August 12- Toronto Blue Jays

I think the first thing that I need to point out is that it’s obviously not August 12, 2013. I’m not even sure why I’ve continued to keep up with the charade that I’ll be able to get back on pace of doing one blog post per day. When I started this mission back on January 1^st it seemed like it was going to be an easy thing to do. After all, the first month-and-a-half consisted of posts that were barely two pages long. Don’t get me wrong, I love researching, learning, writing and educating, and I am not throwing in the towel anytime soon. I didn’t feel I was doing you (the reader) or myself any favors by half-assing my posts. I’ve always been more of the longwinded type of writer, cramming in as much information that can possibly be conceived for the sake of not leaving anyone in the dark on even the smallest detail. My journalism professors at the University of Oregon can back me up in that assertion too.

When I started expanding my stories, adding in my personal details and stopped worrying about if it was too long I started to notice that I was enjoying myself more and connecting with a larger audience. What I didn’t expect was that after four-and-a-half months of doing that every single day I would break physically and mentally. I can pinpoint the exact moment too, it was right after I post my June 15^th story about LaTroy Hawkins that I quickly started to unravel. My follow-up post was a San Francisco Giants post on June 16th for Father’s Day, a story that dealt with the hardships my dad and I went through for well over a decade, my bouts with depression and thoughts of suicide and then the resolution of the two of us patching things up in the summer of 2012. The hard part wasn’t really writing it as much as it was the personal struggle of whether or not I should post it. After all, something that raw could potentially be a red flag for employers. But, like a lot of my posts after the middle of February, it was met with a lot of positive feedback, the kind of stuff that motivates me to keep going and keep improving upon what I do.

I don’t feel that I’ve thank you all enough for taking the time to read these posts that I care about so much. Even though I’m well over 100 days behind, I will be surpassing 100,000 total views on my blog within the next two days. I find that kind of funny because I thought writing every single day was going to be the key to achieving anything close to that. Turns out that re-posting at the right times was a huge factor, but also spacing things out, allowing people to fully-appreciate each post instead of cramming them down your throats every single day. It’s all a learning process I suppose. Most importantly though in the thanking department, I haven’t thanked you all enough for the experiences that you’ve shared with me. I love sharing New Era Cap stories, baseball stories and just stories about life with all of you. I’ve always been kind of a social butterfly, but I don’t really know how to show it sometimes. I love to laugh and joke, but sometimes I don’t know how to share my feelings unless I write it out. All of your relatable stories and appreciation for what I do is the best reward I take from my blog. Without all of you, this would be nothing. From the bottom of my heart I thank you all for sharing this journey with me. I promise to quit being a blubbery bitch now.

One person who has been a wonderful treat to meet and get to know is my friend and fellow #CrewEra13 New Era enthusiast and die hard Toronto Blue Jays fan Andrew Mitchell-Baker (@AMitchell_416). 

Andrew was born and raised in Toronto and has been an avid visitor of the Sky Dome/Rogers Centre since he was old enough to walk. He’s one of the few people I had the luxury of meeting during my trip to New Ere headquarters in Buffalo, New York. Like the rest of the gang, we met in the lobby of the hotel we were staying at, but we didn’t really hit off until we took the first leg of our trip to Niagara Falls. Andrew had been to the falls before, but only on the Canadian side, so it was a pretty cool new adventure for him. One of the first comments that Andrew bestowed upon me was that I look a lot like RA Dickey, something that I will leave up to y’all to decide with the photo above and below as your frame of reference. 

He is also not the first, nor the last person to make this assertion. On the inverse though, I said he looks a lot like Tim Duncan. You be the judge.

As we toured around the Falls we swapped stories about how we came up with our respective baseball teams. His story was a little bit more intriguing as he was there in the early days of the Sky Dome and was going to games during the Blue Jays’ most dominant years. I was six-years-old when the Oakland Athletics won the World Series in 1989, but I was living four hours away in Bakersfield when it happened. Andrew was getting introduced to the game in full on the back of the back-to-back World Series wins in 1992 and 1993. From there, it was a birthright. For the past 15 seasons he’s been in house for every season opener and almost every series against the New York Yankees because, well… everyone has an enemy. His shining moment at a game came on June 2, 2001 when Chris Carpenter; yes, THE Chris Carpenter, gave up an absolute muderstroke to Manny Ramirez that hit the wall at the top of the upper deck. Oh, and when I say upper deck, I mean upper deck. Watch this. Just to give you a little perspective of how far away that is, here…

 Deeeeeeeeeeeeeep!!!

