Fighting for It: Bautista and Stroman Vs. Destiny
With the near constant stream of negative press surrounding the Blue Jays and their dismal April, it’s not hard to get down.
It’s extremely trying to wait for something all winter and to be told that despite it being only two weeks into the season, the season is completely lost. The summer stretches out endlessly in front of us, but the team is looking up from a deep, deep hole.
It’s been trying for fans and it’s been trying for the team itself.
This stress and heightened emotion has been no more evident than on the face of José Bautista on Friday night and in the demeanor of Marcus Stroman this Sunday afternoon. Boys are fighting for it.
Bautista has looked lost at the plate and hadn’t hit a homer yet this season. There was a lot of this:
Then, early Saturday morning, a hero emerges from the darkness:
After they secured the win close to 4 AM Eastern, he praised the powers that be.
It inspired beautiful art.
Sunday's game was one that felt more stressful than the final score shows.
Stroman battled the entire game and was completely fired up. Gregg Zaun talked about “the right and wrong” way to behave on a baseball field in the postgame, but Stroman’s entire demeanor was like he was protecting something that outside forces were trying to steal from him.
People forget that Stroman had next to no run support for most of this game and the only run against him came from a very questionable illegal quick pitch call to Calhoun, who eventually came around to score. Stroman looked in control of his game, but behaved like it could go to shit at anytime because the baseball gods had forsaken this team.
The Angels looked at him a long time when he did this:
But it was beyond the Angels at this point. It was Marcus Stroman vs the Universe.
I wouldn't have been surprised if Stroman had punched Russell Martin in the face right there. Not because Martin had done something, but sometimes you just need a face to punch.
So the Orioles and Red Sox played each other this weekend. Stuff got stupid.
So Matt Barnes is trash and should be suspended for a good long time. And you know what? Suspend/fine John Farrell for okaying this, being complicit or just for being John Farrell. “John, I’m tired of your face. Write me a cheque for $10,000.”
Dustin Pedroia had this exchange with Machado after the incident:
It appears Pedroia is distancing himself from the beanball and Machado is more or less saying, “That’s nice. But it is my head.”
Pedroia elaborated on this postgame, and it made be kind of like him.
A Barstool stooge I blocked last year was running his mouth subject, something about “free drinks” to Matt Barnes, but again, I blocked him. Here is a reasonable response:
It’s a shame, because he has “make the Oxford comma great again” in his bio. That’s something I can really get behind.
And then this:
I love Ken Rosenthal. He's such a tease.
And then, in the postgame, Manny Machado said this:
Manny believes, guys.
So the blood here is bad, so I'm thinking this is a season long feud that leads to mass suspensions/possible injuries and the Jays rise to the top through the destruction.