Obligatory Alex Anthopoulos Post

Hey friends remember when I wrote a weekly sports blog??  Well the events of today was enough for me to type out a few thoughts.  A Facebook post would've been TL:DR for most, then I remembered, oh yeah I have a blog.

Well the last 3 months were the most turbulent times as a sports fan in my life.  Yeah I remember 92 and 93, but I was a kid and kids are stupid.  The last 3 months had it all, the terrifying lows, the dizzying highs, the creamy middles.  Despite me whipping out my "Reasons To Live" book and pointing at a blank page when the Umpires, Major League Baseball, Fox, noted squid Harold Reynolds, ISIS and the Illuminati conspired to rob the Blue Jays of a World Series berth I wouldn't trade that playoff run for the world.  It was such a fun fucking ride, for the first time in my life one of my miserable teams was on the verge of something special.

I am not here to write about that today, I am writing about the architect of this team being unceremoniously cast aside by the dickheads at Rogers.

Fuck Rogers as a team owner, telecommunications company, record label and as a motherfucking crew.

Mark Shapiro fuck you too, I am never going to pronounce your name like you want to, it's Sha-pee-ro not Sha-Pie-Ro you fucking asshat.

Rogers is the most tone deaf piece of shit owners in the history of sports.  I hate how they renamed SkyDome "Rogers Centre" I hate how they're a bunch of cheap assholes when they make money hand over fist robbing Canadians blind for cell phone, cable and internet service and I especially hate how there is a statue of Ted Fucking Rogers outside of the SkyDome, but no statues honoring the many great players in Blue Jays history.  I hope that god damn statue gets toppled Saddam Hussein styles.

I especially hate how they handled Alex Anthopoulos.  What they did to him is a complete joke and it makes the Blue Jays the laughing stock of the sports world.

This all goes back to last winter when Ed "Bumblefuck Eddie" Rogers clumsily went behind Paul Beeston's back looking for his replacement.  This asshole tried to get Kenny Williams from the Chicago White Sox to be team President.  The Chicago White Sox happen to be owned by one of Paul Beeston's best friends in Jerry Reinsdorf, so of course that blew up in Rogers' face. Then there was the whole Dan Duquette saga.  The whole thing was a god-damned Didsaster.

All the whispers surrounding this club at the start of the season was playoffs or bust for AA and John Gibbons (who is the best...and is likely gone too).  From April-July 27th things looked like always did for the Jays, treading water at .500 but I always knew that this team was better than their record.  Then Tulo happened... Then David Motherfucking Price.  The rest is history.

I am so fucking upset about Rogers letting AA walk, I know them and their minions at Sportsnet are putting the spin on it that AA was offered a contract and a raise and turned it down.  Bumblefuck Eddie even put that in his god damned press release.  But the fact is Rogers wanted AA gone, it was clear for almost a year.  It's a fucking shame too.

They brought in a Baseball guy to be team President in Mark Shapiro, not a guy to oversee renovations of the SkyDome, not some pencil pusher to increase popcorn sales and negotiate on the business side of things.  They thought someone they thought could run the team better than Alex Anthopolous - the man who was named Executive of the Year during his good bye press conference.  Rogers promised Mark Shapiro final say on all baseball decisions, and to be fair to Shapiro, he didn't leave his job in Cleveland to be second banana.  He came to Toronto to run the show, so AA had no choice but to walk away.  Why the fuck would AA want to clear all his decisions with someone, and potentially have that same person veto his decisions??  Apparently the first meeting Shapiro had with AA he 'scolded' him over his decision to sell the farm for the playoff run.  Fuck off bud Flags Fly Forever.

AA was a great GM, I know he made mistakes but fuck bud who hasn't??  I forced myself to watch Tim and Squid to see his interview and you can tell in his voice how upset he was.  It should not have happened like this.

Mark Shapiro could well have a great reign as President of the Club, I fully expect the Jays to be in the thick of things next season, and as a diehard Blue Jays fan I can only hope so.  That being said, I am concerned for the future, AA was able to do most of his magic through trades, because whether we like it or not American baseball players do not want to play in Toronto.  To them Toronto might as well be a distant outpost on the god damned moon.  Is David Price going to want to re-sign with these assholes? Doubtful.  What does Jose Bautista and the rest of the team think?  They all loved and respected AA and now this.

There was a very poignant tweet today, it said being a Toronto sports fan is like being a Chicago Cubs fan if the Cubs played all 4 sports.  Can we ever have nice things in Toronto?  Why am I doomed to a life of sports misery.

Many question my mental capabilities (not just with sports, but with coaster slanging, my day to day life etc.) for continuing to support these Toronto teams, and it is fucking hard, but I will be cheering this team in 2016 and beyond despite the assholes that own this team and are insistent on running it into the ground.

Thanks for listening to me rant and rave.

Your boy HDH

Everything is Happening!!!! Jesus Price!!!

Lord Thunderin' Jesus

When I last wrote my "weekly" sports blog, the Jays had just limped into the All-Star Break and they were about to embark on a West Coast trip, and once again I was hoping the Jays would pull the trigger on a move.

Jesus H. Christ the Jays not only pulled the trigger, they launched nuclear fuckin' missiles.  Never in my wildest dreams did I envision the trades the Jays made.  David Fucking Price buds.  I still get goosebumps seeing him in Blue Jay blue.

The first move was sending Jose Reyes and prospects for Troy Tulowitzki.  Troy Fucking Tulowitzki, only who many believe to be the best shortstop in baseball! This trade happened in the middle of the night, I got up at 3:45 am to rock a piss, and of course the first thing I look at is my phone, and I see a bunch of Notifications about the trade... I was up for the next hour laying in bed refreshing Twitter on my phone to get the latest #hot #takes.  My bud and Jays Blogger extraordinaire Andrew Stoeten must've pulled an all-nighter because he was right in the middle of things, even Fav'ing one of my tweets at 4:20 am.

The Tulowitzki trade came out of absolutely nowhere, he was the face of the Colorado Rockies organization and is in the middle of a 10 year contract, but somehow AA managed to get him and LaTroy "I'm Too Old For This Shit" Hawkins (who has been awesome) For a declining Jose Reyes and some prospects.

It does suck to see Reyes go, he always embraced Toronto and always had a smile on his face playing (much to the chagrin of Jerry Howarth).  Reyes wasn't nearly as bad as his detractors said, but holy fuck did he ever have some poorly timed errors.  I wish Reyes well in Colorado, but my goodness Tulo is a dream.  He had that amazing debut game, and has been solid ever since, and you don't have to worry about a routine fucking ground ball go through his legs.