I’ve been to four games at the now-named Rogers Centre, but I know I’ll be back for more, shooting the breeze with my friend, and sipping on only the finest Alexander Keith’s they have to offer.

Today marks a crazy day in Major League Baseball history as one year ago today one of the biggest trades in the history of the game was finalized between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Miami Marlins. The deal technically took place on November 13, 2012, but it took until November 19^th for MLB commissioner Bud Selig to approve it. The deal consisted of the Blue Jays acquiring shortstop Jose Reyes, pitchers Mark Buehrle and Josh Johnson, catcher John Buck, and infielder/outfielder Emilio Bonifacio from the Marlins in exchange for shortstop Yunel Escobar, pitcher Henderson Alvarez, catcher Jeff Mathis and four minor-league prospects including Adeiny Hechavarria. Cash was also sent to the Jays in the trade. Well, as you all know, the Blue Jays weren’t done yet. On November 16, 2012, they signed outfielder Melky Cabrera to a two-year, $16 million deal. On November 20, 2012, it was announced that the Blue Jays had re-hired former manager John Gibbons for the same position signing him to a two-year deal after the team had sent then-manager John Farrell to the Boston Red Sox along with pitcher David Carpenter for infielder Mike Aviles. Finally, on December 17^th the Blue Jays acquired the 2012 National League Cy Young Award winner R.A. Dickey in a trade with the New York Mets that sent prospects Travis d'Arnaud, Noah Syndergaard, minor leaguer Wuilmer Becrra and catcher John Buck to New York. Toronto also received catcher Josh Thole and minor league catcher Mike Nickeas in the trade. As part of the transaction, the Blue Jays signed Dickey to an extension worth a total of $29 million over 3 years with a $12 million fourth year option. In short, things went batshit insane in Toronto in a very short period of time. The crazy part in all of this is that I had predicted it seven moths earlier.

Ok, maybe I didn’t predict the exact specifics of the deal, but the exchange between the two parties was on the money. See, back in the early days of my MLB Fan Cavery I had been involved in a discussion about where the league was going over the next two-to-three years. This of course was right after the Marlins had “spent” a boatload of cash on new talent, Ozzie Guillen as the manager and was getting ready to open the door to their new stadium in the heart of Little Havana. One of two things were going to happen in 2012: the Marlins were going be incredibly successful OR they were going to fall apart; and not just fall apart, but have one of the worst meltdowns in MLB history. During the interview process in Arizona for the Fan Cave a question about the Marlins had come up from one of the executives as they were curious how I thought they would finish. My close-to-exact words were, “Based on the history of the Marlins I can totally see them making a solid World Series run because every time they reload their roster they’ve won the World Series (1997 and 2003). But, if they don’t even make the playoffs this year, expect the team to abandon ship and deal as many players as they can to one team who needs the talent and has the money to afford the contracts; someone like the Blue Jays.” I know, it all sounds like bullshit in retrospect, but I have yet to lie to any of you in these posts, and I sure as hell am not about to start. The reality in all of this is that it was a lot easier to predict than you might imagine.

The Blue Jays haven’t made the playoffs since they last held the Commissioner’s Trophy above their heads at the end of their second World Series victory in a row in 1993. 18 years, the second longest drought next to the Pittsburgh Pirates who finally broke their streak after 20 years in 2013. The Blue Jays may not have the biggest payroll in MLB, but they do have quite a bit to spend, especially when you have to consider that they play in the American League Eastern Division with the Red Sox and New York Yankees. With the emergence of Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion, Brett Lawrie, the Blue Jays were on the cusp of being able to assemble a star-studded team that would finally revive the glory days of the early 1990s. The only thing that had been missing was they key person to make such a deal a reality….

AA: Alex Anthopoulos, a native of Montreal, Quebec who is fluently bilingual in English and French, became interested in baseball in the early 1990s after seeing the Montreal Expos play at Olympic Stadium. He attended McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario where he studied economics. After his father's passing, he realized that he wanted to do something that he loved for a living. He proceeded to call several Major League organizations, looking for a foot in the door. His chance came when he got a direct line to the Expos GM Jim Beattie's office in Florida. He offered to work for free doing something he loved, and he was given his chance. He worked in the media relations department with the Expos, and moved to their scouting department in 2001. In 2003, when the Expos' days in Montreal were numbered, he accepted a lower-paying job with Toronto in order to remain in Canada. The job was as the scouting coordinator.

