Roto Baseball Guru

It’s been awhile since the Toronto Blue Jays have played meaningful September baseball, and this year will be no different.  However, as we are in the midst of a 7 game winning streak (the longest in over 4 years) and I just witnessed another thrilling last at-bat grand slam come from behind victory over the AL East leading Tampa Bay Rays - I can say that at least it’s enjoyable to watch.  I can also soak in the solace that with this win, we are also dead even with the New York Yankees at 75-66, still a good 10.5 games back from Tampa Bay.

The Jays seem to relish in playing spoilers in September.  Although I don’t have the stats in front of me, I do recall that September is usually a good performing month for the Jays, and so far with a 5-0 record to start September, the Jays look to continue that trend.  But the bigger question is, does this all really matter?  Even with all of the great recent play, the Jays are once again not playing any meaningful games in September.  Although they may mathematically be still in it, the reality is that the Jays management is getting a better feel of what they have and what the future will hold.  From what I have seen so far, the future should be bright.

With a 1-2-3 of Vernon Wells, Alex Rios and Adam Lind in the outfield, the Jays will have a young and solid group, that if playing up to their potential, will rival any other outfield tandem in the AL East.  They have shown this year that they have the top pitching staff, but that will take a bit of a hit next year with the wide known speculation that A.J. Burnett will opt out of his contract and walk away for greener pastures.  I have also been quite impressed by 20 year old September call-up, Travis Snider, who is eating up Major League pitching like he was back in Triple A Syracuse.  Finally, there’s the Cito Gaston factor.  Although there were many critics of his re-hiring back in June, the results that he has brought to the Jays since he replaced John Gibbons cannot be ignored.

Gaston and his staff has slowly but surely began to bring the bats around and given them confidence to deliver in the clutch, the critical weakness of team all year.  Although he’s not magician, it’s been night and day at times the way the Jays hitters approach their at-bats and there has been a gradual improvement till this point.  All of the recent results, plus the whole aura of being the only manager to bring Toronto a championship in baseball - has earned Gaston an extension to his contract until next year.

As a Jays fan, I maybe disappointed with another September of meaningless baseball, but with Gaston in charge, the players that we have locked up, and ultimately the progress that the team has made in the past few months … I am shockingly optimistic of what we can do next year.  But until then, at least I know there will be entertaining September baseball to watch!

Update: September 9th, 2008

The Jays have run their winning streak to a whopping 10 games in a row!  This is their longest streak since the franchise record 11 game win streak back in 1998 between the strech of Aug. 27-Sept. 7.  Although it will still take a miracle for the Jays to make it into the playoffs, this is a fun ride that we should all enjoy while it lasts.  Let’s go Blue Jays!

Even though this blog is focused on baseball, as a sports fan, I appreciate all likes of sports, especially when you are talking about it being played at the highest level. Which is why I feel the need to talk about today’s best match up of the day. No, I’m not talking about the Boston Red Sox - New York Yankees game, even though I am watching that while I’m writing this entry … and the game is currently tied going into the bottom of the 8th. No instead, I’m talking about the finals match up between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal at the all England Club, this afternoon. Whether you are a tennis fan or not, a true sports fan would appreciate the masterpiece that happened at Wimbledon today, probably one of the best finals match at Wimbledon in recent history, and one can argue, of all time.

On one side, you have the eternal champion of Roger Federer that has won 5 straight Wimbledon titles and going on a record 6th. And on the other side, you have the up and coming Nadal, who has dominated Federer on clay, but has always been kept in check when it came to facing Federer on grass. Today however, was going to be different. Today it was Nadal’s turn to shine and take the spotlight.

I was watching the match on and off, and as Nadal quickly took 2 sets to love, I began to turn my full attention to the match … as this maybe it, the time that Nadal finally breaks through and beats Federer on his home turf! The tennis match got more and more interesting at that point, as the reigning champ did not want to give in and showed why he had won 5 titles in a row at Wimbledon. Federer won the 3rd set, in a tie-breaker … and again in another tie-breaker in the 4th set where he fought off 2 championship points off Nadal’s server. I remember thinking at that time that this is the mark of a true champion. Even though my heart was cheering for Nadal, as he is the underdog on grass and I have a soft spot for underdogs (plus his name is Rafael, how cool is that?!) … I couldn’t help but have the utmost respect Federer for the way he continued to battle and have a never say die attitude.

The match ended up going 5 sets, and after 15 more games between the two, many feracious volleys and splitting backhands, lob shots and drop shots, winners and unforced errors, there would be a new champion crowned in Wimbledon today.  Nadal broke through and won this classic, in what will probably go down as one of the greatest matchups in Wimbledon history.  What’s more though, is the mutual respect that both competitors have for each other. 

Both Federer and Nadal had nothing but respect and praise for each other, something that you don’t see that much in today’s team sports (think Shaq and Kobe).  And even though I’m not a huge tennis fan myself, I found their attitude very refreshing … and wonder where that has gone in a lot of the North American team sports that we have here.  However, that rant is for another time … as today I’ll just savour witnessing one of the best tennis matches that many will continue to talk about in the years to come. Hope YOU didn’t miss it!

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