Very Tidy: Hutch, Osuna and Baseball on Quebec TV
It's always slightly disconcerting when the Jays actually win a game in the Trop. It's been such a house of horrors for the Jays, even dating back to the time it was Carl Crawford and a bag of toys making up their lineup. They win and I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Hutch, as he should be, was grateful for the offence.
“Probably did a good job of grinding and giving our offence a chance,” Hutchison said. “As they’ve been all year, they were huge.”
With the eight runs, Toronto reached 401 runs for the season; 19 of baseball’s 30 teams have yet to score 300. Those eight runs were scored without Martin and Donaldson in the lineup.
Roberto Osuna reminded us all that he has nerves of steel last night and also earned his first big league save.
Roberto Osuna reminded us all that he has nerves of steel last night and also earned his first big league save.
“I’m so excited, I like these situations," said Osuna. "I did my job tonight and I feel very tidy about it.”
Feeling tidy is important.
Feeling tidy is important.
Feeling tidy is especially important since the rest of the bullpen feels very, very messy.
The 8-5 win vs Tampa was also Gibby's 500th. True to form, he was relaxed about it. “It shows I’ve been around long enough,” he said. That is a variation of some things Black Magic used to say to struggling younger pitchers. Speaking of, he would be pretty handy out of the bullpen right now. Maybe Cecil and Loup should put a call in and get some advice about becoming southpaws that pitch effectively forever.
So good.
“Quelle tire. Quelle tire.” That was used for one of Osuna’s strikeouts, which translates to “What a shot.”
The 8-5 win vs Tampa was also Gibby's 500th. True to form, he was relaxed about it. “It shows I’ve been around long enough,” he said. That is a variation of some things Black Magic used to say to struggling younger pitchers. Speaking of, he would be pretty handy out of the bullpen right now. Maybe Cecil and Loup should put a call in and get some advice about becoming southpaws that pitch effectively forever.
TVA Sports, out of Quebec, has been covering a lot of Blue Jays games. I don’t know if that’s been a consistent thing or whether they beefed up coverage because one of their own is the starting catcher. But I'm enjoying the heck out of it.
Rodger Brulotte, familiar to any of you who are Expos fans, is a pretty amusing broadcaster. The word that comes to mind to describe it is joyful. There is an exuberance to the game calling that isn’t available in English. He and his broadcast partner Jacques Doucet just really, really enjoy baseball.
You can hear the style of game calling in the game recap on TVAsports.ca
Rodger Brulotte, familiar to any of you who are Expos fans, is a pretty amusing broadcaster. The word that comes to mind to describe it is joyful. There is an exuberance to the game calling that isn’t available in English. He and his broadcast partner Jacques Doucet just really, really enjoy baseball.
You can hear the style of game calling in the game recap on TVAsports.ca
“Quelle tire. Quelle tire.” That was used for one of Osuna’s strikeouts, which translates to “What a shot.”
"Prise à l'intérieur. Prise à l'intérieur. Troiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiisième prise à l'extérieur" was used to describe another one of Osuna's strikeouts. Strike on the inside. Strike on the inside. Third strike on the outisde.
"Bonsoir. Elle est partie!" Rodger Brulotte's classic homer call, famous in Expos games, was used to great effect on Navi's homer and Bautista's. “Good night. She’s gone.” (The “she”, in this case, is the ball.)
Brulotte also hilariously used a variation call when Asdrubal Cabrera was tossed for arguing balls and strikes.
Speaking of, after Cabrera was tossed, he threw his bat on the field. Crew chief Joe West collected the bat and had it locked away. Rays manager Kevin Cash thought it was weird.
“Maybe he wants him to sign it? I’m not sure,” Cash said of West. “I have no idea. First I’ve ever seen.”
They also ragged a bit on Martin because the backup had a great night at the plate.
Even if you don't understand it, I suggest watching the game in French at least for a few innings. You can easily pick up the lingo when you recognize what's going on in the game. It's something very unique in baseball and it's a particular part of the Canadian game. In 1969, when the Expos arrived in Montreal, a lot of the lingo was established and standardized. Here is a list to get people started.
Of course, as with any language, native speakers have short forms. Hockey terms get mixed in and there are a lot of idioms. For instance, the headlines for last night’s game and Sunday’s game were as such:
Les Jays tienne le coup. Means the Jays hold on. "Tenir le coup" also means to cope, which I think is appropriate. We certainly are coping.
Une fin de match en queue de poisson pour les Jays. "Queue de poisson" translates to a fish tail. If you finish in a fish tail, it means you come up short.
Even if you don't understand it, I suggest watching the game in French at least for a few innings. You can easily pick up the lingo when you recognize what's going on in the game. It's something very unique in baseball and it's a particular part of the Canadian game. In 1969, when the Expos arrived in Montreal, a lot of the lingo was established and standardized. Here is a list to get people started.
Of course, as with any language, native speakers have short forms. Hockey terms get mixed in and there are a lot of idioms. For instance, the headlines for last night’s game and Sunday’s game were as such:
Les Jays tienne le coup. Means the Jays hold on. "Tenir le coup" also means to cope, which I think is appropriate. We certainly are coping.
Une fin de match en queue de poisson pour les Jays. "Queue de poisson" translates to a fish tail. If you finish in a fish tail, it means you come up short.