What can I possibly say that hasn't already been said about David Price 1000 times over.  My heart went aflutter when I heard the news, this is the best pitcher the Jays have had since Roy Halladay.  Price was incredible in his debut on Monday, and the whole town has embraced him.  Price has said that it was the best atmosphere he has ever pitched in, and he has been to the playoffs.  I watch 95% of Jays games anyways, but Price starts are going to be must-see TV, especially against the asshole Yankees on Saturday afternoon.

Despite the euphoria there was a smattering of garbage clowns poo-pooing the prospects they gave up.  As Alex Rios said "WHO GIVES A FUCK!?!"  Yes they could end up being All-Stars but they could also be like JP Arencibia and Ricky Romero.  In 2009 would you have wanted to trade Romero and Arencibia for a rental like Price?  Fuck no, but now both those guys are pretty much out of baseball.  Flags Fly Forever and yes the Jays gave up 11 pitching prospects, but fuck this team could win the World Series.  Plus, who is to say that Price doesn't re-sign?  Beeston is gone after this year and so his ridiculous 5 year cap for contracts.  Rogers has BILLIONS... it's time to pony up the dough.

This is the year buds.  This is the one we've been waiting since 1993 for, I have nothing buy sky-high expectations for this team.  For years all I have been asking for is meaningful games in September, this is the year we will not only get that but meaningful games in October. 

The Week Ahead: vs. Minnesota (8/4 - 8/6) @ New York Yankees (8/7 - 8/9).  This is a pretty big week for the Jays they are currently tied with Minnesota for the 2nd Wild Card and they are chasing the Yankees for 1st in the AL East.  By the end of this week they could well have a playoff position solidified and be only a mere game or two out of the lead in the East swoooooooooooooooon.  I'm going to the game on Thursday too!

After Sunday's bru-ha-ha there is a bounty of Squid of the Weeks to choose from.  Could it be Edison Valquez for starting this shit by throwing at Josh Donaldson and then saying he was a baby and is "no Barry Bonds"  Could it be Umpire Jim Wolf who had one of the most poorly umpired game I have seen in my life, calling the absurd warning, failing to enforce it THREE times then doing so against Blue Jay Aaron Sanchez.  It could be fucking MLB for giving Sanchez an absurd 3 game suspension for nothing, but no it is Royals Manager Ned Yost.  

This fucking squid actually went on record saying that he thought the umpiring was "phenomenal"  Get the fuck out of here.  That's some next level trolling, it's unbelievable.  He's a terrible manager and a terrible person, the KC Royals have been involved in 3 bench clearing incidents this season, but no it's always the other teams fault

Fuck the KC Royals as a staff, record label and as a motherfucking crew, and if you want to be down with the KC Royals then fuck you too.  I hope we see those squids in the ALCS so we can demolish those assholes on a national stage.

The Ti-Cats finally played a game back at Horton's Field and boy was it worth the wait, demolishing the ever loving piss out of the woeful Argos.  I was pretty chewed at the game so I don't remember too much of the X's and O's but I do remember cheering a lot, and thinking the Tim Horton's Field has the best home field advantage out of any team in the CFL, and how much I love being there.

Things I do remember is some of the Heckles of the Week.  Well I don't remember a lot of them but, I did heckle some kids hahaha (not my finest hour)

I saw two kids in Argos Jerseys and first I called them "Squidlets" and said that they had no futures.

My best heckle was to these idiot Argo Fans.  They made everyone go to the concourse because there was Lightning in the area, and I see these Argos fans all decked out in shitty Argo gear, and one was holding up two flags and I said:

"Leave it to an idiot Argo fan to hold up a pole during a Lightning Storm!!"

That got a few laughs... I really got to start writing these down because my friends had some really solid heckles too.

The Week Ahead: vs. Winnipeg (8/10)  Back at Hortons Field for a bizarre Sunday 5pm game.  Winnipeg is trash, and I can see the Cats going on a solid run with all these home games on the horizon. 

That Bullpen though...

Live look in at the Blue Jays bullpen.

I know I am risking sounding like a petulant man-baby garbage clown that pollutes the landscape of Toronto Blue Jay fandom, but fuck Brett Cecil, fuck Phil Choke and fuck this bullpen.  I am sick of seeing them fritter away leads time after time.  The offense is incredible, the starting pitching has improved considerably (except with Scott fucking Copeland is shitting out a spot start) this shitty bullpen is holding the Jays back from being a true contender.

Image courtesy of the hilarious @matttomic 

Yeah it sucks losing 2 of 3 to the fucking trash birds, but remember before Brett Cecil's bed-shitting they were down 7-0 and still managed to make a game of it.  They could've easily have swept this series, same thing with the Mets series those two games in New York could've went either way.  It would be absolutely absurd to say that the season is over, like the garbage clowns are suggesting.  This team is only 1 game back from a wild card spot for christs sakes and still only 3 games back of 1st in the AL East.  It must be distressing to the Bautistas and the Martins and the Donaldsons of this team to be having All-Star seasons at the dish only to see the likes of Cecil and his squid mohawk and shitty goggles blow it all.

A trade has to be made and soon.  I know it's way easier said than done, especially with the corporate overlords at Rogers tying AA's hands financially, but fuck everyone in baseball is saying that the Jays are an arm or two away from something special and I believe it.  That pig fucker Jonathan Papelbon (Pictured above) has been rumoured to be heading to Toronto, so has K-Rod from the Brewers.  The player I would like is Johnny Cueto from Cincinnati, apparently him and Aroldis Chapman are being shopped by the Reds.   Getting Cueto an amazing starter and a proven closer in Chapman would be boner inducing.  Yes they'll have to give up prospects, and yes they could become All-Stars years from now but Flags Fly Forever and this is the best Blue Jays team I have watched in ages.

I think Alex Anthopoulos has done a wonderful job as GM, and the notion that his job is at stake if the Jays miss the playoffs is completely absurd.  That said his legacy as a GM can be made in the next few weeks, if he can pull off a move that can stabilize this bullpen and rotation with the offense he has put together, the Jays are instant World Series contenders and he is a GM of the year candidate.

Yeah the 3-4 week sucked, but the games have been entertaining.  The one person I did not want to see involved in any game is umpire CB Bucknor who is this weeks...

Umpire CB Bucknor has been voted among the players as the worst umpire in the Bigs on 3 separate occasions, and after Friday's game it's easy to see why.  In the first inning the Trash Bird Orioles hit Jose Bautista AGAIN.  Bautista has been hit 8 times but the Trash Birds, but this time I'd say it was an accident, but regardless Bucknor issues a warning to both benches.  Gibby, being the best, waddles out and wants an explanation, and ol' short fuse Bucknor immediately ejects Gibby who goes on to get his moneys worth.  Fast forward to the 8th inning runners on the corners and Roberto Osuna hits Adam Jones, which loads the bases and brings the tying run to the plate and HE gets tossed along with temporary manager DeMarco Hale. 

