Don't forget about George

The Toronto Blue Jays single season home run record is dead. Long live the new king.

Jose Bautista's blast over the Monster confirmed his place in the history books for the Jays, his 48 (and counting) home runs becoming the new standard for long ball proficiency. We've spoken ad nauseum about the season Bautista is having - here and everywhere in the blogosphere - but not one word is undeserved. With all the positives we can take from theis season - AA carrying out The Plan, the development of the rotation, a strong draft, the Escobar trade, etc - Bautista's season is indeed the highlight of 2010.

So with so many words already devoted to our now and future king, how about a few remembering the outgoing monarch?

In a sense, I'm sad to see George Bell's name erased from the record books. Not because of any negative feelings for Bautista - not at all - but speaking personally, Bell represented that classic throwback slugger. He was the cleanup hitter and Big Scary Bat for the teams that cemented my Blue Jay fandom - that early-to mid 80's Blue Jays club that was deep, talented, and easy to cheer for.

As The Star's Dave Perkins captures, Bell was a magnet for media attention, whether he liked it or not. Charging the mound with a karate kick? "Kiss my purple butt?" Refusing to DH despite his outfield butchery? C'mon. George Bell was Manny before Manny. Want more George? Check out this classic from the SI Vault. Boom. Now there's a good read.

....And in many ways, Bautista is the new Bell. A Latin slugger leading a team on the rise, perhaps misunderstood by those outside the Blue Jay universe, but respected and revered by his teammates as an unofficial clubhouse leader. A middle of the order hitter on a team trying to break through. A player in search of respect from a disbelieving media. A dude who just keeps on slugging despite it all.

So where do we go from here? Long-term contract this offseason, or a few more months of production in 2011 before discussing? Winter trade chip or "core player"? More of the same production-wise, or precipitous drop-off (...let's ignore the fact that after Bell's record-setting season, he never again posted an OPS > .800, OK? OK.)?

Like everything else in the Blue Jays world, it'll make for an interesting storyline as September turns to October turns to the offseason.

That's just an unfortunate choice of words...

Caught this on last night's highlights, and we're happy to see that it has been captured for posterity. (h/t to Best Week Ever)

Other quick and dirty stuff
-Apparently, Pete Gammons went off on Jays fans on ESPN. Anyone know what he said?

-Is this guy going to be the next President of the Blue Jays? The NatPost's Jeremy Sandler says the Jays are looking at the Suns' Rick Welts for the post. A very impressive resumé, but really? Another Phoenix guy in Toronto?

-At least the Tigers fan who commented here has a bit of a sense of humour about last night's tomfoolery: "Who ever the heck it was throwing those baseballs at Anderson out in left, the Tigers need to sign him quick!"

-Geddy Lee. At the Jays opener. In a Strong Bad hat. Awesome.

-Finally, this awesome video which confirms two things: Chris Berman is just awful, and George Bell had some wicked quick hands. Skip ahead to 0:48 to see the Jays highlights. (A Big League fist bump to Big League Stew for finding this, because we fondly remember that game like it was...well, something less than 21 years ago.)

Is the Prime Minister of Defense ready to take his walk in the snow?

There was some interesting back and forth during yesterday's simultaneous live tweet-fests on the possibility that John McDonald could get squeezed out of the picture before the team goes north.

Both Jeff Blair and Jordan Bastian noted that the team is beginning to look at Joe Inglett as a possibility at short, and that the team doesn't think it can carry a bat as weak as Johnny Mac's much longer. When asked if Inglett has the arm to play short (a position he's played only 45 times as a professional and never in the Majors), Blair noted that he believes he does, but also "Most importantly, he has the bat".

Also in the mix, according to Bastian, will be José Bautista.

It's a bit sad to consider this as a possibility, given how much we (as most other Jays bloggers) love seeing McDonald's otherworldly defensive prowess. At the same time, it seems as though he has actually regressed at the plate, and the notion that soon-to-be 34 year-old McDonald is suddenly going to sort it all out and become an adequate hitter is at best wishful thinking. This isn't to say that it is the end of the line for Johnny Mac, but our guess is that it will take an injury or a trade out of town for him to see big league playing time this year.

It's funny, but considering how much we hate all this shite about gritty gamers, and heart and soul guys, and players who get themselves dirty, we've had much more of a soft spot for McDonald then we could have imagined. Then again, we don't think it's an exaggeration to say that he is the single greatest defensive player we've ever seen on the Blue Jays (and yes, that list includes Alomar, O-Dog, and Tony Fernandez.)

George Bell: Still awesome, still wearing his hat like that
Big League Stew caught up with George Bell around the Dominican Republic's WBC camp, where he had stepped out for a butt (and not a purple butt, we should point out). The impromptu interview is short but sweet, and worth the read for anyone who ever emulated his rocking batting stance.

Regal ballparks and royal pains

Why is it that we love seeing Kauffman Stadium so much? By foregoing the ostentatious retro-wankery of some newer ballparks, the home of the Royals remains a classic, and the only remaining stadium of its generation (with the exception of the soon-to-be-mothballed Yankee Stadium, which was redone in 1976).

One of our favorite Blue Jays moments occurred at the then-Royals Stadium on Opening Day, 1988. George Bell was fresh off an MVP season and an eventful offseason that saw the Jays trying to nudge him into the DH role, leading to his now classic invitation for the team's brass to "kiss my purple butt". (Update! Actually, Neate has the timeframe for this quote correct in the comments. Still, we always prefer our memory of events to reality.)

The Jays pushed the issue, with Bell DHing that day, Lloyd Moseby in left field, and the eminently forgettable Sil Campusano in centre. Bell responded by cranking out three dingers in the Jays' 5-3 with over Kansas City.

In the end, Bell only DHed six more times that year, but his production took a nosedive, as he finished the season with 24 HRs and 97 RsBI, a far cry from his remarkable 1987 campaign.

Enough with the nostalgia...here's your series preview
Tonight, the Jays get their first chance to knock around Gil Meche, who bailed on the Jays for the much brighter horizons in KC. Opposing him is Shaun Marcum, who will make $386,100 this year, versus Meche's $7.4 million (in the first year of a stupid five-year, $55 million deal that J.P. Ricciardi would have been too happy to hand over as well). Marcum, it should be noted, has Meche beat statistically in every category except Ks (but not Ks/9, don't you know.)

The Jays have taken two of three games in the series so far this year, but the Royals have a knack of beating the Jays at inopportune times, as they did last July when the Jays were surging and within three games of the AL East lead. The 13-3 shellacking on July 7 was the one of the lowest points of 2006. It also marked the last game for Pete Walker, who gave up four hits and five unearned runs, and was promptly sent into hiding.

Bring the Focus Back on the Players

With all of the bad behaviour on the part of baseball fans in this blog and others recently, we thought that it was time to revisit some bad behaviour by players over the years.

I found this article containing the top ten mound charges here (including a video of our own George Bell, but not the one of the karate kick on Bruce Kison).

Check out some more nasty incidents at RBI Baseball's Hall of Shame.