and roll.
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King Ryan - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 08:17 PM EDT (#110062) #
Nice Swing by Vernon. Sometimes that's a homer and sometimes it isn't.

Poor gv27 is really having a rough home opener. It must be a bitch to see anything with those bright scoreboards staring at you.
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rtcaino - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 08:22 PM EDT (#110063) #
Now that inning was a lot better. Wells' catch could easily have been a base hit, but he was nailing the strike zone low, and his curve was more effective. I know it's only one inning, but hopefully it's a sign he's settled down a bit.
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King Ryan - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 08:23 PM EDT (#110064) #
Hahaha, someone needs to give Koskie some acting lessons.

Either that or I'll start calling him the robot.
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Stellers Jay - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 08:36 PM EDT (#110065) #
I'd have either League or Chulk warming for the Jays as Bush has thrown 84 pitches through 5.
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Elijah - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 08:37 PM EDT (#110066) #
League just got up to throw at the tail end of the top of the 5th.
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rtcaino - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 08:47 PM EDT (#110067) #
Adams was the Jays first walk.

Bush: 5ip 4h 3er 2bb 1k 2hr 5.40 era
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Paul S - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 08:52 PM EDT (#110068) #
It's funny how Jamie thought a run would score. It's Manny!
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rtcaino - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 08:56 PM EDT (#110069) #
Good play by League to nail Manny.

One good turn deserves another, the O-Diggity snatches a base-hit from the BoSox captain. One run scores.
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Elijah - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 08:57 PM EDT (#110070) #
Field turf may have helped the Jays there on all three plays the Jays got outs on. A couple of them may have gotten through on the old Astroturf.
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rtcaino - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 08:58 PM EDT (#110071) #
50 560 is the announced attendance.

Adams with a beauty, he's having a solid game so far. He my early candidate for BB Player of the Game.
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Stellers Jay - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 08:59 PM EDT (#110072) #
When League got his control down after loading the bases the sox couldn't do anything with that nasty sinker. Renteria and Varitek both pounded it into the turf about six inches in front of home plate.
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rtcaino - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 08:59 PM EDT (#110073) #
Heart of the order up now. About time we got some production from these guys.

Some action in the BoSox pen.
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King Ryan - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 09:07 PM EDT (#110074) #
Did Pat Tabler just say that Mark Bellhorn "will hit .300??" I'll take that bet.

It does, however, bug me the way people go on and on about Bellhorn's K's while completely ignoring his walk totals.

Nice to see League somewhat get out of that jam.
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Paul S - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 09:13 PM EDT (#110075) #
What the hell is Tabler talking about? He's mixing up playoff accomplishements when talking about Ortiz's MVP credentials. That's just all over the place wrong.

Hope Frankie Cats wasn't hurt on that.
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King Ryan - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 09:13 PM EDT (#110076) #
Oh God, I'm glad to see Cat's okay after that collision. Probably the last guy on the team you want to see in that situation.

When Lilly returns, is it possible that League goes down instead of Gross? League has great stuff, but he just doesn't seem ready for the big leagues. I don't believe he's pitched at AAA.
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BCMike - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 09:20 PM EDT (#110078) #
Those scoreboards look terrible.

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forest fest - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 09:25 PM EDT (#110079) #
And off a lefty too!
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Pistol - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 09:26 PM EDT (#110080) #
Well, you can't give the Red Sox extra chances to score. Going from a double play ball to an error costs 2 runs.

And I can't imagine that the ball is easy to catch when you're running at the scoreboards. Both Cat and Wells looked tentative.

I'm not a fan of the outfield scoreboards. All they are to me are bright lights.
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rtcaino - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 09:26 PM EDT (#110081) #
The Dude with his second homer of the year. He's having a good game as well. Another BBPOTG Candidate.

Rios pinch hitting for Gross against the Lefty.
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Chuck - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 09:31 PM EDT (#110082) #
Pat Tabler has been a babbling nonsense machine all night, hasn't he? Blech. No cliche is too warn out for his tastes.

Nice shot by Hinske. Would have been a 2-run blast had Hillenbrand not decided to swing at a shoulder high pitch on 3-1. Just try and walk me fools. Just try.

I'd prefer to see the Jays drop a pitcher rather than a hitter when Lilly returns. Even ignoring tonight's tough outing, there'd be nothing wrong with sending League down. As has been mentioned by a few people, it would be nice to see him tried out as a starter and only turned into a reliever as a last resort.

Oh, and I'm in agreement with everyone on the scoreboards. Maybe a darker shade of green is in order -- that bright green is ridiculous. When you lose the ball in the lights, that's not the source of illumination you typically have to concern yourself with.
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Anonymous - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 09:41 PM EDT (#110084) #
Can someone tell me... with Robbie Alomar's retirement, is Mike Timlin the last remaining ex-Blue Jay with a World Series ring? Am I over-looking anyone?
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Paul S - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 09:42 PM EDT (#110085) #
Al Leiter.
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Elijah - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 09:45 PM EDT (#110086) #
Can someone tell me... with Robbie Alomar's retirement, is Mike Timlin the last remaining ex-Blue Jay with a World Series ring? Am I over-looking anyone?

In addition to Leiter, Pat Borders is still bouncing around somewhere... I want to say with the Twins but I don't remember for sure now.