That was fucked.

Even though both benches were warned any inside pitch/hit batter does not warrant an automatic ejection, CB Bucknor pulled an ump show, making everything about himself not about the players.  People don't show up to the ballpark to watch CB Bucknor or any of these other asshole umpires ruin the game with their lunacy.

What gets me is the players and coaches need to own up to the media and make statements when they fuck up, but who holds these umpires accountable when they blow it?  They don't get cameras and microphones shoved in their faces, if they do get reprimanded by MLB it's certainly not talked about.  That needs to change, umpires and referees will always be Squids, but CB Bucknor is the Squid of the Week.

The Week Ahead: @ Tampa Bay (6/22 - 6/24) vs. Texas (6/26 - 6/28)  Ugh... a 3 game series against the Rays in Tampa Bay at repugnant Tropicana Field has got me feeling like...

Fuck me, buds I hate Tampa Bay so much, how are these assholes year in year out always winning?  They are a team of fucking nobodies and it pisses me off.  The Jays can NEVER win in Tampa Bay either, the horrific Trop is the Blue Jays house of horrors.  Even back when they were the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and the scum scrapers of Major League Baseball they always gave us a rough go, I don't think they have won a series there since 2007 for christs sakes.  And Chris Archer is pitching too?  Shoot me now.  

That's not to say the Blue Jays can't defy history and win a series in that hell hole, it just doesn't look promising.  Well at least it's only 3 games on the road and they are back in Toronto to beat up on the shitty Walker Texas Rangers.

Well it's summer time and the living's easy there really isn't much happening outside of the baseball world.  The CFL Season starts this week the the Ti-Cats having Grey Cup revenge on their mind Friday at 9 in Calgary.  Truth be told I'll be three sheets to the wind by halftime and will forget most of the game.  The Warriors and Blackhawks won their championships just like I said they would.  The NHL draft is this weekend and that could be interesting for the Leafs, because I can guarantee whoever they end up drafting will be better than that squid Connor McDavid.  Plus trades always seem to happen at the draft, and the Leafs are in trading mode.

Speaking of the NHL, they are the target of this weeks

If there anything more cringe-inducing and embarrassing than the NHL Awards?  What other professional sports league announces their award winners at a gala filled with C-List celebrities who can't pronounce the names of any of the players.  C'Mon Bud, it's the most awkward broadcast ever, these players play hockey first anything else is secondary and that includes public speaking.  These boys can barely string a sentence together at the best of times, but there they are stuffed into a shitty looking tuxedo stammering through a speech like Stuttering Stanley.  But have no fear that nerd Daughtry is performing, that'll bring in the ratings! Anyone who watches this shit should be ashamed of themselves and the NHL just proves themselves to be a clown show operation yet again.

2015 Toronto Blue Jays Season Preview

The never-ending god forsaken fucking winter is over, the stench of the Toronto Maple Leafs season is almost gone, and thank fucking Christ my beloved Toronto Blue Jays are back.  Yeah technically they've been back for a month or so but Spring Training is whack as fuck, bush league stadiums, whacky uniforms, AA and AAA plugs you'll never see again in your life.  The real action starts Monday when Drew Hutchinson takes the bump against the dreadful Yankees at Yankee Stadium.

2015 needs to be different for the sake of my own sanity.  Injuries derailed the 2012 campaign and fuck face square jaw John Farrell bolted the team, then 2013 offered so much hope and that crashed and burned like the god damned Hindenburg.  I had lowered expectations last year but a red hot May sent those expectations through the roof, but once again injuries and supposed club house turmoil led to the 21st fucking season in a row out of the playoffs.

As for 2015 I am going to have to side with Ricky here, I am very optimistic about the Jays chances this season.  Yeah Yeah I know what you're saying I'm the same lummox who predicted that the Leafs would win the Stanley Cup this year...usually I just say that shit to troll Leaf haters who get their knickers in a twist about that.  I am feeling very good about the 2015 Blue Jays, for fucks sakes if nothing else some god damned luck has to go our way.

image courtesy Andrew Stoeten

A lot of squids in the Toronto media and the assholes who listen to them are claiming this is a make or break year for GM Alex Anthopoulos (herein referred as AA because I can't spell his fucking last name yet...maybe one day not now)... which is completely absurd.  I think AA has done a marvelous job as GM, especially with the corporate overlords at Rogers always tying his hands financially at every turn.  

Go ahead Rogers, make a Stalin-esque statue of Uncle Teddy Rogers, pay $12 billion and offer horrific hockey coverage with the two-headed asshole monster of Glenn Healy and Damien Cox, charge people out the nose for your mediocre services, but heaven fucking forbid the Blue Jays take on any payroll.

Remember all the garbage clowns screaming at AA to make a move at the deadline last year?? Would you have been happy trading Marcus Stroman or Aaron Sanchez for a couple of months of Jeff Samardzija only to lose the Wild Card play in game?  Of course not, that's completely absurd, but cretins like Gregg Zaun were all over that...remind me again what David Price did for the Tigers last season?  Fuck all

AA's off season, while it didn't have the same shock and awe value of the 2013 off-season, was pretty damned impressive.  First things first he traded ne'er to do well, Red Bull crushing, Bro douchebag Brett Lawrie to Oakland for upstanding citizen and future MVP candidate Josh Donaldson.  Yeah I was caught up in the Lawrie hype too, I even have a ill-fitting Lawrie jersey I got for $30 from China, but truth be told I am glad that hot head is gone.

I suppose it isn't his fault that he had smoke blown up his ass the entire time he was in the organization, based mainly on his passport.  Remember Team Unit? What a fucking disaster that was.  Anyways I am sure Lawrie will still have a great career in Oakland, and perhaps not being the pride of Maple Dicks everywhere will ease the pressure, but the guy is a fucking band-aid, and getting Josh Donaldson is a MAJOR upgrade.

The other major acquisition was free-agent Russell "Jussell" Martin.  This was by far the biggest free-agent signing in AA's tenure as Blue Jays GM.  I am pretty happy with the move, while I am not a big believer in intangibles I think his 'veteran presents' won't go unnoticed this year (mainly because I guaran-damn-tee Buck and Tabby will mention it at every fucking opportunity).  But Martin is obviously a major upgrade on Dinner Navarro.  Also he is a great addition by subtraction, because he can catch the knuckle ball there is no need for useless Josh Thole.  My heart is aflutter over the prospect of Martin working with this young pitching staff I am expecting big things from the staff this year.

