Whenever the "he's only _______ short of the cycle" talk starts and names like Kelly Gruber and Jeff Frye bounce around; my thoughts turn, as usual, to Carlos Delgado. And how much more badass (and noteworthy) his four home run game is than the cycle. 16 total bases son, that ain't nothing to fuck with.
Re-defining Quintessential
Ian the Blue Jay Hunter provided an excellent service and, in term, a excellent window into the mindset of a fanbase. Voting Joe Carter the quintessential Blue Jay by a decent margin shows Jays fans great love of the glory days.
Unfortunately for me, my overwhelming cynicism causes me to think this way: there's been a lot more quoteunquote heartbreak through the Jays storied history than triumph. What better epitomizes the true Blue Jays spirit than excellence toiling away in relative obscurity? Ten years of Carlos Delgado and Roy Halladay grabbing individual awards (or having them grabbed from them) while the team futilely trudged along.
The unending brilliance of Tony Fernandez might have ruined a generation's throwing arms1, the indifferent achievement of Delgado and Halladay is truly the quintessential Blue Jays experience.
1 - "Throw it overhand, dammit. Your arm won't get any stronger throwing it sidearm like that!" Many dads, 1984-2000 inclusive.
Image courtesy of the New York Daily News.
The thing about Fernandez that seals the deal for me is that at one point I quietly thought "They traded McGriff and Fernandez to get Carter and Alomar. A necessary sacrifice. Poor Fernandez, all those years with the Jays, being almost there and then isn't there to win the whole show in 1992....but wait, he's back in '93. It's all good. It turned out ok."
ReplyDeleteConcern for a dude despite understanding that his trade led to two key pieces that contributed directly to later success.
Preach on about the 4-HR Delgado game. Will never forget that night.
ReplyDeleteI voted Stieb. He was a Jay since the beginning; he set the tone that the franchise would always, in a way, be about pitching. And he was there through the bad times, and got a taste of the good life before he left. That being said, you make an excellent point about Delgado and Halladay. Imagine they played anywhere else.
I agree with your take the word quintessential as it relates to the Jays. Delgado is it. In fact, I've extricated myself from the Delgado romance because it just feels too depressing to think about a guy putting together a REALLY good career and only have a nice bank account to show for it. He won't show up in any non Blue Jay specific history books. It's sad, and you're right, it kind of summarizes the Jays experience for the majority of the team's existence.
ReplyDeleteIt's unfortunate, but I'd say 15 years from now some folks might have a hard time remembering Halladay and Delgado's contributions to this team simply becasue they weren't part of championship teams.
ReplyDeleteCarter, Alomar, Stieb and Fernandez all have a World Series ring, and nobody can ever take that away from them. But if they weren't on the 92/93 rosters, I bet they don't conjure up the same warm and fuzzy feelings as they do now.
I think it's hard to say ANY Blue Jay has been a quintessential Blue Jay. Carter is obviously the clear #1 because of the HR alone but Toronto as a franchise doesn't have any career Jays. Most started elsewhere and/or had their best years elsewhere.
ReplyDelete