Dueling Blue Birds

What in the world happened in Toronto last night?

In case you missed it, in last night's Blue Jays/A's game, manager John Gibbons and starting pitcher Ted Lilly had some heated words on the mound and then, reportedly, had a spirited shoving match in the tunnel leading to teams clubhouse shortly after Gibbons gave Lilly the hook.

While both Gibbons and Lilly denied throwing any punches it certainly looked like Gibby was wiping away a bloody nose shortly after the fireworks subsided. Either Lilly got a shot in or perhaps another perturbed Blue Jay took advantage of the opportunity and snuck in a sucker punch- I didn't see Shea Hillenbrand sneak into the stadium though.

So, today all the talk has been about who's to blame in this situation and what should be done about it. Good topic of conversation if you ask me.

I say let's look at it from all angles because I think that's the only fair way to do this.

We'll start with manager John Gibbons. First off, you can't blame Gibby for going out there and pulling Lilly. After the Jays had jumped out to a huge 8-0 lead in the first two innings Lilly proceeded to allow 6 runs (en route to a 7 run third) before Gibons came out to make the change.

Now, I don't know about you but I would say getting pulled after surrendering six runs, and back-back home runs, is nothing out of the ordinary. I'd say Gibby was making the right move to go out and get Lilly. What manager, aside from I guess A's manager Ken Macha who left starter Dan Haren in the game after surrending 8 runs in the first two innings, wouldn't go out and pull a seemingly ineffective pitcher when you need to win the game?

If I were John Gibbons I'd be going out to get Lilly as well.

Now, let's look at Ted Lilly. I think all Blue Jays know that Lilly is a bit of a mystery. You never know what you're going to get in any given start. One night he could throw a two-hit shutout and strike out ten. The next start could be like last night where he gets hit harder than Mel Gibson at a Bar-mitzvah.

You can't deny the fact though that Lilly is a competitor and that he wants to win. You could clearly see last night that, when Gibbons went to pull him, one of the things Lilly said was, "I'm trying to win the game". That was followed by some other colorful statements about what he thought about his manager as he walked off the field.

I can't really understand why Lilly was so upset about getting the hook. I mean come on, the guy was getting lit up like the Rockefeller Christmas tree for crying out loud.

It does look like Gibbons said something to him though before taking the ball from Lilly. Lilly was clearly perturbed by something that was said that made him feel like he needed to defend himself by saying, "I'm trying to win the game".

If that's the case, I don't blame him for going off on his manager.

Gibbons should have just reached for the ball, let his pitcher walk away and let that be the end of it.

From my limited vantage point though it looked as though the manager incited the already-frustrated pitcher by saying something to him that was not necessary. Only Ted Lilly, and perhaps Bengie Molina, know exactly what was said out there and I doubt we'll ever find out.

So do I blame one guy more than the other or is there equal share here? I think the blame falls on the manager.

Let's be honest, this is the second physical confrontation this man has had with one of his players in a month. First Shea Hillenbrand and now Lilly. At first everyone blamed Shea for his actions that led to his departure because he had a reputation as a bit of a baby. I've not yet heard that description given to Ted Lilly.

In fact, the way Lilly took the high road in his post-game comments would suggest to me that he's very much the opposite of Shea Hillenbrand.

So why is that John Gibbons is turning into AT & T with his players and they all want to reach out and punch him? How can this be good for team chemistry?

I'm sorry but to me it says that there is a definite lack of respect between the Blue Jay players and the manager. If Joe Torre went out and gave the hook to Randy Johnson in the second inning would we see the Big Unit drop kick Torre? I doubt it.

If Bobby Cox pulled one of his pitchers early in the game after a less than stellar performance would we see him wiping away a bloody nose after a physical altercation? Not in this lifetime.

So how can John Gibbons get in two physical confrontations with two seperate players in the span of a month and still have a job?

Is JP Ricciardi afraid of getting beat up? Hey let's face it, a punch on the nose may actually work wonders for the guys physical appearance.

I'm very interested to see how this plays out because it certainly appears that this is one dysfunctional clubhouse and it's only a matter of time, if it hasn't started to happen already, until the Blue Jays players quit playing for this guy and all that promise that was talked about 8 months ago is flushed down the drain.

It's time for John Gibbons to move on and for the Blue Jays organization to bring in someone who can earn respect from his players and not bully it.

The cutest kids ever!

Carter and Jenna tried to beat the 35 degree heat this week by running through the sprinkler on our front lawn.

Here's a shot of the newest member of the Detroit Red Wings fan club. He's got the Red Wings onesie and the Toronto Maple Leafs diapers (because everyone loves to dump on the Leafs) so he's well on his way to being a happy hockey fan.



Here's a shot of Cole getting some snuggle time with his big brother and sister. Carter and Jenna love to hold their little brother now (although we trust Carter with him a bit more than we do lil' Miss J). How can you not say "aahhh" when you see these three gorgeous kids?

Catching up on old predication- baseball style

Back at the end of March I wrote a blog sharing my predictions for the 2006 MLB season. Man do I ever suck at this!

