May 1, 2013; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Blue Jays right fielder Jose Bautista (19) discusses a call at the plate with home plate umpire Bruce Dreckman at the Rogers Centre against the Boston Red Sox. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

The rest of the rotation and an average hitting team are what keeps the Mariners from moving up and challenging the A’s and potentially the Angels. When top prospects James Paxton (Canadian boy), Dannny Hultzen and Taijuan Walker rise up to replace Joe Saunders, Aaron Harang et al., this could be a team that could seriously contend for a division championship.

I figured I might as well lead with the Mariners since there is nothing new to be said about the Blue Jays. Pitching is mediocre in the rotation (7 walks by J.A. Happ last night was putrid), the old adage that hitting is contagious must also apply to NOT hitting because we don’t have one regular hitting above .255. That, my friends, is vile. Other than the bullpen, led by the perfect Casey Janssen, I am thoroughly disappointed. At least our defence seems to have settled down…there’s that…and ummm…hey Colby is up to .253. Yup…

Probable Starters:

Game 1: Felix Hernandez (3-2 .214 opp BAA) vs Ricky Romero (1st start)
Game 2: Hisashi Iwakuma (2-1, .160 opp BAA) vs R.A. Dickey (2-4, 4.50 ERA)
Game 3: Joe Saunders (2-3, 5.25 ERA) vs Brandon Morrow (0-2, 5.29 ERA)

If there is to be a saving grace for Game 1, it’s that Hernandez is 3-3 and has a 3.75 ERA against the Blue Jays lifetime. Mind you that stat is always bogus considering the players change so much from one year to the next but it’s something. If Romero can go 5 and the hitters can scrape together a few runs we may have a chance. Seattle hitters have provided their ace with 3.17 runs per game so far this year, hence the mediocre W-L record…which we mention every year it seems in regards to Hernandez.

Game 2 should be an interesting match-up. R.A. Dickey goes in with a slightly bum neck but is still cleared to play. I wish the blisters that have been bugging Iwakuma come back hardcore. Dickey should have a great shot at holding down the Mariners offence but Iwakuma has some stingy numbers folks. I mean SICK numbers. I see a pitchers duel in this one and a definite low scoring affair overall.

Game 3 should be the one truly no problem game of the lot. Joe Saunders is no longer a Diamondback, when he was at his best. He is now a Mariner who is 0-3 on the road with a bloated ERA of 12.51. Playing against your former team always seems to get players up and Brandon Morrow is no different. In 23.2 inning pitched against Seattle, Morrow has 32 Ks and a tidy 3.04 ERA. He is due for a brilliant start and this would appear to be the game to do it.

Line-Ups:

The following are the probable line-ups for both squads.

Seattle Mariners:

1. CF: Michael Saunders
2. 3B: Kyle Seager
3. DH: Kendry Morales
4. RF: Michael Morse
5. LF: Jason Bay
6. 1B: Justin Smoak
7. 2B: Dustin Ackley
8. C: Jesus Montero
9. SS: Robert Andino

Toronto Blue Jays:

1. 3B: Brett Lawrie
2. DH: Adam Lind
3. RF: Jose Bautista
4. 1B: Edwin Encarnacion
6. LF: Melky Cabrera
7. CF: Colby Rasmus
8. 2B: Maicer Izturis
9. SS: Munenori Kawasaki

I could decimate you with stats. Ok I WILL decimate you with stats: LAST in MLB in average (.228). 22nd in MLB in OPS (.690). 28th in MLB in Team ERA (4.72). 26th in MLB in BAA against (.268). Are we getting the picture? Hack the numbers to bits. The team is a mess. We needed that Boston series. Now we need this Seattle series. 2 out of 3 would be a great start since we have won only one series all season…cross your fingers. The time to worry is growing near.

The Final Word:

The all or nothing approach is failing fast. It may have worked for Chad Mottola in the minors where the pitching is more suspect but in the big leagues the pitching can leave us flailing or being too aggressive. There has been a bit more attention to longer at bats but then there are also a lot of called third strikes happening as well. I wonder if Mottola and Dwayne Murphy have the hitters confused as to what to do. Is it a room divided between both men? It is a thought. Perhaps a little shift in accountability between them may lead to results on the field. If not, I don’t see anything remotely resembling the team this group should be.

