Do You Like Apples?

Damn you Alex Anthopolous.  Damn you.

If a baseball beat reporter had written A Tale of Two Cities, it would have opened with “it was the best of times; yet ironically, it was the worst of times”.  It’s an old line, but hyperbole married with redundancy (he said twice) are the bench mark of effective sports journalism.  So is it irony or coincidence that Canada’s franchise playing Canada’s game has an arrogant American GM while Canada’s team playing America’s game has a Montreal native as its GM.  I would have thought that the Montrealer would be in charge of hockey where at least they have a tradition of winning occasionally.

It’s one of those things that keeps me up at night and leads to this conclusion:  As spring training approaches, I’m worried.

Oh, I know you’re asking “why?”.  The reason is actually quite simple.  You see, every fall I listen to Leaf fans talk about how things will be ‘different’ this year.  Of course, they never are.  Ever.  But they talk themselves into believing that that the odd player who had a breakthrough season last year won’t only repeat it, but will improve on it.  They’ll wish themselves into thinking that the exuberance and effort of the bottom 5 guys on the roster will make up for not having any top 5 guys on the roster.  At least none of any consequence.    They listen to their GM and coach talk about contending and ignore the fact that the team has finished 9^th, 9^th, 12^th, 12^th, and 15^th in the last 5 seasons. 

They watch.  They read.  Most importantly, they are crushed by losses because they really and sincerely believe. 

Belief in sport is the difference between having your heart broken and saying “oh well”.  It’s the difference between saying up until 2am to watch extra innings in Oakland and reading about the next day online.  Its the difference between Steve Simmons and a sports journalist. 

Now I’ve never been mistaken as a nay-sayer per se with the Jays, but years of JP drove a stake through the heart of my optimism.  Butchering the Delgado and Carpenter free agency periods, paying Koskie, Hinske and Gloss to play 3^rd base for other teams while paying Rolen to play for his, the distain for Toronto media, fans and players, the outright and admitted lies that he told...  honestly, it took its toll.  And to hear it all with that god damned, smug, Matt Damonesque, Boston accent was just too much for this cat.  How ya like ‘dem apples?

Then came the breath of fresh air.  AFA.  Alex Freakin Anthopolous.  Now instead of looking at every deal with the view of “here is how JP screwed up, again”, my view is now more along the lines of “finding the silver lining”.  If Alex did it, there must be something there that I’m not seeing or haven’t figured out yet. 

The Halladay deal?  The Jury is out, but the team was no worse without him (who saw that coming) and early returns look like it was good.  Are there questions about the Wells deal?  The Napoli to Texas trade? 

And look, for all of my ranting, all of JP’s moves weren’t bad.  He once traded John McDonald to the Tigers conditionally in July of ’05 and bought him back in November of the same year.  He got one of the best defensive short stops in the game.  Sure he already had him.  Sure he had to spend some of Ted Rogers hard earned money to pull off the stunning move of a acquiring a guy he already had.  Sure McDonald hits more like Sam Del Greco than Sam Caradonna, but a move is a move. 

Then we have Double AA trading Shawn Marcum to the Brewers for Brett Lawrie.  Almost instantly people started saying, “Marcum wasn’t THAT good anyway”, “we are deep at pitching”, “this Lawrie kid is a can’t miss prospect”.  Sure. 

Yes, Marcum was 13-8 and that alone doesn’t necessarily seem like a huge loss.  I mean, he’s not an ace, right?  Ace’s win twenty games or more and 13 looks nothing like 20.  In fact, my very own calculator says it’s approximately seven wins short.  So, by that reckoning, the American League has exactly one ace.  C.C. Sabathia.  He was the only pitcher to win 20 last year.  As a point of reference and because I’m a statistical junkie, here is the American League average for wins for each team’s top 5 winningest pitchers.  Make sense?  Avg wins for a #1 starter AL, 15.6; #2 starter 13; #3 starter 10.5; #4 starter 8.5; #5 starter 6.8.  By this rational, Marcum is a bang on number two starter. 