As the big leaguer's hit the dog days of summer I thought I should take a look back and see if any of my predictions are even close to coming true. Like I said, man do I ever suck at this.

With nearly 3/4's of the season played here's what I predicted in comparison to what the standings actually are today (August 2):

AL (predicted final standings)
East- Yankees, Jays, Red Sox, D-Rays, Orioles
Central- Indians, Twins, White Sox, Tigers, Royals
West- Rangers, A's, Angel's, Mariners

Actual standings on Aug.2
East- Yankees, Red Sox, Orioles, D-Rays
Central- Tigers, White Sox, Twins, Indians, Royals
West- A's, Angel's, Rangers, Mariners

NL (predicted final standings)
East- Braves, Mets, Phillies, Marlins, Nationals
Central- Cardinals, Brewers, Astros, Pirates, Cubs, Reds
West- Padres, D'Backs, Dodgers, Giants, Rockies

Actual standings on Aug.2
East- Mets, Phillies, Marlins, Braves, Nationals
Central- Cardinals, Reds, Brewers, Astros, Cubs, Pirates
West- Padres, D'Backs, Dodgers, Rockies, Giants

My predictions for individual award winners were:
AL MVP- A-Rod
AL Cy Young- Halladay
AL ROY- Francisco Liriano
NL MVP- Pujols
NL CY Young- Tim Hudson
NL ROY- Stephen Drew

So, do I still think my predictions will come true come by the beginning of October? For the most part, no. My Indians have been a HUGE disappointment as they have been the most underachieving team in all of baseball this year. The Blue Jays have also been a huge disappointment as I see them falling further and further out of the race over the course of the next two months.

So, taking the current standings into consideration how would I change things for the stretch run? Here now are my updated predictions for the final two months of the season.

AL
East final standings- Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays, D-Rays, Orioles
Central- Tigers, Twins, White Sox, Indians, Royals
West- Angels, A's, Rangers, Mariners

NL
East final standings- Mets, Marlins, Braves, Phillies, Nationals
Central- Cardinals, Reds, Brewers, Astros, Cubs, Pirates
West- Padres, D'Backs, Dodger, Rockies, Giants

AL Playoffs- Yankees over Angels, Red Sox over Tigers
ALDS- Yankees over Red Sox
NL Playoffs- Mets over Reds, Cardinals over Padres
NLDS- Mets over Cardinals
World Series- Mets over Yankees

AL MVP- David Ortiz
AL CY Young- Johan Santana
AL ROY- Jonathan Paplebon
NL MVP- Albert Pujols
NL CY Young- Carlos Zambrano
NL ROY- Josh Johnson/Scott Olsen/Hanley Ramirez/Dan Uggla

MLB Trade Deadline

So yesterday was supposed to be one of the more exciting days on the Major League Baseball calendar- the non-waiver trade deadline day. This year was shaping up to be a year to remember with many big time names getting tossed around and the hope of some major deals taking place.

Unfortunately for baseball fans yesterday's trade deadline was about as exciting as this year's Canadian Idol competition.

Perhaps most frustrating for this baseball fan was the fact that the Toronto Blue Jays sat around and did absolutely nothing. You're in the middle of a playoff race, with a legit shot at a playoff spot; you've just lost 5 of your last 7 ball games on the west coast and you have two huge series coming up right after the deadline against the Yankees and White Sox. So how do you give your team a much needed boost for the final two months of the season? You do nothing.

You do nothing to address your obvious need for bullpen help. You do nothing to address your obvious need for middle infield help. You do nothing to combat the great moves the Yankees made.

I had high hopes for this Jays team at the start of the year and it is very disappointing to see them come this far and not do anything to strengthen a couple of weaknesses. The players were available to plug the holes- almost every team that needed bullpen help was able to get it and almost every team that needed middle infield help was able to get it.

This Blue Jay fan thought the whole purpose to opening up the wallet to add players like Glaus, Burnett, Ryan and Molina was so that they could win now. Not five years from now. So why hold on to guys like McGowan and Accardo when they're clearly not going to help you win this year, next year or possibly even the year after that?

If I'm the veteran guys on that team I feel extremely let down by JP Ricciardi's inability to give them the last couple pieces needed to really make a run at this thing. These guys have played hard all year long and the GM owed it to them to do whatever it took to get that one, two, three or however many guys needed to put them over the top.

You can say all you want about some of the other team's who did nothing at the trade deadline but in my opinion the Jays are the biggest losers because one or two trades could have been the difference between a long post-season run and another off-season of second-guessing and finger-pointing.

On another note- did my eyes deceive me or did I read yesterday that the Red Wings have brought back Domink Hasek . . . AGAIN!!!!!!! Is it too late for me to start cheering for the Leafs? Absolutely brutal signing. I'd rather see a youth movement in Motown then to see this waste of space wearing the red and white again. First Yzerman retires, than Shanny signs with the Rangers and now Ken Holland brings back the Dumbinator. Bad times for us Red Wings fans.