Blue Jays 1, White Sox 0: A Boon to Beliebers Everywhere

 

Joe Carter with his statue and, perhaps no less remarkably,
a custom home run jacket presented by Vladdy

As lengthy pre-game ceremonies go, you could do worse than Hazel Mae introducing Mark Shapiro, who I always find engaging (his lengthy interview with professional collegial person Steve Paikin was excellent even when he wasn't speaking about his family's Canadian citizenship and being notably candid about the extent to which present-day America is gross to him), passing things off to Cito Gaston (he's eighty-two!), and finally to Joe Carter. That's a pretty solid rotation! And what a happy occasion, this unveiling of a fifteen-foot statue to commemorate the 1992 and 1993 World Championship teams, with many alumni present to celebrate (even Alfredo Griffin! whose Baseball Reference page we used to sponsor, when that was a thing you could do!). The ceremonies began outside, but made their way in, where Carter addressed the crowd, and was custom-enjacketed to his great delight (and indeed to my own) by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Good stuff all around!

The game itself was a delight, a swift-moving, scarcely two-hour affair in which Shane Bieber, for our part, and Davis Martin, for theirs, worked effectively and efficiently and really quite interestingly (if you enjoy thinking about location and pitch-mix and breaking balls and then plus also other kinds of breaking balls). After Bieber pitched his scoreless six in nearly-peak Shane Bieber form, Hoffman, Rogers, and Varland followed very much in kind, which allowed the Blue Jays' one run (a fourth-inning Vladdy double, knocked in by a George Springer single right after) to stand up in way that I, personally, found awfully compelling. Vladdy had a really good day: a single, a double ripped off the wall, and a walk in four trips to the plate will do quite nicely any day you please, and, as Madison Shipman noted, his timing just looks a little different than it did a month ago. Maybe everything's been figured out? And worked through? And now the raking will begin in earnest? Why are those all questions, rather than exclamations? And this one too? Where is my fighting spirit? Might a series win with Trey Yesavage on the mound this afternoon embolden it? I guess we'll find out soon enough, since this is a strangely early Sunday game? On account of commitments to the "Peacock" streaming service that still sounds fake to me? A little?  

KS