Mark 'em Dead

It's no surprise that Shaun Marcum was as spectacular as he was last night in Kansas City, afterall he was pitching in front of friends and family. Sure, he got the jitters in the first, walking DeJesus to leadoff the game, but after that he was downright fantastic, allowing one hit in 6.2 IP. And as much as I don't like Darrin Fletcher (I don't know why, he's a great guy, he just pisses me off) I think he had a point when he said that giving up that hit was all for the best. If he retired him, he'd still have to leave the game because of his leg problem, but he'd still have a no-hitter intact.

All in all, a win is a win, and because of Johnny Mac's amazing defence, Marcum picked up his 9th win of the year when The Wizard barehanded a flip from Aaron Hill to get the runner at second and make a strong throw to first to get the runner by mere steps. If the runner at first wasn't called out, the runner on third would have scored and tied the game, meaning Marcum couldn't have gotten the win.

Vernon Wells hit a two-run double into the left-centre field gap for all of the Jays' scoring, Rios and Overbay came in to count. All in all, the offence was good, even though only two runs got scored... every starter got at least a hit-- except for, of course, Troy Glaus.

Damnit Troy Glaus, I don't know what's wrong with you but it's pissing me off anyhow. You were hitting around .290, on pace for a respectable year at least, but hey-- maybe Glaus just feels more comfortable hitting around .250? Bullshit, he just can't see the ball to save his life. Popups and strikeouts; it's hard to think that he's only 31, he looks like he needs a cane to stay balanced. I thought Gibbs would be smart and bench him yesterday, give him two days off to rest like he did with Frank Thomas (except Thomas had 3) and look how he's turned out. Yesterday marked the first time since August 1st that the Big Hurt didn't drive somebody in, that's insane. Also since August 1st, he's raised his average from .249 to .266, a respectable average for an aged power hitter.

Hell, Thomas is one of the few Blue Jays that hasn't missed any games due to injury. And we were worried about his health... Haha.

Somewhat Slumping

Rios is hitting the ball well, yes, batting .444 in his last 9 AB, but strangely enough he hasn't had a homerun in 16 games. Strangely enough, Rios' last 5 HR came on series openers. Isn't that strange at all? No, you're dumb.

Wells is in the same situation. Although he's hitting well average wise, he hasn't had a homerun in 15 games. However, in those last 15 games he has 16 RBIs because he's hitting so well with runners in scoring position.

Tonight's Matchup

Today features Dustin McGowan versus the 23-year old rookie right hander Leo Nunez. Nunez is a relief pitcher, though, and although his ERA is only 1.93, he's only played 3 games; 2 starts. McGowan will be looking for his fourth straight quality start and ninth win of the season.

Payback, Bitches...

Now THIS is payback. Not only did we win 15-4, but we injured A-Rod! HA! Think twice before you fuck with the Jays Roidsy. Really, I think it was just Matt Stairs that won the game, really. It was obvious he was pissed off about yesterday, considering his sit on the Gatorade keg. Hell, even Johnny Damon did that today... what a copycat bitch. Matty hit two doubles before striking out, ending a 5-consecutive doubles run-- a Jays record, by the way.

A-Rod sat out tonights game; his excuse? "Well, my leg still hurts," A-Rod said, "and I don't want to risk hurting it again. Josh Towers is a big bully and I have a vagina." ...alright, maybe he didn't say that but he sent that message of course.

You gotta be impressed with the Jays' approach tonight, not aiming for the fences but just hitting doubles and keeping the line moving--small ball, and they won 15-4, no surprise. Frank Thomas was excellent, going 3-for-5 with 3 RBIs and 1 run... oh, and he also had 2 of the 9 doubles, a Jays record.

Troy Glaus, on the other hand, is just disappointing still. He was the only Jay without a hit, and one of only two Jays not to get an RBI (the other being leadoff man Matt Stairs). Overbay broke out of his slump though, going 3-for-5 with 3 runs, 1 RBI and a double.

The Good

We made the Yankees our bitch. Period. Halladay was fantastic, our offence was unbelievable and our defence even was still it's normal great. Great game overall... and A-Roid got injured!

The Bad

Was there any bad today? Maybe that Halladay gave up three homeruns, but that's just about it.

The Ugly

Troy Glaus you slumping son-of-a-bitch get a broken bat single and get out of your slump, you're pissing me off.

My Favourite Loss

Holy crap, that loss was fun. Yeah, we lost, but hey that was hilarious. Not only were there two bench-clearings in one inning-- that's right, two-- but there were like a half a bajillion great defensive plays by Johnny Mac, Aaron Hill, Troy Glaus, Lyle Overbay, Reed Johnson, Alex Rios and definitely not Vernon Wells. God-damnit V-Dub won't win a Gold Glove this year and I hate it.

