So there we were, all happy and giddily watching guys hammer balls all over the Bronx... Enjoying the moment as the three separate panels of ESPN experts and insiders and blowhards essentially hand over the Home Run Derby title Josh Hamilton based on his extraordinary first round, only to have good Canadian boy Justin Morneau swoop in and walk away with it. Funny, that.After the anti-climatic thud of an ending, we ambled over to the area of the Tao Cave where the blog writing terminal sits to catch up on Blairsy's thoughts on the silliness.
Talk about thuds: We're treated to stories of Roy Halladay openly wondering about his future with the club.
Gulp.
One can hardly blame Doc for his frustration. On almost any day over the past six years, you'd have had a hard time arguing against him being the Jays best player. He has invariably fulfilled every promise made by his physical talents, and he has never sloughed off an inning or an at-bat. And yet, his great reward for that level of commitment to the team is to look around him and see players performing below expectations while the front office tries to balance the team's potential for competing in the AL East (or the AL in general) on a razor's edge by bringing in marginal players to fill in holes while other teams load up.
When you look at the great pitchers produced by the Blue Jays throughout their history, there is some solace in the fact that Dave Stieb or Jimmy Key or Pat Hentgen all have their World Series rings. Given Doc's importance to the franchise, the folks at Rogers (i.e. those above J.P. or Godfrey) had better make some decisions soon on whether if they are happy to continue to putter along as a middle of the pack team that hopes against hope for some catastrophe to befall the Red Sox/Yankees/AL Central, or if they are prepared to truly make the move into the league's elite.
Halladay's comments seem to have been shaded to the negative side by some of the media - I'm more focused on his "I wouldn't want to win anywhere more than here"-type comments.
ReplyDeleteCheck out Wilner's blog and the National Post, where his comments are able to stand on their own a littl better.
It's a fair point...if some of those writers (not mentioning any bearded former PR people in particular) approached this with the point of view that Halladay must really want to get the hell out, then anything that Doc said would be seen through that lens.
ReplyDeleteWe'll confess that this is a bit of an overreaction on our part. But it's really frickin' scary as a Jays fan to even hear him talking in these terms.
Of course, Roy has never been the sort to give prefab clichéed responses to questions, so maybe we shouldn't take this to be any sort of a shot across the bow.
But that line about it being like Groundhog Day, where every year they get together in Spring Training and say all the right things and then they go out and crap the bed...that's a bit concerning.
Are you fuckin' kidding me? He gone!
ReplyDeleteAnd I will help him pack, offer a big box of canned goods to his wife, and wish him well. He doesn't owe this franchise a fucking thing.
Bastards! You own the stadium and the media that broadcasts the games. Spend more than 100 mill and watch those revenues multiply. Takes money to make money.
just so I'm not forced to have myself committed, I'm choosing to believe Doc's comments are coming from a place of frustration only, and not interpreted as a desire to leave. That's fair, right? I mean, aren't we all frustrated as fuck just from watching this team?
ReplyDeleteDoc needs to be a Jays lifer, and thus management owes it to him to do everything they can to win now. If the plan is to blow it up and rebuild, you owe it to the guy to move him to a team that plans on contending.... as much as even the thought of that scenario instinctively activates my gag reflex.
For some odd reason, we just started sympathizing with Milwaukee Brewer fans who watched Paul Molitor win the World Series with the Blue Jays.
ReplyDeleteWow. That must have sucked for them.
doc is the jays' mats sundin...
ReplyDeletei think we all knew it was a possibility that he could walk once his current contract expires...it's the nature of the business...
he spoke his mind, hopefully the douchebags upstairs listen, and we, well, we can pray...
we're on the clock. we've got 2 years to make the playoffs and show that we have what it takes to win a title. doc loves it here, and if we can make the playoffs, we'll be fine, and he'll stay.
tao, is there anything we can offer the rockies for matt holliday?
ReplyDeleteHoly cow, tao, I hadn't made the connection until then. I'm feeling sympathetic too. I want that ring for Roy just as badly as anything I want in my own life, even if that means not with us. Crazy, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteOkay kids. Please respect the implied moratorium on discussions of the Maple Leaves or Sundins on the blog.
ReplyDeleteDon't make this a habit.
Aside from that, there no real sense in going after Holliday this season as he would be able to walk afterwards and they'd have to give up a mint to get him. (Think "Travis Snider" to start.)
Can you imagine, though, what would happen to the hockey pucks in the Toronto sports media if there was a "Halladay" and a "Holliday" on the same team? Their heads would explode and blast Spray-Net from Burlington to Oshawa.
(Of course, Jim Kelley already refers to Halladay as Holliday, so we're sure he'd be immune.)
apologies on the sundin reference. gotta plead ignorance. won't happen again.
ReplyDeleteNo worries. We hadn't actually banned Leafs references...but they are not encouraged.
ReplyDeleteBut if you mention Dan Daoust in the comments, we'll hunt you down.
ahaha, i'll keep that in mind. i think i'm one of the few people out there who is equally crazy about the leafs and jays...it works out perfectly because by the time opening day rolls around, the leafs are done playing.
ReplyDeleteand that's it, i shall not mention them again.
btw love that new pic of yours Tao.
The pic was designed by Shortwaveboy, the very slient partner on the blog. He's a genius.
ReplyDeleteA few things:
ReplyDeleteI know you guys love Blair, but he's on crack if he thinks Halladay should have started this game.
I think from now on, you should start calling Brandy Halladay "Doc's Box." Is that wrong?
Probably, but it did make me chuckle.
ReplyDelete