Guys like Carlos Delgado, Shawn Green and Woody Williams all got rings for the 1993 title though they weren't on the postseason roster.

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Anonymous - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 09:48 PM EDT (#110087) #
I did mean players who played in the Series, but thanks for bring that to my attention about Delgado et al.

Good call on Leiter. Amazing the guy is still pitching. Same with Borders (but Catching)
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Elijah - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 09:51 PM EDT (#110088) #
Ooops... forgot about the guy pitching for the Sox tomorrow night! =)
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rtcaino - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 09:54 PM EDT (#110089) #
Koskie, SH and The Dude up next. 3 runs down in the Bottom of the ninth: Rally cap on.
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Paul S - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 09:56 PM EDT (#110090) #
I thought Wells was a Tiger in 92. I wonder why he wasn't on the ALCS roster, but was on the WS roster.

Chulk made Manny look foolish. That bodes well, unless he gets run down again. He has to have better stamina this year.
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rtcaino - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 10:01 PM EDT (#110091) #
Crowd sounds awesome! It's been a long long time since I've said that... Pizza days notwithstanding.

The Dude: 3 for 4 2 rbi.
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Paul S - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 10:05 PM EDT (#110092) #
Sending Hinske there gave them a shot in this game.

Too bad Rios tried to end it on one pitch.

I'm a Sox fan, what the hell am I saying here? :-)
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Elijah - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 10:07 PM EDT (#110093) #
Maybe Sparky can pull a Ramon Hernandez here and lay one down.
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Elijah - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 10:09 PM EDT (#110094) #
Varitek's complaining on ball four to Menechino may have got him that first strike to Reed. Looked like the exact same location.
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rtcaino - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 10:10 PM EDT (#110095) #
Wow, hitting a guy with an 0-2 count. Huge mistake.
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rtcaino - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 10:13 PM EDT (#110096) #
Well, the Fighting Jays go down... fighting.

Never fun to loose, but hopefully the record crowd enjoyed themselves and will be comming out to a few more games this year.
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BCMike - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 10:16 PM EDT (#110097) #
Nice to see them battle back anyway.

If anyone's interested I've got an mpeg of Slash doing the anthems.
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Elijah - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 10:17 PM EDT (#110098) #
Argh... so close. That being said, I haven't seen a crowd that big and heard them that loud in a long time. Hopefully they had a good time.

For the game, I hope Hinske's start is no fluke. It's not just the results that are good but his overall approach at the plate is impressive. That and his sound defense at first hopefully leads to a good season for him.

The defense made some nice plays and but for the errant throw by League, it was encouraging overall.
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rtcaino - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 10:18 PM EDT (#110099) #
BC Mike: Ya that would be great man.
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Jordan - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 10:24 PM EDT (#110100) #
Gotta give the home side credit -- they pushed the Red Sox to the wall and gave the fans a whole lot to cheer about before falling short.

I'm seeing a lot of positive signs from this club. Bush could've folded in any of the first few innings, but he hung in there (his double-play combo saved him in the second) and finished fairly strong on a night when he didn't have his best command. League's throwing error was cringe-inducing, but he kept his composure as well. And the bats just didn't give up in the ninth. I'm not seeing a lot of quit in this team, and that's really good.

Hinske looks like a different ballplayer, and not just different from last year. His approach at the plate seems entirely new, and I really like the early results. Maybe the switch to first base has done him good, relieving his defensive concerns and allowing him to focus on hitting? I don't know, and it's only four games, but he doesn't look lost at the plate anymore.

Russ Adams, home run hitter? This is now five dingers in about a month of big-league playing time. Maybe it's a mirage, but maybe not.

I wouldn't send League down yet. He actually pitched pretty well tonight -- the error was a disaster, but otherwise he was doing a pretty good job against the AL's toughest offence. I was in favour of putting him in the rotation in Syracuse, but now that he's up, he should stay up until he proves he doesn't belong. He hasn't proved that yet.

Altogether, a strong, gutsy effort, and much better than the demoralizing blowouts the Jays absorbed in front of big crowds last season. The Jays know a couple of things now: they can keep up with the World Series champs, and they can hit Keith Foulke. I think they're going to do some damage tomorrow.

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rtcaino - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 10:30 PM EDT (#110101) #
I agree Jordan. I can't wait to see The Doc make Wells look bad... You know, in addition to the entire BoSox batting order.
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Jordan - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 10:48 PM EDT (#110103) #
By the way, did anyone else see Geddy Lee in the seats behind home plate?
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Rob - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 10:51 PM EDT (#110104) #
much better than the demoralizing blowouts the Jays absorbed in front of big crowds last season.

That's exactly what I was saying when League was getting knocked around in the seventh -- "Another choke in front of the big crowd." Luckily, the ninth arrived and The Dude proved me wrong, even if they lost.

Bush kept nibbling, and Tim Timmons had a very tight zone tonight. Not a good combo. For a while there, Bush's pitches were either balls on the edges or down the middle and smacked for hits and line drives. No happy medium.

Disturbing fact: From Ortiz in the first to Varitek in the eighth, the Bosox did not swing and miss at any pitches. Not Bush nor League nor Chulk, until The Vincredible Chulk struck out one in the 8th and one in the 9th.