The deeper stats bear that out.   There are 14 teams in the League and each has 5 starters so measuring against his 70 contemporaries there were only 17 American League pitchers last year with more wins.  It's interesting that two of those were on his own team, but being 18^th overall in the League is nothing to sneeze at.  He was 24^th best in the league in innings pitched.  He was 15^th best in ERA. He was 23^rd in starts.  He was 17^th in strikeouts. He was 5^th in Walks + Hits per inning pitched (WHIP).  He was 13^th in quality starts, 3^rd in strikeout to walk ratio, 11^th lowest in stolen best allowed, 5^th best in caught stealing percentage and 5^th best in opponents on base percentage. 

None of the above stats are bad.  Some are good and others are really good.  I’m prepared to call Marcum a bona fide #2 with strong #1 tendencies.  As far as I’m concerned, it is a lot to give up.  Particularly when the guy coming back has zero major league at bats. 

Lawrie....Can’t miss?  In the spring of 2009 he was ranked as the 81^st best prospect in all of baseball by Baseball America (great publication).  In the spring of 2010 he was ranked 59^th.  This year he's rated 28th.  In a list of each organization’s best prospects, Lawrie was rated as the Brewers 2^nd best prospect last year.  This year he's rated as the Jay's send best prospect behind Kyle Drabek.  My brain say he's "just a guy", nothing more. 

Now look at Marcum’s season last year and look at Lawrie.  Fair trade?  Even deal?  Did we get cleaned on this one?  Look at it this way.  What if JP announced this trade and not Anthopolous. 

Yeah, I thought so.  Me too.

Two years ago, I would have already been book the MRI for Lawrie because you know something would go wrong.  Not anymore. 

My heart is taking over from my brain.  I fully expect that Lawrie will be the next Paul Molitor.  A line drive gap hitter with speed and aggressive on the bases.  Why?  Alex Anthopolous said so, that’s why.  Oh, didn’t mention Molitor by name, but I’m extrapolating.  Maybe he’s going to be more a Boggs type.  I’d be okay with that too.

And back to the beginning, as spring approaches, I’m worried.  I'm worried because I'm shockingly optimistic and getting really close to believing.  Double AA has responded to the BLOG’s poll asking for bullpen help by acquiring Jon Rauch (Career best 21 saves), Octavio Dotel (career best 36 saves) and Frank Francisco (career best 25 saves).  Add that to Jason Frasor (career best 17 saves) and the opposition better get their scoring done in the first six innings because 7, 8 and 9 look fabulous!

I’m not suddenly predicting the Jays to win the World Series this year.  But I have to admit that I can kind of picture what would have to occur for it to happen.  And unlike previous years, that picture doesn't include monkeys, horeshoes, hand grenades or hell freezing over.    

I am dangerously close to believing.  I believe in the GM.  I believe in the back end of the bullpen.  I believe in the outfield.  I believe in the DH.  I believe in the middle infield.  I believe in 1^st base (offensively).  There are questions, for sure.  But the more I think about, the more I believe.   

Damn you Alex Anthopolous.  Damn you!

Don't Let the Door Hit ya.....

Damit, I had a nice comparision of Lloyd Moseby and Travis Snider in the can and ready to go!

Okay, I’ve decided that I’m gonna do a little intro and let others talk.  Namely because they are better informed and a whole lot more eloquent.  First of all, big ups to Sully for “breaking the story”.  It’s not often I get side swiped on a deal.  Marky Doyle still thinks you were tipped off.

 

Right after Sully was my mother, disappointed in the deal and needing to be consoled.  I resisted the urge to give her Sully’s number and sent her this…. “The Jays got Napoli & Rivera in the deal.  Rivera and Wells and both career .280 hitters.   Wells hits 4 more home runs a year than Rivera.  Big deal.  their OB and SLG are virtually identical.  I suspect that he'll be in Left field with Davis in CF.  Davis is a significant upgrade defensively from Wells and Rivera pretty much replaces his bat.  Snider will still be in RF. 

If the deal was ONLY Wells for Rivera, I'd call it even. 

Add Napoli and its now a steal.  He strikes out way too much, but he has hit 26, 20 and 20 home runs in the last 3 years and he is a good catcher.  I'm a little surprised because he's an 'everyday' kind of guy and I thought the Jays were committed to Arencibia.  Maybe one of them goes in a trade?  Who knows. 

