I'm addicted to the winter Olympics these days and totally psyched about our men's hockey team. Of course, that means an entry about the 1992 Toronto Blue Jays.
The B-R Blog & Stat of the Day has pointed out that David Weathers remains as the last active player to play on a World Series winning team from 1992 or earlier. David Weathers made 2 insignificant August appearances for the Jays back in '92 in order to qualify for this esteemed honour.
Assuming he doesn't retire, Carlos Delgado is the only active player from our 1993 World Series championship team, but Delgado has just a slightly higher profile than David Weathers, who I had no idea was still active.
39-year old David Weathers appeared in 25 games for the 2009 Milwaukee Brewers. He's the last champion standing.
It's the dog days of January and I'm starting to come to grips with the reality Roy Halladay has been traded. It still sucks, but it happened, and I wasn't consulted on the manner.
The GOAT once had the worse season possible. In 2000, Roy Halladay recorded a 10.64 ERA in 67.2 innings pitched. How bad was Halladay's 2000 season? It's the all-time record for worst ERA in a season among pitchers with at least 40 IP.
At one point, the greatest Blue Jays pitcher of all-time was also the worst pitcher in the history of the game. And that's one to grow on.
Roy Halladay took out an ad in today's Toronto Sun, thanking Blue Jays fans.
Some will be quick to point out that he forced this trade, and could have easily negotiated an extension. If Halladay liked us so much, why isn't he retiring a Blue Jay?
Those people are cynical bastards. Halladay is both the best pitcher in Blue Jays history and the classiest player we've ever had. We were blessed to have him.
Here's the ad.
And here's the transcript.
My wife Brandy, sons Braden and Ryan, and I would like to express our deepest gratitude to the Toronto Blue Jays organization, its incredible fans, and the city of Toronto.
I feel blessed to have been part of the Blue Jays since 1995 and am extremely thankful for the opportunities it has provided. Throughout the past 15 years, there have been so many people within the organization that have made a wonderful and significant impact in my life, it would be impossible to name them all.
I am sincerely grateful for the incredible support and compassion the Blue Jays fans have shown me. I am in awe of your overwhelming passion and devotion.
Toronto will forever have a special place in my heart.
The memories will last a lifetime and so will my gratitude.
Best Regards,
Roy
Phillies fans will soon discover how lucky they are. Thanks to @dlbrows on Twitter for the pic.
Roy Halladay isn't just the best pitcher in the game, he's a throwback to a time when starters demanded the ball in the ninth inning. He never complains, he just goes about his business. When he's on the mound, you know there's a chance for a 2 hour game. He's efficient, he's effective and he's been ours for his entire 11-year major league career.
Now, if reports from ESPN are correct, he's a member of the Philadelphia Phillies. He's part of a three-team trade that likely also involves Cliff Lee, who would end up with Seattle. We'd get prospects for the greatest Blue Jay of all time.
Halladay, 32, is 148-76 lifetime with a 3.43 ERA. He won the 2003 Cy Young Award and finished in the top five in the Cy Young voting four other times. I'm not ashamed to admit that I heart him. Roy Halladay is was the Blue Jays. He is was the heart and soul of this team, consistently awesome. I heart Roy Halladay and I don't care who knows it.
Farewell, Roy, and good luck with Philadelphia. Next season, I'll be rooting for the Phillies to win it all. Although I knew this day was imminent, I still find myself unprepared... this is the part of professional sports I like least.
Buck Martinez's kid went to the same primary school as me, at the same time. He was younger, but we all knew who his dad was.
Martinez, in the twilight of his career, was a solid back up to Ernie Whitt who was enjoying some all-star seasons behind the plate for our Toronto Blue Jays. I remember that year Martinez got run over blocking the plate but still managed to fire a bullet to second third base. He was out for the year and the strip in the top right corner of the following page in my scrapbook shows BJ Birdy protecting Whitt from the same fate.
Why am I writing about Buck Martinez today, a popular back up catcher for the Jays in the 80s? It's because he calls a great ball game, and his years doing Blue Jays broadcasts with Dan Shulman were pretty special.
Wouldn't it be great having Buck Martinez back calling Jays games on television? Perhaps on Sportsnet? In place of Jamie Campbell?
Tom Cheek deserves to win the Ford C. Frick Award. The Ford C. Frick Award is the highest honour for baseball broadcasters and they're now accepting votes as they widdle the list of 200 down to three. Go to http://www.facebook.com/baseballhall?v=app_20678178440 now and vote for Tom Cheek.
This is the fifth year I've encouraged you to vote for Tom Cheek as a finalist for the Ford C. Frick Award, and I take it personally that he's not yet in Cooperstown. Removing my extremely biased perspective for a moment, Tom Cheek called Blue Jays games since day one, calling 4,306 of them in a row. During that time Toronto won two World Series championships and a few additional division pennants. He was the voice of my summers.
Here are previous entries I've written about Cheek's eligibility for the Ford C. Frick Award.
And yes, I shall use this opportunity to remind you that I've archived all of Tom Cheek's Greatest Hits. Click over and remember the glory days of Blue Jays baseball. And don't forget to vote for Tom.
The Toronto Blue Jays have a new starting shortstop for the 2010 season. They've inked Alex Gonzalez to a one-year contract worth $2.75 million US, plus a 2011 club option.
If you're having a deja-vu moment, you're forgiven. This isn't the first Alex Gonzalez to start at SS for the Jays. From 1994-2001 the other Alex Gonzalez filled the role when he wasn't renting videos from the Blockbuster my brother worked at.
