Random Blue Bird Droppings

Alright. American League East battle, here we come. Talk about a meeting of powerhouses. A game between the Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays is pretty much the equivalent of Spock and Kirk dueling each other to the death, so buckle up as we play catch up with the Jays ahead of this oh-so-very-pivotal series.

Batting Ninth

In his latest blog entry the always inquisitive Jordan Bastian asks if he's the only one in favour of moving Adam Lind up in the order.

No, you're not. I'm thrilled to death that Cito Gaston has the authority to demand that Lind be on his team, but hitting the team's highest OPS bat in the ninth spot seems as ridiculous as letting J.P. Ricciardi manage the squad.

The Tao Has Our Back

My blogging buddy at The Tao of Stieb has officially joined me in my love for A.J. Burnett. The puma looking right hander received the Tao's support after the Sun's Steve Simmons gave further evidence as to why that Pulitzer Prize has remained so elusive.

Simmons basically echoes the thoughts of the morons who hate Burnett for being a .500 pitcher by blaming Pete Puma for Friday night's 2-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays. What an incompetent pitcher, allowing two runs over seven innings.

The Tao mentioned my other blog's proclivity for comparing Burnett and Roy Halladay and measuring the difference in fan reaction that the two pitchers get. Imagine if Burnett had made Halladay's All-Star break comments. He'd have a treacherous traitor label on him faster than you can say Benedict Arnold. Roy Halladay says it, and fans start phoning sports talk radio shows suggesting that the Jays should trade Halladay for our ace's own sake.

The King of Queen

Mel Queen has been hired by the Blue Jays to evaluate the farm system. Judging by the last few misconstrued sentences at the end of Hall of Fame nominee Bob Elliot's article on Queen, I'd wager a guess that Mr. Elliot is blowing this hiring out of a higher proportion than his own blood alcohol level before he starts up his vehicle.

Whatever the trickle down effect, Mel Queen showing up at the Mattick Complex will have more impact on the organization than the arrival of a first-round pick, four or five years away from the majors. Queen's arrival and the decision to bring him back will have an impact on the product you see on the field at 1 Blue Jays Way.

Really? You honestly believe that someone resembling one of those muppets that sit up in the balcony seats (i.e. Ted Rogers) is actually going to impact the baseball team by traveling around Upstate New York and Western Florida? Or maybe . . . just maybe . . . one of the conditions of Cito Gaston's hiring was for Mel Queen to also come aboard.

I'm sure there are more menial jobs to give a guy in a baseball organization, like hitting coach, but honestly, I'm sure Ricciardi isn't losing any sleep over the potential fall out of a negative Mel Queen report.

Painting The Corners

Well, apparently Brandon League really was trying to hit Dioner Navarro when he plunked the catcher on Saturday. According to Mike Wilner:

I know I said yesterday that I didn’t think that League hit Navarro intentionally and made a crack about his lack of control, but it turns out that he did. Gaston said as much in his pre-game interview with Jerry. Cito didn’t like that Navarro dropped down a bunt with a five-run lead two batters after Evan Longoria hit his slam off Roy Halladay. I forgot that the Jays were being run by an old-school manager, that five-run leads used to be really big, and that there’s an unwritten rule against bunting with a big lead.

Yeah, I'm going to have to side with Joe Maddon on this one. But I'm not happy about siding with him. Not happy at all.

I really disagree with what they did. We'll stop trying to score runs when they stop trying. Maybe in 1922 you wouldn't do that because nobody could hit a home run. But in the year 2008, people can hit home runs. You see how they came back. Once again in baseball, for me, there are moments when people definitely mentally move at a glacier pace and they really have to get beyond it. It stunk.