Stewart packs his shit, Jays defeat Tigers

Shannon Stewart was the latest victim of the Jays' season-long chess match with .500. The Jays activated Stewart from the DL and promptly released him. Oh yes, it's been an awesome season for him. The acquisition of Stewart eventually led to the release of Reed Johnson, which proved unpopular with a certain segment of Jays fans. Stewart struggled most of the season while Reed sort of did okay, making the move seem that much worse. With the OPS Express continuing his reign over the city and a cast of other mediocre outfielders on the roster, there simply wasn't room for Shannon. Oh well.

It looks like time for Gregg Zaun to get on his way too. In addition to losing the ability to throw the baseball that well, he can't seem to put the barrel of the bat on it either. Barajas looked the part of the starter tonight, slamming his tenth dinger of the season, a lot for this team. Shaun Marcum is returning to the form he showed before being sidelined earlier this season. Fucking right.

Universe Deems My Happiness Impossible

No fucking sooner had Rocco Baldelli made his triumphant return to the field, driving in runs and diving to and fro with a determined ardor, does Scott Rolen head to the DL with further issues in his bionic left shoulder. What is an ironically detached, wins and losses don't matter, try-hard poseur to do? What's next? Brandon League pitching to contact? Alex Rios walking?

I don't ask for much. Some impressive defense, some memorable moments. Guys that make use of as many tools as they can. I'm a bitter and cynical old man, I like very little. In fact I hate almost everything. So leave my favorites alone, will ya!

I can't help to look forward to this series against the far more disappointing Tigers. Can you imagine if the Chicken Little JP haters followed this team instead? Right handed bats only, huge salaries, pitchers that make AJ Burnett look like a model of consistency. Shannon Stewart, meet Jacques Jones. About time to meet up in the dole queue, innit?

The Jays lose, I have a cat...

The return of Vernon Wells didn't provide the spark one would've hoped, and the Jays were broomed out of their own park by the bottom feeders of the Central Division: the Cleveland Indians.

I suppose if they were going to lose a game it would have been yesterday's. The Jays were the only team Cliff Lee hadn't beaten to date and from what I can tell, Lee has been alright this season.

Over the three game set with the Indians the Jays only managed to score a paltry four runs. Might have been a better idea had the Jays just conceded all three games to the Indians and take the three days off for rest instead.

I have a cat.

Somebody Get Me a Paper Bag

Not Pictured: My Throbbing Boner.

Don't You Fuck This Up Cito Gaston

Too much, too soon Cito. We were humming along nicely, Adam Lind was slowly climbing the order, getting his at bats without a sudden influx of pressure. But no, Cito, you had to slot him in as your clean-up hitter today. Why Cito? Why?

I know that Lyle Overbay's been struggling but still getting on base, and you've been reduced to hitting Brad Wilkerson 7th for christ's sake! Times are tough for this offense once again. But you've set Adam Lind up to fail. Adam Lind mashes hard stuff, but against Byrd he won't see fastball one!

Adam Lind can flat out hit. You know this and I know this. It is to the point now with Lind that I expect him to do better. In the fourth inning last night, Lind lashed a pitch down and in to centerfield for a single. My immediate thought: he should have hit that out of the ballpark. That is how quickly expectations rise Cito.

Meanwhile on the Farm
Rehabbing Vernon Wells and prehabbing Travis Snider both went 0-4 last night, Snider with 3 Ks. Ricky Romero struck out 10 in 7.2 innings, only allowing 5 hits. The Southpaw has a nice "fuck you" post to the haters that called Romero a flop at the age of 23. I will not hesitate to admit that I am guilty of Tulowitki-longing, but added a nice safety corollary of "I know pitchers take longer to develop." Which is true, unless they are David Price.

Our Home on Native Land

The racist nicknames are in town! The racist nicknames that were supposed to contend until all their big bats fell injured, so they blew out their roster of all expensive talent instead. The racist nicknames that haven't been playing very good baseball for the last two months. The racist nicknames that are looking up at Royals in the standings! Wow. This team isn't so great. And they still use that stupid racist nickname! A nickname so stupid it prompted our boy David Chalk to write an excellent piece last year calling for them to change it. Superstud Grady Sizemore has gone into a sympathy slump, quietly protesting the racist nickname. But who cares, they bring lovable dope Sal Fasano with them. The Indians send Cardinal Castoff Anthony Reyes against David Purcey tonight, Reyes' first start in the American League.

In the great Indian giving of 2008, the team got an excellent prospect who will partner with young players like Ben Francisco to improve their fortunes down the road. But for now, this team hasn't been good; putting together an impressive run of lose 2, win 1 stretches and coughing up huge leads to the god-forsaken Rays. Should David Purcey be able to keep the ball in the park, this is a good match up for a Blue Jays team looking to string some more wins together.

In Brief

• Micheal Silverman of the Boston Herald breaks down the race in the AL East. He only includes three teams. (via The Rays Index)
• Nothing sounds better than an 8-0-8 - Note: Bo Jackson in no way supports the Beastie Boys
• Someone finally realized that Melky Cabrera is terrible
• The Tao crushes all fakes

Enjoy the games, I'll be holding it down at Walkoff Walk again this weekend, swing by and see what kind of madcap hi jinks I can get myself into.

