High fives all around

Last night, as the Red Sox were winning their tenth straight, we caught ourselves thinking about the AL East standings, and felt vaguely relieved about the fact that the Jays remain a full game ahead of Boston in spite of the Beantowners' recent surge.

Scoreboard watching, even this early in the season, is pretty awesome.

Headed into Kansas City for a four-game set with the Royals, the Jays have won all six of their series thus far. We're not sure what the rest of the season has in store, but for now, we recommend taking a moment and relishing the fact that you, my fellow Blue Jays fans, are in the midst of the best start to the season in the history of the franchise.

The baseball world is taking notice
One of the standard complaints amongst Toronto fans is that the American baseball media tends not to take notice of the Blue Jays' achievements, but that's not the case this year. The Sporting News' Richard Justice leads a column today on the next generation of baseball stars by pumping up Aaron Hill's hot start, along with the great first months of Ricky Romero and Jason Frasor.

A moment of recognition for Cito
While some of us negative nellies in the blogosphere seem ready to pounce on Cito Gaston's every misstep, here's something worth considering: USA Today points out that the Blue Jays have the best record in the Major Leagues (65-43) since Cito took over the reins of the club on June 20, 2008.

Speaking of managers...
Brace yourselves. With John Gibbons now serving as bench coach for the KC Royals, we fully expect that the next four days will be pretty much dedicated to an analysis of the whole Gibby versus Cito thing. Heck, we may even indulge.

A thought on the KC series
Not to say that the rest of the clubs that the Jays have played so far are tomato cans, but with the pitching that the Royals will send to the mound over the next four games - including Bryan Bannister, Gil Meche and Zack Greinke - this will be the first big test of the Jays' offensive mettle so far.

And we say: Bring it on.

The Summer of Tallet rolls on

It's easy to get distracted by 21 hits and 14 runs, but the story of last night's 14-0 win over the Chicago White Sox may well have been the impressive outing by makeshift starter Brian Tallet.

(And even if that isn't the story, that's the angle that we're going with. Because we want to keep fueling this Summer of Tallet meme.)

Tallet's 5 2/3 innings of scoreless are impressive and most appreciated given the depleted state of the staff. And while the final score makes the game look like a laugher, Tallet did yeoman's work keeping the Pale Hose off the scoreboard early when the game was still close in the first four innings. The only blip in his performance may have been the three walks he issued, but we'll cut him a little slack on his location given the crazy swirling winds last night.

Our favorite play of the night was Tallet's perfectly executed covering of first base on a hot shot to Overbay, after which the long, lean, loping lefty continued sprinting halfway down the right field line. (You just can't stop a beast like Tallet in mid-gallop.)

And as for the offense?
If the ruling philosophy is "Get A Pitch To Drive and Hit It", then the Jays adhered to it admirably last night. It's amazing to think that they were able to score the first 13 runs without a single long ball.

Alexei Ramirez certainly helped the Jays' offense along at several crucial points last night, but maybe the lesson out of that is that a hard hit ball will always have a chance to make things happen.

(Or something like. We're pretty much making this up as we go along. When's the Ack back again?)

Friday Rock Out - The Gandharvas' "Downtime"

The Gandharvas - Downtime
Uploaded by UniversalMusicGroup

You'll have to excuse us for going back to the 90's Can-Rock well once again, but we couldn't resist with this gem. This used to be a standard entry onto mixed tapes that we'd make for friends, and was usually the song that they didn't know but would ask about.

We like it because it sounds like a nice Canadian version of Jane's Addiction without the ostentatious preening. You may choose to dislike for the very same reasons.

We also like it because it's pretty kick ass lyrically. "Some just want to smear themselves across something beautiful..."

Other stuff
We'd do a Friday link dump, but the Blue Jay Hunter already beat us to it. So go read his, because we would have just linked to the same articles anyways.

And don't forget to check in with Joanna at Hum and Chuck. Just because. You should.

Working over time
Having squeezed every last bit of energy out of the Ack, we've given him the weekend off to spend with his family. Which means that we'll have to post something over the weekend just to keep you all entertained and interested. We can't guarantee what sort of quality you'll get out of us, given that we'll be at some level of drunkeness for most of the next few days. Bear with us...we're only one man.

For those of you who prefer the Ack's weekend takes to our own, you'll have to wait another seven days before he drags himself back into work. Sorry.