March 28, 2013; Clearwater, FL, USA; Toronto Blue Jays right fielder Jose Bautista (19) is congratulated by teammates in the dugout after he scored a run during the third inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Bright House Networks Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

But 2012 saw the Tampa Bay Rays continue to shine, the Baltimore Orioles becoming relevant again and the Yankees being the Yankees…winners. Boston took the year off but you know they could be in the hunt again with the bank roll they have to play with. The season did show glimpses of being the best offence in baseball. When Jose Bautista got hurt it signaled the end for this team. Edwin Encarnacion tried valiantly to carry the offense on his back but it wasn’t enough. Couple that with Ricky Romero‘s sudden fall from grace and you have a pretty decent team with horrid results.

Date: April 9, 2012
Location: Rogers Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada
Game: Boston Red Sox vs. YOUR Toronto Blue Jays
Weather: Very Dome-y with girders seen in the sky….

Perhaps this heartbreaking loss was a sign of things to come. We led 2-1 going into the 9th. Henderson Alvarez went 6 solid, giving up one run. Our new power closer, Sergio Santos comes in and gives up 3 in the ninth to blow the save and give the Red Sox the lead. We couldn’t do the same against Alfredo “The Devil” Aceves. A last minute loss that truly was a precursor to the season to follow. True heartbreak…bring on 2013!

Staring at the screen as I throw out this last bit if history I must say it has been pretty cool. Sometimes we need more than our memories to remind us of all the craziness that has gone down with this Blue Jays organization. For all the ups and downs this team has been through, they have never really bottomed out. We seem to always have some semblance of competitiveness (don’t count the ’70s…we wuz just brand new, wee birds then).

That is the overlying factor I have taken from this experience. We, for the most part, play hard. Play a full nine innings. Not many mail it in and that says something about the culture that has always been a part of the Blue Jays brand. Success has been more fleeting than anything but it makes you appreciate exactly what it takes to win it all. We are lucky. We have two trophies. There are still many teams without even one.

So enjoy the Home Opener: 2013. Take in the grace, the spectacle that could be the beginning of another special Blue Jays season. I hope you truly immerse yourself in the game the way you used to…or have always wanted to. Let’s…Play…Ball.

Sep 6, 2011; Toronto, ON, Canada; Toronto Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos talks to media before the game against the Boston Red Sox at the Rogers Centre. The Red Sox beat the Blue Jays 14-0. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

In season, we saw the arrival of Colby Rasmus and the first number retired in team history: Roberto Alomar‘s number 12. We may not have been too competitive on the field but the fans bought into AA’s plan to build for 2013 and beyond. To be sustainable. He brought the minor league system from 25th best to 3rd best according to Baseball America. He drafted well and the prospect pool started to deepen. We, as fans, were hoping for the best but realistic that to fix what J.P. Ricciardi had left would take some time. A new philosophy always needs to bleed into the fabric of a team over time. So the 2011 Home Opener was a celebration of not only a new season but a new feel to our beloved Blue Jays.

Date: April 1, 2011
Location: Rogers Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada
Game: Minnesota Twins vs. YOUR Toronto Blue Jays
Weather:…there is no weather inside a dome…ain’t figured that out yet? Hehe

We would see the maturing process of Ricky Romero reach it’s pinnacle in 2011 as he is named the number 1 starter for this team. With Romero and Brandon Morrow we saw two fixtures in the rotation. The next three were a mish mash of Brett Cecil, Kyle Drabek, Henderson Alvarez, Jesse Litch et al. The offence seemed primed for a great season with Jose Bautista blowing the cover off the ball, Adam Lind showing early promise and Brett Lawrie looking to impress. The pieces were falling into place at certain positions.

The game was a laugher from the start. We tallied fours runs in the first off a resurgent Carl Pavano and added six more before the start of the sixth. Romero was tossing donuts and looking every bit the number 1 he was designated to be. He would go 6.1 innings, 3 runs given up but only 1 earned and 7 strikeouts. Add to that the killer night of J.P. Arencibia (3-4, 2 runs, 5 RBIs, including 2 home runs). The game was well in hand as we trounced the Twins 13-3.

Coming off the type of surprise season the team had in 2010 this looked to be a great omen…an omen that went in the crapper as we finished 81-81…a mediocre line but underneath that failure to win were the seeds being planted of a winning team. We just needed to be patient. With a few more moves over the off-season this looked like a team being built properly, with no excuses. All we needed was to wait…

Apr 9, 2012; Toronto, ON, Canada; Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Jason Frasor (54) is introduced before playing against the Boston Red Sox at the Rogers Centre. The Red Sox beat the Blue Jays 4-2. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

So 2010 came upon with a fresh sense of identity for the Blue Jays. Anthopoulos promised nothing. All he basically said over the course of his first off-season is that he was going to try and build a sustainable winner like the Devil Rays for example. Player development was key and free agency was to be used only to fill in a missing piece. He wanted to use trades as a major component of building. He lived in the waiver wire. We all gave him a chance and his candor about telling us everything by almost saying nothing was remarkable. He had no track record. he was a Canadian kid who worked hard. We like them hard workers (bring back John MacDonald!).

