The dog days of spring (training)

Does that even make sense? Or are "dog days" strictly limited to the summer? Either way. Let's go with it.

I can't help but sense we've hit a lull in camp; maybe it's because the WBC has taken over, maybe it's because the media has already written off the season for the Jays, maybe it's because I'm suffering a little training camp burnout from following this team so closely.

If you're getting the impression that I'm setting up for a semi-mailed in post of random thoughts and scattered ideas, well, that makes you quite perceptive, my friend. Shall we?

Adam Dunn has a passion for baseball
....and it only took one game in Toronto to figure it out:

“If this is like the playoffs, I have to be in the playoffs,” said the Nationals’ Adam Dunn, who homered in the sixth inning. “Every pitch matters. In that ninth inning, if your blood’s not boiling and your heart’s not pounding, you don’t have a heartbeat. This is the best experience I’ve ever had in baseball, and it’s only one game.”

In other news, scientists everywhere are scrambling to recalibrate their irony detectors.

Johnny Mac has a roster spot locked down
....or so the story goes (for now, anyway), which begs the question - who doesn't? It appears the Jays don't have room for all of Johnny Mac, John Wayne Millar, the Tao's favourite super sleeper Jose Bautista, and versatile everyman Joe Inglett.....so who goes?

Oh, and a quick note on this:

"Personally, I want to be a better offensive player," McDonald said.

I mean, it's a nice sentiment, John, and you know we love you, but just....stop.

I'm still on the Brett Cecil bandwagon, but I've got my eye on you too, Brad Mills
Cito loves him. JP Ricciardi loves him. And now, apparently, the sage old pitching coach Brad Arnsberg loves him too.

Am I wrong to think that Mills could be a sort of Jimmy Key-lite for this organization? You know, a bit of a finesse lefty who isn't going to blow hitters away with a mid-90's heater or lock a lot of knees with a massive breaking ball, but a guy who just gets people out and is a cooool motherfucker along the way? Or is that a little too springtime get-your-head-outta-yer-ass-ish? If so, just leave me alone. My head is just fine where it is, thankyouverymuch.

The Tao has much better taste in music than I do
What can I say - he's a classy dude, and I'm....well, let's just take a look at the kind of youtube clips that I tend to pull up. Yeah, enough said.

(One of those - yes, just one - was a joke. Kind of. It's funny, right? Right??)