But, on the bright side, John McDonald might, because he definitely showed up Derek Jeter tonight. Not only did he do his own signature play by sliding, getting up and throwing at the same time, but he also did Jeter's jumping thing that looks great throwing to second to end the inning. He dived, and turned a sure base-hit into a double play. He made the Yankees his bitch tonight and I'm lovin' it.

Hey, another thought, Overbay has a good chance as well. With Teixeira in Atlanta and Mientkie... out for most of the season (maybe the whole season), Lyle Overbay's great defence might be rewarded this year. Really, I wouldn't mind Vernon not getting a Gold-Glove at all, if Overbay and Johnny Mac do instead... maybe Aaron Hill as well, considering how great he's been.

I can't believe I've wrote this much without even mentioning A-Roids. In the 3rd, A-Rod got hit by a pitch in the kneecap, and immediately walked towards JT, obviously trying to mask his homosexuality. It's only natural, no man wants to admit he's a dirty bitch; I could see him yelling at Josh Towers, "Are you talking to me? Are you talking to me?" Who the fuck are you? Al Pacino? Shut the fuck up Roidsy. It's funny how manly he acts once Jason Giambi's back, trying to impress a special guy A-Rod? Gregg Zaun and the home plate umpire Angel Hernandez (how the fuck do I remember his name?) held A-Rod and JT back as they exchanged words. The benches cleared, nobody threw a punch, A-Rod walked to first base. Then, JT and the infielders are talking on the mound when A-Rod starts walking towards JT again, yelling, and the benches cleared again. Seriously dumbass, why can't you just shut the fuck up? Damn A-Rod's a douche; this just proves that the Blue Jays and the Yanks just don't get along...

After A-Rod was hit by the pitch, both benches were warned. In the seventh inning, however, Clemens hit Rios in the back with a pitch so Clemens was ejected. Haha, karma's a bitch. Rios scored, along with Vernon Wells, on a Big Hurt double to break up the shutout. That's why you just don't fuck with Rios, bitch. Clemens even fought with the umpire, saying it wasn't intentional. Bitch please, it was obvious you wanted to drill him like you drilled Andy Pettitte-- but in a different sense of course.

You know what would be really great? If A-Roids got a staph infection because of that hit-by-pitch... that would make my day.

Oh, and by the way, Barry Bonds is the new home-run king.

WTF J.P!

Why the hell didn't J.P. trade Royce Clayton, he was designated for assignment God-damnit, don't release him, trade him! Trade him for a prospect, take a chance at least! I think the Jays have something wrong with trading. They didn't trade anybody at the trade deadline when they should've, they don't trade any of the many players they designated for assignment... let's take a look at the DFA club:

• Royce Clayton- Released
• Jason Phillips- Released
• Sal Fasano- Demoted [That's a good idea though, he's great]
  
• Tomo Ohka- Released
• Victor Zambrano- Released
• Howie Clark- Still DFA

Why not trade any of them? We could pick up prospects! We could've traded both Howie Clark and Royce Clayton for a good prospect, at least! This isn't one of those trades that all these assholes come up with like "trade Russ Adams, Dustin McGowan and a whole bunch of prospects for Johan Santana!"... this is a "let's trade reliable infielders for a young player that might be reliable one day." The Jays really have a problem with trading, don't they?

Record Setting Weekend Report

I kept off writing blogs for a couple days while I waited out milestones, and wow; A-Roid became the youngest person to reach the 500-homerun plateau. Tom Glavine recorded his 300th win and Barry Bonds finally tied Hank Aaron on the all-time homerun list.

Out of all these milestones, which one will never be met? Barry Bonds' record, whatever it will be once he retires, will most likely be broken by Ster-Rod since he still has a long time to go and doesn't have a nagging injury to worry about. Ster-Rod/A-Roid won't be the youngest to reach 500 for long, Ryan Howard is one of the most prolific power hitters of the time now, and he's only in his second full season of his career already boasting 112 homeruns. Tom Glavine, however, has a chance of being the last player ever to reach 300-- the closest to 300 after him is The Big Unit. Randy Johnson has 284 wins, but he's close to retirement, chances are he won't be able to get 16 more wins before he's forced to retire.

Anyway, this isn't what this blog is about.

Get to the Jays, dumbass!

