A League of His Own - A-Rod Opts Out

A-Rod is bigger than Major League Baseball and certainly bigger than the World Series. That had to be his secondary message yesterday as he announced that he was opting out of his contract despite the MLB protocol that teams not make major announcements during the World series. But I guess he is not a team (yet).

Given his decision to leave a team that could absorb his contract and build a winning team, he will soon be back in the Texas scenario -- toiling at the bottom of the standings somewhere but collecting big cheques. At least Barry Bonds got into that scenario in part because he wanted to play in his hometown. For A-Rod, there seems to be nothing driving his career decisions apart from being the highest paid person in the world. To do the math, A-Rod has less character than Barry Bonds.

Put a bow on this season

The Red Sox are champs. Again.

And with a team built around Ellsbury, Papelbon and Gregg Zaun's favorite, Dustin Pedroia, the Blue Jays may well find themselves looking up at the Boston nine in the standings for quite some time.

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.)

Matt Holliday might win the MVP...

...but dude cannot slide head-first to save his life.

No excuses for Rockies' bush-league mistake (Dan Wetzel, Yahoo Sports)

Jeff Blair rocks the aux box

Based on his monumental and outstanding blogging throughout last night's Game 1 laugher, we have decided that Jeff Blair is our Best Friend Forever. (He has no say in the matter.)

We've noted before that Blairsy (that's what we'll call him when we go on picnics together) can read our mind. It's uncanny.

So imagine our surprise when he breaks out the analogy that St. Patrick's Day is "amateur night for drinkers." That's our line! We swear that we've been using that line for years. Mrs. Tao even rolls her eyes at it, she's heard it so many times.

Also, we really enjoyed Blairsy's use of the epithet "dill-weed". We just called our boss "dill-weed", just because Blairsy would have wanted us to.

Finally, Blairsy's assertion that Revolver and Rubber Soul were way better albums than Sgt. Pepper's was dead-on.

Given the noxious ink-stained turds that populate the Jays' mediasphere, it's refreshing to see the work of a writer with whom you would actually want to sit down, pour a couple of fingers of Bushmills, and talk baseball.

Blairsy, you're doin' a heckuva a job.

Jody Vance has had enough of your monkeyshines

Did you know that Jody Vance was still alive?

We didn't until today, when we saw that the one-time anchorthingy (and Hazel Mae archenemy) wrote a column for the commuter rag 24 Hours on how much she wants the Red Sox to "eat humble pie."

She then goes on to describe Manny as "egomaniacal". That's rich.

It's not as though we're Red Sox fans, but we just hate when the frickin' killjoys come down from on high to criticize players whenever they show an ounce of personality. We spent a good part of the Sox-Indians series laughing both at and with Manny, and we're not going to go all whitebread nostalgic for the time when the players didn't celebrate a home run until six years after they retired.

Come on Jody. We know you work for the Leafs now, but that doesn't mean that life can't have a little colour to it.

UPDATE: We seem to remember that Jody is the wife of Blue Jays Manager of Team Travel Mike Shaw Assistant GM Bart Given (d'oh!), who's supposed to be a heckuva a guy, and probably knows people who could have us banned from any MLB ballpark. So if we've offended, we're really sorry.

The Tao's World Series Predictions

Here are five solid lock predictions for the 2007 RoxSox World Series:

1. Our pal the Red Sox fan will inadvertently (or so he'll claim) verbally or physically abuse us at least once in the middle of a wild celebration dance.
2. We will be treated to three hours worth of footage of pitchers blowing into their hands.
3. Dick Griffin will make an allusion to the fact that the Jays passed on Troy Tulowhatever in the draft. (Bob Elliot's already beaten him to the punch.)
4. We'll have to miss at least one game in the Series, having already used up all of our "Get Out of Social Events with Mrs. Tao in Favour of Baseball Playoff Nights with our Scumbag Friends" cards for one October.
5. The Red Sox will win, and the Massholes will love it.

Sour Grapes: Demuth put the Squeeze on Carmona

This might sound like sour grapes, but we spent a good part of Saturday cursing Dana Demuth's microscopic strike zone, and how he was squeezing the Indians Fausto Carmona. Cheers to the Mockingbird's Jon Hale for dialing up MLB's pitch FX system to confirm as much.

Not that it matters now.

Minor League Musical Chairs

There’s some chatter coming from Syracuse (specifically, the Post-Standard’s Matt Michael) that they’ve had enough of their affiliation with the Blue Jays, and their tradition of losing AAA teams. Moreover, they are salivating at the possibility of hooking up with the Mets for the 2009 season.

