Could the Jays Be For Real?

(BOD - Caroline Wozniacki)

I knew it. I told myself I wasn’t going to fall for it.

I sat down last night ready to watch my first Blue Jays’ game in weeks (their Western road swing, dumb television shows and life have all impeded my baseball viewing).

I have heard nothing but good things about the team in my absence. They are hitting home runs at a record pace (54 in May!) and their young pitching staff has been dealing all season long. Last night was the second game in a big home stand against the Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees.

Much last like year, how they fare against their Al East brethren will be indicative of just how good this team actually is. They won the first game against Tampa on Monday night behind a great effort by Brandon Morrow.

Numerous times throughout the year, I have mentioned that I was nonplussed about the hot start of the Jays. They did the same thing last year, getting my hopes high for a meaningful September only to fall apart once they hit the AL East.

As the game progressed through the early innings, I found myself to be cautiously optimistic. The hitters looked fantastic, the much vaunted offence looked to be for real, and Brian Tallet was putting together a sterling effort on the hill.

Once the hometown squad was up 5-0, I made up my mind to write about the Jays this morning and how they look like a team finally ready to compete for a playoff spot. I even came up with the column title around 8:30pm last night: ‘Could the Jays Be For Real?’

I am such an idiot.

I was doing so well, not buying into the ridiculous hype around this club espoused by guys like Gretzpo. I didn’t want to open my heart up to this team again, only to have it ripped out in grandiose fashion.

I’m like a guy whose girlfriend has cheated on him multiple times. I consistently forgive her, buying lame excuses like “I was drunk”, “It didn’t mean anything”, “He made a convincing argument, and I pretty much had to do him.” I’ve let her walk all over me for so long and every time she lets me down I tell myself I am done with her. But I keep letting her back in my life and she keeps shitting all over me.

This is what it’s like to be a Toronto Blue Jays baseball fan in 2010.

It’s not just that the Jays lost last night’s game, its how they lost. Blowing a 5-0 lead to baseball’s best team. Giving up four runs in a horrid ninth.

Do you know what is most terrifying about last night’s game? Last year the beginning of the end for Toronto’s season took place in Boston. The team was riding high, in first place in their division with a 27-14 record.

They walk into Fenway and get shutout by 75 year old Tim Wakefield. No one gets shutout by Tim Wakefield anymore. The loss sent the Jays into a freefall from which they never recovered.

Back to last night. Blowing a two run lead in the ninth against a team you have thoroughly dominated two nights in a row is the same type of catalyst that could lead to such a swoon.

I want to save the majority of my vitriol for Kevin Gregg. Look, everyone has bad games, I understand that. But his actions after being removed from the game by Cito are evidence of his final appearance as the team closer and guarantee shitty performance after shitty performance from Gregg for the rest of the summer.

There was no need for Gregg to go after the home plate umpire last night. Yes, he may have gotten squeezed on two calls. However, he walked FIVE in the inning and at least one of them was four straight balls. Gregg showed zero command of the strike zone. Why the hell should the umpire give him the benefit of the doubt? I saw at least four pitches that were saved from denting the backstop only by the athleticism of John Buck.

Great pitchers don’t whine to the umpires. They make adjustments. Great pitchers don’t walk five in one inning, blowing a great performance by your team. The honeymoon period with Kevin Gregg is now over. He’s done. Finished.

And I hate to say it, but I think the same goes for the 2010 Toronto Blue Jays. Yes, they will be competitive and hit a lot more bombs, but they will definitely be playing out the string in September.