OKAY! STOP YELLING! GOD! ...While I was gone, the Jays had two wins to complete the sweep versus the Rangers. The pitching was fantastic and so was the offence... I guess? On Saturday, every Jay except Lyle Overbay got at least one hit, and Frank Thomas hit two homeruns (he's finally heating up and setting himself up for a huge August like last year) and also The Wizard Johnny Mac had three RBIs as the Jays won 9-5.

Sunday was a totally different game; Dustin McGowan was the story of that game as he went 8 innings allowing just one run to pick up his 8th win and lower his ERA to a great 4.11. In fact, in his last three home starts, McGowan, who I like to call Mic, owned a 3-0 record and a 0.37 ERA, 1st in the AL in that time and 2nd in MLB next to Chris Young who was perfect.

Today the Yankees snapped the Jays' 8-game home win streak in a close 5-4 loss. The It-Was-All-Your-Fault-You-Son-Of-a-Bitch award, or the SOBA goes to the slumping Troy Glaus for not taking the walk in the 8th inning when he very well could have. On a 3-1 count, Glaus swung at an outside slider and popped it straight up. The next batter, Aaron Hill, homered to make it a 5-4 game.

Gazing into the Future

A.J. Burnett made his first rehab start today for the Syracuse Chiefs, striking out 7 and allowing one run on 3 hits over 5 innings. He's expected to start against the Royals on Monday, taking Josh Towers' spot in the rotation. One of the 5 runs the Chiefs scored, however, came off of a solo-homerun by John Ford-Griffin-- his 23rd of the season. The young outfielder was traded to the Jays for a crappy prospect named Jason Perry and now finds himself among the league leaders in homeruns.

Enough about the young'ns, how about some suggestions and comparisons? The Yankees have very much fucked themselves over for next season, case in point: their free agents. 13 players on the 25 man roster are elligible free agents after this season: Bobby Abreu, Miguel Cairo, Roger Clemens, Doug Mientkiewicz, Jose Molina, Mike Myers, Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera, A-Roid, Ron Villone and Luis Vizcaino. There's no way even the Yankees have enough money to resign all of them, so some of their key players like A-Rod and Posada will leave. The Jays, on the other hand, set themselves up very nicely. Because of all the young pitchers kickin' ass this year, we have young talent not elligible for free-agency. In other words, we're probably not losing any key players this year to free-agency.

Our pitching staff:

Roy Halladay - signed thru 2010
A.J. Burnett - signed thru 2010
Shaun Marcum - still in arbitration years
Dustin McGowan - still in arbitration years
Jesse Litsch - still in arbitration years

Jeremy Accardo - still in arbitration years
Casey Janssen - still in arbitration years
Scott Downs - still in arbitration years
Brandon League - still in arbitration years
Brian Wolfe - still in arbitration years
Brian Tallet - still in arbitration years
Jason Frasor - still in arbitration years

B.J. Ryan - signed thru 2010
Gustavo Chacin - still in arbitration years

Our lineup:

Reed Johnson - still in arbitration years
Vernon Wells - signed thru 2014
Alex Rios - still in arbitration years
Frank Thomas - signed thru 2008
Troy Glaus - signed thru 2008
Lyle Overbay - signed thru 2010
Aaron Hill - still in arbitration years
Gregg Zaun - signed thru 2008
John McDonald - free agent

Matt Stairs - free agent

So, in conclusion, 11/14 pitchers are still in their arbitration years, and only 2 players are free agents this offseason, both non-expensive. So we really have a lot of money to blow away on improving our little troubles, such as a good bat at shortstop and a good all around catcher behind the plate.

Gregg Zaun, you're a great player but you've really let us down and you're costing us wins because of it. There are two free agent catchers that can really improve the ballclub both offensively and defensively-- Ivan Rodriguez and Jorge Posada.

At short, two free agents have reliable bats and steady gloves: Juan Uribe and 2006 World Series MVP David Eckstein. The Chicago White Sox, however, must opt out of Juan Uribe's contract to make him elligible.

By the way, teams looking to improve defensively are at luck this offseason; Gold-Glove outfielders Andruw Jones, Mike Cameron and Torii Hunter are free agents, along with Gold-Glove infielders Omar Vizquel, Mark Grudzielanek, Doug Mientkiewicz and Mike Lowell. Also on the market is Gold-Glove pitcher Kenny Rogers and Gold-Glove catchers Ivan Rodriguez and Brad Ausmus. Wow...

Oh, and for those thinking the Jays might not resign Matt Stairs, New Brunswick's MVP, think again... John Gibbons told reporters that they have every intent of holding onto him as long as possible, and that's why they didn't trade him at the trade deadline.

"I've said it many times: If you had nine of him, you'd have one heck of a team."

--Gibbs