Not that the Jays have been running to start with. They only have one stolen base on the year.

P.S. just a reminder on the earlier reminder: And a reminder. We're into the regular season, the games are televised now. We can assume that everyone's watching. So we don't need the play-by-play the same way we needed it during spring training.

Reed Johnson is the 10th player in MLB history to be hit by three pitches in the same game.

Bill Freehan         DET A   3   8-16-1968 
Ron Hunt             SF  N   3   4-29-1969*
Tito Fuentes         SF  N   3   9-13-1973  
Craig Kusick         MIN A   3   8-27-1975* 
Glenn Davis          HOU N   3   4- 9-1990* 
Damion Easley        DET A   3   5-31-1999 
Richard Hidalgo      HOU N   3   4-19-2000 
Damion Easley        DET A   3   7-16-2002
Melvin Mora          BAL A   3   7-18-2002 

None of the other players on this list have an RBI in the game they played so Reed Johnson at worst has the most RBIs in a game via HBP with 2.

There's been 623 other times a player has been hit twice in the same game.

Almanzar was also part of the Great Joey Hamilton trade, of course.

The new Blue Jays Media Guide is in the stores (and in my hands). And I have always enjoyed: a) looking for mistakes, so I can tease the Jays PR guys, and b) looking at the all-time franchise leaders. No particular reason, I just like it.

Anyway, for the first time in my experience, there are no current Jays anywhere on the all-time Top 10 in the hitting categories. Which is both: a) weird, and b) wrong. Because coming into this season, Reed Johnson had been hit by pitches 32 times in his career. Which was good enough for a 9th place tie with Alex Gonzalez and John Olerud. By the time this game began, Sparky had already passed George Bell and Kelly Gruber and had seventh place all to himself. After tonight... he's now been hit 7 times in 12 games. He's up to 39. Tony Fernandez is next, with 48. At this rate, Sparky should catch him by the end of the month. Delgado, naturally, is on top with 122, and that's still a long way away.

Yes, and in the case of Ron Hunt, yes again. And they don't try to get out of the way, they just turn to take it on some fleshy part...

Which brings us to our second error in the new Media Guide. Jason Frasor's 17 saves last year was enough to move him past Tony Castillo and Bill Caudill for 10th on the All-Time list. They forgot him too.

They'll be hearing from me this weekend, I promise you!

Kubek would have unwittingly called that pitching himself into a save situation.

Why is it that every year the blue jays can bring in these quality shortstops that always end up getting the bulk of the playing time, Bordick then Gomez, now Macdonald. I dont know how JP finds these guys

Adams: 27 AB
McDonald: 9 AB

(prior to today's game)

You always have to remember - this is what they do when they put the ball in play. And you can't strike out on the first pitch, which raises everybody's average as well.

I have no evidence of this whatsoever, but it seems to me that every great hitter has a game like this - a truly disappointing, 10-men-left-on-base type game - right before they start hammering the crap out of the ball. Call it the calm before the storm.

I hope I'm right. And, hey, he did hit one ball tonight that I was sure...sure...was gone. I think Jamie Campbell thought it was gone as well, based on his reaction. Maybe it was that wind that he was talking about, but Vernon hit it right on the screws.

I, like Flex, am not a big fan of frat boy shenanigans in the broadcast booth. Baseball games are not so sacred that they must be covered in a sober, buttoned-down fashion, but they are different than Sportsdesk, where the tedium of the night-after-night reporting of scores basically requires the Aaron Sorkin treatment. That said, I think Jamie as been handling his duties as play-by-play man with a great deal of dignity. The Chacin gaff was an innocent mistake.

A single baseball game is a microcosm of a baseball season. There are ebbs and flows, high points and low points, and quiet periods between activity which are well suited for reflection. Those quiet periods are not only enjoyable but a necessary respite. My only concerns about Jamie going into the season were that he would fall into the common trap of first-time announcers: the need to fill all the quiet spots, particularly coming from a role where that was absolutely a job requirement, and the need to dazzle with witty remarks (ibid).

My gas bag soliloquy almost complete, let me finish with my two cents' worth of suggestions for Jamie. Your hard core viewers are not toggling between the Blue Jay broadcasts and MTV. There is no attention deficit disorder here that requires our continued entertainment. You are obviously an intelligent and insightful fellow. Be yourself and let the game drive the pace of the commentary. Remember always that the game is the entertainment. Your role is to shepherd us through it with respect and intelligence.

Finally, keep up the good work. You are improving game by game. Everyone in these parts has your back.

Ouch. I didn't know of that fact. Perhaps the Dr. Evil comments were a bit went a bit too far. My personal preference with respect to broadcasters is when they start to lighten up and have fun -- it is infectious. Mind you, there is a thin line between funny and offensive in broadcasting. Let's just say that I'm glad I don't have Jamie's job. ;)

You and me both. Besides, I think Elliotte Friedman has a monopoly on the UWO student turned sports broadcaster bit. :)

Of course! If he went off to Toronto, I'd have to find another 2nd baseman for the Ivey slowpitch team!

Plus he out-homered me last year 1-0.

I'm not going anywhere. Although if I did, I could get away from Moffatt's intrusive drug testing program.