The pitching staff was dealt major blow this spring when the day after this adorable picture was taken Marcus Stroman suffered a freak injury and is out for the season.

I almost threw up when I heard the news.

Not just because Stroman has all the tools to be an ace, but he is such a great lovable guy.  His social media presence, rocking the Raptors gear, embracing "The 6" (are fat, bald 30-somethings from Hamilton allowed to call it The 6 or will that just ruin it for everyone?)  It's a heartbreaker for sure but it's certainly not going to sink the season.

The odd thing about our rotation is that there is nobody between the age of 25 and 35, it's either really young or geriatrically old, but fuck it I like the mix.  Even without Stroman *another single tear* I like the looks of the rotation.

Drew Hutchinson "The Hutch" he's poised to have a break out year, remember that performance he had in Texas last season against Yu Darvish?  Expect to see more of that this season.

R.A. "Knuckles" Dickey.  A lot of garbage clowns continue to shit on Dickey (like fucking D'Arnaud or Syndergaard are going to be anything special).  While he'll never repeat his Cy Young season of 2012 he is pretty dependable, albeit a bit of a princess.

Mark "Papa" Buerhle.  Ol' Reliable himself, he had a great start to the 2013 campaign earning an All-Star appearance, but slowed down the stretch.  Will always give you 200 innings, so with him you gotta take the good with the bad.

Aaron "I need a nickname" Sanchez.  His best friend Stroman getting hurt could be the best thing to happen to Sanchez as he needs to take the reigns.  He was in the bullpen and a lot of short sighted squids were screaming at him to become the closer.... come the fuck on.  Give the kid a chance to be a starter before he's relegated to the fucking bullpen.

Daniel "The Hippie" Norris.  Hey did you guys hear he lives in a van? That he shaves with an axe? I don't know if you read anything about that this off season, just making sure you know that.  Regardless of his goofy fucking lifestyle, he has electric stuff and will be a wonderful addition to the rotation.

I am so happy the Jays are giving their young pitchers a chance to start the season not throw them in AAA and have some journeyman plug like Marco "Polo Erik" Estrada or fucking Tomo Ohka start.

The bullpen has two young new fire ballers who have had brilliant springs.  Miguel Castro (aka Spiderman I guess) is only 20 for christs sakes but he has been turning heads all spring, the one chance I did get to see him on TV he did give up a couple of hits and earned runs, but for fuck sakes he wasn't going to have a 0.00 ERA.  Robert Osuna is the other young reliever coming north with the team.  I am very interested to see how they both develop.

Their promotion came at the expense of Steve Delabar, who had a miserable 2014 campaign after being an all-star in 2013.  Apparently he threw a bit of a hissy fit, and My Boy The Zubes the head of the #playbald movement is investigating for potential baldism.  But as far as I am concerned Delabar has had his chance, I am glad the Jays are giving the young'uns a chance at the big league level, a stark departure from years past.  Delabar should take the great Jon Taffer's advice and:

Brett Cecil is the closer this year, I can see that working out... I hope to fuck it does, I can't deal with any late inning bullpen meltdowns, yeah it will happen a few times over the course of a 162 game campaign, but keep it to a minimum.  Look at the Detroit Tigers last year, everyone had a circle jerk over their rotation but their bullpen completely imploded in the playoffs and it was all for naught.  The bullpen they head north with to start the season could look completely different in 6 weeks, so there is no sense getting all persnickity about it now.

Look at those beauties.  Sweet tunderin' Jesus watching these boys murder balls this year is going to be fun as fuck.  I've already talked about Josh Donaldson but people seem to forget how great Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion are

Jose Bautista is the best... lock this guy up for the rest of his career PLEASE.  Year in year out he has been the teams MVP, all the stats, both advanced and barbaric point him to be one of the best players in the game.  Josh Donaldson has actually watched 1000's of hours of Bautista swings and models his own swing after his *swoon*.  On top of that Bautista has a cannon of an arm in right field, nobody is going to run on him.  Reserve his spot on the Circle of Excellence right meow.

Eddie will likely get off to his traditional slow start, especially with a bad back hampering most of his Spring Training, but come May 1st he is going to get the chicken wing out and take the parrot for a spin around the bases... time after time again.  Hopefully he can stay healthy, that injury he had last season really fucked up the season.

image courtesy @captainlatte 

I like the rest of the line-up too, there is a bit of the unknown but fuck bring it on.  Jose Reyes when healthy is still a hitter to be feared, he lost a step on defense last year, but I think he was hiding some injuries.  There is a couple of rookies in the line up with Dalton "Live At" Pompey and Devon Travis.  Pompey had an incredible September last year taking the place of the sullen Colby Rasmus, but you can't judge someones September's performance, that's garbage time for a team out of the playoff race.  I really don't know much about Devon Travis but he was the best prospect in Detroit's system.  Michael Saunders is hurt, but I think once healthy he will have a career season.  All in all this line up is definitely something to be feared.  Yeah there is some question marks, but tell me a team in baseball that does not have any question marks.

All in all I am fucking pumped for the season, baseball is my favourite sport and the Blue Jays are my favourite team and I am so god damned happy when Opening Day rolls around.  I legitamately think the Jays are contenders to win the AL East, and most certainly a Wild Card spot.

The Red Sox and Orioles are still forces to be reckoned with, but the Yankees are old as fuck and the Rays are going to be back to being the shitty cellar-dwelling Rays.

If they get off to a slow start so be it, granted there will be idiots like Squid Seixeiro trolling and riling up the garbage clowns to #FYREGABBOBZ!!!! But fuck baseball is a marathon, every team is going to win 60 every team is going to lose 60, what happens in those other 42 game is what matters.  Even if they don't get off to a good start, or don't make the playoffs there is a solid foundation of young players that will ensure this teams success for years to come.  The least I am fucking asking for is meaningful September baseball, give me a god damned pennant race for christ sakes!

One last thought....

Gibby the Best!!  People constantly calling for his head are fucking morons, I have no idea why he is so unpopular amongst the garbage clowns.

I will be posting about the Jays in my weekly sports ramblings throughout out the season, you can also follow your boy on the Twitter @HDH2112 I usually tweet funny Jays related stuff out or re-tweet people with actual smarts like Andrew Stoeten or GROF

PS if you're not visiting AndrewStoeten.com on a daily basis and call yourself a Jays fan give your head a shake!

Buds All Day, AA the Best and more!