I supported the decision to keep League up with the team, and I'm worried that they might send him down soon, maybe to make room for Lilly. He should stay, as Jordan says, until he proves he doesn't belong. We should not expect a complete meltdown like he had today; he will be better. That error was brutal. He looked every bit like a rookie tonight. I think it's our multi-word nickname for him: it's either too long or too short.

Player of the Game: The Dude. No question.

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Stellers Jay - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 10:57 PM EDT (#110106) #
I agree with Jordan reguarding League. The throwing error was awful, but it's a rookie mistake and playing as many young players as the jays are is something that they are going to have to live with. The only hitter to put good wood on the ball was Ortiz's and I have three points to make about that.
1. The inning would have been over if League didn't throw the ball into CF.
2. I think it was a ball Wells will track down when he gets used to the new warning track, goofy wall scoreboard, and Cat stays out of his way.
3. Ortiz is one of the most dangerous hitters in the American League and has made a career out of hitting good pitching.

I do think that if Gibbons (and I agree with the moves he has made) is going to keep emptying his bench in the 7th and 8th innings, Gross or a comparable player is going to be a lot more useful to this club than the 12th pitcher. (I say comparable player because I don't want to see Rios and Gross platooning, I want to see both get 600 at bats this year. If one of them gets 200-300 of those in AAA so be it.) The jays still are two men under the 40 man roster so there is room for a minor move or waiver pick-up to use in these situations. I think I remember hearing Restovich was DFA'd by Tampa Bay. Personally, I'd rather have Walker and Gross in Syracuse and a player like Restovich seeing PH and platoon duty in Toronto.
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TorontoDan - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 11:06 PM EDT (#110107) #
Just got back from the game.....Man, what a way to lose :( :( At least we proved that we can knock them around, although it would have been OH SO sweet to not have had O Dog ground out. It's hard to say it was a fantastic game after such a tight loss, but it was.

Thoughts about the RC



- Video screens make it hard to see balls hit to the wall, since the screens are so bright

- What the HELL was up with the dumbass fans throwing crap on the field all game?!?! I was sitting in 125, and I didn't see anyone near me doing it, but can someone who was up top report back on the idiots making Toronto look like the dumbest city on earth
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gv27 - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 11:16 PM EDT (#110108) #
Hey King Ryan. Rough outing indeed. Those bloody screens killed me on a shot I thought was gone. I totally lost sight of the ball, and thought the body languange of Damon said homer. What a bummer. Got some advice from Jerry Howarth on how to avoid that kind of mistake. Good thing there's another game in less than 24 hours!
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Rob - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 11:34 PM EDT (#110110) #
Those bloody screens killed me on a shot I thought was gone. I totally lost sight of the ball, and thought the body languange of Damon said homer.

On TV, it looked exactly the same, Jamie. Also, Ramirez didn't act like he had it, he just put his head down and jogged away. I was as shocked as you sounded when Manny came up with it.

What exactly did Jerry say, by the way?

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jsut - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 11:34 PM EDT (#110111) #
Just got back from the game. i haven't read anyone elses comments, so i'm sure i'm going to repeat a lot of stuff that's already been said about the new dome

1) The little screen to the right of the jumbotron that occasionally shows the count and the number of outs needs to ALWAYS have that info up if someone is at the plate. Rotate advertising between innings or whatever, not while people are up. The other two scoreboards that show the count are too small (IMO)

2) The sound system may be new, but the levels during the player introduction were horribly off. Personally i felt that whole sequence dragged to the point of boredom, but that might have just been me.

3) The turf looks awesome. I love the little puffs of dust when balls hit the ground.

4) Fast ball has two L's. If you can't fit the whole word on the screen, make it smaller so you can? It took me 7 innings before i even figured out where they were showing pitch speeds.

5) Does the diamond in the out of town scoreboard actually serve any purpose or was no one ever on base in any of those games?

That's all i can think of right now.
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Rob - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 11:36 PM EDT (#110112) #
Personally i felt that whole sequence dragged to the point of boredom, but that might have just been me.

I agree on that one. By the time we got to "Gabe Gross, Dothan, AL" I was wondering when it would be over.

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TorontoDan - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 11:41 PM EDT (#110113) #
The speakers seemed to be too loud, when the PA guy was talking early on. I had to yell just to talk to the person next to me. Ridiculous. Yeah, the out of town score board seemed a bit weird, too much even.

I heard plenty of people wondering where the balls, strikes and outs were, because they were off to the side instead of just being in a central location like you'd assume. It threw a lot of people off, I hope they move that.

I'm glad no one here (watching on TV) noticed (or commented on) the paper airplanes. They gave out a loot bag of sorts to everyone who showed up, inside was a Rogers ad that people on the 500 used to make into paper airplanes and threw them onto the field stopping the play two or three times. It was really amateur and it got to be quite ridiculous and even embarassing. I thought our fans would have a bit more class than that.