We're all losers in the long, slow, sad battle of Canada's media companies

It felt for a moment yesterday as though we were being drafted into battle over the announcement that the rights to the Jays' mid-May series against the Red Sox were acquired by CTVglobemedia to be shown on TSN2.

The notion that we - like thousands of other Jays fans - will likely not be able to see those games frustrates us immensely. But at the same time, we wonder how much energy we have to engage in what is surely to be an almost pointless exercise in trying to convince these two media monoliths to give an inch in what seems to be an intractable battle over the sports media landscape.

A few points for the sake of context. TSN gets the highest subscription fees of any Canadian cable channel, meaning that the network has an institutionalized advantage over Sportsnet or the Score when it comes to acquiring content. A few years back, Rogers and Headline Sports both went to the CRTC to ask for significantly larger fees, in part because they saw the way that TSN was bidding up the rights to properties beyond what was rational. They received a very modest increase, but nothing near what they had asked for and certainly not enough to play the money game with TSN.

Before the introduction of the "alternate feed", TSN would timeshift programs that they couldn't fit into their schedule into the wee hours of the morning, usually resulting in a handful of pissed off tennis or Formula 1 fans. It wasn't a great move for the viewers, but in a battle such as this, the execs and programmers generally look at the audience as a secondary concern. (At their peril, but we'll come back to that.)

Now that TSN has evolved from having an occasional alternate feed to a full blown second channel, they are certain to use their institutionalized financial might to bid up the rights to any and all sports properties that they want, regardless of whether or not if they can fit them into their schedule. Think of TSN as the Yankees, having more money to spend and using it to their competitive advantage.

It seems as though Rogers' tactic at this point is to squeeze off access to theis channel from their significant subscriber base, thus minimizing the impact of the second TSN channel on their four allegedly regional sports networks. The thinking seems to be that if they let the second feed wither on the vine, then it will eventually go away. The thing is, TSN2 won't go away. CTVglobemedia is willing to engage in a battle of attrition over this incredibly valuable property, and they have the resources and the will to go to the wall for this.

With this latest salvo between the companies, we can just imagine how pleased the TSN-types are with themselves at having the opportunity to really stick it to Rogers. Acquiring a Rogers property and airing it on a channel that Rogers refuses to make room for has probably resulted in all sorts of giggling and backslaps and attaboys, much in the way that they gloated like shit-eating frat boys at their pointless and petty acquisition of the Hockey Song away from the bumbling navel gazers at CBC.

With apologies to Raptors fans, the acquisition of the Blue Jays games for TSN2 will likely prove to be the true test of this rivalry. Jays games traditionally bring in more than 300,000 viewers on TSN and around 250,000 on Sportsnet, numbers that dwarf the basketball numbers. The question is: How much damage is one part of Rogers (the BDU or cable guys) willing to do to another part of the company (the Blue Jays) in order to maintain their position in an ultimately unwinnable war?

(And following up on that thought: What is going on with the Blue Jays in relation to their corporate parents when they are willing to sell the rights to these games to a competitor who will use the games to rachet up pressure on the Rogers Cable unit to give in on their resistance to carrying this channel? Are the Blue Jays going out on a limb here?)

Our hope is that Rogers and CTV come to their senses and sort these issues out, because the longer that they allow this sort of tomfoolery to go on, the more likely it is that you will Canadian sports fans stepping around the regulated broadcasting system and finding the games that they want to see on internet streams in the unregulated universe. And they might want to ask someone in the music business how easy it is to get those customers back once they leave.

The longer this battle goes on, the more likely that any victory gained between these two companies will ultimately prove to be a pyrrhic one. So really guys: Smarten the fuck up.

PANIC! Romero on the DL!

Via the Globe's Bobby Mac, Ricky Romero is headed to the DL with an oblique strain.

(Don't panic...don't panic...don't panic...don't panic...don't panic...don't panic...)

No word yet on who will get the call to come up, but the Jays don't have an off day until May 11, so they won't have much latitude with their rotation, and will have to get a body to fill in. None of the starters at Las Vegas are setting the world ablaze at this point, though Brad Mills (4.70 ERA, 9 Ks / 8 BBs in 15.1 innings) seems like the most likely candidate.

The Jays could go a little nutty and look to Double-A prospect Reidier Gonzalez (1.37 ERA, 9 Ks / 5 BBs in 19.1 innings at New Hampshire), or Fabio Castro or Luis Perez. Of those four pitchers, Perez is the only one on the 40-man roster, which might also contribute to the decision.

