Reader and the Jays!

I’ve gotta say, it’s great to see the Toronto Blue Jays playing so well again, as they currently riding a team record 11 straight home wins, while sitting atop the American League East, looking down at the Yankees, Red Sox, Rays and Orioles.

I won’t pretend to be a hardcore fan.  I couldn’t quote you the box scores from last night’s game.  I have no idea what “WAR” is, though I understand it’s a statistic of some sort.  Baseball has more obscure stats than any other sport I know, which does seem a little like overkill to me.  If fact, it reminds me of this clip from one of my favourite baseball movies, the underrated “Mr. Baseball,” starring Tom Selleck!.

But I follow closely enough to know that the Bluebirds are on a roll right now, and hopefully they can keep the momentum going right into the postseason.

When it comes to my Jays fandom, I did follow them much more rabidly when I was a kid, back when Fergie Olver and Don Chevrier used to call the action on “Labatt’s Blue Jays Baseball.”

I still remember the theme…

I remember the collapse of ’85, when they blew a 3-1 series lead in the American League Championship Series, and fell  to the eventual World Series champion Kansas City Royals.

Four years later, it was Oakland A’s, led by the “Bash Brothers” – Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire, along with Rickey Henderson that knocked out the Jays in the ALCS, and then in ’91, Kirby Puckett and Twins knocked Toronto out of the postseason.

But then, in ’92… the breakthrough, as the Jays beat the Atlanta Braves to win Canada’s first World series title.  And then, the next season, Joe Carter got to “touch ’em all,” as his homer off Phillies reliever Mitch “Wild Thing” Williams, lifted the Jays to their second straight title.

After that, there were some lean years, though there were bright spots like Carlos Delgado slamming homers and the late, great “Doc” Halliday owning the mound, on his way to a Hall of Fame career.

Then, in 2015 and 2016, Jose Bautista, Josh Donaldson and Edwin Encarnacion were among the crew that led Toronto back to the ALCS, where they fell to Kansas City and Cleveland, respectively.

Over the past five seasons, Toronto has made three unsuccessful Wild Card appearances, but maybe this year, they get over the hump.

I’ve been playing slow pitch for years, and I wear #27, while mainly playing first base.  I originally picked the number in honour of one of my favourite Philadelphia Flyers, Ron Hextall.  But, I like to think of it as an unofficial tribute to Vladimir Guerrero Junior.  Suffice it to say, I don’t have the batting power of Vladdy Jr. (I’m a single and double machine), but he’s fun to watch.  I’m glad he and the Jays got a long term deal done!

I’m still bummed that we never got to see a potential Fall Classic between the Jays and Montreal Expos.  But we can dream that the Big Leagues will someday return to “La Belle Provence!”

And when Canada’s only Major League team goes on a deep playoff run, it’s always fun to see the excitement grow from coast to coast to coast!

I’ve been able to see the Jays play live three times.  The first was in 2005, when I made my first trip to Toronto to see Oasis, and it worked out that the Jays were playing a home series against Milwaukee.  Sitting a few rows off the field at first base, I got a good look at Roy Halliday as he struck out about eight Brewer batters in a loss.  Then, in 2015, I went to Minneapolis to see the Rolling Stones, and the Jays were playing a series at Target Field against the Twins during the weekend leading up to the show, so I met up with my GX94 neighbour Danny Ismond, and we caught the final two games of the series.  Some goo baseball, frosty beverages and a pork chop on a stick.  Baseball at its finest!

In the meantime, there’s only one song to sing…