Anyone heading down to tomorrow's game? I want to use my shiny new star pass but I'm just getting one ticket, so consider this an invite to meet up with some bauxites.
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jsut - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 11:44 PM EDT (#110114) #

- What the HELL was up with the dumbass fans throwing crap on the field all game?!?! I was sitting in 125, and I didn't see anyone near me doing it, but can someone who was up top report back on the idiots making Toronto look like the dumbest city on earth

I could blame the people from boston, but it was probably only half them ;). Instead i blame the staff for not immediately putting an end to it. I was in 524a, which didn't really have a lot of people throwing stuff, but it didn't seem like many of the ushers up top cared at all. I probably only saw about 4 or 5 people get tossed. If i was running security at the dome i would have had 2 ushers at every entrance watch for people throwing crap, and i would have told them to toss every single person that they saw do it.

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jsut - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 11:47 PM EDT (#110115) #

Anyone heading down to tomorrow's game? I want to use my shiny new star pass but I'm just getting one ticket, so consider this an invite to meet up with some bauxites.

I'm in section 519 tomorrow with 9 friends. Here's hoping Doc makes the Sox look bad ;)

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Paul S - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 11:51 PM EDT (#110116) #
I'm going to be there tomorrow, by the LF pole. I'll be the obnoxious short guy in Sox gear. :-)

Can't they dim the video screens? If it were something other than BRIGHT green, I doubt they would've caused so much trouble. And those bolts holding the plexiglass in look like they will tear someone's arm open if someone pulls a Jim Edmonds in front of them. Possibly Jim Edmonds himself in June.
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Ron - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 11:54 PM EDT (#110117) #
It's too bad fans can't behave themselves.

SN showed the paper airplanes that landed on the field.

A wire story also said some clown ran onto the field before the bottom of the 9th before being tackled by security.

I always see that kind of stuff at football games and I'm puzzled why those "streakers" always get cheered from 80% of the crowd.

Anybody that jumps onto the field should have to pay an automatic $1000 fine. This needs to announced early in the game befor people are drunk. Anybody that tosses anything on the field should be automatically ejected.
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sweat - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 11:55 PM EDT (#110118) #
I am also going to the game, but I don't have tickets yet. It wasn't conveniant to order them this late, so i will just get them tomorrow when i arrive. Probably gonna sit in the OF, first deck, usually my favourite vantage point.
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Joe - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 11:56 PM EDT (#110119) #
The video screens all look incredible. I don't know if the colours on TV are the same as on the Jumbotron (or whatever they call it now), but if so they're way, way off. Everything is much brighter than in real life. For example, if the field turf didn't look like semi-unhealthy grass, it wasn't the right colour.

Blowouts in front of large crowds? Don't you guys read what I write? :(

The crowd was absolutely electric in the 9th inning. Unfortunately, that was because the non-baseball fans had *just* cleared out. Before then, the crowd was filled with the sort of beer-swilling jerks that I've come to expect from Toronto: "Go Leafs Go," throwing paper airplanes and magnetic Jays schedules onto the field (a LOT) - in general, being assholes. That is absolutely not what I want in a crowd; Rogers should strain to make baseball fans out of the attendees, instead of just getting the twits out to the ballpark.

I am very, very impressed with Hinske in the early going. As Coach predicted, he's been defending with Gold Glove quality; he's also been getting it done with the bat. This excites me!

I sensed hesitation on the part of Wells while fielding - not going full tilt. I suspect that these will go away once he gets more experience on the new turf and with the new scoreboards.

The sound wasn't as overpowering today. I was in the 500 level, so I'd like to hear opinions from people around the ballpark.

That's all I've got to say for now. Summary: shitty fans, a couple of technical glitches, but we've really got something to grow on, here.
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Keith Talent - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 11:57 PM EDT (#110120) #
Just got back from the RC. I loved the makeover of the place, they have a few kinks to work out but they put it together awfully fast in time for Opening Night; so I think they did a bang-up job.

What I really enjoyed was the silence during the innings. The bottom of the ninth was terrific with spontaneous chants and rhythmic clapping unaided by a synthesizer. There's nothing that kills the moment of a tense game than to hear the theme to "The Addams Family" for the fifteenth time. Good on them for the "less is more" during the games. Also, some of the music during pitching changes was quite mellow and relaxing, suitably so.

That said, the volume between innings was way too loud. Mrs. Keith was in the seat next to me, shouting in my ear, and I had to shake my head and say "forget it, I just can't hear you".

I wish they didn't force that old stadium announcer guy to quit. It would have been nice to hear his "OrlandooooooHudson".

And Slash kicked ass.

And that spotlight shining down from the roof on to homeplate looked like it was from the heavens: a stroke of genius.

I was so embarassed about people throwing stuff. The "security" there is a joke.
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sweat - Friday, April 08 2005 @ 11:57 PM EDT (#110121) #
AND IT'S GONE...right into Manny's glove for the third out.

