Don't tell me the Jays are doing well in the Fake Games

La la la la la! We can't hear you!

When you say that José Bautista is hitting home runs, and so is Vernon Wells, and so is Randy Ruiz, we can't hear you. And don't even bother trying to tell us that Shaun Marcum pitched well in his first outing, or that Dustin McGowan looked like he might be showing some progress and may be on his way back. We're not going to hear you.

We're blocking out any such good news in the early going because we wouldn't want such news to find purchase in our mind, and start to grow visions of success. We would prefer to look at this all as a fluke, and to pretend that the Jays are playing bantam-level players in out-sized big league uniforms.

We should know better than to get enthusiastic in March. This is a lesson that should have been driven home by last year's squad, which was still sitting in first in May before completely falling apart and playing like the worst team in the Majors for the final three months of the season.

Still, the hopeless romantic in us wants to believe that there is something to the things that we're hearing out of Dunedin.

Marginalia - Notes on how we make editorial choices
We'd initially written something here about "don't let us look at the Fake Games results". Then we went looking for a photo of someone with a blindfold on. And that's when we realized that there are a lot of effed-up pictures of blindfolded people on the internet, and we didn't want to parse through those pictures anymore.

A weekend in The Show
So we picked up our copy of MLB 10 The Show this weekend, which was a very new and interesting experience after having played the MLB 2K games on the Wii for the past several years. If there is one thing that a uniform nerd like myself could fully appreciate, it was playing my first game and seeing Jo-Bau in his new number 19, and Randy Ruiz wearing his new number 21. The rosters hadn't quite been updated to the point of having Kevin Gregg in the bullpen, although we'll take that as a positive at this point. At least we didn't have to see last year's staff ace still on the roster, taunting us with his digital presence.

Now if we can only get the hang of this whole pitching meter thing. Because that shit is driving us nuts.

Halladay is a video game animal

We're not precisely sure what to make of this screenshot from MLB Superstars.

At a glance, it appears as though Roy Halladay has morphed into a werewolf or is wearing a bear's head, is holding a giant chili pepper, and is observing a field in desperate need of landscaping and better zoning requirements so as to keep travelling carnivals from pitching their tents in the infield.

Oh, and somehow, Daniel Cabrera is the normal one in this photo. Go figure.

The DH Dilemma - Tito, meet Cito

The dilemma faced by the Red Sox in trying to make room for all of their bats in the NL ballpark is hardly unique. Most years, the AL champ is forced to sit someone they'd rather not for at least a game or two. But the Gordian knot that Tito Francona had to solve this year was particularly complex. (Baseball Prospectus reports that he'll ultimately sit Youkilis in favour of Papi in the field.)

Which brings us back to the Jays. (Remember way back when this was still a Jays blog?)

Back in 1993, Cito Gaston was faced with the same sort of decision when he had to choose between Paul Molitor and AL Batting Champ John Olerud for Game 3 of the Series in the Vet. Cito ultimately settled on Molitor, who rewarded his decision by going 3 for 4 with a homer and three RsBI.

Cito's plan before that game (as noted to the New York Times' Murray Chass) was to sit the eventual World Series MVP in Games 4 and 5. But Molitor's performance forced his hand into moving him to third for those games, a position he hadn't patrolled on a regular basis in four years. Then again, Cito's choice was either taking a chance with Molly, or sitting him and playing Ed Babb-Sprague. In retrospect, the decision seems so clear.

In looking back at the 1993 Series, we're impressed with how aggressive a manager Cito was. There is this erroneous notion that is floated out there that he merely filled in a lineup card full of all-stars, and let them have at it.

Armchair Managing the Sox: If we were Tito, we would have moved Youk to second, Pedroia to short, and played Papi at first. Sure, three-quarters of your infield would have been out of their regular positions, but what's it gonna matter if you're up ten runs?

(Then again maybe we've played too much MLB 2K6 lately...where we play Travis Hafner in right field and let Ryan Howard catch.)

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Joe Torre doesn't care for your video game monkeyshines

Yankees manager Joe Torre got his hernia in a snit this week, when a sixth inning jumbotron video game promotion degenerated into a festival of A-Rod-targeted beanballs.

"It's ridiculous," Torre said after the Yanks beat Toronto, 4-1. "Some of the videos they have period, it's all about violence. There are certain cities, one of our players gets knocked down and they start laughing and cheering. I don't understand it."

"To me, this game is about playing it and not about hurting somebody. To me, if you show it at a ballpark, you're telling the youngsters it's OK to do it and that's not a good message to send. I don't know if it's hockey - it's a little more of a violent game than ours - and I'm not sure if that's a carryover in what they do or how they promote.

"It certainly lacks good sense, I think."

Torre offered no comment on the Chili Pepper Races.

Truth be told, we'd like to see the promotions staff figure a way next year to include Alex Rodriguez in a jumbotron game of Leisure Suit Larry. That would really set Torre off. (Supposing, of course, that Rodriguez is any of Torre's concern next year...somehow, we don't imagine that he'll have the option of hitting A-Rod eighth anytime beyond this season.)

Joe Torre brushes back Jays' A-Rod video game (NY Daily News)

Useless Diversion Part 2: Test Your Reaction Time

Here's a link to a site that is supposed to give you an idea of how quickly you need to react to hit major league pitching. I much prefer the reaction test experience of Dr. Johnny Fever and Venus Flytrap givden by a state trooper (see below).

A Diversion As The Jays Head Towards Their Eighth Straight Loss

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