A smashing start to the season

So that wasn't scary at all, was it?

The joint was still buzzing on Sunday from the Prime Minister of Defense's jaw-dropping play to throw out Dustin Pedroia from his stomach. (It looked to us like Pedroia was safe but who are we to question the umpire when he makes a call in favour of our team?)

And then, moments later, we see our Gold Glove calibre shortstop and our Gold Glove winning centerfielder colliding while laying out at top speed to snag a Kevin Youkilis blooper. While the two lay motionless on the turf for what seemed like an eternity, visions of Vernon's prolonged absence from the lineup flashed through our mind like a fever dream. Thankfully, both stayed in the game and appear to be fine.

And from this moment of panic came a moment of levity in the ninth. After a similar pop-up was hit to just about the same area, and the entire stadium collectively held its breath as McDonald furiously waved everyone off to make the catch, the big screen showed Vernon and the PMoD sharing a laugh at the fact that they had managed to avoid a demolition derby in the outfield this time.

We're glad they could laugh, because we're going to be on edge about injuries all freakin' season.

An ugly way to learn Roy Halladay's limits

That was the most painful half-inning of the year.

Sure, Jeremy Accardo spit that bit over the weekend against the Devil Rays, but that was quick and painful, like tearing of a band-aid. Tonight's four-run ninth inning was prolonged agony, like trying to pass a kidney stone.

It's almost hard to fathom that a bullpen that's been as good as the Jays' this season would hand over two ninth inning 4-1 leads in three days.

What was Gibby thinking?
We've been pretty amazingly civil to Gibby over the past few months, but we've got two nasty words for him right about now: Grady Little.

Halladay looked gassed in the eighth tonight, so running him back out there for the ninth - even if he insisted that he could go - was just moronic. Even if Halladay is absolutely nails, and a fierce competitor, it is incumbent on the manager to step in and, you know, manage his team once in a while. As if to compound his mistake, Gibby sends out Casey Janssen to face a tough lefty with a man on, while leaving Scott Downs in the pen. We're willing to bet at least a tasty pint that Gibby claims that he "had a hunch".

Graceful exits?
Troy Glaus hobbled off the field in the second tonight. We assume that he'll be gone for a while.

Johnny Mac, at $2 million per?
We love the Prime Minister of Defense as much as the next guy, but $2 million per season (as is being reported by ESPN's Buster Onley) seems a little cuckoo. (And we say that even with immeasurable love for tonight's unbelievable shovel-from-the-glove double play.)

Johnny Mac, Gold Glove Love?
And speaking of Johnny Mac, Oakland A's manager Bob Geren pumps up the case for his Gold Glove in an LA Times article. Though the article is supposed to be on Orlando Cabrera's chances of winning the award, Geren drops some serious (and hard to refute) knowledge on the PMoD.

"Errors should not be the criteria," Oakland Manager Bob Geren said. "Fielding percentage is one of the worst averages there is. It doesn't tell you anything about range, positioning. I think the guy in Toronto [John McDonald] is the best, myself. Every major league shortstop is good. McDonald is amazing to me."