Mike Napoli is eligible for salary arbitration and he has asked for 6.1 million.  The Angels submitted 5.3 million.  Rivera makes 5.2 million this year.  Worst case scenario, they have two players on their 24 man roster making a combined 11.3 million; replacing 1 guy making 23 million this year.  Savings = 11.7 million for 2011. 

Additionally, Napoli and Rivera are both eligible for free agency at the end of this year.  Therefore your total commitment to them remains 11.7 million on the life of their contracts.  Wells has 86 million (not 83 as reported in many papers...shoddy research) committed.  The savings keep on coming; how’s grandma?”

That's pretty much my review anyway.  Its essentially all I have to say about the Wells deal except for two things.  

1.  Baseball DOES NOT have a salary cap.  I don't care how they spend their money.  I really don't.  But don't you dare (JP) ever cry poor!  I totally understand in hockey that you understand what a "5 million dollar" defenseman is.  That math does not work in baseball.  In baseball a 23 million dollar outfielder can look like Vernon Wells if you want.  In fact if you want to pay everyone on your team 23 million you could.  2.  I can’t STAND Steve Simmons.  It would probably be slanderous for me to say he is ill-informed, an idiot, a moron, an ass; so I WON’T!  However, I will say that I find his writing to be simple.  Simple as in juvenile.  And believe me, you’ve all read my stuff … I KNOW JUVENILE!

There was no shortage of quotes or laughter to put in this BLOG to explain the trade.  It did get repetitious because everyone said the same thing which was basically that the Angels were robbed.  There was of course one dissenter on the planet.  Yes Steve Simmons, who came up with this gem:

“But in home games alone last year, Wells hit 20 home runs, knocked in 54 runs, was basically an all-star at the Rogers Centre.  You don't replace one bad contract with two bad contracts of middle-range overpaid players from the California Angels….”.  Steve Simmons – Toronto Sun.  I just need to clear up misleading information.  Assuming that Wells was a treat for the fans is pretty funny.  Assuming he was a draw is hysterical.  First off the Blue Jays attendance was the worst it had been since 1982.  Hope you all had fun!

And Thanks Stevie for pointing out Wells numbers that were only 13 Home Runs, and 15 RBI less than Bautista’s at home (basically one and a half all-stars????).  Ugh….the pointless have always bothered me. 

Finally, here you go:

"It's the rare trade that makes a team older, more expensive and worse."  Sam Miller – Orange County Register.

“oh, and did we mention how Toronto waived Vernon Wells in August?  All the Angels would have had to do was place a claim and he would have been theirs.  Instead, they trade for him in the offseason and give up Napoli and Rivera for that right”.  Evan Brunell – CBS Sports

“The answer to the Angels’ problems was not Wells.  If the past is any indication, it is unlikely he will even be able to match the production of Napoli and Rivera, let alone bring this team back to the top.” Jess K Coleman – Bleacher Report.

“As of today, the Jays are committed to only $16 million in 2012. This trade will not only allow them the opportunity to sign Jose Bautista to a mutually beneficial multi-year deal, but it also allows the Jays to acquire a couple of elite players going into 2012 and make a push to contend with the big boys.  It is widely expected that Major League Baseball will add one playoff team per league in 2012, the perfect time for the Jays to go hard after the prize.  Alex Anthopoulos has done it again, that is, he's made another move that his predecesor J.P. Ricciardi would not have been able to complete. Blue Jays fans, it's time to get excited again as Paul Beeston appears to be, dare I say, helping to mould the next Pat Gillick out of his very own clay”  Joey Wilson – Bleacher Report

“The loss of Wells, barring another move, opens up centerfield for Rajai Davis whom the Jays picked up earlier in the offseason from the Oakland Athletics. Davis is easily the best defensive outfielder the Jays have and the only one the team would feel comfortable sending out to center in 2011”.

Thomas Pinzone – Bleacher Report

“Congrats to AA for trading perhaps the most untradeable player and worst contract in MLB (Well, until Jason Werth signed with the Nationals) - great deal for the Jays!”  John Zahnow – Former Short Stop.