Anthopoulos quickly climbed the ladder. By the end of 2005 he was promoted to the position of assistant General Manager by then GM J.P. Ricciardi, which was then complimented with the title of Vice-President of Baseball Operations following the 2006 season. In 2004 he was a major reason why the Greek National baseball team was assembled for the Olympics which took place in Athens, Greece. For three years Anthopoulos waited in the wings, keeping an eye on how to conduct himself with the hope that he would move all the way to the top, either with the Blue Jays or another team who showed interest. When October 3, 2009 came rolling around Anthopoulos found himself in an interesting position as his mentor, Ricciardi, was fired after the team went 75-87 in former World Series-winning manager Cito Gaston's first full year back as the manager. Anthopoulos was promoted to General Manager, and got to work immediately.

On December 15, 2009 Roy Halladay was traded from the Blue Jays to the Philadelphia Phillies for minor league prospects Travis d'Arnaud, Kyle Drabek, and Michael Taylor. Hell of a way to break into the new role. Needless to say, Blue Jays fans were pissed, but Anthopoulos was just getting started. Soon afterwards, he sent Michael Taylor to the Athletics for Brett Wallace, and in July 2010, traded Wallace to the Houston Astros for center field prospect Anthony “Space” Gose. On December 22, 2009, Anthopoulos traded reliever Brandon League and minor league outfielder Johermyn Chavez to acquire Brandon Morrow from the Seattle Mariners. The move brought in a little bit of faith, but the reality was that the team was now down their ace and closer. On July 14, 2010 Anthopoulos made a deal with the Atlanta Braves to acquire Yunel Escobar, and Jo-Jo Reyes in exchange for Alex Gonzalez, and two minor league prospects: Tim Collins, and Tyler Pastornicky. The end result, the Blue Jays went 85-77 in what would be Gaston’s final year as manager. Bautista launched a franchise-record 54 home runs, Encarnacion was looking solid and he pitching was coming around. Things were certainly looking bright, but once again, Anthopoulos wasn’t done yet.

On January 21, 2011, Anthopoulos completed a blockbuster trade, shipping another longtime face of the Blue Jays franchise Vernon Wells and the remaining $86 million over the next four years to the Los Angeles Angels for slugging catcher Mike Napoli and veteran outfielder Juan Rivera. He then sent Napoli to the Texas Rangers for pitcher Frank Francisco and Rivera to the Los Angeles Dodgers for cash considerations. On July 28, 2011, Anthopoulos made two successive trades to acquire center fielder Colby Rasmus from the St. Louis Cardinals. In the first, the Blue Jays traded pitching prospect Zach Stewart and veteran reliever Jason Frasor to the Chicago White Sox for starting pitcher Edwin Jackson and infielder Mark Teahen. Jackson was then traded with relief pitchers Marc Rzepczynski and Octavio Dotel, outfielder Corey Patterson, and cash or three players to be named later to the Cardinals for Rasmus and relief pitchers Brian Tallet, P.J. Walters and Trever Miller. This of course all went down in the-manager/current Red Sox manager Farrell’s first season at the helm. Oh, but Anthopoulos still had one more major deal to make. On August 23, 2011, Anthopoulos traded infielders Aaron Hill and John McDonald to the Arizona Diamondbacks for second baseman Kelly Johnson. Even with all of these players getting swapped the Blue Jays finished 81-81. Before the 2012 Major League Baseball season, he was known to make trades in order to acquire supplemental draft picks. The most prominent example was when he acquired Miguel Olivo, a Type B free agent, and declined his club option the next day making Olivo a free agent. The Blue Jays gained a supplemental first-round draft pick when Olivo signed with the Mariners.

With Anthopoulos, the wheels were always turning. His days with the Expos taught him how to be sharp as the team was slowly being picked apart and eventually relocated. Anthopoulos loved the Expos, and vowed to bring a winning team back to Canada. In 2012 the Blue Jays went 73-89, their worst finish since Ricciardi’s final season in 2009. With his back against the way, so to speak, Anthopoulos took the call from the Marlins, talked to the higher ups and approved the blockbuster trade on November 13, 2012 (finalized on November 19).