UPDATE!!! MORE PANIC!!! MLBastian tweets that B.J. Ryan is headed to the 15 Day with trap tightness.

(Actually, we're kinda relieved - pardon the pun - about this news. New closer auditions!)

Four seasons in one game

Not to over-egg the pudding here, but last night's walkoff 8-7 win over the Rangers was one of the most exciting, frustrating, demoralizing, reenergizing games we've seen the Blue Jays play in a long time. So much happened in the space of last night's game that you know they couldn't fit that shit all into nine innings.

Here's our quick breakdown, broken into its component parts:

The Dopeness
-The Jays winning their third walkoff of the year before they even open the lid on the Dome.

-Rod Barajas cranking out two homers, and having one of the best freakouts on the umpire after taking a called strike three that was three inches below his knees.

-Alex Rios going four for six with two RsBI and looking infinitely better (and as Alan Ashby pointed out, much more quiet) at the plate.

-José Bautista getting four hits and scoring twice. Jo-Bau!

-Jason Frasor, continuing to be awesome with his new changeup. Chalk up two more scoreless innings for the guy who was once the forgotten man in the pen.

-Cito working his seemingly dubious magic and leaving Kevin Millar in against Kason Gabbard Darren O'Day for the winning hit.

The Wackness
-The Beej. Oh, the Beej. Four appearances, two saves, two blown. Maybe it's not time to relax about him.

-Aaron Hill's error to extend the ninth, allowing the Rangers to come back.

-Seeing Travis Snider bunt. Every time Snider squares around to bunt, a little part of us dies inside.

-The empty park, apparently abandoned by fans who had better things to do on a Wednesday night than stick around for a walkoff win.

Don't look know, but it's time to start scoreboard watching
The Jays are still on top of the AL East, but the Red Sox (seven straight wins) and the Yankees (three straight) now sit a game and a half back.

The night of broken bats

The two incidents that clearly stand out from last night's 5-4 loss to the Rangers are two broken bats. Hank Blalock's broken bat, which felled home plate umpire Kerwin Danley, and the bat that Travis Snider snapped over his knee. The incident with Blalock's bat raises some obvious concerns, given that it is part of a continuing rash of snapped lumber that is becoming an epidemic across baseball.

Broken bats are certainly nothing new in the game. What is disconcerting is the way that players are shaving their bat handles down to nothing while increasing the size of the bat head, resulting in a hitting implement that is too heavily balanced towards one end.

We've wondered aloud in the past whether if MLB shouldn't step in and legislate on the size of bats and the ratio between the size and weight of the handle versus the head, but our assumption is that such a rule would only result in players working harder to skirt the rules in order to gain a competitive advantage. One could imagine that, like hockey players with their sticks, hitters would carry legal bats and illegal bats and swap them in and out of games depending on the situation.

Sadly, we're going to continue to see incidents like last night's until either a star player or a spectator gets seriously injured.

You wouldn't like Travis Snider when he's angry
It's always pretty funny to watch a player lose his shit and snap a bat over his knee, but we're a little concerned over The Pasty White Hope's reactions to a couple of at bats last night.

Snider followed up breaking his bat after a strikeout with a total freakout after popping up with the bases loaded in the eighth. And while it's great to know that Snider is passionate about the game and never wants to give an inch, we worry that his ostentatious outward anger is a sign of some inward frustration that could affect his game. Baseball is a game of failure, and we hope that Snider is able to handle the bad at bats as well as the good.

Another thought on Snider
Sniderman's been getting under a lot of balls in the past few games and popping them up. We're not sure if this is a sign that the swing is a little off or that pitchers are keeping things down a little better against him, but here's hoping that he makes the adjustment.

A plea for penance

Let us pray.

O Readers! Thou art so patient when we spend the better part of a day helping to promote the nascent media careers of attractive concession workers. And thou art merciful when we suck all of the fun out of things.

We beseech thee to accept our humble offerings of baseball-related links as penance for our trespasses.

O Readers! We are not worthy to receive you, but only say the word (in the comments section) and we shall be healed.

For thine is the computer, the browser, and the high speed connection, for ever and ever. Play ball!

Doc Day Link Dump!
-Lloyd/Drew at the Ghostrunners goes totally serene in an introspective digression. Also, he guests on the Walkoff Walk podcast and promises Jays content.

-Neate at Out of Left Field passes on the news that Demitri Martin ("Ladies...") is going to portray Paul DePodesta in the Moneyball movie. (No word on who will portray Brant Colamarino, and whether if they will have titties.) Lloyd the Barber better hurry the eff up and finish that book before the movie comes out, or else the ending's going to be ruined for him.