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Lefty - Saturday, April 09 2005 @ 12:00 AM EDT (#110122) #
I'm sticking with the Comm Dome.
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Joe - Saturday, April 09 2005 @ 12:04 AM EDT (#110123) #
I forgot all about the quietness inside innings! No more boinging for foul balls, no more enticements to clap. Easily the best change.
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John Northey - Saturday, April 09 2005 @ 12:15 AM EDT (#110124) #
Finally got a chance to watch a game (for the most part) on tv today (too much work lately). Must say that I wasn't impressed. I wanted to be, but wasn't. Campbell was sounding very much like someone who just started the job. He and Tabler were not sounding like they discussed how they would call the game ahead of time. I heard Campbell talk about someone's OPS followed immediately by Tabler going on about his avg and RBI's. It just seemed like I was listening to two different broadcasts at once. I also didn't care for the emphasis on how a guy hit some other guy, especially when all that has happened in the past is Menechino being 1 for 2 vs Foulke which means absolutely nothing. When innings begin and end I didn't regularly hear an 'at the end of 8 it is Toronto 3 Boston 6' type of statement, which is always good to hear as they put up that tiny graphic with the score on it - I was watching on an older 20" tv thus many of the graphics were almost unviewable. Pluses were the quiet periods, letting the crowd be part of the game viewing experience, the fact OPS was mentioned, not really noticing the announcers during the 9th inning rally (a very good thing, as during rally's announcers should be like umpires, if they do a good job we forget they were there).

The frustrating thing is I really wanted to say today that Campbell was fantastic and would be the best we'd heard as he seems like a good guy, but today I felt like it was minor league announcers doing the game. Ah well, at least there is nowhere to go but up from here.

As to the game itself, if all losses are like this it will be a fun year regardless of the final record. Much better than, say, watching the Raptors (they needed overtime to beat a team worse than they are after getting slaughtered the day before - thank God I'm a baseball fan).
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gv27 - Saturday, April 09 2005 @ 12:17 AM EDT (#110125) #
Rob. He said to watch the monitor (we have them in front of us, as you would at home) if you aren't sure. I've always been taught never to look away from the field, so I am unaccustomed to watching both. By the time the ball got near the new scoreboard, I'd lost it. An important lesson learned; I'm just sorry I learned it on opening day.
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robertdudek - Saturday, April 09 2005 @ 12:24 AM EDT (#110126) #
I'm going to give myself a pat on the back regarding Hinske.

I mentioned (several times) that last season he had a huge mechanical flaw in his swing, in that he held his bat at his chest and moved his hands back as the pitch was coming and would then start his swing.

Now he is holding his hands high behind him and the power he's generated with that new approach is greater than anything he's shown the last two years.
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A - Saturday, April 09 2005 @ 12:27 AM EDT (#110127) #
The new technology was overall pretty impressive. Definately some kinks with the sound -- I didn't mind it being that loud but at points it was too quiet or, once, non-existant. Someone above said they eventually found the pitch speed, I certainly didn't...Where was it?

The fans were brutal. One moron tossed a bottle of Sprite that landed less than three feet from Sparky. I enjoy collisions at the plate but baseball wasn't meant to be that type of contact sport. And, btw, nice tackle by the in-house security on the runner.

On to the actual baseball...Bush, once he found the strike zone, was pitching well and sometimes just found a little too much of the strike zone. With time he'll figure out the nuances of pitching in the Majors and the nasty curve will become a consistent out pitch.

One thing I was very happy to see was the smooth fielding by the middle infielders especially. I know Adams will make his share of E6's but playing on the new turf for the first time infront of a Home Opener crowd can have some pretty brutal effects. Also, does Koskie look like he fields in slow motion? I noticed that when he throws the ball, he's only bringing his arm back to about his ear, allowing for a quick release and making up for the (perceived) slower body speed.

In terms of the offense...Adams and Hinske both hit frozen ropes. They were impressive. They were the same type of shots I expect Rios to be hitting by June once he's hit his stride. Though I have to say, that was a nice pinch-hit single -- he got the pitch middle-in and just went with it, ripping the ball through the hole.

One thing that worries me just a little -- because I saw this trend in Spring Training too -- is getting behind early and coming through late with the offense. It worked OK in the Spring but tonight they just got a little too far behind a good team.

...A good team that didn't seem all that impressive come crunch time. No doubt the Blue Jay-happy (read: "unhappy") media will talk about this as a great demonstration of why the Blue Jays just can't make it over the "hump" and compete with Boston and NYY but imagine with the Beantown media are saying. Foulke looked like anything but a closer, couldn't find the strike zone and when he did, on an 0-2 count, he plunked Sparky to juice the sacks. I know it's the spring but there are high hopes in Boston for back-to-back Tea Parties so every game will draw intense scrutiny (all the more fun knowing that as the fan of the underdogs).

Theoretically I'm busy tomorrow afternoon but I'm seriously considering skipping out on my committment to take in Doc vs. Boomer (anyone see the clip on the JumboTron of Wells trying to get a few words in with Slash? That drew a good laugh up in 541).
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robertdudek - Saturday, April 09 2005 @ 12:33 AM EDT (#110128) #
gv27...

You did a very good job today all things considered. Only two glaring errors I noticed: the Wells flyball and saying the Jays were tied when they were down 2-1. You corrected yourself and apologized, which is very important in my opinion.

Keep up the good work.

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Keith Talent - Saturday, April 09 2005 @ 12:44 AM EDT (#110129) #
Hi John Northey, I too really haven't had a chance to sit through a telecast yet. But just knowing Pat Tabler I'd have to cut Jamie Campbell a little more slack. He's a difficult guy to get in a groove with, I would think. In fact, Pat might have best served us if he left the mic to come to bat with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth. What is his bases-loaded batting average again?