Now, some of you may still be a bit confused as to how I could possibly know these two parties, of all the other teams in the league, could make that deal happen. It all lies within the Expos, the team Loria had first bought a 24% stake in back in 1999 until becoming the principle owner prior to 2002, right before he sold the team to MLB. So, for those of you playing at home, Anthopoulos worked for Loria for 2 ½ seasons. I’m not sure how strong their relationship is, but in the baseball world relationships like that are deep. Based on their history and Anthopoulos’s willingness to make the Blue Jays a winner, it was the only deal that ever made sense if it were to happen. Needless to say, when it did, I felt like a God damn genius… but I still don’t have a job working for ESPN or MLB. Drat!

’13: I had marked up the cap the day the deal was finalized and couldn’t think of anything better to capture the craziness that was my prediction and the season to come for the restored faithful Blue Jays fans. This cap especially is a memento of where the Blue Jays and their fans have gone in the last 19 years, a fixed mistake that never should have been altered in the first place. When this cap was introduced in 2012 it brought back a lot of warm feelings for die hard Blue Jays fans like Andrew and my other good friend and 2012 Fan Cave hopeful Dave Barclay. As Dave said, “It was like starting over again, getting back to the winning ways of the former Jays. Would you like a hot dog?” Those were his exact words. 

I still have quite a few Blue Jays posts to go, and if you learn anything from these posts, as I always mention in the Blue Jays posts, if you’re a team on the bottom and y’all decide to change the uniforms, be sure to expect good things. When you’re on top, expect some dark years. The Blue Jays finished the 2013 with a record of 74-88, only a one win improvement. Perhaps good things will be in store for Anthopoulos and the Blue Jays in 2014. Hopefully. 

As for the Marlins, they made out like bandits, but not because they made a ton of money on the deal. They only finished seven games worse than they did in 2012, but they got stellar showing from the players that the Blue Jays had dealt them. Hechavarria played in 148 games, hitting .227 with three home runs and 42 RBI and boasts a dandy glove. As for Alvarez, he went 5-6 with a 3.59 ERA and 57 strikeouts in 17 starts. He also had one shutout and one complete game, which both came on the final day of the season when he no-hit the Detroit Tigers. I don't want to elaborate too much on that story though. Patience.

July 25- Toronto Blue Jays

I’ve been trying to come up with something clever tow rite about in regard to this Toronto Blue Jays cap, but I’m having difficulty coming up with anything. If you recall in any of my past Blue Jays posts, there has been a close fellowship of major events which go hand-in-hand in the event of the Jays changing their uniforms. It happened in the years to follow the second consecutive World Series in 1993 and amidst controversy. If there is one thing that I have been able to conclude in all of my research, whether positive or negative, it’s that the Blue Jays, in spit of their two World Series titles, are one of the most baffling teams ever run in Major League history.

A lot of it you could say started toward the tail end of the 1997 season when then-general manager Gord Ash thought it would be a great idea to fire beloved manager Cito Gaston five games prior to the end of that season. Gaston was the manager for both World Series titles and wasn’t even allowed the courtesy to finish out the end of the season. Well, as luck would have it, the Blue Jays came crawling back half-way into the 2008 season to replace a manager who seemed to have lost touch with players. That manager, current Jays manager John Gibbons. Like I said, baffling. One of the more notable moments that can throughout the short-lived history of this particular road cap had to do with the stadium they’ve been playing in since the 1989 season, SkyDome. Actually, I need to mention a few things about this cap before I roll into bits about SkyDome.

At the end of the 2003 season, the Blue Jays decided to make uniform changes/additions for the fifth time in their then-26-year history. Rather than making a slight tweak with the typeface or even the logo like in years passed, the Jays decided to go “bat shit insane” with this process and completely change EVERYTHING. I’m honestly not trying to make fun of the team or the designers, but someone needs to tell me how you can from this

To this 

between seasons and assume everything is going to be just fine. As much as this seems like more of a proposal than reality, I’m afraid to say that it all went down. From 2004-2011 the Blur Jays donned these uniforms; however, this particular cap (the grey) was only used for home games from 2004-2005 and has since become a sought after collectors item for Jays fans and cap enthusiasts. Or so I’m told. I picked mine up at the Lids in Eugene, Oregon rather easily, but I guess they’re hard to come by in Canada? Once again, I need confirmation of that.

