And on the 8th Day...

I will be honest. Lately I have been finding it hard to blog the Jays. Yes, I'm incredbily happy that the lineup they wanted to have coming out of Spring Training is back, minus BJ Ryan. Other than that, well...

I'm not going to say this season was a loss or is lost yet, but I don't think it's gone any way anyone thought it would, even once they got everyone back. Well, except for maybe the fans who say they're fans, but just talk bad about the team no matter what happens. (Someone will have to show me the definition of "fan" that includes people like that.)

These past 7 games against the Yankees and the RSox have been a little tough to watch/listen to, but watch/listen I have. I still get itchy if I'm not watching/listening to the game, but there hasn't been much to say about the team that hasn't already been said, you know?

Except this...

I realise the season is a marathon, not a sprint, and a sign of a good team is how they hang in when things don't go as planned. In that measure, I think the Jays did admirably.

The injuries the Jays suffered this year aren't little ones like pulled hamstrings, to paraphrase Gregg Zaun on JaysConnected. They've been major, resulting in 5 surgeries and over 500 man-games lost (at least). Not to mention, not having anywhere near the team that was built to compete everyday.

In 162 games, it's bound to happen that the everyday squad an organization puts together can't be on the field everyday. Whether it's because a player becomes day-to-day, needs a day off, or has a small injury. That understandable. That's expected, but not what the Jays have suffered. Yes, everyone suffers injuries, but how many other teams this season haven't been able to put their everyday squad on the field until after the all-star break? Some will mention the Yankees. Yes, their starting rotation was decimated by injuries. Sure, they're on their 3rd or 4th 1st baseman. But they got their team back together a lot sooner than the Jays. It's not close to what the Jays suffered.

I'm not trying to downplay the contributions of the guys who filled in for the Jays. Casey Janssen, Jeremy Accardo (balk aside), Shaun Marcum, Adam Lind, and Matt Stairs had break out contributions for the Jays and did way more than was expected of them before the injuries. Not to mention the great contributions of dependable guys like John McDonald and Howie Clark.

But at the end of the day (or the season), there's still a reason the everyday lineup is the everyday lineup. And the truth of the matter is, we have yet to see what this everyday lineup can do.


To prevent myself from blogging forever, here's my best attempt to condense my point.

I get the arguments people are making that the Jays should just call it quits or they're not good enough to win, but I don't agree. We haven't been able to see this team* in action. I don't understand how the Jays can have been expected to make great leaps and bounds in at least the Wild Card in 10 games since getting their everyday squad back, when other teams haven't been able to do it all season with pretty much their every day team.

Is it because: they spend more money now; they're always compared to the Yankees and RSox; for whatever reason, people* in/around Toronto don't want them to succeed?

Who knows. I sure don't, and it's frustrating as hell.

End of rant. There's more I wish to say, but I think this gets my point across.
JaysGirl5



Notes: When I say team, I mean the everyday lineup the Jays originally designed. When I say people, I also GREATLY include the Toronto media that covers the Jays.