“But Jays fans should not be as worried about Arencibia’s situation as they are excited about the fact that Anthopoulos got rid of a silly, locked-in deal granted to Wells by the previous regime.  This team is moving forward”  Richard Griffin – Toronto Star

 

“In trading Vernon Wells to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, the Toronto Blue Jays' general manager has not only ridded the team of what was considered to be one of the worst contracts of all time, he has also sent a message to the team's fan base that he expects this to be a very good team very soon.”  Jeff Blair – The Globe and Mail.

 

“OK, maybe it IS OK to call Reagins a sucker. The Angels were looking to do something ... anything ... after generally striking in free agency with Carl Crawford and others this offseason. This is something, all right.”  Dave Brown – Yahoo Sports

“General manager Alex Anthopoulos ran into the perfect storm when the Angels called: A large-revenue team, which had chased and lost on free agents Carl Crawford, Adrian Beltre, Cliff Lee and Rafael Soriano. They had landed ex-Jays set-up man Scott Downs.  Wells’ contract was deemed the most untradeable this side of Barry Zito of the San Francisco Giants.” Bob Elliott – Toronto Sun.

I don't care where the Jays finish next season, Anthopoulos is my early favorite for Executive of the Year. Reagins wanted to add a bat and a starting pitcher for the Angels this offseason. He got his bat in Wells on Friday. Maybe he can call the New York Mets for that starter.  I hear Oliver Perez is available. Chris Ruddick – The Sports Network

Roberto Velazquez Alomar

I was not a fan of Roberto Alomar at first.  That changed pretty quick. 

I used to be an “opening day” guy, but that too was changed with the opening of The Skydome.  I know that technically it’s just called “Skydome”, but it sounds stupid so I add the “The”.  Tickets were too hard to get and too expensive, plus the Jays opened the 1991 season against the Red Sox making it even more impossible.  The first time I saw Alomar play live was against the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday April 11^th 1991. 

Early in the game the Brewers had a runner at 2^nd base with nobody out.   The next batter hit a routine ground ball to Alomar, not a sharply hit ball at all.  Now everyone who knows baseball even a little bit knows that runners DO NOT advance when the ball is hit in front of them, but when the ball is hit behind the runner you take the base, it’s a given.   In baseball this is akin to pulling the goalie when down a goal with a minute left.  Or playing your defensive backs on the goal line for the last play of the game when you know a Hail Mary is coming.  Or putting your best free throw shooters on the floor when the other team needs to foul to stop the clock.  It’s not strategy per se, it’s just “what you do”.

Alomar comes in a couple of steps and scoops the grounder.  50,516 pair of eyes swing from Alomar to Olerud to see the pending routine out at 1^st base.  Alomar fires a seed (that I only later saw on the jumbotron) nailing the runner sliding into the 3^rd base.  Instead of a runner on 3^rd and one out and all but conceding a run; the Jays had a runner on 1^st base and one out.  Truth be told, I think the runner was probably safe, but the umpire was likely as shocked as everyone else.  I was a fan.

With Alomar you had to expect the unexpected.  His 12 All-Star appearances, 4 Silver Sluggers, 10 Gold Gloves are what got him in the hall, but it was the individual ‘in game’ moments that got us out of our seats!

My favourite Robbie Game.  How does 4 for 5 with a walk, 2 runs scored, 2 runs driven in, 8 put outs, 5 assists and a stolen base sound?  But like Alomar, the stats, as glowing as they were, belie the spectacular moments. 

Quick recap:  The Jays won the division in 1985 and lost in heart breaking fashion blowing a 3-1 lead in games to the Royals missing out on the World Series.  On September 1^st 1986 the Jays are 3 ½ games behind Boston and finish 12-18; “choking” to lose the division by 9 ½ games.  In 1987 they had a 3 ½ game lead with 7 left to play and blew the division; losing to the Tigers by two games.  In September of 1988 the Jays had the best month of any team in the American League, but still lost the division by 2 games to Boston.  They Jays would win the East in 1989 but would lose to Oakland in the ALCS in 5 games.  In 1990 the Jays would lose the division in another heartbreaker by 2 games to Boston.  Then in 1991 the Jays would again win the division and again be dismissed in 5 games by the Twins. 

