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| alas but he is safe |
I relish every Blue Jays game in Detroit, now that they come so rarely, in part because I remember fondly the AL East Detroit Tigers of my earliest days, but in no small measure because of just how lovely their new park is ("new" in that it is very nearly, though not quite, of our present century). The great genius of it, I think, is that it makes no real effort at mimicking what made Tiger Stadium special, which I don't think is actually the obvious choice: if they ever built a ballpark to replace Fenway (which opened in 1929, just like old Tiger Stadium), can you imagine them not putting up a big silly wall in left? I can't! Aside from the loveliness of the downtown view it affords (I have always been soft on Detroit), the predominant vibe of the new park is Outfield Spaciousness, which very much came into play in Josh Palacios' CF-début Friday night, as he failed to run down a Jeimer Candelario double in the fourth, and dove somewhat recklessly after what should have been a Victor Reyes single in the ninth but which, after skipping on by and rattling around out there in all that space, was very much an inside-the-park home run (always neat to see, to be fair), and that was that, 2-1 Detroit despite a fine start from Steven Matz and no real help from the bats (Vladdy doubled in Bo, as in brighter days). Earlier Friday, the Blue Jays made what is to me an utterly thrilling waiver-wire pick-up in Jarrod Dyson, he of a great glove in centre and an absolute burner on the basepaths despite his thirty-seven years, but he did not make it to Detroit in time to help. Nor did Santiago Espinal's contact lenses: he left them in Toronto, and was seen taking ground balls before the game in his glasses. When he came up to pinch-hit for Palacios (oh now you pull him!) in the ninth, though, no glasses -- did Santiago Espinal pinch-hit in the ninth with uncorrected vision? Why aren't more people asking about this? He struck out on three pitches. It wasn't great.
Rough night!
KS
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