Thoughts about the 55th Game: Buehrle Plays Maddux, Reyes Responds



I could probably cut and paste words from my previous Buehrle post.

Buehrle is just a special pitcher- he doesn't blow you away with stuff, he has terrible games on occasion- but watching Buehrle pick apart an MLB lineup is a treat.

And while I'm against pitchers hitting a rule (it's against my religion), watching Buehrle hit a single and then slide hard to break up a dp was pretty great.
He threw his second complete game in two starts and the second "Maddux" of his career.

Final line for Mark Buehrle: 9ip, 6h, 0r, 1bb, 2K. 93/66 strikes. 1-for-3 with a sac.

NINETY THREE PITCHES.

He also denied Danny Valencia a "stir it up". Buehrle don't play that.

"He's just so fun to catch," said catcher Dioner Navarro. "He's amazing. He throws one ball on the black and then he goes a little bit farther and then it's a ball and then he brings it back a little bit and then he busts you in. It's so easy to catch him. He's one of the easiest guys I've ever caught in my life."
So the Jays took two of three from the Nationals (and could've swept had they managed to support a perfectly serviceable R.A. Dickey in the opening game. Dickey was actually pretty great.) Beating Max Scherzer in the second game of the double header was maybe my favourite game of the year. I mean, Kevin Pillar did the offensive damage and got two homers off one of the best pitchers in the game.

The funny thing about the first homer was that it came after he was denied a walk by the home plate umpire. The walk is actually less likely than the homer. Boy does not walk.


And Russell Martin stole home.

So they salvage a road trip that at one point looked pretty bleak. They roll home to face the blistering hot Astros, which, frankly, also looks pretty bleak.

But less bleak.



So Jerry Howarth has been talking an awful lot about Jose Reyes of late. Stoeten broke it down.

I found a lot of it to be ridiculous and more than a bit petty, but the most offensive was the pity we were all supposed to feel for rest of the team, for John Gibbons and the coaches "who work so hard" for having to play with this supposedly terrible, terrible shortstop.

" I feel badly for the team, I feel badly for everybody that I just talked about right there."
Yeah, I'm crying for them.

The bits about "too many smiles" and streetball were also pretty offensive, and I suspect I would find it less so if Jose Reyes wasn't Latino.

"And then mentally you were never really that attuned to being fundamentally sound with everything that’s involved to be Major League player, because you were so good having fun — just having fun playing street ball — that’s the difference in Jose right now, where I think he’s declined in one area significantly, that’s the physical part, the mental side, he’s always just been a fun-loving kid out there having fun. The problem I have, too, sometimes now, is too much fun, too many smiles when he is in decline and making mistakes and hurting his team losing. And when the TV camera catches that, it makes it even worse."

Are you saying that Reyes was never disciplined? This guy came from nothing, the kind of poverty that we don't really see here, and built himself a very lucrative career. That's not just talent. I'm not buying Reyes isn't disciplined. He's worked his ass off.


As for the "smiles" thing, I guess Reyes is supposed to shuffle sadly towards his grave. I have never gotten the impression that any of these guys don't care about what's happening on the field. They look frustrated and a little disgusted. But also happy, when good things are happening.

All of these Howarth comments coming on The Dean Blundell Show just added to the ickiness. I remember hearing Jerry call Dean Blundell "a fine young man" during a Jays' broadcast. I don't remember what happened next, because I drove off the road into a ditch.

So this was a few days ago. Shi Davidi of Sportsnet has Reyes' response. Reyes (and several other players) heard the comments Howarth made.

“Before I made those three errors that I made, (Howarth) didn’t say anything at the beginning of the season, because I didn’t have any errors before I came off the DL,” says Reyes. “So I was playing good since spring training, moving around good. Last year, I know that I had a tough time playing shortstop, but at the same time last year, I played through the year with sore hamstrings. It was hard for me to move around. That’s not an excuse, that’s the reality."

As for the "smiles" thing, I'm guessing the next time Reyes sees Howarth, Jerry isn't going to see one.

“If he’s got a personal problem with me, he needs to come talk to me to my face, like a man. Some of the stuff there I disagree with, because what he says is what the fans listen to, that’s what the fans are going to believe.
 “I hate when people say, ‘He’s having too much fun.’ I’ve been in this game since I was 19 years old, did you see a different Jose Reyes? No. You see the same guy every single day, nothing changes. I can go 0-for-5, I can go 5-for-5, I’m going to be the same guy. I’m a happy guy, people have to deal with it.”

Deal with it.

Now, I'm not arguing that Jose Reyes isn't subject to criticism or that he isn't declining (he's getting older, it's par for the course and he's injury prone) or should be making some of the plays he isn't. I'm not even arguing that Ryan Goins isn't a better defender at this point.

But I am going to argue that the Toronto Blue Jays are a better team with Jose Reyes in the lineup. I see that as a fact that numbers back up.

And if one wants to bring up valid criticisms of Reyes, one should be allowed to do that. But also know that if the comments are ridiculous and arguably offensive, they are subject to be ripped apart.


Just for kicks (or maybe to fear for the future of humanity), read the comments on the Sportsnet article with Reyes' comments. My favourite one was this one:
Now I ask you folks this ... why couldn't AA get in on the Arizona and Seattle trade, I mean hey for what seattle gave up for Trumbo is nothing and he is a RBI producer, I mean if AA is not looking for SP and BP help why not load up on more run producers