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Blue Jays

Blue Jays lose again: It’s always f**king something!

To call the Blue Jays 2013 campaign a disappointment, is actually a massive understatement.  Whether it’s the never-ending slew of inconsistencies and injuries to the starting rotation, J.P. Arencibia quitting Twitter, or this throw by Melky Cabrera, there’s been numerous moments where you’ve likely almost considered giving up on sports altogether.

(Note, I said ‘almost’.  None of us could ever truly stop following the local teams, hence why MLSE can continue to find new and wonderful ways to screw you out of your hard-earned money.)

Anyway, here’s the latest keystone cops moment, courtesy of yesterday’s 5-3 loss against the Yankees in New York:

Now admittedly, it would have been more appropriate if Rajai Davis had actually dropped the ball, but you know it’s bad when even your own uniforms are conspiring against you.  I’ll leave it to Brett Lawrie to have the final word on this season:

If you have any tips or information about any of Toronto’s sports teams, please email me at Englishpaul@hotmail.co.uk

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Blue Jays

Gregg Zaun offers advice to Toronto’s pedestrians

Uh oh.  Not content with upsetting J.P. Arencibia, it looks like Sportsnets Gregg Zaun has a new target for his unique brand of ‘constructive’ criticism: Toronto’s pedestrians!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Personally, I think everyone (pedestrians, cyclists and motorists) is as bad as each other in Toronto, but I can totally appreciate Zaun’s frustrations.  Besides, you have to do something to pass the time away while the Blue Jays are in a rain-delay.

Photo credit: www.vimeo.com

If you have any tips or information about any of Toronto’s sports teams, please email me at Englishpaul@hotmail.co.uk

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Blue Jays

Jays Jose Bautista has dinner with P.K. Subban: Apparently shouldn’t be out eating when injured

When Jose Bautista left the first game of Tuesday’s double-header against the Yankees, fans feared the worst.  And while going to the 15-day DL isn’t the end of the world, it does hammer another nail into the coffin, otherwise known as the Jays 2013 season.

As a result of his left hip bone bruise, Bautista has been on the receiving end of comments from the Twitter world.  As you’d expect, some were mildly amusing:

However, the following picture of Bautista enjoying lunch with the Canadiens P.K. Subban and some friends, went on to confirm my belief that you should never underestimate the stupidity of people:

Subban & Bautista at lunch

Seems like an innocent enough photo for Subban to post on Twitter, right?  Well, apparently not:

Tweet 1

Now people often say you should rise above such pettiness, especially when you’re in the public eye.  However, I come from the school of logic, which decries that two wrongs do make a right.  As such, I’m happy to report that Bautista did respond:

Tweet 2

As you’d expect, other Jays fans decided to chime in, thankfully bringing some humour to the situation:

Tweet 3
Tweet 5
Tweet 4

I suppose the only defence for ‘finner5′ is that after the high hopes heading into this season, the chances were some of us would lose the plot after what’s transpired.

(I’d say get well soon Bautista, but what’s the hurry?  The Jays are going to be lucky to finish .500 at this point.)

Photo credit: @PKSubban1

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Blue Jays

Blue Jays Brett Lawrie: One lucky guy

Despite all of the pressures and media attention that come with being a sports star, I think we can all still agree it’s a pretty swell life.  In that respect, we now present reason number 9,865 why you should never, ever, feel sorry for high-profile professional athletes:

Talk about being conflicted between alerting the police and leaving your front door wide open.

If you have any tips or information about any of Toronto’s sports teams, please email me at Englishpaul@hotmail.co.uk

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Blue Jays

Blue Jays: Jose Bautista imitates Kawasaki

Whatever Munenori Kawasaki’s perceived limitations are as a player, (although I think he’s better than he gets credit for) there’s no denying the positive impact he has on the Blue Jays.  Since being recalled from Buffalo, the Jays are 2-0 after two-straight wins against that slacker John Farrell and the Red Sox.

In fact, the team is now 38-33 this season with Kawasaki in the line-up and 18-32 without him.  Coincidence?!  I think NOT my good man!  Even Jose Bautista seems to be enjoying himself more, as he shows here by imitating his teammates elaborate warm-up routine:

We all know Bautista is one of the good guys, someone who actually enjoys being in Toronto.  However, he’s also renowned for being ultra-serious, so anything that can get him to loosen up a bit has to be a good thing, right?

Welcome back Munenori Kawasaki!  You have no idea how much we’ve all missed you.

If you have any tips or information about any of Toronto’s sports teams, please email me at Englishpaul@hotmail.co.uk

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Blue Jays

Jays: Ted Rogers statue unveiling the final insult

So there you have it.  Rogers have unveiled their Ted Rogers statue outside the Skydome.  I’m not sure what they are expecting us to think or feel, but personally speaking, I find the whole thing to be a big joke.