Halladay got dealt. It killed us but we knew it was coming. He wasn’t happy here and when he eventually came back to pitch against us as a Phillie, he received an ovation no returning Toronto player has ever had. It was a great moment. Along with that deal the Jays just started to shed heavy payroll where possible and began to earnestly fill in the minor league spots with talent. A.A. wanted to build the best farm system in the game. In one year he pretty much did. But aside from the future, what did the Jays have to show us in 2010? Fourth place and more optimism than the team had had in years.

Date: April 12, 2010
Location: Rogers Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada
Game: Chicago White Sox vs. YOUR Toronto Blue Jays
Weather: was a non-factor

We didn’t have the strongest pitching staff, as having lefty Brian Tallet in the rotation can attest. We realized, as fans, that this wasn’t our year so let’s hope there would be good stories to tell. The Home Opener was not one of those stories. We hit Jake Peavy pretty good all game. he went 5.2 innings and gave up 7 runs! This would be a breeze if it wasn’t for Tallet giving up 6 in 6 innings. We were tied going into extra innings due to Jason Frasor blowing the save in the ninth. Jeremy Accardo gave up a run in the 11th and there you have an 8-7 loss. It would be hard fought and the team did fight most of the season. Again though….4th. Frikken 4th. At least A.A. had already begun to hatch his plan.

March 16, 2013; Dunedin, FL, USA; Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Adam Lind (26) works out prior to the game against the Baltimore Orioles at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Ok so 2009 was to be the beginning of the end for J.P. Ricciardi. You only have to look at the fiasco surrounding Roy Halladay and whether he wanted to be dealt or not. Ricciardi played it out in the papers and we knew the Halladay era would be over. J.P. never gave Roy a chance to win and there was no development in the minors of big name kids to sustain any level of success. Roy kept getting used parts behind him and he had enough. If Ricciardi gives any semblance of hope for the future then Roy stays. We all know where that led to. So again, we are left with a cast of middling, average to maybe above average players, some decent pitching but again no hope against the powers of the AL East. At least the Home Opener rocked.

Date: April 6, 2009
Location: Rogers Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada
Game: Detroit Tigers vs. YOUR Toronto Blue Jays
Weather: ……………..hey I don’t have a pithy thought for everything you know……

Halladay took the mound in this game against Tiger ace-in-the-hole Justin Verlander. I was at this game and I tell you the crowd was ornery. Moreso than any crowd I had been in at the mistake-by-the-lake 2.0. I was looking forward to a pitchers duel but I was disappointed…well not really. If you can touch up Verlander for EIGHT runs in 3.2 innings…well you have me revved up. Adam Lind was fierce in this game going 4-5 with SIX RBI, 3 of them on a home run off Verlander. Now this I could get used to. With this kind of lead Halladay I think took a different approach to the game since he coughed up 5 runs in 7 innings with only a couple Ks and 2 home runs given up. As we have seen before, he isn’t the best on opening day….but after that watch out people!

It was a true team effort. Everyone gave something to this 12-5 and that was very enticing. Sadly as after a 9 game skid in May they never recovered and were fourth….again. Bye J.P. and hello A.A. Let’s see how you do going forward…

Feb 21, 2013; Port St Lucie, FL, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher Shaun Marcum (38) poses for a picture during photo day at Tradition Field. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Sometimes good teammates and good people are not the same thing. There was no one to rally around. Scott Rolen would have been the best choice as a leader but from the moment he got here, even though he was a true pro and played hard, he didn’t want to be here. A lot of players in MLB thought the same. We were turning into the place to sign when your first choices are gone. The fans deserved better than a professional team. Sure they won more than they lost but winning in 4th place is still losing. For our Home Opener we had to face a very strong and determined Boston Red Sox team. Perennial playoff contenders. How would the 2008 Jays stack up? For this game ans actually the 3 game series…pretty good.

Date: April 4, 2008
Location: Rogers Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada
Game: Boston Red Sox vs. YOUR Toronto Blue Jays
Weather: Check an Almanac…it’s dry inside and that’s what matters…

Shaun Marcum got the call after the Jays returned home from a 1-2 start in Yankee Stadium. The pitcher for this game would be the knucklehead, Tim Wakefield. The Jays have never been that great against knuckleballers but for this day at least they were on top of that bouncy pitch. Wakefield almost had a quality start with 6 innings and 3 runs given up. Marcum went 7 innings giving up 3 as well. It came down to the bullpens. David Aardsma, Javier Lopez and Manny Delcarmen each gave up a run in an inning of work while the duo of Brian Tallet and Jeremy Accardo threw up goose eggs. The result was a 6-3 Jays win. The first of a sweep they would lay on the Red Sox. The hitting star was really no one in particular. Most Jays had 1 hit (Lyle Overbay had 2). The only Jay to get more than 1 RBI was Frank Thomas with 2. A very well rounded team win.

