While I was not writing...

I took a little break from writing. The Jays swept Frankie Cats and his Rangers right out of town. Frankie, because he is a true gentleman, had nothing but kind and supportive words to say about Dustin McGowan. And Becks (sans Posh) came to town.

And then the Yankees rolled into town. Jesse Litsch, pink, round and efficient, took the loss in a close, tight game.



Yanks 5 Jays 4



And then Josh Towers, or Sparrow as I like to call him, took on ARod. He told Show Pony to take his "MINE!" and shove it by throwing at his shin. Alex took exception, Sparrow started towards him and it was so on. Benches and bullpens cleared. Everyone scrums a little, milling about and talking. Matt Stairs, pitbull extraordinaire, escorts ARod to his base. Everyone settles and sits back down. ARod is still whining and bitching, Overbay starts pointing at him and saying stuff and the benches clear again. Everyone settles down. Awesomely, Matt Stairs sits on the step and glares at Show Pony. Sparrow, cause he can't stand being too butch, gives up a two-run double. Sigh. Roger Clemens kicked Blue Jay ass in the place he seems to deny ever calling home. With a 7 run lead, he plunks Rios between the numbers and gets ejected in the 7th. He always did like punishing hot shots. Just ask Jeets.



Yanks 9 Jays 2



With AJ working his way off the DL and into the rotation, this could be Sparrow's last start as a Blue Jay. Let this be his epitaph: "You saw the effort, man. Johnny Mac and the rest of my defense -- Reed. These guys were playing unbelievable today, throwing guys out, diving and making unbelievable plays. I'm disappointed in myself for letting them down."



Thanks for the memories, kid. I remember when you were the go-to guy in '05. And that was a pretty bruise on Show Pony's shin.

Take your "MINE!" and shove it

Last post, I asked the Yankees where the evil was. There it is! Well, A-Rod, that was really, really low. Some might say it was clever, it was something ballsy to win the game. But if it was really an okay thing to do, wouldn't more guys do it? It's not like it's hard to do, like stealing signs or something. I guarantee he wouldn't try that if Troy was at third. And the response should've been a plunking of an already sore Giambi. So Giambi is Arod's problem, on top of whatever fun things the Jays are going to do to him in July. They all sat on the bench after the game, watching the Yanks high five after their win. Normally, they file out quickly.

Two outs, Posada pops up to 3B Howie Clark. All of a sudden, Clark pulls off. Ball drops. Run scores. Replays show A-Rod yelling "MINE!" to Clark. Clark thinks it's JMac, pulls off. ARod grins like a stupid kid, while Gibby protests.

Officialy, if a player is guilty of interference, he is out. There is a big section on interference in the official rules, but nothing specifically on yelling at the defense. However, there are several mentions of prohibiting conduct that creates confusion.

It was a good game until then. Jesse Litsch was rocked in the first inning and only lasted 2/3 of an inning. But Brian "Bitch,Please" Tallet, Sparrow (who was finally used after 11 days of dust gathering) and Jason Frasor all pitched decently. Lexi, Stairs and JMac contributed HRs for the Jays 5 runs.

Yankees 10 Jays 5

Indians 6, Jays 5

Dustin McGowan looks like a pitcher. Tall, big shoulders, long arms. But the boy needs to learn how to pitch. Not physically, his motion is smooth, his fastballs sizzle. He has a big league arm, but not a big league head.

V. glad to get out of Cleveland, where the Jays had leads in every game and then promptly got swept.

Fighting Jays: A mini-brawl (involving a second team, a refreshing change from 2006) happened in the fourth. Josh Barfield slid hard into Jason Phillips. There was a bit of yelling, McGowan tried to seperate them. DeLucci yells at Phillips and shoves him twice. Benches clear, boys all a fluster. It was kind of fun.

David Wells, in his book, talked about how when he first came up, he was a thrower who would just humped it in there and pray it worked out. Mike Flannagan (a 14 year veteran), Dave Steib and Jimmy Key took him under their wings and taught him how to pitch. How to work hitters, hypothetical situations. They would watch his outings, give him notes and basically talk shop. So my question is who on this current Jays team can do this? Cause some guidance is needed. And someone needs to kick AJ's ass. And I miss Eeyore or at least a true number three starter.

*This week in WTF, JP? asks : WTF, JP?