Blue Jays Morning Brew: Celebrations, Advice and Apologies

It’s really difficult to avoid beating the dead horse that is the throwing at Jose Bautista, him showing them why it is not a good idea to poke the bear, etc story line. It is certainly generating lots of buzz in much the same way the Athletics, Brett Lawrie, Royals thing did. Baseball loves hype and drama. Let’s see what’s passing “Like Sands Through the Hour Glass…” 

Toronto Blue Jays

We can all breathe a sigh of relief as Daniel Norris got word back from the MRI on his left arm. Apparently, it is “clean” according to Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet. In fact, Norris says he’s already feeling better. This might seem odd at first given that ‘dead arm’ is a phenomenon that impacts a player’s ability to effectively throw without feeling anything out of the ordinary. So, feeling fine may not be much of a change. But, Norris points out that he’s been following his normal throwing routine and sees a positive change in “fighting through it”. That is good news indeed. Even though ‘dead arm’ is common, the Blue Jays must be feeling better since they can’t really afford to lose Norris for any significant amount of time.

At Sportsnet.ca, Jordan Heath-Rawlings gives us his take on the Jose Bautista/ Adam Jones back and forth with an interesting examination of the bat flip. He says that baseball is better off having the bat flip from guys like Bautista and Dodgers star, Yasiel Puig. He uses the Bautista home run as a back drop to look at two minds of baseball fans. There are those that are more traditional who think that one should not celebrate too much. The other thinking involves more passion from the players. Because I don’t care for the word “pimping” and I can’t think of a better word at the moment, I am going to use “stylizing”. When a player stylizes their achievements, according to Heath-Rawlings it is coming from a sense of the joy of accomplishment. But, that may rub folks the wrong way. But, Heath-Rawlings argues that it may be necessary for baseball to move forward as audiences become more entertainment hungry.

What is funny is that people in baseball tend to have more of an issue with it when it is done against them. But, if the celebration is not directed at the opposition, what is wrong with some fun? Remember this?

Prince Fielder and the Brewers were having fun celebrating. But, there are those that say there is no room for that in baseball. That  is just silly. Baseball is better with celebrations like this. It shows personality. Are bat flips entertaining? Absolutely. Was Bautista’s? You bet. But, perhaps the directed stares and jawing that accompanied it combined with the long admiration period go well beyond good old fashion joy and passion.

Rookie Devon Travis had some words of wisdom for his friend and team mate, Dalton Pompey. Melissa Couto of The Canadian Press (via Yahoo Sports) brings us the comments that Travis had for the somewhat struggling center fielder. He told him that he needs to “let loose”. Travis feels Pompey may be trying too hard to come out of his slump, to perform well. As we all know, that just leads to us not performing well. As Pompey commented already, he’s been playing “scared”. While manager John Gibbons (as quoted in the Couto piece) says, it might have been a poor choice of words, it actually makes a whole lot of sense. There are a million reasons why Pompey would be scared to make a mistake. But, Travis reminds him that you can’t get caught up in the counting of at bats and your average. Just relax and do your thing. Just another reason to like Devon Travis. And, after Tuesday’s performance, the advice may be working.

To quote Monty Python: “And now for something completely different”…

More from Toronto Blue Jays News

• Matt Chapman has been exactly what the Blue Jays needed
• Blue Jays: The goalposts are moving in the right direction
• Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays advance to the Championship Series
• Blue Jays: Comparisons for Alek Manoah’s Second Season
• Blue Jays: Adam Cimber, the unlikely decision King

The Blue Jays had to do a bit of back peddling recently as a song played at Rogers Centre sparked some criticism. According to Sarah-Joyce Battersby of 680News.com, Roberto Osuna‘s choice of walk up music offended a father who brought his very young daughter to a game. The song in question, “Open Wide” by Calvin Harris ft Big Sean features some pretty disgusting lyrics. I’m not even going to include them here (you can find them if you really want to). While the Blue Jays did censor out the “swear words”, they phoned the father in question to apologize for allowing the song and its lyrics to play, which were “inappropriate for the great family entertainment” they normally provide. Perhaps a more vigorous screening process is in order.

Finally, at The Star, Richard Griffin reminds us that it is far too early to panic about the start to the Blue Jays’ season. With the excitement that has mounted with this team at the start of the season, some may be worried about not being well above .500 and in first place. Griffin outlines that the concerns that have been apparent thus far are actually the same concerns we had heading in to spring training. And, while if this were the NFL, 13 games would all but decide the season for most teams, the MLB season is far too long to make any kind of judgments about the outcome of the season. So, for now, we should just sit back and enjoy the ride.

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This week’s episode will feature lots of Blue Jays talk and we’ll sit down with Ben Wagner, the voice of the Buffalo Bisons.

Next: Did Orioles Expect Bautista NOT to Gloat?