Just goin' out there, givin' 110% day in, day out

Eric Hinske (pictured above) was denied hitting that 8th inning single he needed for the cycle. That was pretty great for us, but kind of sad for him. I kind of wanted to see him do it, just so he could become the first player in team history to do so. Just something special like when Jeff Frye and some other guy did it for us.

Joe Inglett misplayed two balls in right field, including one that allowed Hinske to leg out triple, but it wasn't entirely his fault. He is an infielder after all, but how was Gibby supposed to know that? He's been trying really hard the last few days, Gibbons I mean, so you should cut him some slack. Managing is really hard in the AL East, harder than other divisions. I should say, the AL East.

Also, can Gibbons really be faulted for be benching Rios? Yeah, I know, he's probably the best player on the team, but he was totally 1 for 9 against tonight's Rays starter, James Shields. That's a .111 average. Not good. Definitely bench him. And don't use him to pinch hit in the 9th down by two, so he can rest up for tomorrow. He's 27 and it's the first month of the season, but everybody needs rest, even Lexi.

Playing in a minor league facility at Disneyworld with 1200+ empty seats is really fun because there are lots of families sitting on the grass playing with their kids and not paying attention to the game. If you're watching on TV you can't see anything hit into the rightfield corner, but that's cool. It probably wasn't an important play anyway.

Jamie Campbell totally hit the nail on the head when he said that the Jays really blew it when they let Hinske go in 2006. He's now hitting over .300, has 5 homers and 10 RBI, which is better than anyone on the Jays now. Man, we'd be so much better if we still had Hinske. And Reed Johnson, too. I bet Griffin agrees.

Adam Lind was 2 for 4 again tonight, and is now hitting .379/.431/.621 for Syracuse, but he should be given another week or so in the minors before his callup because he hurt his neck on a hotel pillow. Ouch! I hope he's ok. And Shannon Stewart is a career .300 hitter, too, so we're good in left for this year.
No JaysTalk on the FAN is also fine by me, too. I'm sure there are some homeless people who wanted to listen to the end of the Raptors-Magic game on the radio. Basketball is a sport that really translates well on the radio, kind of like baseball, but more so.

Everything's pretty much swell.

-- Johnny Was