These are a few...

Of my favourite things.

• Doc wearing the retro jersey tonight;
• VDub stickin' with the club and being a fan in the dugout;
• Hill liking no;
• Casey Janssen opening the wallet schedule (that folds out like 12 times) so he knows when he gets to see the team;
• the fact the Jays didn't get swept last night;
• AJ using NKOTB's "Hangin' Tough" as his warm up music for the last couple starts at home; and,
• OverFence calling AJ a dork for his song choice. Welcome to the Dork Club AJ.

I gotta say, as frustrating as AJ Burnett can be with his inconsistency on the mound, he seems like a baseball player who knows how to find the fun. Maybe a little too much sometimes, but at least he seems to be enjoying himself. From the funky Vanilla Ice style mohawk/'do to NKOTB to chilli races to pieing Doc last season (braver man than me!), I like the fact that he doesn't seem to forget that he gets payed a lot of money to play a game for a living and enjoys doing so.

That being said, I'd totally trade some of the fun for some more consistency. Last's night start wasn't too, too bad I guess.
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Doc Halladay (4-5) hits the hill against Zack Greinke (5-1). Should be a pretty good pitcher's game. Anyone else feel like Doc's record should be close to or better than Greinke's? Note to the offense...continue what you've been doing this week as far as hitting runners in from scoring position. You can quit leaving the bases loaded so much without scoring any runs, though. Check out Numbers Game in Bastian's blog.

Enjoy the series against the Royals.
Here's hoping the Jays can put a few wins together back-to-back.
With Doc on the mound, there's a good chance.
JaysGirl5

P.S. Don't worry...the team's back on the television airwaves starting tomorrow. Maybe they finally took Scott Carson's words from a few years back to heart. If you want more people to watch your team play, make them have to come out to the ballpark when the team's at home...Wonder if it worked?

Rome Wasn't Built in A Day...

And I think we should keep in mind that this early in the season, the division can't be lost in a day yet either. It's getting close to that point, but the fact that no one's run away with the AL East or Wild Card is helpful.

I'm at work right now watching the Angels take batting practice, so I thought it might as good a time as any to finally update again.

A lot's happened since I last blogged. We lost the Mactasticness, Eck, VDub and Squirrel (a.k.a. Jeremy Accardo. The nickname comes via my roomate.)

As much as last night's loss sucked (bases loaded 3 times and NO RUNS!!!), the Jays haven't faltered as much as many thought they would when Vernon went down on his wrist. Scutaro has been playing well as short in the absense of Eckstein and McDonald, so I applaud him there.

The Kevin Mench and Brad Wilkerson signings, well...I'll just leave those alone. I was having a Facebook wall post sessions with someone about the Jays. I'll summarize it for you because I think it makes sense. My comments will be in purple.

- When Vernon went down I thought if only Reed were still here. Reed doesn't do any one thing exceptionally, not enough to be an everyday player. You don't need all-stars at every position, but a nice mix of all-stars and regular joe work horses.

- Enough bargain bin shopping, and start using what you've got. Adam Lind not being called up to play in the outfield everyday (at least while Vernon's on the DL) shows a lack of direction and bad management. I blame J.P. Riccardi for the lack of depth in position players in the minors and we need to have a manager with more presence, instead of a GM.

There was more, but that sums most of it up. I know I was echoing thoughts from Jamie Campbell, but I do whole heartedly agree. If Adam Lind is supposed to be the left-fielder of the future (which pre-season signings and in season moves have set up nicely for him to be so), why not get him more service time the majors? He's proved he can play here before and not giving him the chance shows a complete lack of faith. If I were Adam Lind, even though baseball's a business and not personal, I'd have a hard time believing anything Riccardi or Gibbons say to him about him being the everyday LF in years to come.

I should get back to work. I'm trying to post most and keep on top of the things that happen between posts so I can comment on them if I feel the need. It just seems like when I have the time, there's not much to say and when I don't have the time there is.

• Jon Lester for pitching a no-hitter.
• Rod Barajas for driving 5 runs in one game via the long ball; and,
• Doc and Jesse for coming in an pitching some great relief over the weekend. Too bad only people with Sportsnet East got to watch you, Doc. Stupid hockey.

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Shaun Marcum takes the mound against Jon Garland. This should be a pretty good pitching match up. Both pitchers come in with 4 wins, but Garland has 3 losses to Shaun's 2. By far, Shaun's 2.50 ERA blasts Garland's (4.32) out of the ballpark.

