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Notes from Nowhere Jays Are 2011 AL East Champions*
We decided to dip into the Batter's Box budget and design a collectible to rival Jose Bautista Bobblehead Day April 3.

* Special edition grapefruit to commemorate the Jays posting the AL East's top spring training record during Grapefruit League play in 2011.

The Blue Jays beat out Tampa Bay (15-14) for the division pennant by half-a-game and Baltimore (15-15) by a full game.  The supposed division giants, the New York Yankees and Boston, finished below .500 at 13-15 and 14-19 respectively.  The AL Central winners were Kansas City (20-10) and the Wild Card goes to Minnesota (20-12).  The LA Angels beat out Seattle for the West division title with a 18-13 record. 

In the National League, the defending World Series Champion San Francisco Giants were also the kings of spring with a 23-12 record.  The Gigantes beat out 20-11 Colorado, who had to settle for the Wild Card.  Milwaukee won the NL Central at 19-11 and Philadelphia took the NL East at 21-14.  The final spring standings are here.

I can't find anything about the Jays previous finishes in Grapefruit League history.  I believe they had the AL's best record one year they won the World Series and then the worst record for the other year but I cannot remember in which order. For you trivia buffs, the Jays beat the New York Mets 3-1 in their first ever spring game back on March 11, 1977.  Fast forwarding to 2011, let's hope the Jays will win this year's 162 game edition of the AL East! 

Posted by #2JBrumfield on Friday, April 01 2011 @ 12:02 AM EDT.
Jays Are 2011 AL East Champions* | 4 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
Magpie - Friday, April 01 2011 @ 12:06 AM EDT (#231967) #
Weird looking at the Cardinals game. Chris Carpenter started, and he was relieved by a group that included Trever Miller, Miguel Batista, and Brian Tallet.

Those guys were fine, but eventually they ran out of old Blue Jays and lost the game.
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rikley - Friday, April 01 2011 @ 02:12 AM EDT (#231968) #
What about Adam Loewen?...No ring for him?..:)..I'm looking forward to how he does in AAA
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#2JBrumfield - Friday, April 01 2011 @ 08:17 AM EDT (#231969) #

What about Adam Loewen?...No ring for him?..:)..

Nice catch.  I thought I got everyone after checking the spring stats and rosters but of course, I miss a Canadian guy.  Noted and corrected.

Some Opening Day notes...

The Cardinals and Brewers closers failed to get the job done yesterday.  Tough day especially for Simcoe, Ontario's John Axford as he gave up a walkoff shot to 'Razor' Ramon Hernandez to give the Brewers a come from ahead loss against the Reds.  Tiny Tim Collins made his debut for the Royals and almost had a win if Alex Gordon's drive down the left field line stayed fair.  Vernon Wells had a double for his first Halos hit.  Jason "Ironhead" Heyward homered again on Opening Day as Derek Lowe outduelled Livan Hernandez in a pitching duel in Washington.  The $126 million dollar man, Jayson Werth, singled in his first Nats at-bat.  Tim Lincecum got no help from the Giants defence and was bested by Clayton Kershaw in Dodgertown.  Yankees unfortunately won again as Phil Coke came out flat against Curtis Granderson.

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TimberLee - Friday, April 01 2011 @ 09:15 AM EDT (#231971) #
So where can I get my grapefruit? Do they go to the first 15,000 customers at the supermarket?
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Jays Are 2011 AL East Champions* | 4 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.