Today, May 10th, 2017 marks 10 years to the day B.J. Ryan had Tommy John surgery. 

You may wonder why that's particularly interesting to me. B.J. Ryan was never a particular favourite of mine. It was exciting when he was signed and that 2006 season was one of the best seasons a relief pitcher could have. I mean, look:

That's obscene. 

However, it was the early months of the 2007 season that are particularly significant. The Blue Jays announced B.J. Ryan had a sore back at some point in Spring Training, which suddenly became so bad it required Tommy John surgery. And if that sounds crazy, it kind of was. 

This blog, Hum and Chuck, was born out of that particular type of circus J.P. Ricciardi started to run. 

I wrote my first post on B.J. Ryan going on the DL on April 16th, 2007. 

I didn't have a lot in my life a decade ago. I was a university graduate who was poor and underemployed. I didn't have much going on, other than looking for a job and wondering why my four year degree from a very nice university wasn't worth nearly as much as I had been told it would be. I didn't know what I was doing or where I was going. All I knew is I liked watching baseball and I liked thinking up funny things to write about. Baseball, I discovered, lends itself very well to quips, asides and absurdity. 

Even in times I felt I was accomplishing nothing and that I was a failure at being a productive adult, I was always able to say, "I have this blog I write about the Blue Jays." And being a young woman, that had a little bit of prestige. It, at the very least, was unique.

Over the past decade, I have made this small corner of the internet mine. I started Hum and Chuck in isolation, not knowing what  kind of Blue Jays baseball community was out there. I didn't ever expect to have readers or anyone interested.

And what I found a vibrant, creative and passionate fanbase. I've met writers, players, broadcasters and fans that are as different as can be.

The only thing that unites us is we all love this beautiful game of ours. And what a beautiful game it is. 

On May 10th, 2007, the Toronto Blue Jays played their 34th game of the season vs. the Boston Red Sox at the Rogers Centre. The Red Sox won 8-0, making Tim Wakefield the winning pitcher and Roy Halladay the losing pitcher. The loss made their record 13-21.