Despite losing Troy Glaus to a heel injury Friday night, the Blue Jays won their second game in as many days Saturday, topping Tampa, 5-4. Regardless of this result, the Stars’ Richard Griffin, calling Toronto’s casualty list “unbelievable “ perhaps unprecedented,” would have you believe the Blue Jays are contenders for nothing more than last in the AL East.
In any case, this season smells suspiciously like ’04 for the Jays, when they dropped from 86 wins in ’03 to a total of 67, beset by a string of injuries … but nothing like this.
This year the DL has housed a Cy winner, the starting catcher, ace reliever, setup man, the leadoff man, an all-star third baseman and No.3 starter.
For Jays fans with soaring expectations of gaining the post-season for the first time since 1993, it’s hand-wringing time.
Here’s one man’s outline for injecting Jays’ stability, the spiritual equivalent of taking a deep breath and visualizing success.
Call another starter up from the minor leagues and do not try to shove Casey Janssen back into the rotation. Janssen is a key member of the revamped bullpen, as setup man for new closer Jeremy Accardo (above). Janssen might have to be the closer.
Ricciardi was studying possible Halladay replacements last night. Prime candidates from the farm are veteran Geremi Gonzalez or lefty David Purcey.
Completing the bullpen, Josh Towers and Jamie Vermilyea should be long men, with Brian Tallet and Scott Downs continuing as lefty specialists. Jason Frasor should bridge the seventh. Let the guys know and stick with the decision.
As for the rotation, A.J. Burnett, Dustin McGowan, Shaun Marcum, Tomo Ohka and the minor-league callup should stay in rotation. Let them go out four times each before making a decision on anyone’s fate.
The Washington Times’ Thom Loverro takes a dim view of ESPN’s recent poll regarding public opinion towards Barry Bonds, and an even dimmer view of Dr. Todd Boyd’s Page 2 summation, “Bonds now finds himself incarcerated in a prison of racial suspicion, animosity and resentment.”
I was raised by parents who taught me never to make judgements about people based on the color of their skin, and I have raised my children the same way. So the last thing I want to do is incarcerate anybody in “a prison of racial suspicion, animosity and resentment.”
So I need Dr. Boyd or Jesse or the Rev. Al or someone to give me some guidelines to deal with this question — when can I write a critical column about a black athlete without putting them in “a prison of racial suspicion, animosity and resentment.” Are there any circumstances in which I can be critical without it being racially motivated?
Quite possibly. But tackling the subject without lumping Boyd in with Jackson or Sharpton might be a good start. After you’re done there, Thom, you might want to reconsider your suggestion the Mitchell Report merely xerox “Game Of Shadows” and wonder why many persons of all races wonder if the persecution of the Sultan Of Surly isn’t a tad selective compared to the scrutiny of Mark McGwire, Brady Anderson, Roger Clemens or Bill Romanowski.