Forget the cautious enthusiasm of more responsible members of the local media and commentators like ESPN's Buster Olney. CityTV says we's gonna beat them Yankees and Red Saaacks this year and git into the playoffs! Yeeeeeeehooooooo!After watching the 3-hour Jays ticket infomercial/game this afternoon, I've got a new goal to strive for in life: becoming a fat, old, upper middle class season ticket holder who knows little to nothing about the sport despite watching 81 home games every year and sounds completely vapid when a reporter sticks a mic in my face and asks a rhetorical question.
We knew it was going to be bad, but just how bad was left to be seen. If you'd like a running commentary on this glorified OHL broadcast from Rogers community TV, go here. Me, I would like to cut them some slack because a) it was just an early spring training game and b) it was their first kick at the can, but they really dropped the ball on some of the basics. Such as:
* Cutting away from half an inning of play (such as the top of the ninth...) for a fluff colour piece...
* Asking players groan-inducing questions like "would you rather wake up with no toes or no hair?" Well, I'd look silly with no hair, so I'm gonna have to say "no toes." Right. This isn't going to help make the shier players more media accessible
* Gord Martineau's "Yessiree Bob. [Pause]. Nice." homerun call...
* Generally not knowing what the fuck is going on, who's at bat, what the count is, etc., is kind of well...
* If City TV broadcasts are to be run out of the Jays ticketing department, they simply cannot be allowed to do regular season games. Ever. Just no, it crosses the line.
Some further thoughts of a random nature:
* Without a hat, BJ Ryan looks like a slick Miami nightclub owner. Who'd a thought?
* Travis Snider, who singled to the opposite field in his lone AB, looks like he's going to be a Destroyer of Worlds.
* The Russ Adams Experiment should be rapidly drawing to a close. He can't field any position, or hit for that matter, and he's 28 years old. Cut bait. Stringy Buck Coats (who homered and stole a base) is two years younger, has plus speed, good base-stealing skills, plays 5 positions (though he shouldn't ever play SS in the bigs), and has a bat that's as good as Rusty's and probably getting better (.303/.363/.435 line in AAA in '07). I'm not saying he's going to be Ryan Freel, but he's on a similar trajectory. Here's your 25th man for 2009.
* The results of our Shannon Stewart poll were inconclusive. We need more readers/votes, I guess. Tell your friends! And thanks for participating.
-- Johnny Was
3 comments:
I'm gonna hold my enthusiasm on Coats for now. The PCL is a hitters league, right? Cause if it is, that explains Coats 798 OPS in AAA. His career OPS is 728 - not awful, but I wouldn't expect him to be anything more than a 4th OF. I guess he wouldn't be the worst option for a 25th man...
Twitch.
I don't know too too much about him, but his numbers for a 25-year-old are pretty Ryan Freel-esque. I do like that he can steal bases at a good rate (18 and 2 CS last year) 51 error season, though! Scooter's on a one or two year deal?
JW
Scutaro is signed to a 2 year deal. Still, I'm getting the impression from various sources that even if he doesn't make the club, they might call him up before they do Lind. The management is really impressed by Coats...I don't know if they're at the point they'd bump Scutaro and cut their losses, but if he can play 3B and the 3 OF spots, I wouldn't object.
Twitch.
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