The Jays’ two-year deal with Syracuse expires after next season, and there will be a brief window in September when MLB teams and minor league cities can renegotiate their affiliation agreements. While many clubs have maintained their affiliations for decades, there has been a significantly higher degree of turnover in these agreements as of late. In 2007 alone, the Phillies, Yankees, and Mets all severed ties with their longtime AAA cities (Scranton, Columbus and Norfolk, respectively).

According the Post-Standard’s report, cities in play for 2009 may include Columbus (Washington), Buffalo (Cleveland), New Orleans (Mets), Rochester (Minnesota), Indianapolis (Pittsburgh), and Syracuse.

Obviously, the best fit out of those cities for the Jays would be Buffalo, but given the long-term success that the Bisons have had in that market, they might not want to hitch their wagons to a franchise which has produced 22 losing AAA seasons over their 30 year history.

If the music stops and the Jays are stuck with New Orleans in 2009, it would be nothing short of disastrous. A move to the Pacific Coast League would leave Jays prospects without exposure to their chief rivals’ prospects, and the expense and inconvenience of shipping players back and forth between New Hampshire, New Orleans and Toronto would be significant.

Then again, there is a AAA-level ballpark in a city with dozens of flights between it and Toronto that may well be vacant in 2009. Right Carl?

Check Out My Draft Fan Letter to Dick Griffin's Mailbag For Next Week

The Tribe - Awesomely Evil!

Remember the whole "Good vs. Evil" meme that we tried to start for the Division Series? Well, the Indians are proving to be amazingly evil, in the best possible way.

The G and M's Jeff Blair blogs this morning that the Tribe has invited country music strumpet Danielle Peck (seen above...mrrroawr!) to sing the National Anthem before tonight's game...a game to be started by Josh Beckett, who just happened to have had something of a dalliance at some point with Ms. Peck.

That, friends, is what we call gamesmanship.

Griffin makes an oopsie

As noted by Neate at Out of Left Field, Dick Griffin made an easily avoidable error in yesterday's column when he wrongly asserted that Kenny Lofton made a World Series appearance with the Tribe in 1997. Lofton did play for the Tribe's 1995 AL Champs, but was in the ATL by 1997.

We're sure he does not regret the error.

Also, Dick has continued with the mailbag through the fall, but to be perfectly honest, we couldn't be arsed to rehash it.

Bobby Kielty - Masshole saviour

Our good pal the Sox fan has taken to the exclamation "The Massholes are lovin' it!" In fact, he drops it pretty much a dozen times per game.

A squib single? "The Massholes are lovin' it!"

Routine ground ball, 4-3? "The Massholes are lovin' it!"

Manny, against all odds, making a behind-the-neck-cap-flying-off catch? "The Massholes are lovin' it!"

Well, the Massholes can't be loving the fact that the lynch pin of their comeback is former Jays trading chip and flaming ginger Bobby Kielty, who the Projo Sox Blog says will get the start over all $15 million worth of J.D. Drew.

The decision to start Kielty is a numbers play, as he is 9 of 29 with two homers, four doubles and 7 RsBI against Game 5 starter C.C. Sabathia. Still, there's something amiss when your big off-season free agent pick up has to sit because he can't hit lefties.

(Or so says us, the fans of the team that couldn't hit nothin' all year, no way no how.)

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The subtleties are not Joe Buck's strong suit

While we're fully focussed on the booth rather than the field today, a quick note on Joe Buck, and his comments about Hideki Okajima on Saturday. Although we were almost completely asleep/drunk at that point, we recall Buck discussing Okajima's career with the Nippon Ham Fighters.

This is all good, we suppose, but Buck kept referring to the team as the "Ham Fighters", as though they are mighty warriors, who bravely defend the people of Nippon from the evil canned hams that attack the young and the aged.

In fact, the team is the "Fighters", not the "Ham Fighters". They are owned by Nippon Ham...hence, the Nippon-Ham Fighters.

Still, we'd love to see Wayne Coyne working on a concept album all about the Ham Fighters, and their many historic battles.

Speaking of Ham Fighting
Former Blue Jay Ryan Glynn won Game 2 for the Nippon Ham nine in the Japanese League's Pacific League Championship Series against the evil Bobby Valentine's Chiba Lotte Marines.

For the life of us, we can't remember who the hell Ryan Glynn is.