Being a Jays fan was starting to suck.  They were 2-11 in their most recent 13 post season games.  It felt pretty much like they were never going to win.  It wasn’t quite like the Dodgers losing 5 consecutive World Series to the Yankees, but it was getting close.    

The 1992 post season started much the same as it had in the past.  Oakland again.  The first two games are split in Toronto meaning that the Jays have lost home field advantage.  The Jays surprisingly won game 3 on the road to wrestle back home field.  Maybe there was cause for hope?  Truth be told, most people were happy to be assured that there was going to be a sixth game this time.

So the stage is set for Game 4.

Jack Morris (21-6, 4.04) versus Bob Welch (11-7, 3.27).  It was a 1pm (Eastern) start in Oakland and Devon White opened with a strike out.  Alomar singled and was picked off by Welch and Carter fouled out to 3^rd base. 

The Bottom of the 1^st saw Henderson get on and move to 2^nd base on an error to Manny Lee.  A bunt moved him to 3^rd and Rueben Sierra walked before Harold Baines hit into an inning ending double play. 

0-0 after 1

The Jays second saw a John Olerud home run and 3 fly outs.  Morris struck out McGwire and Steinbach and induced a ground out by Carney Lansford in the Oakland half.

1-0 Jays after 2.

The third inning had Manny Lee (hit) and Alomar (walk) on with two out when Carter popped weakly to left.  Then Oakland exploded.  Three consecutive singles, a walk, sac fly, double, intentional walk, another walk and single plated 5 runs.  It also accounted for the familiar sinking feeling in southern Ontario. 

5-1 A’s after 3.

ASIDE:  There is a baseball chart called “win probability”.  In short it takes all the historical data of every game ever played and works out the end result of those games.  You can find out what the odds are of winning when you’re up a run on the road and runners on 2^nd and 3^rd with two out and 2-2 count on the batter.  In this game with Jays down 5-1 after 3 on the road, Oakland’s win probability was at 89%

The Jays were listless in the 4^th.  Olerud doubled but that was it and the Jays only saw 8 pitches in the inning.  Oakland sent 5 batters to the plate in the their half but didn’t do any more damage.

5-1 A’s after 4. Win probability, Oakland 91%

With two out in the fifth, White and Alomar singled before Carter made the 3^rd out with a lazy fly ball to center.  With Stottlemyre now pitching for the Jays a Lansford single was the only damage in the Oakland half.

5-1 A’s after 5.  Win probability, Oakland 93%

The 6^th inning saw the Jays looking very uninspired and going in order on 8 pitches.  In the Oakland 6^th, Rickey singled, stole second and scored on a ground out. 

6-1 A’s after 6.  Win probability, Oakland 97%

The Jays were still without life in the 7^th.  A Pat Borders single and a fly ball out by Gruber and strikeouts by Manny Lee and White.  Stottlemyre set down McGwire, Steinbach and Lansford in order all on groundouts.  Oakland had the appearance of just wanting the game to be over. 

6-1 A’s after 7.  Win probability, Oakland 99%

In the 8^th, the Jays finally made a little hay.  Alomar opened with a double.  Then in a classic Alomar moment, down by 5, on the road and with the count 2-0 to Carter he went completely agains "the book" and stole 3^rd.  On a full count Alomar scored on Carters sharp single to left field.  Winfield would follow with a single down the right field line moving Carter to 3^rd with none out.  Denis Eckersley (7-1, 51 saves, 1.91) came in to shut things down.  He didn’t.  Olerud singled up the middle on the first pitch driving in Carter and moving Winfield to 3^rd base.  Candy Maldonado singled on the first pitch to right field scoring Winfield and moving Olerud to 2^nd.  Eck would then get Gruber, Borders and Ed Sprague in order to stop the bleeding, but the Jays would count 3 runs on 5 hits. 

Against Timlin in the 8^th, Oakland would have two hits but the inning would end without any damage when Sierra struck out swinging on a 1-2 pitch. 

 6-4 A’s after 8.  Win probability, Oakland 93%

Cue the music.  Down two in the 9^th, Devon White was leading off and after an 8 pitch at bat against Eckersley he had a clean single to left that Rickey booted for a two base error.  White is on third when Robbie comes up.  Robbie had a 2-2 count before fouling off a couple of tough pitches.  The 7^th pitch of the at bat is drilled to right field for a no doubt two run homerun off the guy would be the American League Cy Young award winner AND MVP winner for 1992.  Eck would get the next two hitters before a single by Olerud got him pulled.  Jim Corsi would walk the bases full before getting Borders to ground out on a 2-2 pitch.

