Is that Bush/Kazmir symmetry close enough for you now Magpie?

The Jays got their 71st win today which if you took the 'over' this year you just won.

I love how Lee struck out on a pitch that bounced in the dirt. I can just hear Miguel cackling, "Not this time, baby!"

I hereby announce my plan for next year: on a night sure to be televised, preferably a nationally televised game in the United States, I would like to travel down to Tampa Bay and purchase from a scalper the tickets directly behind the infamous Tampa Bay heckler and give him the gears all night long.

What I need from Bauxites:

- Money or plane tickets
- A place to stay in Tampa or the surrounding area
- Ideas for what to yell at him.

HEYYYY TAMPA BAY HECKLER!
WHY DON'T YOU PICK ON SOMEONE YOUR OWN SIZE?
(pause)
LIKE KIRBY PUCKETT!

I suppose the Sidney Ponson "pot roast" heckle could also be adapted to this.

I'll volunteer a place to stay, if you don't mind sleeping on the floor. Of course, if it's a TSN series, you're on your own.

I'm all about the floor.

Hey, do you think I could fit into your luggage?

SLEEPOVER!!! You guys could talk about which Jays are cuter!

I only caught the ninth inning today, which turned out to be the right inning to watch. I'm curious tho, how out was Johnny Gomes? Was it a close play, that could have gone either way, or was it an obvious blown call? The former probably wouldn't cause Bush to be all bitter and lose focus during the next at bat, but the latter might have.

On the replay he was clearly out. Hill got the tag in on his helmet before he reached the base.

The umpire made a mistake. That's what human beings do.

I got to guess the heckler has a negative effect on attendance. Can you imagine having season tickets anywhere near him and listening to him yell all year?

He must be under the impression that he somehow helps the team on the field. I wonder if BP keeps stats on TB's winning percentage with and without heckler:-) If you could show him the team does better without him, that would be the ultimate insult.

Call me crazy but Hinske looks pretty comfy with the bat. Look at his averages per month:
Mar/ Apr .289
May .291
June .132
July .244
Aug .348
Sept .304

But for a lousy June, he might have a decent Average/ OBP.

Whoa. Check out these numbers:

Month	AB	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG
April	83	4	0	4	17	9	22	.289	.366	.482
May	86	6	1	2	8	7	22	.291	.347	.453
June	76	3	0	1	8	14	26	.132	.264	.211
July	78	10	0	3	15	7	23	.244	.310	.487
Aug	66	2	1	2	7	6	9	.348	.413	.500
Sept	22	1	0	0	1	0	8	.273	.304	.318

Note in particular strikeouts. 22, 22, 26, 23, 9, 8. The Dude's monster August (well, monster for him) was no accident — he stopped striking out and hit a ton of doubles. The worrying thing is that he's back to his old tricks in September, striking out even more often than he did in June.

Eric Hinske has been pretty good this year, really. Or at least he's been average. Last year he was the worst everyday hitter in the majors, so I am pleased.

I am very disappointed with Vernon Wells, however. I was willing to pass off last year as an injury-riddled flukey bad season, but it's clear now that he won't be the megastar we all hoped for. He was quite good in the hot summer, but he was awful all August, and now he hasn't had an extra-base hit since he homered on the 24th. He hasn't hit a double since August the 10th. Don't get me wrong, Vernon is a good player, and in fact the best hitter on the team, but I really thought he would be a 40HR superstar. Oh well.

Things have been so disappointing for the Jays development wise. There will always be a few busts, but come on now:

-Since winning ROY in 2002, Hinske's highest OBP in a season is .338 (this year.) His highest HR total is 15.

-Vernon is looking like he'll miss the 30HR mark for the second straight season.

-Phelps has completely fallen off the map and is playing in the minors somewhere.

-Rios has been a far below average hitter in both his seasons, bringing nothing to the table offensively.

-League has had a horrible year in the bullpen.

I mean seriously, can't the baseball gods give us a break here? So many players with potential, and none of them are panning out as well as we'd hoped. Argh!

Well, maybe that isn't true. Halladay has turned out OK, but the gods have to punish us for that one by causing him to miss a full season (basically.)

Hopefully Adams and Hill can wind up doing something...

Say, does anyone know what Gibbons was thinking putting Menechino in the DH role on Saturday? This left the Jays without a backup for SS/2B if one of Hill or Adams went down, plus gave more AB's to a guy we already know rather than seeing what, say, Griffen can do vs ML pitching. At the end of the game the guys left on the bench were Griffen, Huckaby, and Hudson. Hudson not available and Huck only used if absolutely necessary. If he put Menechino in at 2B over Hill I'd not have been happy, but could understand the effort to keep from having Hill at 2B too much until he is used to it in practice. But at DH? Guess I just want to see what some of these guys can do rather than see the Jays play backup infielders in the DH role.

Why Menechino...

Well, did you see what Scott Kazmir did to the LH batters who spent the entire season in the majors? 0 for 7, with six strikeouts.