We would be relegated again to cheer on individual performances. My favourite is one I literally discovered while researching this article. Halladay became the first pitcher to have a 5–0 record against the Yankees in a season, since Luis Tiant accomplished the feat in 1974. I was 1 (grumble grumble)!!! He also became the second Jay to have two 20 win seasons (Clemens in ’97 & ’98). Still…we finished fourth. Dammit. Perhaps 2009 will do us better…

Oct 23, 2011; Arlington, TX, USA; MLB former player Frank Thomas before game four of the 2011 World Series between the Texas Rangers and the St. Louis Cardinals at Rangers Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Tired of losing, we perused the papers and that new fangled intranet to see just what JP had in store. To build off of what was a pretty decent 2006 season and hopefully turn the tides and be that man to lead us into the playoff promised land. Except this is the year of the Vernon Wells contract. The Tomo Ohka, John Thomson, Victor Zambrano debacle in the rotation. B.J. Ryan was lost to injury. Dustin McGowan pitched the most starts in a season he ever would and Frank Thomas came here to DH and pad his stats and launch Hall of Fame clinching HR number 500. We lose reliable Ted Lilly to to Cubs and replace him with Ohka?? This was going to be a strange season in Blue Jays land…and a very lucrative year for the medical community as 12 different players succumbed to injury. It was a wild year in all the ways you wouldn’t want it to be.

Date: April 9, 2007
Location: Rogers Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada
Game: Kansa City Royals vs. YOUR Toronto Blue Jays
Weather:…likely better than Minnesota….

We would send up the enigma that is A.J. Burnett to the mound against Odalis Perez?? I smell a whoopin’…and I smelled right people. Odalis and some guy named Jason Stanridge combined to surrender 8 earned runs in 4 innings. Burnett, on the other side of the coin, pitched a good above average game giving up 1 earned with 3 walks and 5 Ks. Scott Downs, Jeremy Accardo and Victor Zambrano finished them there Royals. They stepped up and protected the integrity of the club that had been starting to sway a bit. The difference with Gibbons is that he loves to let the kids play (from the Bobby Cox school of knockdowns). 9-1 was the final as we out hit them Royals 14-4.

It would key a brutal season where people dropped like flies from injury, infighting is just a waste. I would rather converse….but maybe that’s the old school talking. I should have said cheque…lol. Thank goodness the debacle of ’07 is over…but not the end of the debacle…just where would you like me to put it?

Feb 18, 2013; Dunedin, FL, USA; Toronto Blue Jays pitcher David Bush (54) during photo day at Florida Auto Exchange Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

This season Roy Halladay would get injured with a line drive off the leg (fractured), Corey Koskie would be lost with a broken finger and the likes of Gustavo Chacin seemed more interested in fragrance than performance, faltering badly down the stretch. The ace of our staff with Roy out? Josh Towers. Need I say more? How did this 80-82 team fare in the Home Opener against the hated Red Sox? Well we had Dave Bush starting so ummm….there was that…

Date: April 8, 2005
Location: Rogers Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada (the name changed when Rogers Communications bought the team in Feb, 2005. I don’t mind the name.though back in the day I preferred the Pierre Elliot Trudome…hehe)
Game: Bahston Red Sox vs. YOUR Toronto Blue Jays
Weather: not bad enough to keep those Sox fans at home apparently.

So it would be Mr. Bush against a pretty decent starter in Bronson Arroyo. He wasn’t a household name juuust yet but he would be. A pitcher who looked like he couldn’t throw 90 but had that sixth sense it seemed in how to get guys out. It would turn out to be a fairly even game. Arroyo gave up 2 earned in 6 innings, Bush gave up 3 in 5 innings but Brandon League would come in in the 6th and give up another 3 runs. He had the arm but the control was still being harnessed.

Ultimately, it would come down to the home side being down by 3 runs heading into the bottom of the ninth. Newly appointed Boston closer Keith Foulke would make it interesting by giving up 2 runs in the inning but held on for the 6-5 Red Sox win (sunnuva….). The hitting star for the home side was Eric Hinske with a 3-4 night, 2 runs scored, 2 RBI and a homer to boot. Pretty good. Rest of the team…not so much. The top four in the order went 1-16. I am looking at you Frank Catalanotto, Orlando Hudson, Vernon Wells and Koskie! It would be the lack of hitting with runners in scoring position that would be the achilles heel of the 2005 team.

