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| you know what: generally not an on-field smiler |
With the Blue Jays' playoff status secured by Saturday night's Texas win/Seattle loss (as Téo grounds to Marcus Semien, we remember what was [and what could be again? {no, the past is gone, never to return}]), the only real goal heading into play Sunday was to get through it unharmed, and with Kevin Gausman firmly rooted to the bench, so as to be at the ready Tuesday afternoon in Minnesota. And we did it! I was a little worried when Bo stumbled around second, and plunged, helmet over his eyes, into third base for what was admittedly a pretty sweet triple: it would be an awkward time for another lower-body injury to our best hitter who is also our shortstop! Bo, you are both of these guys at once—please be careful! But he seemed well enough, and in good cheer throughout the dugout ministrations of trainer José Ministral. To everyone's surprise, starting pitching duties fell to the unheralded and honestly unheard of Wes Parsons, harmlessly cooked for eight runs (including a grand slam!) before a single out was recorded in the second (imagine if Alek Manoah had simply accepted, in an uncomplicated way, his assignment to Buffalo, had kept throwing, and came back up to get some outs on the last day of the season; he'd have received a hero's welcome, despite his ongoing disaster). Parsons could be heard to swear as loudly as anyone has managed all season, and then, to his great credit, made it through four complete. Though his line was indeed hideous, every out he managed is one more the regulars didn't have to worry about, and we thank him for his service. There was obviously a ramshackle quality to the whole affair Sunday, but lots to like for this huge crowd assembled for the weird day. They were particularly pleasant about young Cam Eden's first major-league hit (he is a speedy guy! he might well be on the playoff roster because of it!).
So here we are. We made it. And although we did not win the ninety games that, for whatever reason, is the only way I can truly be happy about baseball (this is not really true, but is truer than is in any sense reasonable), we did slightly outperform the FanGraphs model that had us at eighty-eight wins, as you will almost certainly recall without checking. I'm very pleased that we're off to Minnesota, rather than to Tampa, not because I don't think we can hang with the Rays (the Rays are actually not quite the Rays anymore, which probably means this is the year they finally win the whole thing), but because I have always been fond of the Twins, and this fondness has only grown in recent years (relatively speaking) once they moved into their absolutely lovely new ballpark. Though I miss the billowing pines (松濤, shōtō, pine waves) that have since been replaced by an also-good living wall, it is still a top ballpark in either league, æsthetically. Unfortunately, the Twins starting pitching is really very good, especially their top two of Pablo Lopez and Sonny Gray (simply outstanding starting pitcher names, especially in tandem like that), and if things go their way even a little, we won't even get a look at their third starter. The Blue Jays are going with Kevin Gausman for game one, obviously, and have José Berrios slotted in behind him, with Chris Bassitt scheduled for game three, should it come to be. I think I like that order after Gausman? Probably no bad calls here, but I do think I like the idea of Bassitt (aka the Mound Hound) in the potentially decisive game three over even Berrios, and if one were to counter "but we might not even get to a game three!" I would counter-counter thus: brother, if we do not win when Kevin Gausman pitches, I will be so sad that it will all be of little consequence. And Gausman actually looked shaky against the Twins this year! They were laying of the splitter! It was awful!
But before I descend too deeply into cares, I would like to say that whatever happens from here on out, this season has really been a lot of fun, and, to me, is an unqualified success already. And this whole era of Blue Jays baseball, for that matter, the Bo/Vladdy period, is already a success, and one of the best times there has ever been to be a Blue Jays fan (to me, it has honestly been the most fun). I would of course welcome an AL pennant, or a World Series championship! Please do not mistake me! But I am old enough that it is difficult to take anything other than the long view: the Blue Jays have played forty-seven seasons (only a few short seasons more than my own), and have made the postseason ten times; it is worth remembering that three of those ten times have occurred over the last four years (and the team that missed, the ninety-one-win 2021 team that mashed, was maybe the best of the bunch). This has been, and continues to be, a great time for Blue Jays baseball. And the way this team is put together, there's every reason to expect we'll be good for a few more summers, too. Whether or not things turn out the way we'd like this fall, or any fall, who knows? But it really is the summers that count.
KS
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