"I am very disappointed with Vernon Wells, however. I was willing to pass off last year as an injury-riddled flukey bad season, but it's clear now that he won't be the megastar we all hoped for. He was quite good in the hot summer, but he was awful all August, and now he hasn't had an extra-base hit since he homered on the 24th. He hasn't hit a double since August the 10th."

Wells hit a double off Kazmir today.

"Rios has been a far below average hitter in both his seasons, bringing nothing to the table offensively."

I know Rios is still young but I've already written him off as a power bat. He simply lacks the power to drive the ball over the fence. I've never understood why people feel like he will become a power hitter when his career high in homers is 11 at AA. I almost fell out of my chair last week when JP said "Rios is having a good season". I wish Rios would be parked on the bench and his AB's given to Gross to see what he can do.

Wells hit a double off Kazmir today.

Oops. Obviously I didn't watch the game today. Hehe.

So Wells has ONE extra base hit since August 24th. ;)

NFH, definitely:

- get 3+ people to intermitently, simultaneously extend arms and fingers while shrieking Xena-style

- yell the entire following quote at the top of your lungs without dropping a decibel for a single word: "Dude! You're not that funny! Slightly humerous, I'll give you that, but really not that funny!"

- Google some Cthulu quotes to incant if you happen to own a sketchy robe or something that you could dawn at a climatic moment

- Implant a microchip into his brain to track his every move, perhaps finding out where he lives so you can syphon the gas from his vehicle every sixth tuesday

I believe the Jays have Menechino under contract for next year, and if they don't I believe he's worth keeping around and I suspect the Jays front office does, too. If you have a player signed for next season, who is expected to play a role on your team (even as small as backup IF), I don't think a team can just stop using him entirely throughout the last month of the season. Menechino can't be sat for all of September so you have to play him a few games and this game was the perfect match since Kazmir's tough on lefties.

This is the same reason that you will see Cat continue to pinch-hit for Johnson or Rios in most games except for blowouts and not Griffin. I believe the Jays intend to trade Cat if they can, but there's a chance he could be back so they can't forget him completely over the last month.

Also, from a pride standpoint, I'm sure Gibbons and the front office want to finish at .500. The best way to accomplish that is to keep playing Menechino versus most lefties and to use Catalanotto ahead of JFG.

Wouldn't duct tape be a much simpler solution?

Isn't heckling at a heckler akin to being baited into an argument by a small child? Once they've drawn you into their domain, you've already lost, no matter how much yelling or reasoning you employ.

Oh, I'm not saying Menechino should not be used at all, just not as a DH. However, the lefty/righty thing and the desire to see Hill at 2B does explain it. Guess I was just in a rant mood last night for some reason (I really shouldn't post just before 2 AM).

Looking at it now that I've had a bit of sleep I can see it making sense. You keep Hinske/Cat on the bench as both are tradable and signed for '06 (so it doesn't affect their contracts) so you want to pump up their numbers vs right handers. You keep Griffen on the bench as you don't want him to look silly vs a tough left hander. Huck on the bench is just plain logic, and you try to give Zaun a day off. Hudson is injured. That leaves just Menechino and Hill to cover 2B and DH. The Jays want to see Hill play defense at 2B to see if Hudson can be traded, and to up Hill's value in a trade as well. Menechino has had very few plate appearances this year (just 159 vs last years 276 as a Jay) but certain deserves more with his 359 OBP.

OK. I understand and feel silly now.

I don't think "lil Franky" is signed for next season. It was a AB or Games incentive contract, and he's not going to reach it. I have a feeling that his days are numbered w/ the Jays.

Also, the Tampa Bad heckler is amazing, the guy is hilarious. It would be funny to go all the way to Florida to razzle him, but he would absolutely beat you to death in a heckle match. Well I may be wrong, I'm just going by the "HEYYYY TAMPA BAY HECKLER! WHY DON'T YOU PICK ON SOMEONE YOUR OWN SIZE? (pause)LIKE KIRBY PUCKETT!"

Because that's terribly un-funny.

Actually, he has a team option for '06 and I will bet the Jays do exercise it. Backup infielders with an approximately .370 OBP don't grow on trees.

It will all have to depend on who comes back for the Jays. If you have Hill, Hinske, Gross and Johnson all on the bench, then there's really no room for Menechino on this team. If O-Dawg is shipped out, and Hill plays 2B, then there is room for a backup middle IF.

Acatually NFH, in the summer of 2004 I had plans to go down to Tampa to do the very thing you suggested. And one day I still might, but The Heckler is terribly, terribly misunderstood.

He's a happy heckler, to the the point that it's what he called his book. He heckles positively, keeps it clean and has a fun time. Most importantly, he represents a team with no identity, which has had a history of absolute failure. Heckling is an accepted part of baseball which is intyended to be clean, and that's exactly how The Heckler keeps it.

Even the opposition don't really mind it. Eric Hinske (one of the Heckler's old targets) actually likes it (and his numbers in Tampa dictate it). The reason why he no longer picks on Eric is because "it's unfair to kick a horse when it's down". That's right, The Heckler has sympathy for Eric.