 

Now the bottom of the ninth and Ward pitching for the Jays gives up a leadoff single to Baines.  He is replaced by pinch runner Eric Fox.  Fox steals second on the next pitch.  Mark McGwire pushes a bunt to 1^st (seriously) moving Fox to 3^rd with one out.  Cue the music.  The Jays play the infield in.  The A’s have the runner going on contact.  On the 0-1 pitch, Steinbach hits the ball to second base.  Fox comes home, Alomar throws to the plate and gets him.  Lansford then grounds into a fielder’s choice to end the inning. 

6-6 A’s after 9.  Win probability, Oakland 50%

The Jays would have 2 hits in the 10^th but not score.  Oakland would go 3 up 3 down. 

6-6 A’s after 10.  Win probability, Oakland 50%

In the deciding 11^th inning Derek Bell would walk and Maldonado single moving Bell to 3^rd base.  After a line out by Gruber, Bell would score on a sac fly by Borders. 

7-6 Jays after 10 and a half.  Win probability, Toronto 83%

Oakland would go quickly and quietly against Henke in the 11^th sealing the victory.   The landscape of Toronto Baseball would be changed forever by the magnitude of the comeback.  The “Blow Jays” tag had been forever shaken. 

Who's deal is it???

Point; counter point. 

And now for the best Blue Jays trades of all time.   I have to say, finding 5 was a struggle.  It’s not that I’m down on the club, but in their 33 years they have had a GM who didn’t make many trades for huge chunks of time (Gillick), a guy who I liked but made some bad deals (Ash) and an idiot (you need the name?).  It’s far too early to critique any of Alex Anthopoulos’s moves yet, so the overall body of work is far too small. 

Here is what I’ve got. 

#5 Leon Roberts for Cecil Fielder

February 5^th, 1983

GM:       Pat Gillick

This was a ridiculous steal, and is only ranked as number 5 because the Blue Jays were not the beneficiaries of their own good fortune. 

Leon Roberts played for 6 teams over parts of 11 years.  In four of those years he played over 100 games, but primarily was a platoon outfielder.  He was so low on the totem pole that he was traded straight up for a 19 year old guy playing “A” ball in the pioneer league in Butte Montana.

Of course, it’s so easy to say that the Jays blew it with Cecil, but they did have a log jam at 1^st base with McGriff.  A little vision of having one of them as the DH or converting them into a position of need through a trade would have been nice.  But again, hind-sight remains 20/20. 

Fielder, in parts of four years in Toronto would only hit .243 with 31 home runs.  Regular playing time was an issue and he was ultimately ‘sold’ to the Hanshin Tigers in Japan.  He went there as Cecil Fielder and came out two years later as “Big Daddy” and signed as a free agent with the Detroit Tigers.  He would lead the league in home runs in 1990 and 1991.  He led the league in RBIs in 1990, 1991 and 1992.  He was an all star three times, won two silver sluggers and finished second in MVP voting twice. 

Sadly, none of that for Jays.  But still, good trade....sort of. 

#4 Bubbie Buzzchero for Brian Tallet

January 17^th, 2006

GM:       JP Ricciardi

Being in the minors has to suck.  But, I suppose you keep your eye on the prize and work your tail off trying to get to The Show.  Bubbie Buzzchero, isn’t just in the minors, he’s been there for 9 years.  AND he’s a middle reliever.  That can’t be fun. 

Tallet had been in 9 major league games over 3 years with Cleveland, so this swap was essentially a swap of minor league pitchers. 

While Tallet isn’t going to be in the running for a Cy Young or start any World Series games, his time in Toronto has been extremely valuable for the club.  In 5 years he has started 31 games and appeared in relief another 183 times.  Of those 183 relief appearances he’s been the last pitcher on the mound in 42 of them (about 25% of the time).  Considering that he has no career saves, it’s not a huge jump to project these games being finished by him as saving other arms by mopping up disasters or working with large leads. 