John Cerutti is a tough one to replace : (

I don't think any of those guys (Candiotti, Mullinicks, Tabler, Fletcher) are 1/10th the colour man Cerutti was. Campbell has his work cut out for him.
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greenfrog - Saturday, April 09 2005 @ 12:45 AM EDT (#110130) #
Went to the game tonight. A few observations:

- The fans tossing stuff from the Rogers lootbag on the field was really embarrassing. Whoever wrote "dumbass" fans in this thread was right on the mark in this case.

- There is a pretty high glam factor at the Dome/RC these days. A lot of flashy ads, loud music, constant promotions and prizes, etc. If the marketing bombardment increases the fan base, I'm all for it, though I found it excessive.

- Hinske had a terrific game. He seems to have a lot of confidence right now (at least he did tonight).

- The turf looks good, although it seemed slow to me. A lot of grounders turned into rollers, and hits to the outfield seemed to slow up. Does the turf take time to get packed down? I think I read something to this effect.

- The Jays pitchers and hitters battled nicely after digging themselves into a hole. The error was costly, as was some free-swinging in some key situations (Hillenbrand, Rios and Hudson being the main culprits. I suppose for Hillenbrand even to get to a 3-1 count is something of an accomplishment).

- With this many rookies, and players in their first full year, the Jays are going to lose some games this year simply because of inexperience.

- Baseball really is a game of inches (or centimetres). If Hudson gets just a bit more wood on the ball in the 9th, driving it for a base hit, the Jays win and everyone goes home ecstatic.
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Ryan C - Saturday, April 09 2005 @ 12:48 AM EDT (#110131) #
Just got back from the game (Section 120) and it was excellent. All the new stuff looks absolutely fantastic. I thought the team intros were excellently done.

- I also question the purpose of those field level, outfield scoreboards. They have big pictures of bases on them as if to indicate if a player is on base in the other games, but none of them were ever lit up. Seemed like a big waste or a tease.

- I dont know if there weren't enough staff or if that's just how it goes when there's a 50K+ crowd, but the line to get in was horrific. The SkyDeck wasnt filled until midway through the 2nd inning because people were still waiting in line to get in.

- It was weird having to look to the side all the time to see the Balls and Strikes. Once I found out where to look I didnt mind it so much but it threw me off for the first couple innings. I liked that they put the pitch count up on the Jumbotron. Maybe I wasnt paying close enough attention or maybe my senses were already overloaded, but I never even noticed them tracking pitch speed anywhere.

- The Trailer Park Boys stuff was a lame duck. You couldnt hear any of what they were saying over the crowd noise. And all the Boston fans in the crowd just kept going "Trailer Who?".

- The new Jumbotron is awesome. As are the ribbon boards and the outfield boards as well. Although I question how much the outfield boards might interfere with the play.

- Biggest complaint: There are televisions near the concessions stand so you can still watch the game while standing in line for food. Of course none of the TV's were actually tuned to the game, they were just broadcasting the feed off the Jumbotron. So while I waited in line for food, missing an inning of action, all I got to see was the picture and stats of the player who was currently batting, and then an occassional replay. I kept turning around in line everytime the crowd would react to something, trying to catch a glimpse of what was going on. Not a huge deal maybe but quite annoying in my opinion.

- I nominate Vinnie Chulk for Blue Jays first star of the game. Kept it close over almost three innings of relief and the Jays almost came back. The goat award goes to David Bush and Keith Foulke should probably get an honourary one as well even though I think technically he still got the save.

- All in all a great game and a great experience. Would have been better if the Jays had been able to squeak out just one more run in the ninth, but other than that you couldnt really ask for a more exciting finish to a game.
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Elijah - Saturday, April 09 2005 @ 12:56 AM EDT (#110132) #
With respect to League, I know it's just two appearances so sample size issues abound but in his first two games pitched, he's given up seven hits, and two walks and aside from that first inning he worked in St. Pete, he's been hit pretty hard. Granted, his error tonight contributed to his downfall but a couple more shaky outings and I think he could be headed to Syracuse.

He probably deserves the benefit of the doubt at this point but I think he'll probably go down if he has another outing like this. That being said, I don't know who the Jays would recall to put in the bullpen unless they bring Gaudin back as a reliever (hopefully not). I suppose they could recall Jason Arnold, Justin Miller or Ryan Glynn but none of them appear to be an improvement so I'd rather see League have the chance to stick it out.

Even though the Jays had some good defense tonight, let's not forget that they were on the verge on being blown out of the water a couple of times. The Sox had the bases loaded in the 1st with one out and 2nd/3rd with one out in the 7th. I'm don't want to sound like a wet blanket but it could've been much worse.

Granted, what happened is what happened and hopefully, Doc will help get the team a W on Saturday.
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Ron - Saturday, April 09 2005 @ 12:59 AM EDT (#110133) #
Looks like the new OF videoscreens aren't getting rave reviews from the players.

http://tsn.ca/mlb/news_story.asp?id=120917

Damon needed 6 stitches after he ran into the wall. Wells and Gross don't really like the new videoscreens either.

I personally found it to be too bright.



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robertdudek - Saturday, April 09 2005 @ 01:00 AM EDT (#110134) #
I choose Russ Adams as my player of the game. A walk and a homerun, plus a super defensive play on a smash up the middle to bail out League and keep the game close.