We saw two different versions of the Leafs last week, the same team that made short work of the Dallas Stars and the god forsaken Vancouver Canucks and the creepy Sedin twins, lost in extremely boring fashion to the New Jersey Devils.  That Devils game sucked, but such is life in an 82 game season, sometimes you're the dog, sometimes you're the fire hydrant.  What really pissed me off about that Devils game is that some cretin threw his jersey on the ice... really bud?  This jersey tossing thing is so fucking stupid and it needs to end immediately. Yeah the Leafs came out flat and played like shit, but they were playing the Devils who without Jagr and Elias (combined age 114) played typical boring neutral zone trap New Jersey Devil hockey.  The Leafs have been winning a ton lately, and just because you paid half a months salary to go see them does not give you the right to throw your jersey on the ice.  Squid move bud.  By the way, unless you got Craig Jones to order you a jersey from China for $30 they're pretty fucking expensive, so not only did you drop all that money for a ticket and beer you just threw a $200 jersey on the ice to prove some point? Give it up for lent bud, go fuck yourself.

Something is amiss with my beloved Phil Kessel, yes he did score against Dallas and New Jersey, but I think he is hurt, he took a vicious hit against Dallas, and they keep showing him in practice wincing and stretching out his back.  Everytime they show him on the bench he is crunched over in pain (or he is winded: insert lazy fat joke here Toronto media dickheads).  If he is indeed hurt like many are suggesting then he should take a few games off, we'll need him in March and April, not in December.

The Week Ahead: vs. Calgary (12/9), @ Detroit (12/10), vs. Detroit (12/13), vs. Los Angeles (12/14).  This is a tough week for the Buds.  For the first time in years the Calgary Flames are actually a good team, they are solidly in a playoff position and don't seem to be letting it go.  Hopefully the Leafs beat the Flames to make up for the Stampeders beating the Ti-Cats in the Grey Cup. There is a home and home against the pesky fucking Red Wings, and then the defending Stanley Cup champs come in for a bizarre 5 pm game on Sunday.  Jonathan "Nelson Mandela is my Favourite Athlete" Bernier, has been playing really well lately, as the Leafs have started up their old habit of giving up a buttload of shots every game, and we are going to need Bernier to keep it up during this tough stretch next week.  Speaking of Bernier that Nelson Mandela thing is inexcusable, I know that athletes are not the smartest breed, and English isn't Bernier's first language, but come on, how can he possibly say Nelson Mandela was one of his favourite athletes growing up?  When Bernier was growing up Mandela was in his 70's and the President of South Africa.  Jesus Christ Bernier get a fucking clue.

Photo Credit @mattomic 

AA strikes again.  At the end of the regular season I was getting kind of sick of hearing AA's bullshit, talking about "payroll parameters" and the Blue Jays refusal to give out contracts longer than 5 seasons, plus the 2014 season ended on (another) sour note.  Now I am singing his praises again and the 2015 season can not start soon enough.   Last week that Jays dealt JA Happ to Seattle for Left Fielder Michael Saunders.  Considering Melky Cabrera is as good as gone, Saunders is a great pick-up for the team, a good sign that it is a great move is that Seattle Mariner bloggers are very upset about giving up Saunders.  Saunders has been hurt, and the unforgiving SkyDome Rogers Centre turf may not help issues, but I think he'll be as equal as Melky if not better in the coming seasons.  Plus for all you who get Maple Boners... he's Canadian! Despite losing Brett "Spazz" Lawrie they will be fielding 3 Canadians in their starting line-up next season along with Russel Martin, and Dalton "Live At" Pompey.  Ohhhh fuck yah bud.  AA and the Jays still have work to do, their starting line-up is pretty much set, but they still need some bullpen arms, and perhaps another starting pitcher.  There is 3 long months until Spring Training starts, and I don't think they're done tinkering yet! 

Holy Shit Kyle Lowry is a beast, in fact he was just named NBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the past week.  When it's all said and done he will end up being the best player in Toronto Raptors history.  He dropped 27 against the Kings and then put up a career high 39 against the Jazz the next night.  We're a quarter of the way through the season now and in my completely biased opinion I would say Lowry is the MVP thus far.  Granted we're only a quarter through the season and Anthony Davis, LeBron James and the other usual suspects might have a thing or two to say about that, but he definitely needs some consideration, and he will be a starter in the All-Star Game in February.  Just for the love of God don't get hurt.  The Raptors really felt that DeRozan injury during the Cleveland game, T-Ross and "Captain" Lou Williams shot like shit, Jonas "Big V" Valaciunas got in foul trouble off the hop, but despite all that it was close most of the game and Cleveland only pulled ahead in the 4th quarter when it was all but over.  They said DeRozan won't need surgery on his groin which is good news, but there is still no time line for his return.

The Week Ahead: vs. Denver (12/8), @ Cleveland (12/9), vs. Indiana (12/12), @ New York (12/14).  The Raptors are playing 3 teams that are under .500 and out of the playoff hunt, once again they need to take advantage of these games, the Raptors have shown a killer instinct against these mediocre teams and must continue to do so.  They play the Cleveland LeBrons once again in what should be a big game, this could well be a 2nd or 3rd round playoff preview, it'll be tough again without DeRozan, but I am confident that it will be close, Kyle Lowry will need to step up and beat those assholes himself.

The Bills are fucking done again, Jesus Christ this team can't do anything right.  That game was ripe for picking too, Peyton had a terrible un-Peyton like game, in fact it's the first time in 4 fucking seasons that he hasn't thrown a touchdown pass.  On the surface a 24-17 loss to Denver with Kyle Orton throwing 355 yards doesn't look too bad, but fuck he sucked.  Untimely interceptions, weak red zone play and some questionable play calling has led us to YET ANOTHER playoff-less season.  They might as well go back to EJ Manuel for the last few weeks of the season, let's see what the kid can do as Kyle Orton is not the QB of the future.  Doug "Moron" Marrone should be axed at the end of this season, and so should that clown offensive coordinator Nathaniel "Can't" Hackett.  Why not have defensive co-coordinator Jim Schwartz take over?  The Bills D has once again been amazing, plus he has NFL head coaching experience.  There are pieces in place for the Bills to be a playoff team but that fucking offense, especially the play calling needs to improve.

The Bills in Toronto Series is as dead as their season!  This was a joke right from the get-go, greedy-assed Rogers expecting people to fork over a ton of their money to watch the shitty Bills play in the SkyDome.  They were giving away tickets for free next to people who dropped $300 bucks for their seats, no wonder people were pissed off.  There is a lot of Bills fans in Southern Ontario, but there is also fans of a shit load of other teams.  Amongst my friends I know Dolphins, Lions, Steelers, Titans, Patriots, Vikings, Giants and 49ers fans.  This should come as no surprise, the Bills have done fuck all to lure new fans since the days of Flutie Flakes, idiots like me only hold out because they were amazing when I was a kid, and I am loyal to a fault.  My point is as a Bills fan in Southern Ontario I would way rather make the 2 hour drive to Orchard Park to watch the Bills play at the Ralph, have the tailgate experience at a true home game then to watch them at the mausoleum known as the SkyDome where everything is over-priced and there is maybe less than half Bills fans there.  When they played the Dolphins shit-heads like my buddys Jeff and Mike showed up because it is a lot easier for them to see their favourite team in Toronto than to fly all the way to Miami, same thing happened when they played Seattle or Atlanta.  Maybe one day Toronto will have their own NFL team (not bloody likely) but until then keep the Bills in Buffalo where they belong.