Hopefully 2006 would start to bear the fruit of some awesome player development..hahaha. Oh to laugh…

May 3, 2011; Flushing, NY, USA; New York Mets assistant general manager J.P. Ricciardi before the game against the San Francisco Giants at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: William Perlman/The Star-Ledger via USA TODAY Sports

With Roy Halladay coming off a Cy Young season, Ted Lilly and Miguel Batista settling into the rotation and the likes of a ramped up Vernon Wells, Carlos Delgado and Eric Hinske, we had the makings of a decent team. Maybe not playoff caliber yet but good enough to see light at the end of the tunnel. Then we started to play. The beginnings of April were, in a word, horrid.

Date: April 5, 2004
Location: The SkyDome, Toronto, ON, Canada
Game: Detroit Tigers vs. YOUR Toronto Blue Jays
Weather: …only weather here were the dark clouds hanging over our impending doom…

When you first see the match up of Jason Johnson vs. Roy Halladay you would think that the game was a gimme. A shutout and blowout waiting to happen…and it was. Only it was the Tigers who would bash us all around the dome. It is here we realize the Halladay may not be at his best during the first month of the season. As long as the others pick him up it should be ok.

The only pick me ups on this day were Johnson’s 6 innings with no runs and 4 hits. Halladay got rocked to the tune of 6.2 innings 10 hits (including homeruns by Carlos Pena, Rondell White and Ivan Rodriguez) 7 runs, 6 earned, 2 walks and 9 strikeouts. Strikeouts are great except when coupled with just as many hits. You could see the writing on the wall already. 24 pitchers would be used this season, along with 23 men in the field. 47 men playing in the majors in one year. That is doom spelled…well dooooooooooom.

In looking back it truly seemed there was no vision to this team. When Russ Adams is your first draft pick ever, it speaks volumes to how Ricciardi didn’t have the right men evaluating the talent that the organization needed. He drafted on major league need as opposed to best player available. He always had an excuse and over time it would drive the fan base mental. We never knew what to expect. We tried to watch them. We tried to love our team as much as we could. Unfortunately, when you see the Red Sox and Yankees spending ridiculous money for all the best players, you were left to wonder why you should even bother watching the team. There was no post season to wish for. Just the next season, hoping it would be better…was 2005 better?

Apr. 25, 2012; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay in the dugout against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The Home Opener was supposed to be a pitching battle between Roger Clemens of the haaaaaated New York Yankees up against our soon-to-be Cy Young winner Halladay. Right in the middle of the Yankee juggernaut that has been flying since 1996, it seemed like we had a great chance to pull one out. That being said, this opener was not indicative of what kind of season Delgado or Halladay wanted and were expected to have. Just not in this game.

Date: March 31, 2003
Location: The SkyDome, Toronto, ON, Canada
Game: New York Yankees vs. YOUR Toronto Blue Jays
Weather: meh…

Funnily enough if you were to gauge Halladay’s season by this start you would think he was in for a long season. 5.2 innings, 8 RUNS (3 earned), 4 walks and a couple of Ks. Definitely not a Cy Young line so it just shows how good he was even with a pretty brutal game. Clemens was, of course, Clemens: 6 innings, 3 hits, 0 runs, a walk and 5 Ks…for him a solid but unspectacular game. Until the 8th inning it stayed at 8-0 Yankees thanks mostly to Alfonso Soriano‘s Grand Slam and Robin Ventura‘s two run shot.

Eric Hinske went 2-4 with a couple ribbies but it was all for naught. Final score of 8-4 was generous to the home side. Delgado, Shannon Stewart, Frank Catalanotto and Hinske were our best hitters this season. I think that tells you something there. Management tried different pieces being added as the season wore on (Mark Hendrickson, Kelvim Escobar, Dave Berg, Mike Bordick). It looks like a pretty weak team but they somehow played decent hard nosed ball and wound up 86-76…a stunning 86-76.

It shows that hard work can pay off in the end. That all the sweat and blood and time and stress will be worth it in the end. A sweet surprise for the fans who had received a small sample of success. 3rd place would have sucked back in the early ’90s but in 2003 and the way the game has changed left the Jays with little to work with. This is where it all seemed to go wrong…perception-wise. JP Ricciardi thought that he had beat the system of development…that he was just a couple players away. He was going to bring a new look and new attitude and change the culture of what the Blue Jays were. Bad move dad dad daddy-o. False hope is worse than none at all. 2004 will help illustrate that.