This year, the Blue Jays have one of the biggest challenges in sports: trying to keep the ride going.
What is “the ride”? It’s the thrill and exhilaration that fans gets when their team, for the first time in years, makes a true playoff run. It rewards the fans who have stayed, brings back the fans who have strayed, and creates a whole new generation of fans, too young to remember the glory days. They come louder than they have ever been.
We saw it with the Royals in 2014, and it continued into 2015, as they not only met the previous year, but exceeded it, winning the World Series. Can the Blue Jays this year?
Well…maybe.
They’ve lost David Price, which is bad, and while they’ve added a few guys, there is nobody who can be said to truly “replace” him.
But on the other hand, they still are the Blue Jays. Their pitching has taken a hit, but they still have some big bats: Tulowitzki, Bautista, Encarnacion, Donaldson. Colabello and Russell Martin might not be in their category, but they have pop as well.
And, of course, this year, they will have Marcus Stroman for the entire season. Hurt for most of 2015, his return was legendary, and it’s likely that he will be the ace of the staff, and could very well prove to be a Cy Young contender if things go right.
But will they go right?
Sure, why not? The East is in chaos. Every team has something going for them. Why not just assume that the ride for the Blue Jays isn’t over yet.
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LINKS!
“Bark and Switch”, Travis Sarandos’ expose that seemed to reveal that Hank the Dog had either died or been replaced by the Brewers. Of course, it turned out that this was all a false alarm…OR WAS IT!?!?!?
Jordan Shusterman of Cespedes BBQ has hit the big-time and now also does stuff for MLB.com’s Cut4, the lucky dog. Here’s his musings on what would happen if nobody knew what went on in the Hot Stove until the beginning of spring training.
Hey, the SI vault is around again!
Eno Sarris on catcher’s concussion issues
SELF-PROMOTION OF THE WEEK: Hey, I had something posted on the site of Out Of The Park Baseball!
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Spring Training. Where players with ridiculously high numbers happen. Where games ending in ties happen. Where walk-off lost-in-the-sun errors happen.
God I love it.
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