My weekly opinions, observations and rants about some Canadian baseball stories:
Some baseball pundits are endorsing Cito Gaston as a manager of the year candidate. I have to say that, despite employing strategies that baffle and flabbergast, Gaston has the Jays playing much better than I expected. I was one of those people that said the club would lose 90 games this season. The bottom line is the team is winning under Gaston this season, and the Jays icon should be recognized for that. Is he the manager of the year? I don’t think so, but he’s doing a better job than most of us give him credit for.
Yes, even yours truly isn’t immune to the hype. I picked up J.P. Arencibia in my Fantasy Baseball League last week following his two-home run debut and inserted him as my starting catcher for the week. The prized prospect promptly went 0 for the rest of the week and earned my middling fantasy team exactly zero points.
I know, I know Brandon Morrow has pitched a lot more innings this year than last year and he’s an important part of the Jays pitching staff in the future. But why sit him down for eight days after the best start of his career? Doesn’t that kill any momentum and confidence he had garnered from his near no-hitter? Why not start him on regular day’s rest and put him on a pitch count?
I can understand Rogers Sportsnet wanting to make money with their new Sportsnet One channel. We all want to make more money. But why launch this channel and take away 25 games from Jays fans starting in mid-August in the most exciting season the club has had in 17 years? Why not wait until the off-season and give fans a chance to prepare for the 2011 season? At the very least, the impact of this new station on devoted Jays followers was poorly communicated. I knew the new channel was coming but had no idea I wouldn’t be able to see 25 Jays games as a result.
Farewell to Giants legend Bobby Thomson whose pennant-winning homer (The Shot Heard ’Round the World) off of former Montreal Royal Ralph Branca on October 3, 1951 broke the hearts of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Other ex-Montreal Royals in the starting lineup for the Dodgers that day included Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider, Carl Furillo and Don Newcombe.
It’s interesting that Cito Gaston might receive a Manager of the Year nod this year–when he is planning on retiring. Yes, he is managing better than many give him credit for, but perhaps this is to correct the oversight made after the back-to-back wins of the World Series in the 1992 and 1993 seasons, when he *should* have been named Manager of the Year. As they say, better late than never.
We’ve chosen not to have cable or satellite, so I don’t see any of the televised Jays games. Now I might be able to watch them online, but I doubt I’d do that. What I’d really like to do is listen to the games online via Internet radio. Any tips on doing that?
Hi Christine,
Thanks for the comment. I’ve never listened to any games via the Internet, so I’m not sure what to tell you. The Jays have a great radio team on the Fan 590 in Toronto.
Thanks again.
Kevin
MLB has a relatively cheap service called GameDay Audio. I think it’s around $30 for the entire season — every radio broadcast of every team.
MLB TV is on sale now too ($25 I believe). It gives you access to the TV broadcast of all out-of-market games plus radio access to every game.
I hate shilling for companies, but I’m a pretty happy customer and it sounds like exactly what you’re looking for. Hope this helps.
I know many seniors who have really looked forward to the Jays games–most, certainly have no access to the extra Sportsnet network. I (for one) feel like pulling the plug on Rogers.
Insightful as always, Kevin. The many connections to Canadian baseball never fail to surprise me, including all of those Brooklyn Dodger players on the ’51 team.