-The Blue Jay Hunter gets hisself ready for a slugfest at the old ballyard tonight. Also, he loves George Bush.

-Mop Up Duty's got no love for Alex Rios and his GIDPs.

-Bart Given ditches the Inside the Majors blog to write on the problem with baseball's disciplinary system on Sportsnet.ca. (We figured that kid had potential.)

-The Te of Inglett sends out prayer offerings for Michael Barrett and his once-broken junk.

-Rob Neyer, who was hidden from us for the past few years behind the dark menacing wall of the ESPN Insider site, has now got a blog called the SweetSpot on the four-letter net's public site. We'd forgotten how much we enjoyed his take on things since they tucked him away.

What ever happened to K-Zone?

Maybe we missed the memo on this one, but does anyone know what's happened to the pitch tracking technology which goes by K-Zone on ESPN and a jumble of other names on regional broadcasts?

We've watched a fair bit of baseball this season on a number of different broadcasters, and we've noticed that this tool, in its varying forms, isn't being used at all this year. We know that baseball has switched strike zone information providers from QuesTec to Zone Evaluation, which may explain the absence of the graphic.

For those of you who track this sort of thing, is there any difference in the pitch data that is being made available this year?

Apparently, Aaron Hill doesn't like black people

This season was probably going too swimmingly. Perhaps a little viral controversy could shake up our blissful early season lovefest?

We've got no idea who these Action Seat chicks are, or what purpose these videos might serve, or how they managed to get press credentials. But, oh, to be a fly on the Blue Jays' clubhouse wall as they all gather around someone's laptop to watch this car wreck.

(H/T to Hale at the Mockingbird, via Big League Stew)

That's a big 10-4, good buddy

Sure, we could spend our sleepy Monday off-day quibbling about Cito's carved in stone lineups, or Alex Rios' awful start, or David Purcey's inability to find the strike zone. We can pick nits with the best of 'em, but frankly, when the Jays finish up their second week of the season with ten wins and at the top of the AL East, it seems more than a bit ungrateful to start looking for the downside of up.

We've got the Scoots Fever
Though he went hitless in the last two games, Marco Scutaro's start to the season has been nothing short of awesome. His four homers and 10 RsBI are worth celebrating, but more than that, his 12 walks and .418 OBP out of the leadoff spot have been a crucial part of the Jays' offensive success to this point.

Scutaro didn't get a whole lot of respect before the season started, with people questioning his suitability as a leadoff hitter and his defense at short. So far, Scoots has been equal to the tasks, nothwithstanding a bobbled ball here or there. Certainly, Marco's first two weeks has quieted the hue and cry for John McDonald to get starts at short down to the faintest of whispers.

Podcasted Taoisms
We were fortunate enough to be invited to share our views on the Jays' hot start with the fellas over at the Drunk Jays Fans on their weekly podcast, and appropriately enough, we were wickedly hung over when we spoke to them. If you're interested in hearing us make incomprehensible jokes about Gary Carter having an orange shadow (wha?), or if you want to listen to us contradict ourselves on Cito, Gibby, and Brian Tallet (whatchyoutalkinbout?), then tune in later today when the podcast gets posted. A good time was had by all.

(Update: Hey look! It's posted! Enjoy listening to us prattle on. We've already listened to our segment four times.)

Sunday quick-hitters (pitchers)

BOOM.....Ricky Romero is pitching like a rookie of the year candidate.

BOOM.....Scott Downs is proving that he just might be the best left-handed set-up man in baseball.

BOOM.....BJ Ryan looked strong in picking up his second save of the season.

BOOM....the Jays are 10-4. Ten wins, four losses.

(somebody else say it for me....)

What's a guy gotta do?

While you're admiring the brilliant prose I managed to cobble together for this blog post title, I have a confession to make.

When it comes to armchair managing, I'm guilty as charged.

Part of being a fan of a team is pretending that you have all the answers where the morons running the show do not. It's what we all do, right? It's fun! And we watch so much baseball that we know that we're right.....at least I think that I am (not you, you're way off, pal).

