When BJ Ryan enters the game the crowd goes bananas. The combination of Duality, the fiery ribbon boards and his general God-like presents really sets an awesome 9th inning atmosphere.

I was rather puzzled at Phillips starting. Is there a particularily good reason for this that I was missing other than Silva being a righty? Seems to me that since Batista is gone, Chacin needs a mentor and Molina would seem to be a nice fit.

Rumour has it Bengie ate quite a bit at the Welcome Back Luncheon so that's clearly the only logical explanation.

There's two reasons why crowds appear smaller.

1) There used to be  outfield sections on the 200 level outfield where tickets were sold for 9 dollars per game. These sections were always well filled, but there were abolished this year so the outfield seats are looking rather empty.

2) I've been at all three games so far and have sat in the same seats. The crowd today was no smaller than yesterday and certainly MUCH larger than any 16,000 crowd in the last three years. I think the figures have been a tad under the actual attendance. Why? I have no clue, but it wouldn't be the first time.

3) There isn't anything to be ashamed about in our attendance. Here's league wide attendance from yesterday rounded down to the thousand:

NYM: 19,000
Milwaukee: 15,000
KC: 11,000
Phillidephia: 18,000
Seattle: 21,000 (and during the highlights looked much less)
Baltimore: 16,000

This isn't just us, but it's everyone. The crowd today wasn't totally dead, Chacin got a nice ovation and BJ got a good one too.

   There are strong hints in both the Star and the Globe today that the Jays might find a "creative" way to juggle their roster to keep Jason Phillips on the team after Zaun returns.  It would be great to have him stay on the team -- he's obviously a useful hitter and a good catcher -- but I'm scratching my head over the logistics of it.  Anyone have any ideas on how they could do it??  Is it maybe a hint that Hinske (or maybe Cat) could be traded or dumped soon??   The other option is to go with 11 pitchers, but the Jays have never shown any inclination to do that.  They've already had minor injuries to Burnett and Lilly this year, so 11 pitchers would be risky.   I can't think of any other way to sneak Phillips onto the team, so I'm wondering if maybe a deal to dump Hinske is close to being worked out.  That's just my idle speculation, but how else could they keep Phillips? 

    On a lighter note, Phillips got a pie in the face from Vernon Wells after the game.  It would be rather cruel to do that to him and then put him on waivers, wouldn't it??   Again, reading between the lines, that would seem to be a "welcome" pie, rather than a "goodbye" pie, wouldn't you think?  Players aren't cruel enough to pie a guy who is on the verge of being dumped from the team, are they??

     Here's the link to the Star article on the pie and the possible roster juggling:

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1144360212359&call_pageid=969907739730&col=970081600908

Jays are notorious for announcing tickets sold rather than turnstile numbers

It's an American League rule.  I don't know if the National League has switched to this accounting, for years the leagues differed.

Was anyone surprised by that ball that Vernon bobbled when charging in during the 7th? It ultimately led to Chacin's removal and added a run. I've come to expect that kind of play as routine. One thing that seemed to me is that Wells likes to showboat a bit, and probably could have made that catch on his two feet, as I think the quasi-dive threw off his coordination (the ball hit the heel of his glove) and caused the miss. He had a made a catch just an out or two earlier where he took a little tumble after the catch, and I thought the same thing then too "why don't you just stay on your feet?"

Either way, still a great effort from the Jays all around. Chacin did all you can hope for. You get a feel when you see Adams and Hill contributing that these guys have a very solid line from top to bottom. I love these Jays!

I don't think players think too hard about who's staying and who's going.  Phillips has been around the team since the beginning of spring training and has obviously fit in as evidenced by the pie.

The Sun article on Phillips seemed to think that it wasn't likely that he would stick around after Zaun returns.  I'm not sure why he'd be kept around with both Zaun and Molina on the team.  His defensive reputation isn't very good and he's not much of a hitter.  The past two years he has hit .218/.298/.326 and .238/.287/.363 in over 800 plate appearences.

Phillips was a good option when the Jays only had Zaun and Quiroz (especially since he hits lefties well), but once the Jays signed Molina he's the third catcher on a team that only needs two. 

I just watched the Wells video and have trouble believing he was showboating on either of those plays. I haven't seen much past history of Wells diving for the sake of diving, at least to my eye, and usually when he *does* dive he comes up with the ball. There was that one Oscar moment two seasons ago (I think) where Wells dove to make a catch and missed but while rolling over came up with the ball and showed it to the ump who promptly called "out". I want to say it was against the Orioles but don't remember for sure.

