Keep on Ballad-ing

AJ, the talented bonehead, pitched against the Jays yesterday. He took a liner off J-Mac's bat and had to be checked out. You know he was looking wistfully into the Jay's dugout for Poulis to kiss it better and Arnsberg to massage the psyche. Well, he made his bed. And that bed is made of sacks of cold, hard cash.

Favourite DJF whipping post, Richard Griffin, posted a piece about the sometimes strained relationship between Halladay and Burnett. (I just realised that I have written those two names together so often while writting this blog, it just feels right and natural. I have compared and contrasted, I have written odes and vaguely homoerotic scenarios using those two names. And the fact that they are no longer the Jays' one-two punch is still something I need to get used to. Shit. Fuck. Shit.)

Anyway, Doc said this, "We were both pulling for each other, whereas the first part of it there was a little bit of that competition between each other, which can be good, but if you're always fighting to try and get out of shadows or get the attention, it's hard. Once we were able to work together, it made a big difference."

What? Doc should never, ever had thought he was number 2. Ever. We should have a party for him. He can spill all the gum he wants. Unless, he means AJ felt the need to get attention or that he was in Doc's shadow. Very cryptic, Roy. But he is also very kind to AJ. Maybe too kind.

Roy supposedly gave so much advice to AJ, who is now, according to Griffin, mentoring the young Yankee pitchers using Doc's advice. That's just great. But Doc is pure class.

In a sort of companion article, Griffin also talked to AJ, who continues to come off as hilariously soft and very affectionate. It's all very "no hard feelings, right guys?"

He said this about Hill: "It's just good to see Hillie out on the field for what he went though and coming out and playing ball the way he is. I'm proud of him. That's good to see."

And this about Janssen, who had to leave the game with "tightness": "I shook hands with him before the game and then this. The good thing about Casey is he's a good kid with a good heart. I wish him well."

"I'm proud of him"? "A good kid with a good heart"? Really? AJ, you are quite the bastard, aren't you?