Bits from an Off Day: Hutch Sent Down


After much speculation and after two bounce back starts vs Oakland and New York, Drew Hutchison was optioned down to AAA Buffalo.

The Jays decided to go with a four man rotation for most of August, with Gibbons announcing that Hutchison will make one start in AAA before coming back by August 29th.

I was open to the idea of keeping Hutch up despite the off days, just so they could maybe give Dickey and Buehrle a bit more rest. But this is alright, too.

I just hope they had a talk with him about it not being a type of punishment and more about getting regular work in Buffalo. And maybe give the guy a bit of a mental break. By many accounts, Hutch is an intense and proud guy and I'm sure the struggles have taken their toll on him this season.

After his start but before the official announcement, Hutchison didn't want to speculate about what the team was going to do.


“When it comes to things that are out of my control, I don’t really pay any attention to that and I’m not going to talk about it,” Hutchison said. “I’m focused on what I can control … It doesn’t have anything to do with me or what I need to do to prepare. Whenever I’m given the ball, I’m going to go out there and try to give an effort like I did today and help our team win.”

The Jays called up OF Carrera and OF Matt Hague. Hague is hitting .348 with a .909 OPS with the Bisons this season. He leads the International league in batting average, on-base percentage (.427), RBIs (83) and hits (161).

He doesn't know that ketchup and chips have been combined in this country. He also doesn't know what poutine is or that milk comes in bags. But Hague seems very interested in food in general.

Hague's dad is Canadian. He, Melissa Couto and I have already exchanged tweets about dogs.


Bob Nightengale of USA Today wrote a pretty fun article about the Jays.  

My favourite bit was Mark Buehrle talking about how he has come to enjoy playing in Toronto.
"Before I came here, this was a place where I never wanted to play," Buehrle said." There was no chance of me signing in Toronto. You come here as a visitor, and you have the customs, trying to figure out your phone bills, the money exchange, the temperature readings.

"But now that I’ve played here, it’s been so great. It’s just such a great place to live and play. They make it so comfortable for you."

I would like a follow up because I'm not sure what the issue with the phone bill would be. Maybe he means roaming charges on his cellphone bill when he phones the dog.



Today would've been Roberto Clemente's 81st birthday.
Here is an article by Dave Zirin about Clemente's affinity for Martin Luther King Jr. Here is what Clemente had to say about the Civil Rights Movement.


"When Martin Luther King started doing what he did, he changed the whole system of the American style. He put the people, the ghetto people, the people who didn't have nothing to say in those days, they started saying what they would have liked to say for many years that nobody listened to. Now with this man, these people come down to the place where they were supposed to be but people didn't want them, and sit down there as if they were white and call attention to the whole world. Now that wasn't only the black people but the minority people. The people who didn't have anything, and they had nothing to say in those days because they didn't have any power, they started saying things and they started picketing, and that's the reason I say he changed the whole world..."

Darren Rovel tweeted a picture of the letter from the Pirates' GM refusing Clemente's request for $23,000 for 1960.



"You have great ability and can become one of the outstanding players in baseball if you ever approach your potential."

Finally, they play baseball in San Quentin.



“Security concerns, rules about equipment and how it’s brought in. Organizational issues, and problems with managing the team. You have a predominant base of murderers and lifers on the team, which is in a way good, because it adds stability: Guys who come back year to year know how it operates. But a lot of these guys have all sorts of issues with competition, with failure, with anger. Some of them are in prison for a reason.
“You have to deal with all these personalities, put a team together, and try to play as one team. It’s difficult at times. You have to have a lot of experience in it, and an understanding of what kind of pressures they may be feeling off the field that might be contributing to the problems you see on the field.”

Other than the predominant base of murderers, that sounds a lot like a regular pro baseball team.