Enjoy the game, even though it's not on TV. Try not to freeze or get soaked in the crappy weather in S. Ont tonight.
JaysGirl5

P.S. I've just gotta say...I finally figured out the sentiment I was trying to capture about Yankee fans last year. It's the same mentality that Canadians seem to have about hockey. Entitlement.

So to all the Canadians out there, just 'cause hockey's our sport doesn't mean we're entitled to anything. Yankee fans, same deal different sport. Just 'cause your team has one of the most documented franchises and largest fan bases, doesn't mean you're entitled to squat. You're a baseball team just like the rest of us.

May is a new month...

And THANK the baseball gods for it. April sure brought showers...showers of crapiness.

I think this is the first time I might be able to slightly understand why Leaf fans get so frustrated the years their team has the talent to win. To watch the Jays as much as I do and to see them not win the way they have...it really is heartbreaking. At least last year you could explain the lack of production on the injuries and playing time to those who might not have been the best to help up the teams offensive numbers. Scott Carson says it much better than I here. I will say that I agree about the Mickey Brantley move. Not that I dislike Denbo, but hey...dude...if you're M.O. isn't working, try something else. I do have a sort of funny experience with the new job, Denbo and some of the Jays...I might get to it later in this post, but I'll share it eventually.

I will say that I've been happy with the Jays playing more small ball this season so far. True, this might be because they have to try and get something going more to score runs, but hey...I'm just hoping that if somehow they do start hitting for more extra bases and/or power, they don't forget how to use their speed. With Rios now hitting at the top of the order, there's more speed up top to be used. I've been liking Hill in the 2 hole, but it does seem like he starts to press when he's in that slot for too long. I think changing him out of the 2 for lower in the order, and putting Eck up in the 2 could be a nice (small) tweak to the lineup to keep everyone on their toes. At this point, I don't think anyone's done enough offensively (except maybe Rolen) to be guaranteed a certain spot in the lineup.

Rock ons...

• to the return of Mactasticness in the top of the 5th inning tonight. On Johnny...how I've missed your pretty skills;
• Shaun Marcum for 4 out of 5 quality starts this season, which I think it being 5 of 6 after tonight's game;
• Shaun Marcum for being a strikeout pitcher (2 outings with 8 strikeouts this year, tonight's with 9); and,
• Roy Hallaway for having 32 complete games in the last few years. More so that some whole pitching staffs in the MLB.

As much as Eckstein can be entertaining to watch and all...anyone else see an argument being made for Mactastic to get more playing/starting time? Considering all the low and close scoring games the Jays have played so far, you can't really take the defensive hit at short for the offensive boost (HAHA!) in the lineup. Yeah, really...what offensive boost. Both guys that were brought in to lead off...one's hardly seeing any action except from the bench and the other's been demoted in the lineup for someone the Jays already had. Anyone else missing Reed?...At least the Cubbies have kept up the tradition of being nice to ex-Jays.

The one thing I've been really happy with since my last post is the return of Lindy (Hop). Yeah, yeah...stupid nickname for Adam, but deal with it. I always figured that he would come up in September, and would take over LF from Stairs next season and Stairs would move (pretty much) into full-time DH mode once Thomas left. Stewart's only here a year, so he wouldn't be in the mix. I'm proud to say...it seems like the Jays have just moved up the plan I forsaw them following. I've always liked Lind. His defense was lacking when he first came up in Sept. a few seasons ago, but he's worked on it and he's gotten a lot better. Sure...he might never be as good as Toronto's favourite billy goat, but still...he has a really nice,natural swing, and is another left handed bat in a pretty right-handed heavy 25 man roster.

This just thought...maybe Reed Johnson will be the goat that brings the Cubs to the Series, instead of keeping them from it. Here's hopin' for them...

I think that's about all for me tonight. I'm at a retreat and I want to get back to actually watching the game. I'm going to be working the whole Tampa series so it should be interesting.

Mactasticness AGAIN tonight as Johnny grabs the ball deflected by Rollie's glove and gets the out in the top of the 8th. Dude...you're Mactastic. No other word covers it.

Enjoy the rest of the series against the Sox. I'm not sure how much I'll actually get to watch, but it should be good.

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Jesse Listch goes tomorrow against John Danks. Good luck Pinky...getting your 4th win. Keep the score down, let your d go to work like we know it can...and you just might get it.

Stay dry this weekend, and keep hoping the Jays can win as much in May as they lost in April. So far...so good, I guess?

JaysGirl5

P.S. I'll tell the Denbo story next chance I get.