Anyway, one of the key moments in Jays history that went down under this cap came on February 2, 2005 when Ted Rogers, president and CEO of Rogers Communications, purchased SkyDome and switched it up to Rogers Centre at the cost of $25 million, roughly 4% of what it cost to build the joint. Talk about a steal. Rogers also refurbished a lot of the stadium, put in a new jumbo screen television in centerfield, replaced the original AstroTurf with FieldTurf and increased the team payroll. They also made Rogers Centre the first smoke-free building in Canada in April of 2006. The jury is still out on that one. Either way, Rogers was making an effort to improve things on and off the field, but the whole uniform thing is still one of the more confusing choices for any team throughout Major League history.

I had a doozy of a time trying to come up with anything of note in regard to stats, players and moments that I wanted to capture with this cap so I rolled the dice with two guys who had similar, yet opposite experiences playing in Toronto. If you’re a Jays fan you’re totally going to understand where I’m coming from with these two guys. Enjoy!

#27- Frank Catalanotto began his professional baseball career in 1992 when the Detroit Tigers—who first noticed him while scouting higher-profile players at a Smithtown East baseball game in 1991—drafted him in the tenth round of the 1992 Major League Baseball Draft. Primarily a second baseman in the minors, he made his major league debut at second base on September 3, 1997. While in Detroit, Catalanotto battled injuries and a lack of playing time, and never recorded a season of 300 at-bats for the Tigers. Then-Detroit GM Randy Smith chose not to protect Catalanotto in the 1996 Rule 5 draft, and he was selected by the Oakland Athletics, spending spring training with them. Catalanotto did not make the Athletics squad and was returned to the Tigers for the 1997 season.

On November 2, 1999, Catalanotto was part of an eight player trade between the Tigers and the Texas Rangers. In the deal, he was dealt to Texas along with pitchers Francisco Cordero and Justin Thompson, catcher Bill Hasselman, and a minor leaguer for slugging outfield star Juan González, catcher Gregg Zaun (I can hear Jays fans groaning), and pitcher Danny Patterson. Catalanotto made a splash to start to his Rangers career, collecting ten hits and three walks in 13 consecutive plate appearances from April 21 to May 18, 2000. This streak stands as the Rangers franchise record for consecutive appearances reaching base. He also tied the club's record for hits in a single game (five) on May 17. After another season plagued by injuries in 2000, Catalanotto finally burst onto the scene in 2001 when he finished fifth in the AL in batting average (.330), and recorded a .431 batting average in August. He also logged a number of innings in the outfield, a position he had fielded for only one inning before 2001. Catalanotto battled injuries again in 2002, and the Rangers declined to offer him a contract at season’s end.

This of course allowed the Blue Jays to swoop in and sign him three days after Christmas in 2002 for four years and roughly $10 million. From 2003-2006 Catalanotto was a pretty solid bat in the Blue Jays lineup, while only missing a little more than half of the games in 2004 (I blame the hat). Of his accomplishments in Toronto: On May 1, 2004, against the Chicago White Sox, he set the Blue Jays record for hits in a game, going 6 for 6 in the second game of a double-header. Catalanotto was named AL player of the week after hitting .500 in the last week of the 2005 season helping him finish with an average of .301. He also won the AL player of the week on July 25, 2005. Catalanotto batted .299 with 29 home runs and 200 RBI during his Blue Jays tenure, but he was not re-signed by the Jays following the 2004 season. Instead, the Rangers bought him back… for twice as much money. On a whole though, Catalanotto’s career was never as good as it was when he was playing for the Jays.

Despite being born in the United States Catalanotto's Italian heritage made him eligible to play for the Italian National Team at the 2006 and 2009 World Baseball Classic

 #29- This guy will always have a special place in my heart. Shea Hillenbrand was a 10^th round draft pick of the Boston Red Sox during the 1996 amateur draft out of Mesa Community College in Mesa, Arizona. For five years he fought it out in the minor leagues before making his debut on April 2, 2001 (Opening Day) as the Red Sox starting third baseman. Hillenbrand hit .263 with 12 home runs and 49 RBI and would have finished in the top-five for American League Rookie of the Year honors if Ichiro Suzuki wasn’t, you know, so damn talented that same year. Hillenbrand’s second season was equally, if not more productive. He hit .293 with 18 home runs and 83 RBI, earning him his first All-Star selection of his career. In 2003 Hillenbrand’s numbers continued to rise. He was batting .303 with three homers and 38 RBI, but after 49 games the Red Sox elected to trade him to the Arizona Diamondbacks for… wait for it… Byung Hyun-Kim. The reason for the move was because newly acquired general manager Theo Epstein had signed Bill Mueller in the offseason and felt that he would make for a more productive everyday third baseman. As fate would have it, Epstein ended up being correct as Mueller won the AL batting title that season (.326), but he also took an ear and face full from Hillenbrand not too long after the deal was made. And by “not too long after” I mean within two minutes.