The Week Ahead.  vs. Green Bay (12/14).  Jeezum Crow this is an ass-kicking waiting to happen.  It is the last home game of the year, so maybe they'll go out in style?? Who am I fucking kidding there is nothing stylish about Buffalo.

As usual you can catch me on the Twitter @HDH2112 you can also leave a comment in the comment section, I do love all feedback good or bad.  See you next week! 

Autopsy of the 2013 Blue Jays

It wasn't supposed to be like this you guys.  This year was supposed to be different, different from the last 20 years of misery we've suffered as Jays fans.  Sure in that span we had 9 winning seasons, and sometimes had some decent ball clubs, but playing in the tough AL East against the juggernaut Yankees and Red Sox, and lately those pesky god damned Rays and Orioles, the Jays never got within a sniff of the playoffs.  The last time the Jays saw post season action was when Joe Carter touched 'em all in '93.  I swore that 2012 was the worst season they could have ever had, with the injuries and underachievement and the fact that their fucking manager quit on them for greener pastures.  After such a shitty year last year, GM Alex Anthoupolous went "all-in" selling the farm to pick up some quality all-star players in Jose Reyes, Josh Johnson, Mark Buerhle, Melky Cabrera and of course the reigning NL Cy Young winner R.A. Dickey.  I was doing fucking backflips last November when those trades happened, you couldn't wipe the smile off my face.  The Blue Jays were trumpeted as World Series contenders instantly by many respected baseball pundits.  Hype was sky-high... then they actually started to play games, and holy fuck did they ever suck.

That Opening Day game really just summed up the whole bloody season immediately.  Dickey giving up untimely home runs, JP Arencibia being absolutely horrific behind the plate - didn't he give up 3 passed balls? - zero offensive production, led to an 4-1 loss to the Cleveland Indians.  I remember feeling completely deflated after that game, and sadly that same feeling carried throughout the course of the season.  Then John Farrell and the Red Sox came in, that was the series we were supposed to show him what an idiot he was for ditching the team, but the Jays lost 2 of 3, including Dickey getting lit up in a 13-0 loss.  That's what chaps my ass the most about this season, John Farrell and the Red Sox winning the East after cruising all season.  I hope they fall flat on their face in the playoffs.  I kept trying to convince myself that it was an early season funk and that they would snap out of it and start kicking ass and taking names.  My favorite Blue Jays blogger Andrew Stoeten of Drunk Jays Fans had to write countless blogs and tweet at countless amounts of idiots to calm down and assure them that this is going to turn around, and I was on his side and believed that it was going to get better but aside from that miraculous 11-game win streak in June, it never did!

The starting pitching was absolutely horrendous, Josh Johnson quite possibly had the worst season I have ever seen a starting pitcher have.  Granted, he was injured but the games that he was healthy he was god awful.  The guy was pitching for a contract too! In every sport players are usually lights out during their contract season.  He had potential to get himself a massive $150+ Million dollar contract during free agency this off season, now he should be lucky to get the Jays qualifying offer.  R.A. Dickey certainly did not come as advertised.  The thing with Dickey this season is he had such shitty luck.  He had very good stretches in ballgames, and at times looked every bit the NL Cy Young Winner of 2012 but it seemed as though every ground ball hit against him found a god damned hole in the infield, and he gave up soooo many home runs, it doesn't help that the SkyDome is one of the best hitters ball parks in the league.  He says his knuckleball is better when the roof is closed, and he had some back issues this season, so hopefully next season they keep the roof closed for his starts, and he is over his back issues.  Once again Brandon Morrow was injured, he is the one that I had the most hope for, but even in the games he was healthy he did not look good.  It is crucial for him to come back and pitch to his potential, the Blue Jays need him.  Despite a slow start Mark Buerhle came as advertised, and in the dog days of summer he was by far the Jays best pitcher.  Then there was the horse shit pitchers they trotted out start after start in that 5th spot.   JA Happ won that job out of Spring Training and was doing a decent job.... until he was nailed in the face with a line drive and fucked up his knee collapsing off the mound.  They rolled out a succession of absolute shit starters who either weren't ready for the bigs or way past their prime.  Sean Nolin, Ricky Romero, Aaron Laffey, Chien Mien Wang, Ramon Ortiz all got starts for the Blue Jays and were horrific. Todd Redmond and Esmil Rogers have been rotation fixtures the last few months because of injuries, and have done decently, but I think will be better suited for long relief in the bullpen in 2014.

For the most part, offensively players came as advertised.  Bautista was Bautista until he got hurt at the end of the season, Edwin Encarnacion had a very, very good year, Colby Rasmus had a break out year, and once Brett Lawrie and Jose Reyes got over their respective injuries, they turned into the players we all hoped they would be.  The issue lies with the gaping holes they have in offensive production from their Left Field, Second Base and Catching positions.  I'm not one of those sabermatrician stat geeks and quite honestly I am too dumb at math to wrap my head around these fucking formulas these nerds have produced to measure baseball stats, but I trust them.  They say if the Jays had at least replacement level talent (look up the WAR stat) they would be in a way better position than they are now, they wouldn't be running away with the East, but they would have been in wild card contention like the fucking Cleveland Indians and Kansas City Royals have been.  The worst offender has been JP Arencibia, seen above as Macho Man Randy Savage because... why not?  It's been determined that he has had one of the worst seasons in the entire history of major league baseball.  This isn't just me spewing unsubstantiated bullshit like I usually do, it is actual fact.  Take a look at this article by Drew Fairservice of Getting Blanked on how historically awful JP Arencibia has been.  There is no way he should be back as the starter next season, he seems like a nice guy, and I do feel bad for him, but they have to cut him loose.  I guarantee he will end up on the Rays or Yankees and whenever he plays the Jays he will come back and hit dingers and play great just like every other ex-Blue Jay does.

