I think what I'll miss most is the smugness.

I am a cat enthusiast but there is something about that mouse that speaks to me.

I am abandoning all hope that Blogger will restore what were probably the greatest posts ever by anyone about anything, my recaps of the Blue Jays' recent minisweep of the Boston Red Sox by scores of 7-6 (F/10) and 9-3. It's not the personal loss that bothers me so much as the loss to the culture, to the language. All we have now are the memories. The 7-6 game was bananas, and ended when Rajai Davis stole second and third on consecutive pitches and came home on a David Cooper sacrifice fly in the tenth. Most of what I wanted to talk about, though, was how John Farrell has the team running too much, and into unnecessary outs, because I felt personally aggrieved by a missed sign on a squeeze play in the fourth. A sense of proportion is what I brought to the table. Drabek threw not smoke, but tolerably well. The game had it all: home runs, pickoffs, dudes no less awesome than Carl Crawford getting thrown out at the plate, stolen bases, caught stealingseseses, you name it. The 9-3 game, on the other hand, was a shellacking, and you will note that you almost can't spell "shellacking" without "John Lackey." 


Where the real smugness came in, though, was when I linked to an SI.com piece in which Jon Heyman put for the (correct) argument that the best move in all of baseball over the winter was the Toronto side of the Vernon Wells deal (Vernon I love you but it is true), and Alex Anthopolous' decision to pull the trigger on a moderately priced Jose Bautista extension. On Bautista:


2. Blue Jays sign Jose Bautista to a $65-million, five-year contract extension. Toronto saved themselves tens of millions with this master stroke, building on the brilliance of the Wells deal. Anthopoulos was annihilated at the time, as some figured he was wasting the money saved from the Wells miracle. But by giving big bucks to Bautista, who some figured was a one-year wonder after he hit 54 home runs in 2010, it turns out Anthopoulos kept the player who has turned into a superstar in Toronto. Bautista has not only improved from his alleged career year, he has been the best player in baseball this season. And it's not really close. He has an otherworldly 1.301 OPS overall (and a crazy 1.772 OPS at home). As Rays manager Joe Maddon said, Bautista is like Barry Bonds, circa 2001. Anthopoulos said, "I'm done saying he can't do something. I'm just going to watch and enjoy.'' Bautista really can't be blamed for quickly capitalizing on his out-of-nowhere season. How could anyone have known even better was yet to come? But it looks now like if Bautista had waited, he would have joined Prince Fielder and Albert Pujols in the superstar free-agent market this winter and probably beaten $150 million. And the Jays would have been out of luck.

This is ground that we had covered previously together, Baseball Feelers, but I wanted to share that with you because I am a small man in some ways.


Also the Podzilla era came to a premature end when Scott Podsednik asked for and was granted his release. 


I think that pretty much covers it, although, again, curse you, Blogger. And may you find peace, "Blue Jays 9, Red Sox 3: A Two Game Sweep is Still A Sweep" and "Blue Jays 7, Red Sox 6 (F/10): What Have I Become?" You were too beautiful for this world.


KS