The Jays Journal Podcast is hosted by our own Ari Shapiro, and can be found on blogtalkradio.com. Tune in regularly to hear Ari and a wide range of guests talk about current issues, have roundtable discussions, and regularly take your calls to discuss all things Blue Jays.
Jays Journal Podcast- May 21st- “It’s Always Darkest Before the Dawn”
Out-hit, out-pitched, out-scored and out-classed; some long weekends aren’t worth their salt when it comes to anticipating a pleasing and worthwhile baseball experience in this city. As the Oakland Athletics battered the home faithful into oblivion with a team that resembled the Bad News Bears rather than the Toronto Blue Jays, it’s abundantly clear that most fans are reaching their boiling point when it comes to unconditional loyalty and surreptitious faith in this franchise. Since we know it’s always darkest before the dawn (and that there’s 115 more games to play in a ridiculously long roller-coaster of a bloated season). let’s turn our attention to more constructive musings and auditory pleasures to inspire immediate optimism.
In what is perhaps one of the most jam-packed editions of the podcast ever produced, I’m excited to start the show with an exclusive one-on-one interview with former Blue Jays second baseman and World Series Champion, Homer Bush (@BushHomer). Together, we discuss his experiences as a player in the pre-sabermetric era and how the transformative nature of the game conspired against his career and his perception of baseball long after retirement. You’ll definitely want to check out his latest book available on Amazon and Google Books: “Hitting Low in the Zone: A New Baseball Paradigm.”
More from Jays Journal
- 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
Next, Alexis Brudnicki (@baseballexis), formerly of the Toronto Blue Jays and now with the Great Lake Canadians (@GLCanadians), joins me to discuss her fond memories of the Lansing Three and why Joey Votto’s inexplicably bizarre comments were interpreted in more ways than one. She also offers us a powerful indictment on the state of amateur baseball in Canada and why it’s absolutely vital to support the game at the grass roots level.
Finally, I’m thrilled to round out the show with a boisterous round table discussion featuring Richard Birfer (@richardbirfs) from the Collegiate Baseball Scouting Network (@CBScoutingNet), Brendan Panikkar (@Panikkar37) from Baseball Prospectus (@BProToronto), and Chris Henderson (@Baseball4brains) of Jays Journal. Topics covered include: Robinson Cano’s dreadful suspension, if Joe Biagini might be irreparably broken, the merits of calling up Vlad Guerrero Jr. sooner rather than later, why Alex Anthopoulos can do no wrong in Atlanta, and their deep thoughts on Joey Votto.
Tonight’s episode was brought to you by: Cloudwifi (cloudwifi.ca). Do you live in a condominium and are paying too much for internet? Surf faster & save money by getting your building on-board and win a pair of season tickets for the 2018 Toronto Blue Jays regular season. E-mail bluejays@cloudwifi.ca today to see if you qualify.
Check out our previous episodes below:
- Jays Journal Podcast- May 15th– “Baseball Gods and Mortal Men”
- Jays Journal Podcast- April 15th- “Preventing Runs and Battling Injuries”
- Jays Journal Podcast- Feb 14th– “Hope Springs Eternal”
- Jays Journal Podcast- Feb 1st– “Collusion of Common Sense”
- Jays Journal Podcast Exclusive with Tony Fernandez
- Jays Journal Podcast- Year in review 2017
- Jays Journal Podcast- Dec 19th- “Soft Resets and Intellectual Exercises”
- Jays Journal Podcast- Dec 13th– “New School & Nostalgia”
- Jays Journal Podcast- Dec 7th– “Perception is Reality”
- Jays Journal Podcast- Nov 16th– “Dare to Dream”
- Jays Journal Podcast- Nov 1st– “Struggling for Legitimacy”
- Jays Journal Podcast- Oct 25th– “Contending and Rebuilding”
- Jays Journal Podcast- Oct 21st- “Wise Men Sing”
- Jays Journal Podcast- Oct 10th– “Standards of Excellence”
- Jays Journal Podcast- Oct 5th– “Don’t You Forget About Me”
- Jays Journal Podcast- Oct 2nd– “Only the Young Can Say”
- Jays Journal Podcast Exclusive with Jesse Barfield
- Jays Journal Podcast- Aug 3rd– “Three Wise Men” (Zwelling, Goldberg-Strassler, Henderson)
- Jays Journal Podcast exclusive with the Tao of Stieb
- Jays Journal Exclusive with Jackie Redmond
- Jays Journal Podcast- June 30th– With Sportnet’s Arden Zwelling
- Jays Journal Podcast- June 28th- Todd Stottlemyre, relentlessly candid
- Jays Journal Podcast- featuring guest, Ben Nicholson-Smith
- Jays Journal Podcast Exclusive- The Todd Stottlemyre Interview
- And many, many more…