Melky Cabrera and the rest of the bums they trotted out to play left field were also a black eye on this team.  It turns out Melky had a fucking tumor on his spine, which may explain why some games he went out there and chased down fly balls and ran the bases like he was a 68 year old man.  At second base Maicer Izturis and Emilio Bonfiacio sucked quite a bit at the start of the season, committing atrociously ugly errors in the field and sucking at the plate.  Izturis picked it up a bit before he was injured, and Bonifacio was thankfully dumped to Kansas City...of course then he started playing good.  If they got better production out of those positions that would have accounted for at least 10-15 more wins which would have let them playing meaningful games in September....that's all I can ask for, I am sick of September Blue Jays games that don't matter, watching other teams compete for a playoff spot, and then playing high intensity playoff games.  That's all I am asking for Blue Jays, I am not asking for a World Series ring, just play games in September that matter, and then let's get some October baseball back.  That being said, I think 2014 will be better.

If you have ever heard me talk about sports, you know I am always preaching about next year.  Next year is the year for the Leafs, or the Bills or the Raptors or the Blue Jays... when you support these shitty and perpetually mediocre teams next year is all you have.  That being said I think the Blue Jays, with their current core and some key additions will be the team we all expected them to be in 2014.  If they plugged the gaps in the positions I just mentioned they will improve vastly.  Brian McCann and AJ Pierzynski are catchers that are available, and while I am not a huge fan of either of them, I am sure seeing them in a Jays uniform will change my mind completely.  I am willing to let them give Cabrera another shot (really what other choice do they have?) and let them see if this fucking spine tumor is what caused him so much grief this year.  As for 2nd base, I don't know, as much as I love Kawasaki (like everyone else on Earth) I don't think he is the answer at 2nd and is better suited for a bench role.  Ryan Goins has been good recently, but I don't think he is the answer either.  Isturuz did have a good stretch before he got hurt, and I think he got used to the SkyDome carpet and was playing better defensively, so he could have a shot.  If AA can swing a deal or sign a better 2nd baseman I say go for it.  Robinson Cano is available as a free agent but rumour has it he is seeking a 10 year $305 million dollar contract....no thank you!!

Aside from that the Jays are solid offensively.  My favourite player right now has to be Colby Rasmus.  He is such a fucking hick, and I think it's hilarious.  DJF put up a video in the summer of the Jays talking about their walk up-music, and Colby was such a Jethro talking about being in the south and with bucks on the wall "spittin a lil' tabbaca."   He is a hell of a ball player, and he is getting better, St. Louis gave up on him way too soon. Jose Reyes is such a good ball player too, if he stays healthy in 2014 he will have a very good year.  Bautista and Encarnacion have shown no signs of slowing down, in fact Encarnacion has had one of the best offensive seasons in all of baseball this year, and there is no reason to believe that will stop for both those players next year.

Brett Lawrie has been a stud at third base.  His web gem plays have been pretty much the only reason to watch this team down the stretch.  His balls to the wall type play may actually be a bit of a downfall for him, it's baseball for christ's sake you can relax a little bit.  I think now that he is getting older he will realize this, and I think he is a career Blue Jay who will put up consistently good seasons for years to come... if he can stay healthy. .

As for the rotation, R.A. Dickey and Mark Buerhle (barring a trade) are pretty much the only 2 guaranteed starters, and I am fine with that.  Buerhle had some stinkers, but he had some gems, same goes for Dickey.  I think they should offer Josh Johnson the 1 year qualifying offer and let him prove that he is worthy of being a top pitcher in MLB like has the potential to be.  I think he is due for a turnaround season.  Drew Hutchison and Kyle Drabek could be competing for a spot, and hopefully Morrow is healthy enough and performs to his potential.  Don't forget AA is always capable of pulling off a big deal for another solid starter that will come completely out of the blue.  The bullpen has been amazing all year, and that is a strong point heading into 2014.  Brett Cecil, Sergio Santos, Steve Delabar, Casey Janssen have all had great seasons, add a Esmil Rogers or Todd Redmond into the mix, and that is a solid pen.

It's gonna get better Jays fans, firing John Gibbons or a complete roster overhaul is not going to make things better, staying put with what we have, with a tinker or two will do just fine.  Look no further than the dreaded Boston Red Sox, they were talented team that with a mix of injuries and bad luck ended up having an awful season in 2012.  They went from worst to first this year with pretty much the same roster they had last year + a few key additions.  If the Blue Jays can make those keys additions, and get continued production and some bounce back seasons from their core,  I have no reason to believe that the Blue Jays will finally be back in the post-season next season.  For my own sanity I hope I am right.

Credit Scott Johnson, Andrew Stoeten, Getting Blanked and Drunk Jays Fans for the photos in this.

As always give me a follow on Twitter @didhenley

Your 2013 Toronto Blue Jays

I love baseball, and I love the Toronto Blue Jays and Opening Day is my favourite day of the year, so most other teams have already opened the season, but as Alex Rios would say "who gives a fuck!?!".  Although I am a die-hard Toronto Maple Leafs fan, the Toronto Blue Jays are my first love, and the start of a new season fills me with warm fuzzy feelings that hockey season can not, mainly because hockey season signals the start of a long miserable winter and baseball season signals the end.  The 2013 season is extra special for Jays fans, because for the first time in 20 years the Blue Jays are serious post-season contenders.  I remember optimism before the 1997 (Roger Clemens!) and 2006 (AJ Burnett! BJ Ryan!) season, but nothing like what we're experiencing heading into the 2013 season.

The 2012 season was nothing short of a disaster for the Jays.  Every thing that could have gone wrong for the Blue Jays last season went wrong, it was almost like the team was cursed.  Injury after injury really hurt them, I know every team in every sport deals with injuries, but the plague that was on the Jays last year was absolutely obscene.  By the end of last year, they had a shitty manager who checked-out and packed his bags for his "dream job" in Boston (more on that asshole Farrell later), the Yunel Escobar eye-black incident embarrassing the organization, and a patch-work of AAA and AA players making up the line-up.  I wait all shitty winter for baseball season to start, but by mid-August I couldn't wait for that clusterfuck of a season to end.  Once the season was over that rat-goof Mitt Romney looking fuck John Farrell packed his bags and left for Boston, and he took Brian Butterfield with him....Butters!! Toronto media dicks like that insufferable Damien Cox and Steve Simmons were already writing off the 2013 Jays, and the Jays in general, but then November 13th 2012 happened....

Hey Farrell, do you like apples??

