Indians 12, Blue Jays 9: Where Have You Gone, Thrown Smoke?

Kyle Drabek's start was at least as bad as this picture.

Here's my main man Kyle Drabek's pitching line from last night: 2/3 IP, 3 H, 4 R (4 ER), 3 BB, 1K. All three hits were hell of ringing doubles; it was extraordinarily shitty. Things totally escalated from there, too, and by the time it got to 12-0 I was long gone. Shame on me, I guess, because I missed a nine-run sort-of-comeback, but whatever(s).


In cheerier news, though, it has become apparent that Jose Bautista is leading all players in All Star voting, which is appropriate and good, and it has also come to my attention that Ricky Romero is currently dating Miss USA Rima Fakih, so good for him. 


Also, the schedule gets nice and soft for a bit so lets rip it up starting Friday. Big fun in Baltimore? Only time will tell.


KS

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 

Blue Jays 3, Angels 2: KYLE DRABEK THROWIN' SMOKE

Actually he kind of battled.

Let me begin by saying that were it not for Gameday Audio, and all it brings us for a mere $20 each season, this game would have been utterly lost to me, as I live in a land so distant and so eastern that last night's game in Anaheim didn't start until after eleven here. Eleven. There's just no way. But Gameday archives everything, so you get up the next morning at a reasonable time, put the game on, and go about your Saturday morning.  Let me tell you: it's pleasant. 


Kyle Drabek didn't exactly set the world on fire -- he gave up six hits and walked four over six complete -- but he battled through it and allowed only one earned. (The unearned run came on a Jose Bautista overthrow from right that ended up in a dugout; Bautista, in his first game back since the birth of his child, wasn't quite himself last night, and fair enough.) Adam Lind, who is really swinging the bat well so far this year, doubled in a pair in the sixth and then Jayson Nix homered in the eighth and that was that.  And by the second "that" in the preceding sentence I of course mean "awesome."


We all know that wins are kind of a dumb stat for pitchers, and many of us have no doubt known that since small times, but last night underscored that for me once again. Drabek allowed one earned run, throwing 103 pitches over six tough innings, and left the ballgame with a no decision. Octavio "Don't Ask" Dotel comes in and throws ten pitches -- all of them fastballs, and all of them strikes, quite awesomely -- and gets the win. Full marks to Dotel, and a nice job by Rauch after that, actually, but man. This, friends, is a stat that people are using to decide who gets to go into the Hall of Fame. To which I would just say: stop doing it that way.


Also we should probably decide -- like, as a blog, and soon -- if we want one collective Baseball Feelings Hall of Fame ballot once our contributions to journalism are recognized by the Baseball Writers Association of America, or if we are going to need eleven separate ballots. 


Finally, back to Drabek for a second: 1.38 ERA, 1.08 WHIP in thirteen innings so far. 


THROWIN' SMOKE


KS

Blue Jays 6, Twins 1 on Hardcore HomO Day

The second game of the season is the toughest sell all year. Pretty much any normal person with a reasonable and appropriate amount of interest in baseball has just been to Opening Day, and there isn't necessarily all that much interest in making it two days in a row. I could always get a dozen or so people up for Opening Day; the next day, not so much. This is understandable, and probably also, like, correct. So on day two, you really start to get the lay of the land, start to see what it's going to be like not on those rare forty-thousand-plus nights, but what it will look like when the Royals are in on a Tuesday night: oh OK, cool, there are only going to be about a dozen other people in my preferred section of the 500s; my nemesis, the really fat guy who is always getting his Mr. Sub all over himself and yells these really, really long things at the players -- "Hey Chone Figgins you suck today just like the last time you were in town which was an overcast day in July but before that you played well the previous series but I still didn't like you and I yelled something at least this long at you then oh shit I just got my Mr. Sub all over me and my promotional Mr. Sub sportsbag just a second" -- will again be joining me in the cheap seats this year; and oh hey, there's Maureen the cheerleading usher: "When I say [x], you say hit! [x]! Hit! [x]! Hit! [x]! Hit! Hit! Hit!"  

What I am saying here is that the day after Opening Day is opening day for the most dedicated fans, the true hardcores.  It is Opening Day for Hardcores.  It is Hardcore Opening Day.  It is the Hardcore Home Opener. It is Hardcore HomO Day.  

MLB actually kind of nailed it, though, by opening up on Thursday/Friday this year instead of a Monday, so the second game of the season falls on a day where someone other than my nemesis and I might want to take in a ballgame. So instead of the usual twelve thousand or so, there were 27,194 at the game yesterday watching Kyle Drabek throw smoke.  (Morrow was supposed to get the start, but is missing at least one with arm trouble that is in absolutely in no way serious at all so I don't need to worry, right?)  Drabek took a no-hitter into the sixth, struck out seven (including three of the first four), walked three, and allowed only one-hit over seven innings, and it was an inside-out kind of thing.  Nobody really hit him all that hard all day -- that little opposite field bloop was pretty much the only thing that got out of the infield. It . . . it was awesome.

In the end, the solo home runs from Jayson Nix and Jose Molina (any offensive production you get out of a Molina is of course "gravy" [lol they are heavyset]) were all that was needed, but what I was more excited about on the offensive side was that Adam Lind totally got a hit off a lefty! And he drove another pitch to the wall. If Lind does anything at all against lefties this year, there is hope for him. Travis Snider hit a rad pinch-hit two-RBI double, powered by this astoundingly shitty mustache:

Don't hate me because I am shitty looking.

That picture is actually from Opening Day, but trust me when I tell you it didn't get any less shitty on day two.

I will leave you for now with the following exchange between Jerry Howarth and Alan Ashby, who really summed up the day perfectly:

JH: Well, Kyle Drabek, congratulations, young man! You're 23, the world is your oyster! And you have just won your first major league game, and what do you do to earn it? Seven innings, you give up one run on one hit, and win it 6-1, wow!

AA: You got me hungry for oysters right now, and some good baseball, which I think is coming our way with these Jays.

Exactly.

KS

The Blue Jays beat a Yankees split squad today and I am thinking Wild Card

POJIRA!

10-2! And you will be like "first of all, it is spring training, and secondly, dude, dude, dude: it was a split squad." But I will say to you split squad, shmlit shqlad. Yeah, in fact, I totally will: split squad, shmlit shqlad. Kyle Drabek looked great, Bautista hit a homer, Podzilla tore it up on the base paths, and I am pretty sure this is the year. That's all it took, apparently, and to be honest with you I'm a little surprised I have been such a cheap date on this, but I'm sold. Jeff Blair and Alan Ashby spent ten minutes on the radio today being all, "Man, I don't want to get ahead of myself here, but man, they're looking good so far . . ." and in my brain I am also like man and then I think things very close to what they are saying and then I think man again just to seal off the thought at the other end. 


KS