Chulk and Hinske are also deserving.
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Jonny German - Saturday, April 09 2005 @ 01:02 AM EDT (#110135) #
I concur about the idiotic fans throwing paper airplanes and fridge magnets on the field, and for the inept security that apparently didn't eject enough of them early. Every Boston fan in the building tonight is entitled to think that Toronto fans are pathetic, because that's what they saw tonight. It really took away from an otherwise good game. Management has to re-think the loot bags next year... the airplanes are becoming an opening day tradition. Not the good kind.

The ninth was excellent... I thought Gibbons was asking a lot of Chulk, but he came through nicely and now I gotta start believing in him a little more. The bottom, Foulke could do no right and the Jays could do no wrong... pity it came up a bit short.

League's error was bizarre, and you could see it coming as he set to throw... high, wide, and early. Maybe the problem was that he fielded it so cleanly and had too much time.

The defence in general looked very good, all of the infielders made nice plays. I liked pinch-hitting Menechino for Adams and leaving Mighty Mouse in to play shortstop - McDonald is a very specialized tool, to be used sparingly.

I found the volume to be very loud but somehow less piercing than last year, and now that it's been mentioned, yes, there was less noise during innings. Unfortunately, this included not announcing most of the relievers - Timlin may have been the only one properly announcd.

The out of town scoreboards, besides being too bright, are also in an inconvenient location (or maybe I just haven't gotten used to it yet)... I didn't check a single out-of-town score. Also, apparently Johnny Damon cut himself tracking down that double in the second inning and needed six stitches.

The radar gun wasn't working properly, many pitches regestered "43M" or "44M". M? MPH, I assume. Why they needs to accompany the number every time, I know not. The hardest I saw from League was 97M.
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robertdudek - Saturday, April 09 2005 @ 01:04 AM EDT (#110136) #
I too think League would benefit from AAA. But he wasn't hit hard tonight (apart from the Ortiz hit), that's for sure. He had Manny struck out on a 3-2 pitch (which was in exactly the same location as the 3-0 to Manny which was called a strike).

He did make an awful throw attempting to start a DP - the turning point of the ballgame.
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gv27 - Saturday, April 09 2005 @ 01:05 AM EDT (#110137) #
Thanks RobertDudek. Hopefully, those mistakes you noticed and trust me, they felt bad) will be erased... beginning tomorrow.
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King Ryan - Saturday, April 09 2005 @ 01:15 AM EDT (#110138) #
I don't know what previous bauxites were talking about re: Pat Tabler. They said he was a "completely different announcer" alongside Campbell (compared to Rod Black.) I don't see it. Same old Tabler tonight, I thought. I'm going to cut Jamie Campbell some slack because it was his first home game and those screens must have been annoying, but the two of them just seemed very disjointed all broadcast. I'll watch a few more broadcasts before I pass real judgement.

As for League. I agree with Jordan and Rob that it would be nice to keep him up here, but the fact is that the Jays have to send *someone* down. Between 25-year old Gross, who's proven himself at AAA, and 21-year old League, who's proven himself at AA, I'd rather it be League.

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Noah - Saturday, April 09 2005 @ 01:17 AM EDT (#110139) #
I was at the game today and I just thought id post a few comments. Im sure a lot of them have been mentioned already but what the hell.

1. Bush really pitched awful, really struggled with his location in particular his breaking pitches. I dont think he threw a pitch over 90mph.
2. Leauge was AWFUL he was all over the place couldnt get people out and then that error was absolutely ridiculous.
3. Chulk pitched great! Located all his pitches and was able to bridge the gap after some poor early pitching. He is the reason we were able to stay in the game.
4. Hinske seems to be hitting really well. Came close to a 2 Hr game as his double was just a few feet short of clearing the fence.
5. The new turf looks great as do the new screens but you could tell it was opening day a few bugs in the system. I suppose that's to be expected.
6. The crowd was huge, been a while since ive been at a game this crowded. Unfortunately the crowd was pretty quiet until the 9th inning but when the rally started the stadium erupted, it was pretty awesome.
7. Finally the fans at today's game disgusted me with their behaviour. ALL GAME people were throwing stuff on the field! Paper airplanes, pages out of the free playbook we got, the schedule magnets. They had to stop the game a number of times to clear stuff off and the grounds crew was out their cleaning after every inning. It really was a shame because its actions like that which give this city a bad name and it was downright embarassing.

All in all it was a decent opener although I wouldve preferred if League hadn't cost us a win~
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VBF - Saturday, April 09 2005 @ 01:18 AM EDT (#110140) #
That game was great in the 9th inning. Those non-Jays fans (because Jays fans don't pull that stuff) were absolute jerks and I was personally embarrassed that their throwing affected the game. This is not the message that want to send to league officials and the umpires, nor the visiting American Red Sox fans.

I was the Jays fan paying attention to the game with the annoying cow bell if anyone heard it. We were in 527 and our section (at least) was behaving and making noise relative to the game.

I really felt for Cat when he collided into that wall. Some "Jays fans" (a term that I have come to realize is used too loosely) burst out laughing.

And of course there was the usual "We need a real team" comments from the yuppish people.

