As the regular season for the 2010 MLB campaing nears its close, the Blue Jays can be forgiven if their fans grow frustrated with a one win-two loss, or vice-versa scenario every series.
Pundits prognosticated a dreadful August with multiple series with the Tampa Bay Rays, New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox on the horizon, but the Blue Jays never questioned their ability to play with the big boys. That attitude has seen them with their head barely above the water, playing to an 11-9 record (minus the August 1st Cleveland game), but the question becomes, 'did anyone even expect this team to win 5 of these games at the start of the year?'
With Halladay on a one-way flight to Philadelphia, the team officially entered 'rebuild' mode, which gives them an automatic out by exclaiming in three or four years, the Jays will contend.
The fans surely showed their displeasure at that grim prospect by staying away from the Skydo- er... Rogers Centre early on, but something happened that even team officials hadn't expected to occur this early. The birds started winning. And often.
Fans north of the 49th parallel have always needed a bit of a shove to get out to the American pastime of baseball, and there is no better enticement than a winning team.
As of August 25th, the Jays are technically that winning team, but their 65-60 record is a far cry from contending come October, and perhaps a more troubling prospect, it is not dissimilar to their record of years past. Always levelling out at .500 baseball has been this Toronto team's trademark in recent years; always hanging around, but never quite reaching the upper echelons needed to truly challenge the elite.
But something's different this year. There's a certain 'feel' going around the ballpark that has fans and players much more excited about a 65-60 record than perhaps they should be.
Maybe it's the new faces in the club. Yunel Escobar, full of raw talent arrives amidst attitude accusations, but has largely stayed out of the negative spotlight, pelting in three homeruns since his arrival.
Maybe its the largely unforeseen rise of a solid group of a stellar pitching cast, a major perceived weakpoint in April. Brett Cecil, Shaun Marcum, Brandon Morrow, and Ricky Romero are the new make up of a young pitching squad that has the rest of the MLB whispering about a pseudo-Tampa Bay Rays ascent of talented throwers.
Maybe its the utterly inexplicable meteoric rise of MLB home-run leader Jose Bautista with 40 on the campaign so far, after last season, slicing only 13 over the fences. And honestly, when was the last time you saw the acronym 'TOR' beside the leading player on the much-esteemed HR Leaders list?
It just 'feels' good.
Add in the fact Jays GM Alex Anthopolous is gunning for younger players, and is willing to pay the price at a trade he deems advisable to his ball club and you have the recipe for a club, which already gives opposing teams fits with its 190+ homers on the year to lead the majors, a very large upside when looking into the crystal ball for years to come.
Pundits prognosticated a dreadful August with multiple series with the Tampa Bay Rays, New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox on the horizon, but the Blue Jays never questioned their ability to play with the big boys. That attitude has seen them with their head barely above the water, playing to an 11-9 record (minus the August 1st Cleveland game), but the question becomes, 'did anyone even expect this team to win 5 of these games at the start of the year?'
With Halladay on a one-way flight to Philadelphia, the team officially entered 'rebuild' mode, which gives them an automatic out by exclaiming in three or four years, the Jays will contend.
The fans surely showed their displeasure at that grim prospect by staying away from the Skydo- er... Rogers Centre early on, but something happened that even team officials hadn't expected to occur this early. The birds started winning. And often.
Fans north of the 49th parallel have always needed a bit of a shove to get out to the American pastime of baseball, and there is no better enticement than a winning team.
As of August 25th, the Jays are technically that winning team, but their 65-60 record is a far cry from contending come October, and perhaps a more troubling prospect, it is not dissimilar to their record of years past. Always levelling out at .500 baseball has been this Toronto team's trademark in recent years; always hanging around, but never quite reaching the upper echelons needed to truly challenge the elite.
But something's different this year. There's a certain 'feel' going around the ballpark that has fans and players much more excited about a 65-60 record than perhaps they should be.
Maybe it's the new faces in the club. Yunel Escobar, full of raw talent arrives amidst attitude accusations, but has largely stayed out of the negative spotlight, pelting in three homeruns since his arrival.
Maybe its the largely unforeseen rise of a solid group of a stellar pitching cast, a major perceived weakpoint in April. Brett Cecil, Shaun Marcum, Brandon Morrow, and Ricky Romero are the new make up of a young pitching squad that has the rest of the MLB whispering about a pseudo-Tampa Bay Rays ascent of talented throwers.
Maybe its the utterly inexplicable meteoric rise of MLB home-run leader Jose Bautista with 40 on the campaign so far, after last season, slicing only 13 over the fences. And honestly, when was the last time you saw the acronym 'TOR' beside the leading player on the much-esteemed HR Leaders list?
It just 'feels' good.
Add in the fact Jays GM Alex Anthopolous is gunning for younger players, and is willing to pay the price at a trade he deems advisable to his ball club and you have the recipe for a club, which already gives opposing teams fits with its 190+ homers on the year to lead the majors, a very large upside when looking into the crystal ball for years to come.
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