Swing men (pitchers who start and relieve) are pretty rare.  You’ll see it with a young guy from time to time, but for someone to do it over this time span is exceptional in this era of finite skills and specialization.  He offers a lot of flexibility to a manager and its especially true with a young starting staff.  Is he replaceable?  For sure.  Has he been valuable?  You bet.  And we paid what?  I think he’ll be missed more than people think.

By the way, Bubbie Buzzchero is back in the Jays minor league system.  The dream is still alive!

#3 Mike Brady and Jeff Musselman for Mookie Wilson

July 31^th, 1989

GM:       PAT GILLICK

Well, now it starts to get interesting.  Mike Brady, who was busy with three boys of his own,
they were four men, living all together, yet they were all alone.  Oops, wrong Mike Brady.  This particular Mike Brady never made it past A-ball.  Jeff Musselman pitched 58 innings for the Mets and then spent the next 2 years in the minors before calling it a career and falling back on his Harvard degree. 

Mookie was an odd duck.  Not in a bad way, he was just tough to explain.  The city loved him and the team did great while he was here and the things he did can’t really be tracked statistically.  If fact, if the game was ONLY about stats, Mookie would have had a short career. 

As you know the Jays won the division in 85.  The finished 4^th in ’86, 2^nd in ’87 and 4^th in ’88.  All seasons were over .500, but there were something missing.  The Jays were actually favorites in all those years, but they were looked at as prima-donnas.  And in hind-sight, maybe rightfully so.  The just didn’t seem to be willing to give what it took to win on a consistent basis.

The Blue Jays started the 1989 season with a 12-24 record and manager Jimy Williams was fired.  Cito Gaston was named the interim manager and the club reversed its record going 24-12 to sit at 36-36 and .500 through 72 games.  Things looked great, right? Cito was then named as the full time manager.  However in the next 33 games the Jays were a game under .500 at 52-53 and in third place. 

Enter Mookie Wilson as a trade deadline deal.  The Blue Jays would have the best record in the American League, playing .649 ball (37-20) from the arrival of Mookie ‘til the end of the season.  Wilson hit 2 home runs, scored 32, hit .298, drove in 17, stole 12 bases.  None of it is remarkable.  Yet he was the catalyst.

Mookie had 2 things that were absent from the Jays until he got there.  He had a visible joy for playing ball that was unparalleled and he had hustle.  In Wilson’s second game with the Jays, he got his first hit - a routine single up the middle.  Actually it was a little hump-backed liner just to the second base side of the bag.  Willie Wilson jogged in for it and he really should have hustled.  Mookie was safe in a cloud of dust at second.  He would subsequently score the 1^st run of the Jay’s 8 that night and was instantly a fan favourite.  I’d love to give you a litany of stats for Mookie, but that wasn’t his game.        

#2 Mike Sharperson for Juan Guzman

September 22^th, 1987

GM:       Pat Gillick

Now before I slam Mike Sharperson TOO badly – let’s remember that he was an all-star for the Dodgers in 1992!  Sharperson was that classic 4^th outfielder.  He was good enough and certainly athletic enough but he didn’t really have a lot of ‘game’.  Ten career homeruns, .280 average 61 career doubles in 8 years.  You can see he didn’t play a lot. 

Guzman was great!  Especially in relation to the deal.  His two best years were 92 and 93 when he was 16-5 and 14-3 respectively. 

Best of all, he was 5-1 in post season.   In game 3 1992 against Atlanta, with the series tied at two games each – Guzman pitched a gem.  He struck out 7 and walked one through 8 complete innings holding the Braves to one earned run.  The Jays would win in the bottom of the 9^th on single to centre by Candy Maldonado - scoring Robbie Alomar and giving the Jays the lead in the series.

#1 Junior Felix and Luis Sojo for Willie Fraser, Marcus Moore and Devon White

December 2^nd, 1990

GM:       GORD ASH

The thing about history is that everyone remembers it differently.  Junior Felix had the potential to be awesome.  Junior Felix was a whack job.  I think both statements are true.  Why else would a guy with a ridiculous combination of speed and power be out of baseball before he turned  27?  He played two years with the Jays, two more with the Angels, one with the Marlins and one with the Tigers.  Last seen (2002) he was playing minor league ball in Mexico with Kenny Freakin’ Powers hitting 27 home runs. 

