Baseball: It Happens



We just finished watching two frustrating games coming off the eleven game win streak.

I was lucky enough to be at Friday's game and it had the kind of atmosphere I haven't experienced since I was a kid. When I was a kid, that place used to vibrate with energy. It felt like the walls were going to come crashing in.

I felt like that last night.

I took a video, which I posted on Twitter, of the crowd getting hyped for a Price strikeout. It doesn't capture how overwhelming the noise was, but it does capture the rising sound of the crowd as the moment got more intense until it released.
The video also doesn't capture how bloody hot it was in there with the roof closed. I was wilting. My hair was ten times it's normal size. I saw footage of Price and he looked downright clammy, so I'm thinking I wasn't the only one.

I took a break on the concourse, eating an ice cream sandwhich and made friends with a smiling baby in a onesie and barefeet. I was jealous of her outfit.

It was arguable about how long Price should've been left out there and it's given the "Fire Gibby" people something to talk about after having about two weeks off.

“Dave is one of the elite pitchers in the game,” Gibbons said. “Those guys find a way, sometimes. But three hits and then it started to snowball. Take him out and it’s just the tying run at second base. He did his job, really.”

(So it's "Dave", not "Pricey". )

“After the big double, I felt good about bringing Sanchy in,” Gibbons said. “It didn’t work out. When those don’t work, you analyze it, that’s for sure. That didn’t work.”

It didn't. Sanchez got to Beltran with two pitches up in the zone and it seemed like the plan was going to be to bury something low to get him to fish. Or maybe blow something by him.  Except Sanchez missed his spot and Beltran noticed. 

I was charging my phone on the concourse and saw it on TV. I'm not ashamed to admit that I yelled "NO!" at the TV. 

The only analysis of it I can offer is this: Sanchez missed his spot. It happens. 

The crowd was somber until the bottom nine and Troy Tulowitzki, with second and third with two outs, really made Andrew Miller earn it. The crowd was chanting "Tu-Lo" the entire time and booing lustily every time Brian McCann came out to discuss the plan with Miller. It felt amazing until it wasn't.

Andrew Miller screamed when Tulo finally struck out. And as evidenced in the picture above, normally straight laced Tulo screamed mid- at bat. 

“Classic (at-bat),” Gibbons said. “Two of the best players in baseball. That’s what people want to see, pay to see.”

After the game, Price said,"A loss like this can definitely bring a team closer, whenever it happens like that. And in this situation, I know we'll come ready to win tomorrow."

Except they didn't quite. All I have to say is letting a pitcher like Tanaka off the hook when there are bases loaded and the top of the order is up is never a good plan. 

I know people are starting to freak out about everything (the hitting! the pitching! the managing! the horror!), but the Yankees were never going to just roll over. They do have pride and they have led the division for most of the season. Turns out the Jays can't win the division in the middle of August. 

It also got Richard Griffin to write this:
The question has always been, when push comes to shove, do the Blue Jays have the killer instinct to step on an opponent’s throat when they have the chance and put them out of their misery?
I'm pretty sure they demonstrated the ability to do that last weekend vs New York. And versus Minnesota. And Oakland. They were never going to win every remaining game. 

The comments on that article on great, especially if you are doing research on how stupid people can be. 

Speaking of Mr. Griffin, after the game, Gibby's press conference featured a classic.

Richard Griffin: Gibby, would any thought be given to changing up the batting order maybe going into this road trip or something, with Tulo in the middle more than leading off?
Gibby: Well I havent given it any thought. How would you set it up, gimme a recommendation, it might help.
Richard Griffin: Revere 1, Tulo 5?
Gibby: Meh, save it.

Having Troy Tulowitzki hit leadoff is maybe the smartest baseball move Gibbons has made. That's a next level ninja move. The leadoff gets the most at bats and Ben Revere's .290 average doesn't feel like a particularly solid thing.

Silly Griff.

Bruce Arthur wrote the most beautiful article about your Toronto Blue Jays. It was a balm to anxiety and a reminder that there is still a lot of magic left in this season. We are hyped.  We are lifted.

Well, here we are. The Jays stopped losing for a while and engulfed this city in hope, and it’s been washing over everything. It is a fine and rare and dangerous thing, sporting hope in Toronto. But this team was worth it.
These games are baseball.

It's one of my favourite articles from the whole year. I had tears.

"Romantic." Actually, playoff baseball meant a lot of drinking. Aren't most of us conceived drunk?