I must stress, I don’t care either way about the actual decision to commemorate a statue in honour of the late former president and CEO of Rogers Communications.  No, my issue is with where they decided to place the statue, regardless of if they own the land or not.

Yes, I understand that Rogers buying the Blue Jays and then the stadium probably secured the long-term future of baseball in Toronto, and I appreciate that.  However, commemorating someone outside a sports stadium usually tells me that person did something to contribute to the success of the team. (e.g. Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky and Cal Ripken Jr.)

Last time I checked, the Jays haven’t exactly done much on the field since Rogers became 80% owners of the team in 2000. (They took over full ownership in 2003.)  They’ve not made the postseason, they’ve had one second-place finish and have averaged 80 wins.

To me, that sounds like the very definition of average, mediocre even, and certainly not deserving of a statue outside a sports stadium.  Geez, Rogers have only owned the team for a third of their existence.

On top of all this, their biggest legacy to date is renaming the stadium ’Rogers Centre’ to satisfy the ego of their owner. Could they not have at least compromised and called it something like the Rogers Skydome?

So yes, call me a miserable git if you like, but I’m going to take a wild swing, a la the Jays bats of late, and guess that I’m not the only one who finds the unveiling of this Ted Rogers statue outside the SKYDOME to be a huge insult to Blue Jays fans.

Photo credit: @Rogers_Centre

If you have any tips or information about any of Toronto’s sports teams, please email me at Englishpaul@hotmail.co.uk

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Blue Jays

Jays lose 14-5: Brett Lawrie sums up the season

Call it being in denial, but even as the losses mounted, I still managed to convince myself that somehow, someway, the Blue Jays would be contending for a post-season spot come September.  Unfortunately, after last night’s 14-5 ass-kicking by the Dodgers, even I’ve finally woken up and realised they’re not ending their 20-year playoff drought this season.

Josh Johnson was brutal yet again, giving up 7 hits and 5 runs in just two innings.  And to think at one point there were concerns about competing for his services after this season.  (Now, the former Marlins pitcher will be lucky if even the Jays offer him a contract!)

But it’s not just Johnson. The whole team is a mess at the moment.  Yes, maybe it’s true that, as Mark Buehrle said, the Jays were overrated, but no one expected them to be this bad.

However, I’ll leave it to everyone’s favourite Canadian, Brett Lawrie, to sum up the season. (If you’re lip-reading skills aren’t up to scratch, scroll down for the answer.)

“Always f***ing something.”  Couldn’t agree more Brett.

If you have any tips or information about any of Toronto’s sports teams, please email me at Englishpaul@hotmail.co.uk

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Blue Jays

Blue Jays Pitchers and Catchers Report: Jose Bautista also arrives

Well it’s finally here: the day Blue Jays pitchers and catchers officially report!  And showing how excited the team is about this season, the likes of Jose Bautista have also arrived early in Dunedin despite position players not being due to report until February 16th.

Talking of Bautista, it appears hopeful that his wrist injury from last season is a thing of the past.  In fact, if these photos are anything to go by, the Jays slugger is already getting into the ‘swing’ of things:

Awful puns aside, today marks the start of the serious business as pitchers and catchers start the long hard trek towards bonding and learning to play with each other.  This may take more time than usual this year with several new pitchers on board for the Jays.

And with R.A. Dickey bringing his knuckleball over from the Mets, J.P. Arencibia will really have his work cut out getting onto the same wavelength as the Cy Young winner in time for opening day.

First things first though, Arencibia has to worry about if Dickey’s spent too much time watching coverage of Manti Te’o and his imaginary girlfriend:

That’s a whole lot of love.  I’m assuming Dickey must be a fan of ‘curvy’ women.

Photo credits: @JoeyBats19 & @lucaiantorno

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Combo

Blue Jays Ricky Romero meets former maple leaf Darryl Sittler

I know we ‘occasionally’ make fun of Toronto’s sporting athletes on these pages, but we tend to (for the most part) not mean anything malicious by it.

For example, we may have taken the odd shot at Ricky Romero’s disastrous 2012 campaign, but in reality we know that he’s a classy guy who will hopefully return to his form of previous seasons in 2013.*

Another aspect that makes Romero one of the more likeable professional athletes in Southern Ontario is the fact he seems to actually enjoy spending time in Toronto!

He also seems to be quite a respectfull young man, as evidenced from this tweet he posted earlier:

 

Hopefully Romero managed to get some useful tips from the Hall of Famer to help him have a bounce back year in 2013.  (Yes, I’m aware they play different sports, but still!)

* As a typical sports media entity, we reserve the right to change our opinion of Romero without any notice, conveniently forget anything positive we ever said about him and basically be irrational in our analysis.

Photo credit: @RickyRo24