Below is the other Alex Gonzalez, not the guy we signed yesterday. Try not to be confused.
It's hard to believe it's already been 16 years since Joe Carter went deep in game 6 of the Blue Jays ~ Phillies World Series. The Jays led the series 3 games to 2, but trailed in the game 6-5. With Mitch Williams on the mound for Philadelphia and Ricky Henderson and Paul Molitor on base, Carter hit a 2-2 pitch over the left field wall at SkyDome to give the Blue Jays their second World Series in a row.
For the tenth anniversary of the biggest hit in Blue Jays history, I wrote an entry that remains a personal favourite. Here's Touch 'em all Joe!
My mother recently asked me why it takes so much for my brothers and I to get excited about something. I paused to ponder the question and realized that men in their 20s and early 30s rarely appear particularly jovial. Immediately I thought of Bart and Lisa's response to a similar question: "We're the MTV generation, we feel neither highs nor lows". When I thought about it further, I managed to localize this reaction (or lack thereof) and came up with another theory.
Just to clarify, we do get excited about things and feel positively about certain events and occurences, it's just that to an observer, we appear to shrug everything off as pure happenstance. Why are we so jaded? Blame Joe Carter.
Ten years ago Thursday, Joe Carter came to the plate in the ninth inning of game six of the World Series. My Toronto Blue Jays led the series 3 games to 2, but trailed in the game 6-5. With Mitch Williams on the mound for the Philadelphia Phillies and Ricky Henderson and Paul Molitor on base, Joe hit a 2-2 pitch over the left field wall at SkyDome to give the Blue Jays their second World Series in a row. Earlier this month, I posted Tom Cheek's call of this moment as my quote of the week.
I can't accurately describe how my brothers and I reacted to this moment. When that ball cleared the fence, the feeling was ecstatic. The joy was overwhelming and we all shed tears. Heck, just thinking about that moment is causing my eyes to swell.
Joe Carter's World Series ending home run for the team I had worshipped since the summer of '83 is the reason it takes so much to get a rise out my brothers and I. The bar was raised to such an extreme height, that feeling may never be felt again. Many of you reading this are probably thinking I should have had a similar reaction watching my wife give birth to my son. I was extremely happy when I first met James, but it's different. Although we had hoped and prayed Carter would pull through, he could have struck out on that pitch and we could have lost the series in seven. Instead, he created a moment in time of unmatchable intoxication. When my son was born, I saw it coming. There was joy and relief, but not a split second of "Yah!!!". My brothers visited James at the hospital that night, but there was no pile-on as there was that night of October 23rd, 1993 when Joe "touched them all".
Thanks Joe for providing an entire city with a moment of collective elation. Until the Leafs win a Stanley Cup with an overtime goal, I fear it may never happen again.
I remember when everyone was calling for Gord Ash's head. Gord had the misfortune of following a very successful and beloved GM in Pat Gillick. The clock just ran out on Ash and we all knew it was time for a change. We demanded more from our ball team.
For reasons I don't quite understand, we've given JP Ricciardi an extraordinary amount of time to field a playoff contender. Note, I didn't say World Series champion, nor did I say pennant or wild card winner, we really just want to be playing meaningful baseball in September.
Ricciardi was hired on November 14, 2001. That's an eternity when it comes to unsuccessful general managers. Today, our Blue Jays have the second least number of homers in the majors and simply can't score runs. With such an impotent offense, Ricciardi was asked about acquiring Adam Dunn, the Cincinnati Red who has hit 40 or more home runs each of the past four years. Ricciardi responded by claiming Dunn "doesn't have a passion to play the game that much."
Needless to say, there's another free agent who won't be coming here. I still remember Ricciardi's claims that BJ Ryan had a bad back last spring. That "bad back" was actually a severe elbow injury that required season ending Tommy John surgery, but as JP said, “They're not lies if we know the truth".
The clock has run out on this clown. He's taking a franchise drenched in integrity and soiling it and, even worse, he's given us a team that's fading fast in the American League. Enough is enough.
It's Saturday morning, I'm sipping my coffee and about to head to High Park. This is the perfect time to throw down a sports smörgåsbord.
The Monster Jonas "The Monster" Gustavsson made his preseason debut for the Leafs last night and he looked awesome. He played half the game and didn't allow the Red Wings to beat him once. It's tough to look any better than that. I'm excited about The Monster, because that is an absolutely fantastic nickname.
Doc Roy Halladay, the best starting pitcher we've ever had, made what may have been his final start in Toronto as a member of the Blue Jays. It was a gem. He threw his major-league leading eighth complete game in a 5-0 win over the Seattle Mariners. Thank you, Roy.
The Great One I grew up idolizing Wayne Gretzky. He's the best hockey player I've ever seen. This week has been tough for us Gretzky fans. The Great One deserved a better fate.
Two Words: Viktor Stalberg Those are the words I used to close my 2009 Training Camp Roster analysis. I will use them again. Viktor Stalberg. That is all.
I'm addicted to the winter Olympics these days and totally psyched about our men's hockey team. Of course, that means an entry about the 1992 Toronto Blue Jays.
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Tom Cheek deserves to win the Ford C. Frick Award. The Ford C. Frick Award is the highest honour for baseball broadcasters and they're now accepting votes as they widdle the list of 200 down to three. Go to 
It's Saturday morning, I'm sipping my coffee and about to head to High Park. This is the perfect time to throw down a sports smörgåsbord.