Now Luis Sojo is the anti-Felix.  He made the most out of a little.  In 13 years in the show he had roughly the same number of at bats that Felix did in 6 years.  He never had 20 doubles, never had 10 homers, never drove in 40 runs, never scored 40 runs.  However he went to the post season on 6 occasion. He participated in 13 separate series and was on the winning side 11 times.  He won a World Series in 1996, 1999 and 2000.  In World Series play he was a career .400 hitter.  You have to be good to be lucky and you’ve got to be lucky to be good. 

Now, Mookie Wilson was the guy that brought the Jays back to winning the division.  Devon White was the guy that made them World Series winners.  Yes, a lot of people point to the Alomar/Carter for Fernandez/McGriff deal as the ‘over the top’ move, but I really think it was this one.  In 1992 Fernandez was an All Star with the Padres as was Alomar with Toronto.  The same year McGriff was an All Star, won a silver slugger and finished 6^th in MVP voting.  Carter won the same awards and finished 3^rd in MVP voting.  Ostensibly that deal was a wash. 

In 1992 Devo won his second gold glove.  His WAR (Wins Above Replacement – it measures how much better you are against the average person at your position and then rationalizes that against the complexity of other positions…it’s a 3 page formula but it kind of works) was #1 defensively in the entire American League.  He led his position in put outs and was third in assists.  He hit 17 home runs out of the leadoff spot while swiping 37 bags.  He scored 98 runs and drove in 60.  The best part is that 1992 was his worst year in Toronto.

Devo was a game changer.  Offensively or defensively he had the ability to take over.  Two quick White memories.  He hits a sharp single to right.  The right field comes in a couple of steps and fields it quickly.  White turns 1^st and gets a 1/3 of the way to second with the right fielder watching in disbielf.  Just as the fielder is about to throw to 2^nd, White stops and faces him.  He takes a step to first.  The fielder now fires to 1^st base throwing behind the runner.  White jogs to 2^nd without a throw.  Single and an error, but it was Whites speed that did it.  The second one everyone remembers:

Game 3, 1992 World Series.  The series is tied 1-1, it the top of the 4^th and the Jays are being out played although score remains 0-0.  In the first inning White grounded out, Alomar struck out and Carter flied out.  In second Winfield singled, Olerud struck out and Maldonado hit into a double play.  In the third Gruber grounded out, Borders singled, Manny Lee grounded out and White stuck out.  Steve Avery had faced one over the minimum through 3.  Guzman had given up only a hit himself, but the mood of the game was very tense. 

It got worse.  Leading off the fourth Dieon Sanders singled up the middle on a ball that Guzman maybe should have had.  Pendleton then hits a ball to right center field for a single.  Had he hit it a little softer it would have moved Sanders to 3^rd base but it turned out to be 1^st and 2^nd, nobody out and Dave “there is no” Justice coming to the plate.  Mr Halle Berry himself. 

Justice of course hits the 1^st pitch.  Actually he clobbered it.  Personally, I never thought the ball was catchable.  In the time it was in the air, I didn’t see any better outcome than the two runs scoring, Justice on 2^nd and the Jays giving up home field advantage.  The fact that Devo caught up to that rocket isn’t amazing defence, it was truly magical.  He had no right catching that ball.  I won’t go into all the talk about the missed triple play because it doesn’t matter.  It was a double play and the Jays got out of the inning when Guzman struck out Lonnie Smith. 

In baseball lore there are two “The Catch” moments.  First was Willie Mays’ catch off a Vic Wertz drive in the 1954 world series against Cleveland.  The second is Devon White’s catch off Dave Justice.  As I’m obviously biased and just a tad young to have witnessed the Say Hey Kid’s catch, here is a quote from someone who saw them both.  Vin Scully:  “I saw Mays’ catch,” Scully said. “And this one, to me, was better.  “The big thing with Mays,” Scully went on, “was that he had a wide-open area. He didn’t have to be concerned with the wall. And that’s a major concern. So I’m inclined to think that White’s catch might have been better than Mays’.”