Wouldn't it be Nice

Maybe if we think and wish and hope and pray it might come true
Baby then there wouldn't be a single thing we couldn't do
We could be married (to the post season)
And then we'd be happy

Wouldn't it be nice

You know it seems the more we talk about it
It only makes it worse to live without it
But let's talk about it

Wouldn't it be nice

Beating up on the hapless A's is one thing. Looking ahead to AL East divisional battles is another, similar thing. I'm going to apply the Uncertainly Principle here and say if this happens, if the Jays can suddenly, miraculously shrug off 4 other teams and somehow wrest control of the wildcard, I'm going remain safely distant. Not because I'm a chicken shit frontrunner, although I just might be. However improbable, mind boggling as it is, it is still possible. I can't allow my game enjoyment be hampered by an ulcerous, life-shorteningly failed stretch run.

I promise not to scoreboard watch ONCE until my birthday, September 14th. I will not direct any (additional) ill-wishes towards the Yankees, Sox or Rays. I am swearing to myself here and now NOT to beg for a Rangers Pythagorean correction.

I sure hope it happens, but in the meantime I have much bigger fish to fry.

Good For What Ails You

After the Tao pointed out my agitated, nearly apoplectic state on Friday; I experienced a strange calm similar to the one the Tao himself spoke of. A long weekend, a solid-to-excellent Halladay start, a shrimp sighting, and an all-ages hardcore show have that effect. The roster is going to get pretty crowded in the next few weeks, with Vernon Wells scheduled to return soon while Shannon Stewart & Jeremy Accardo run through their rehab stints. Kevin "Warning Track Power" Mench and one of the Tampa Two figure to be the odd men out, though Shannon Stewart should heed Hale's advice and retire with dignity.

I'll quickly give JP some credit; people love to disparage his decision to bring in Zambrano, Ohka and/or Mench as quick, cheap fixes that go nowhere. But consider John Parrish, Shawn Camp and Jesse Carlson. No account journeymen who have all stepped in and made positive contributions. Low ceiling guys all, they've eaten innings and provided effective relief/spot-starting when called upon.

The plummeting A's seem to have brought their Blue Jay-brand futility bats to Canada. Canadian wonderstory Scott Richmond takes to the hill tonight, facing Greg Smith. Smith makes his third start of the year against the Jays, which makes as little sense as his success in each of those starts. The ever-dangerous soft-tossing lefty has only given up 2 earned runs in 12.2 innings against the Blue Jays. Let's hope Scott Rolen's two days off yield a big day against a lesser foe.

My Name is BJ Ryan, and I Encourage You to Join Me on the Top Step

They're not going to be pretty, let's just hope they continue to be.

I Don't Even Know What I Believe Anymore

More to the point, I don't even know what I think anymore. While I appreciate the translation services to improve my understanding of JP's lies, and I can understand where the die-hards are coming from, I'm conflicted. When I read something aimless and critical of JP without reason other than sheer frustration, I get angry. What do you expect him to do?

I agree with Geoff Baker, optics are key in Toronto. The baseball fanbase in this city is fickle at best and hopelessly out of touch at worst. But are you willing to sell the farm in a sellers market? If the rumours are true, would you suggest trading David Purcey (middle of the rotation guy that he is) and Brandon League (freakish closer-in-waiting) for 2 months of Raul Mondesi Ibanez with hope of picks in the end? Making a do-or-die desperation trades with 5 teams to climb in the standings? The majority of teams are guarding their prospects like never before, hoarding them in the name of fiscal responsibility, armed with the realization that these deals rarely warrant any real return.

I'm not entirely comfortable with my role as JP defender. I understand the rationale behind most moves, but this team is stuck between stations. I can't really see them making a serious "push" to make the playoffs next year or ever. This business is content to float along, make money and not upset the league enough to stop the equalization payments. Winning titles simply isn't the priority that "winning enough to avoid consumer confidence issues" has become. Just as Rogers won't lower the astronomical data rates for 3G wireless customers, they won't keep increasing their baseball costs if they are already seeing a positive return. The payroll is reasonably high, but returns are reasonably low.

Is JP to blame? Is he but a victim, caught between the fans expectations and ownership's eye for the bottom line? I certainly give him a hard time, mostly because of his pompous, arrogant persona. Has he done a bad job? Not necessarily. I wish that the Carlos Delgado situation was handled differently, that the money Ted ponied up the year after his departure could have kept him a Blue Jay until this day. I don't like Eckstein, but bringing him in made sense. Not trading him and other veterans currently bench surfing seems to be a waste of everyone's time; but C-level prospects and AAA roster filler don't help anybody, nor does it entice potential low risk free agents to come to Toronto.

I guess it boils down to the nature of my fandom. While liberated in some ways, I am mostly a dogmatic Blue Jay fan. I like the Jays, and that is that. It isn't going to change, but it isn't the essence of my being. I'd like for them to be better, I'd like to know they are working toward something positive, but I will not uproot my support and move it to a more "successful" team. So yeah, they didn't make any moves, and they are essentially out of the race. JP knows what he is doing, but what he is doing is making Rogers money. Whatever.

In Brief
I'm back at Walkoff Walk this weekend, keeping my eye on all the debuts and hot weekend action. With Jason Bay going to Boston not Tampa, Rocco is clear to be the right handed bat/right fielder in September. Jays in Texas, I fear, will get ugly.