But What Do I Know? … Jose Bautista, Matt Stairs, Rich Harden

My weekly opinions, observations and rants about some Canadian baseball stories:

 I’m a big fan of Toronto Star hockey writer Damien Cox. He’s one of the best hockey writers in the business, but for him to speculate in a blog entry that Jose Bautista might be using steroids is irresponsible journalism. It taints Bautista’s reputation without any evidence at all. The best response I’ve seen to Cox’s speculation was written on an entertaining blog called Drunk Jays Fans. Check it out here: http://is.gd/eCPAI

 Congratulations to New Brunswick native Matt Stairs for breaking the big league record for most career pinch-hit home runs. The Canuck slugger belted his 21st career pinch-hit homer on Saturday off of Brewers reliever Kameron Loe. Here’s hoping the ball, which fortuitously ricocheted back onto the field, ends up in the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in St. Marys, Ontario.

 Victoria, B.C. native Rich Harden held the Minnesota Twins hitless over 6-2/3 innings on Monday, before being removed from the game because he had thrown 111 pitches. It was Harden’s first game back after a stint on the disabled list with shoulder tendinitis. Texas closer Neftali Feliz allowed a hit to Joe Mauer with one out in the ninth inning to break up the no-hit bid. For the record, Toronto native Dick Fowler is the only Canadian to toss a no-hitter in the big leagues. He hurled his no-no for the Philadelphia Athletics on September 9, 1945.

 Question: Why does Lyle Overbay run the bases faster after he hits a homerun than when he hits a ground ball to the infield?

 Picking up the $1.2 million option on Jose Molina’s contract for 2011 is fast becoming a priority for the Blue Jays. I love the way this guy works with Brandon Morrow. If these two work together long enough, Morrow may win a Cy Young Award.

 Why when the ball is hit to Jays left-fielder Fred Lewis do I hear circus music in my head?

 Jose Bautista is the first Blue Jay to hit 40 home runs this season, but he’s not the first Batista (no “u” in the second Batista’s name as pointed out to me by astute blog reader Janet Money) to hit 40 home runs for the Jays. Do you remember Tony Batista, who redefined the concept of an open batting stance, slugging 41 homers for Toronto in 2000?

 I’m hoping to start a new series on my blog called “Ex-Expos: Whatever Happened To . . . ” For this series, I’ll be attempting to catch-up and reminisce with some ex-Expos. So who would you like to see me track down? Please let me know in a blog comment and I’ll do my best.