It was a lonely night for me at work, working check-out.  Working check-out usually means fucking around on my phone for 90% of the shift, re-tweeting the Iron Sheik or checking Facebook every 5 minutes to see if someone new has 'liked' one of my witty statuses.  But on this fateful night Twitter exploded with rumours that Josh Johnson was heading to Toronto, I was taken aback with joy immediately, and as the night went on I found out the Jays were not only getting Josh Johnson, but Mark Buerhle and Jose Fucking Reyes as well!  My bowels nearly expelled when I first read that.  Andrew Stoeten from Drunk Jays Fans summed up the night of tweets in his post here http://blogs.thescore.com/djf/2012/11/13/morosi-jays-on-verge-of-acquiring-josh-johnson/.  On an aside, if you are a Jays fan and you don't read DJF or follow Andrew Stoeten on Twitter give you head a shake.  PS I stole all these pictures/photoshop from Drunk Jays Fans, so 100% full credit to them.  More on that later though.  It took that ridiculous old fart Bud Selig about a week to approve the deal, but mercifully he did.  Clearly Alex Anthopoulos (herein referred to as AA so I don't have to spell his god damned last name anymore) was going to go all in this year.  A few days after that he signed Melky Cabrera for a song, before he was suspended last year for PED's he was the best hitter in the National League, even if last year was an anomaly, it's not like a ton of money was committed to him, and if he turns out shitty no harm, no foul, and big fucking deal if he may have accidentally taken something from the banned substance list, shit happens.  AA wasn't done there....

#DickeyTheBest

He just went out and traded for the 2012 NL Cy Young Award winner, knuckle-baller and the most interesting man in baseball, RA Dickey.  Talk about a complete rotation overhaul.  Obviously all these moves didn't come cheaply, the Blue Jays had to give up some highly regarded prospects like Travis d'Arnaud, Adeiny Hechavarria, Justin Nicolino, Jake Marisnick and Noah Syndergaard.  Since AA took over from that big nosed fucknut JP Riccarrdi (aka Retardi) he has been stock-piling the minor league system waiting to pull the trigger on big moves like this.  All those players I just mentioned could well end up being All-Stars, or at the very least serviceable major leaguers, or they could end up being career minor leaguers, playing in the Mexican Leagues with Kenny Powers.  Either way none of them were going to help the 2013 Blue Jays win games and I commend AA for making these bold moves.

After all these moves were made, the question of who was going to replace that shit-for-brains douchenugget John Farrell as manager remained.  The usual suspects of ex-managers came through the rumour mill, but AA completely came out of left field and announced that John Gibbons (Gibby!) will be returning as Jays manager.  Gibbons managed the Blue Jays from 2004-2008 with marginal success, but he did well with what he had to work with.  At that point they were third wheel in the AL East to the juggernaut Yankees and Red Sox, in any other division the Blue Jays would have been a playoff team, especially in the 2006 season when they finished with 87 wins, yet still finished 10 games behind the Yankees.  So he got in a few scraps with his players, Shea Hillenbrand and Ted Lilley totally deserved it.  I think Gibby will be a nice contrast from that jerk Farrell, and won't have the boys running into outs on the basepaths like chickens with their heads cut off.  He has a more relaxed, easy going style and is a players manager, but as we saw before isn't afraid to bust heads if he has too.

Out of all the players they picked up I have a very strong feeling Jose Reyes will quickly become my favourite.  I barely follow the National League, so I haven't paid close attention to his career to date, but everything I have heard has been great.  He has an infectious personality, always smiling is a defensive master at shortstop, and will put up a ton of hits.  The main concern is that he is injury prone, he initally balked at signing with the Blue Jays before the 2012 season out of concern over playing on the SkyDome Rogers Centre turf.  He was excellent during the World Baseball Classic for the Dominican Republic, and I have a feeling that will carry over to the season.  I have the feeling he will be a fan favourite in Toronto.  Plus look at that picture with him and that donkey, how can you not love him??

Despite all this, I am incredibly nervous and anxious for the coming season, what if after all this hype it can all go wrong?  Already the Jays 2012 Opening Day Starter, Ricky Romero, aka Ricky RomerWOE has been optioned to Single-A to start the season to hopefully get his shit together, and come back stronger then ever as RR Cool Jay.  What happens if Colby Rasmus, JP Arencibia and Adam Lind play like shit, what if Edwin Encarnacion doesn't put up the same numbers he did in 2012, what if they're bitten by the injury bug yet again?  I've talked a lot of shit to my buddy/nemesis Killer (aka Ryan Bourdeau) who is a shitty Tigers fan, over the course of the winter and I will never hear the end of it if they Jays don't live up to the hype.  I don't expect the Blue Jays to win the World Series, but I do expect them to play meaningful ball games in September, and that they will be in the post-season for the first time since Joe Carter touched 'em all in 1993.  The AL East is ripe for the picking, Tampa Bay has a very good team, but the Orioles will not have the same horseshoe in ass luck they did last year, the Yankees are old and injured and the shitty Red Sox are fielding one of their worst line ups in years.  I think the Jays will be in Wild Card contention, and in the hunt for 1st in the East all year.  I would give my middle nut to see the Blue Jays play October baseball.

I am going to try and make blog posts throughout the season on the Jays, but chances are I won't.  The blog to follow for everything to do with the Jays is Drunk Jays Fans.  I've visited their site from their humble beginnings,  (bring back the DJF guides!) and I am glad they've made it to the big time with theScore.com.  They'll have two DJF podcasts a week, featuring Stoeten, Drew Fairservice and that delightful Archi Zuber, the same guys, along with Dustin Parkes have the Getting Blanked podcast daily, which covers everything to do with the rest Major League Baseball.   Like I said I stole all these pictures from the DJF website, the least I can do is give them credit, and tell you all to read their articles and listen to their podcasts.

Prediction time.  I honestly believe in the power of my jinx, I don't want to come out and say the Blue Jays are going to win the World Series because I will feel personally responsible if they don't.  But I am going to go ahead and say the Blue Jays win the AL East and make the playoffs.  Jose Bautista will have another massive season, hitting between 40 and 50 dingers.  Josh Johnson and Brandon Morrow will have massive seasons, especially Johnson who is a free agent after this season, and everyone plays better when he has an obscene contract waiting for him to sign in the winter.   Jose Reyes will win the AL batting title, and Gibby will be AL Manager of the year.  Here is how I see the AL playing out.  I really could give a flying fuck about the National League...pitchers taking at bats is barbaric.

* = Wild Card Teams


EAST

1.  Toronto Blue Jays
2.  Tampa Bay Rays*
3.  Boston Red Sox
4.  Baltimore Orioles
5.  New York Yankees

CENTRAL

1.  Chicago White Sox
2.  Detroit Tigers
3.  Kansas City Royals
4.  Cleveland Indians
5.  Minnesota Twins

WEST

1. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
2. Texas Rangers*
3. Seattle Mariners
4. Oakland A's
5. Houston Astros

Enjoy the season folks, and  Let's Go Blue Jays!!