I'll be the first guy to tell you that The Cito is doing Travis Snider no favours by shielding him from anyone born with a propensity to deal from the left side. But I'll also conveniently forget that he did the same to Adam Lind last season, and, well, he's faring pretty well in full time duty against southpaws so far this year. I'll get in line to tell you that Lyle Overbay (or Snider) should be pinch-hitting for Kevin Millar late in ballgames against right-handers, but I won't mention that Millar (sample size alert!) is showing some nice reverse splits this season. I'll prattle on and on about Cito's in-game management.....and gloss over the fact that a team that was predicted to be in a battle for the AL East basement currently sits at 8-4.

Yes, tonight's disappointing loss to the Athletics notwithstanding (fuck off, Oakland), we've been lucky to watch some pretty damn good winning baseball from the home nine thus far, so let's all maybe save the "this is just like post-'93 Cito!" wailing for now, huh? Who are we, the Sons of Sam Horn?

(Until the team drops 5 or 6 straight, of course - then your ass is mine, skip.)

I've run out of superlatives for Roy Halladay, so I'll let actual big leaguers do the talking
Just when I thought my man-crush on the good doctor was reaching epic proportions, he has to go and up the ante. At least I know that I'm not alone on this one:

Scott Rolen: "This is really, really unfair, but we've come to expect things like that from him."

Brandon League: "After the third one, guys in the bullpen were yelling 'THAT'S WHY HE'S THE BEST!' "

Michael Barrett: "Like in Cleveland the other day -- man on third, none out, he strikes out the side."

Barajas: "There's no panic in that situation he has so many weapons -- ground balls, strike outs, no reason to feel pressure."

....and from the opposition:

"He could go out there one day and just throw all cutters and beat you, and then he could go out there one day and just throw all sinkers and beat you, and then he could go out there and throw all curveballs one day and beat you," Cuddyer said. "Today he had all three of 'em. ... It's hard to find a better pitcher over the last seven or eight years than him."

Life with Roy Halladay is good indeed. I never want it to end. I could be wrong, but it feels like I've maybe said that before....

Friday Rock Out - Salmonblaster

Now there's a little blast from an increasingly distant past. Listening to this song makes us want to grow our hair, go out sport drinking, make out on the dance floor with some girl who hasn't yet discovered the benefits of antidepressants, and stumble home at 5 am.

Alas, a night like that may well kill us now. (And if the night didn't kill us, Mrs. Tao might.)

Dear Music Industry
Can we talk for a second? Okay, here goes: We're pretty much the last person we know who is enough of a sucker to go out and pay for music. Generally, we don't admit to as much in public, because the level of ridicule that gets heaped on us for being such a sucker is almost unbearable.

So as one of your last defenders, we have to tell you this: You've go to stop with the remastered anniversary editions of CD's. Seriously. We've already bought Ten and Check Your Head and The Bends and we're no about to shell out any more for a couple of extra songs and the enhanced sonic experience of listening to these. Master these motherfuckers right the first time, and we'll have no qualms about buying them. Once.

Perfunctory Baseball Content
How wicked is it to have the mighty Blue Jays coming home after ripping it up in their first week and a half? And to an open SkyDome! (Allegedly!)

Here are the lefty-heavy pitching matchups for the weekend series versus the A's:

Tonight, 7:07 - David "Ginger Balls" Purcey (0-1, 4.65, 15Ks/9 BBs) versus Josh Outman (0-0, 6.23 ERA, 3 Ks/ 2 BBs)

Saturday, 1:07 - The Summer of the Tallet! (0-0, 6.14 ERA, 9 Ks / 4 BBs) versus Trevor Cahill (0-1, 2.35 ERA, 4 Ks / 8 BBs)

Sunday, 1:07 - LL Cool Rick'Ro (1-0, 2.57 ERA, 7 Ks / 2 BBs), versus Dallas Braden (1-1, 3.75 ERA, 6 Ks / 2 BBs)

It's going to be a beautiful weekend, so either get your keyster down to the park, or fire up your best transistor radio, enjoy the weather and listen in to Jerry and Alan as they describe the goin's on.

Welcoming home our conquering heroes

After a 5-2 road trip and a 8-3 jaunt through the American League Central, the Blue Jays return home with the best record in AL to start a weekend series against the Oakland A's tonight. But will they get the triumphant welcome that they deserve?

For all of the offseason angst, focusing on what a lost season this would be, the Jays are coming home leading the Majors in runs, hits, homers batting average and RsBI.

Given this auspicious start to the year, wouldn't it be nice to see some large and enthusiastic crowds at the Rogers Centre this weekend? It seems likely that the roof will be open, so here's hoping that people can pry themselves away from playoff hockey long enough to relish this moment.