I thought I's never say this, but you can give me my 24,000 fans a game as long as they don't pull the garbage that alot of the people pulled today.
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robertdudek - Saturday, April 09 2005 @ 01:20 AM EDT (#110141) #
Here's an oddity: All five AL East teams are tied with 2 and 2 records.
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Noah - Saturday, April 09 2005 @ 01:24 AM EDT (#110142) #
VBF I was in 529 and I definitly heard the cowbell! Nice touch on that one. I definitly agree about the crowds Id rather a smaller crowd minus the idiots than what happened tonight. I truly was embarassed as a Torontonian for the way people were acting tonight.
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VBF - Saturday, April 09 2005 @ 01:33 AM EDT (#110143) #
Tomorrow I'll be at 141 so hopefully I'll get some shelter. Does anybody know if they're dismantling that car display next to the batters eye? My seats are there on Sunday :s
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TorontoDan - Saturday, April 09 2005 @ 01:38 AM EDT (#110144) #
I was just reading Sonsofsamhorn and a few other Red Sox sites just to see what they thought of the game. As I predicted, they thought the outfield screens were foolish and made the game hard to see at times, but the biggest thing was that they really noticed our ninth inning cheering. It's nice to finally have people cheering in the dome, even if it's for a loss and even if it's only for a half inning. Hopefully we'll have more of that this year, although if it takes a collapse like that to get us loud, we'll be mighty pressed to have such an atmosphere soon.
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Magpie - Saturday, April 09 2005 @ 02:25 AM EDT (#110145) #
League's error was bizarre, and you could see it coming as he set to throw... high, wide, and early. Maybe the problem was that he fielded it so cleanly and had too much time.

It looked to me like he forgot who was covering, and was getting set to throw to Hudson who was coming over to back up the play. Hudson saw what League was about to do and quickly pointed at Adams. League, in mid-toss, realized "I'm throwing to the wrong guy" and... total system failure.

Bush goat of the game? For allowing three runs in 5 and leaving with his team down by a run? And not the guy who gave up three in 1.1 and threw away an inning-ending DP ball?

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Ryan C - Saturday, April 09 2005 @ 02:37 AM EDT (#110146) #
Bush goat of the game? For allowing three runs in 5 and leaving with his team down by a run? And not the guy who gave up three in 1.1 and threw away an inning-ending DP ball?

Yes, only because that 1.1 innings was during the time I was waiting in line at the concession stand and so I couldnt actually see any of what was going on ;)

Also Bush did give up 2 HR and only had 1K in those 5 innings. Maybe it's more emotion than statistics but having such a great intro to the game, a packed stadium, opening day, all that energy going; only to find your starting pitcher struggling right off the start. Kind of brings to a halt all the positive emotions you were feeling.

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A - Saturday, April 09 2005 @ 04:09 AM EDT (#110147) #
Yes, only because that 1.1 innings was during the time I was waiting in line at the concession stand and so I couldnt actually see any of what was going on ;)

I won't agree that Bush was the 'goat of the game' but the Scrooge was definately the concession stand folks who, according to the Cable Box staffer I asked, have only a single line equiped with Interac in the whole place. Now I could understand one line on each level (with some frustration but it wouldn't be *that* inconvenient), however, forcing me to walk from 541 to the exact opposite side of the stadium (sec. 109) is just ludacris. It took me two...TWO...innings to get pizza and a pop.

[/RANT]

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Dave Till - Saturday, April 09 2005 @ 09:08 AM EDT (#110156) #

It's too bad fans can't behave themselves.

SN showed the paper airplanes that landed on the field.

A wire story also said some clown ran onto the field before the bottom of the 9th before being tackled by security.

 All of this reminded me of home openers back in the Exhibition Stadium days - there would always be people making paper airplanes out of pieces of their scorebook, and usually at least one fight would break out in the stands. (One enterprising, and very stupid, person once climbed the foul pole at the Ex.) Of course, these are all Bad Things, but Opening Day often brings out casual visitors, non-serious fans, and assorted hangers-on. Normal service will resume tomorrow.

I don't have a problem with the TV broadcasts. Jamie Campbell is making some mistakes (I felt sorry for him after he got the home run call wrong), but he seems to care about the game, and he doesn't sound grating or shrill.

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robertdudek - Saturday, April 09 2005 @ 12:18 PM EDT (#110178) #
It was in Opening Day '86 at the Stadium. Opening day against Baltimore. At least 7 different times people ran onto the field, almost all of thenm climbing the outfield wall from the grandstand (no small feat). Then there were the people who tested the barriers and mounted police stationed between the outfield grandstand and the "seats" along the right field line. It was comical - sort of like a steeplechase, with about 4 lines of barriers to overcome before you had to outwit the mounties. It started with a few brave souls, with about a 20% success rate (the crowd cheered them on in their attempts). In the end, so many people made the attempt that the cops allowed a crowd to picnic between the barriers behind the centrefield wall. The "picnic" crowd eventually grew to a hundred or so.
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Rob - Saturday, April 09 2005 @ 01:04 PM EDT (#110186) #
Jamie: I certainly speak for more than just myself when I say we appreciate you showing up here post-game, discussing your broadcast mistakes. If there's one good thing about your broadcast style (and there are more than one), you show that you care about the game.
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Rob - Saturday, April 09 2005 @ 01:09 PM EDT (#110189) #
Is it strange that every time I think of Exhibition Stadium in the early 80's, I think of Bob Bailor and CITY-TV?
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