As far as Phillips goes, a team with five outfielders and twelve pitchers simply can't carry three catchers, especially one of seemingly limited talent (nice hit last night notwithstanding). Nothing makes more sense upon Zaunie's return than Phillips being placed on waivers.

The contrast with Miguel Batista is particularly refreshing: Ryan retired the side last night in the time it would take Batista to (a) look into the catcher (b) shake off a call (c) shake off another call (d) decide on a pitch (e) step off the rubber and look at the baserunner (f) get back on the rubber (g) look into the catcher again (h) get into the set position (i) throw over to first base (j) get the ball back from the first baseman (k) get back on the rubber (l) get into the set position (m) bounce a pitch off the plate (n) get the ball back from the catcher (o) walk around the back of the mound, and (p) get back on the mound for the next pitch. Every day that takes us further from that era is a happy day for me.

Agreed, but you forgot Batista's frequent "Deer in the Headlights" look as he loaded the bases with one out (usually a weak pop up), and his profuse sweating...inside the RC...when the roof was closed.

Speaking of things at the Dome...

For those that didn't make it out to the opening series, amongst the changes this year the Jays have re-done their "Level of Excellence", removing the tarp-like things with the names and numbers up by the hotel windows and replacing them with a smaller display below the private boxes. It looks good, and more refined than it used to be.

One question though: Where's Jackie Robinson? His name's not on on the new level of excellence, and I couldn't see his 42 hanging anywhere.

I'd have to disagree and say that the Jays are notorious for announcing tickets sold rather than turnstile numbers.

As mentioned, that is an AL rule, however the time I was speaking of was most noticeably at Doc's 22nd win in 2003 when the 100 and 200 had been sold out and the 500 was very full looking. The attendance that game was 21,000.

I don't know if the whole weather thing really does turn off alot of fans in open air stadiums. I think it has more to do with it being an April game and people still having work, and school. Safeco had a weak 21,000. Let's give things a chance.

Sorry if I sound abrasive, but I sure hope the people moaning about attendance live far away because they really have no excuse to be lying on the couch watching the game if they live in Toronto and still complain about attendance.

And yes, Slipknot does sing Duality.

mulredux-

That game was in Texas. What made it even better (and one of my all time favourite Blue Jay memories) is after the replay, after they show the ball CLEARLY hitting the floor and Vernon scooping it up with his back to the ump, the camera cuts back to Vernon in the outfield who makes the "shush" sign to whoever is playing LF with the biggest smile on his face.  I thought it was such a great baseball moment, to be paid millions of dollars but realize, they're just playing a game after all and having fun with it.

Batista is so much more valuable as a starter. Last night's start aside (he's not THAT good), Batista is a league average starter with 180-200 IP potential. He doesn't have the command to pitch in high leverage one inning roles, but stretch him out to 6-7 innings, and it's less of a concern. Why the Jays decided to waste that in the bullpen is beyond me. At least the Jays were able to turn Batista into an even greater asset (Glaus).

One thing I like about Ryan, at least on opening day, was the way he riled up the crowd. It was a great atmosphere in the ninth where the fans were expecting the strike out, instead of dreading the result (like with Batista, Koch, etc). I didn't see last night's game, but with 16,000 in attendance, I would assume the atmosphere was not anywhere near April 4.

Best is the Tigers (!) at 3-0

And on pace (the greatest and worst words of the early baseball season are "on pace") to slam 756 homers this year. That's a nice number, exactly one more than Hank hammered in 23 seasons.

I sure knew who he was and why he should be remembered, but that number retirement just seemed to be another Bud stunt.

A simple sign of respect, surely?

Well, I'm certainly not the one with the ammo to give a cogent argument why the Jays should be eager -- and proud! -- to honour the likes of Jackie Wilson. Especially since the first reason that pops into my head is that he's the subject of the jauntiest song ever written in tribute to a ballplayer.

But as to the logic of  retiring his number "in cities like Toronto where MLB didn't exist until years after he retired", I would note that, to a certain extent now the Jays represent all of Canada, and Robinson is a member of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, for whatever that's worth. By holding a franchise, we're taking part in the whole thing that is the history of baseball -- that's part of the fun of it.

Granted, there could be all sorts of universal tributes to people that have transcended the game in one way or another, but setting aside the whole issue of whether or not honouring his number is "deserved", I just thought it was funny to not see it there, given that it is retired throughout the league.