As fate would have it Hillenbrand had the best season of his career up to that point as he hit .310 with 15 home runs and 80 RBI for the Diamondbacks in 2004, but the Red Sox obviously went on to win their first World Series title in 86 years without him. In January of 2005 the Diamondbacks traded Hillenbrand to the Blue Jays for pitcher Adam Peterson. Now, back in the AL East, Hillenbrand dedicated his time to sticking it to the team who got rid of him every chance he could. That season he hit .291 with 18 home runs and 82 RBI, one of those home runs and five RBI came against the Sox in which he hit .313 against his former club. Naturally, Hillenbrand made his second and final All-Star Game appearance of his career as he also led the Blue Jays in hits with 173 that season. This would end up being the last truly notable season of Hillenbrand’s career as a rift between him, Gibbons and the Jays was about to explode.

On July 19, 2006, Hillenbrand criticized the Blue Jays organization for failing to congratulate him on his recent adoption of a baby girl and not playing him upon his return. He was also disgruntled about sharing first base duties with Lyle Overbay and third base duties with Troy Glaus while being made to play as a designated hitter. Hillenbrand refused to sit with his team in the dugout during that night's game. After the game, an argument in the clubhouse took place between Hillenbrand and Gibbons over Hillenbrand allegedly writing defamatory comments about the team on the clubhouse billboard ("This is a sinking ship" and "Play for yourself") after batting practice. This led to a confrontation between Hillenbrand and Gibbons. He was designated for assignment that same evening, with the club citing irreconcilable differences. Two days later, Hillenbrand was traded to the San Francisco Giants with reliever Vinnie Chulk in exchange for Giants reliever Jeremy Accardo. He later admitted to writing the comments on the board.

Hillenbrand signed a one year contract with the Angels on December 26, 2006. On June 27, 2007, he was designated for assignment a day after being quoted as saying, "If I'm not going to play here, give me enough respect to trade me or get rid of me." On July 9, 2007, having been replaced by the emergence of Reggie Willits and first baseman Casey Kotchman, Hillenbrand was waived by the Angels. He signed a minor league contract with the San Diego Padres on July 27, 2007. He spent 12 days with the Padres' Class-AAA affiliate, the Portland Beavers, before being released on August 8, 2007. He hit .147 during that span. He signed a minor league contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers two days later on August 10, 2007. He was called up to the Major Leagues three days later on August 13. He hit his only home run with the Dodgers on August 29 off Luis Ayala of the Washington Nationals. In 2008, Hillenbrand went unsigned by any major league organization, only being contacted by the San Francisco Giants during the off season. On July 2, 2008, the York Revolution of the independent Atlantic League announced that they had signed Hillenbrand to be their starting third baseman. Hillenbrand played in 36 games for the Revolution hitting .340 with two home runs and 25 RBIs before his season was ended by a hamstring injury. Hillenbrand and his wife Jessica have three adopted children, Austin, Dakota, and Noah. They reside in the off season on a ranch in Chandler, Arizona where they run a foundation called Against All Odds. The foundation rescues and rehabilitates animals and allows underprivileged inner-city kids to visit and interact with the animals.

May 9- Toronto Blue Jays

April 19- Toronto Blue Jays

Well, once again I’ve found myself catching up on my New Era blog post. I suppose those are the riggers I face when I actually go to games and crack a few beers with the gang afterward. My bad. Anyway, I’m still recovering from a bit of a hangover so I suppose this is my punishment for falling behind.

There’s a recurring theme in which I bring up anytime I talk about a Toronto Blue Jays which is that they’re bipolar when it comes to hat and uniform designs. So far I’ve written two posts about them (January 13 and March 2) and if you recall I presented you with two examples which prove my point. For some strange reason whenever the Blue Jays decide to update their uniforms they tend to do it with dramatic results, starting over from scratch and generally creating something new. This type of habit might work well for a Minor League team, but with a Major League team it becomes an issue of losing one’s identity, as well as losing general face with the fan base. Now, I realize that I probably should have started with the very first style of hat they used from 1977-1993; however, I’ve been trying to write about each one as it pertains to specific players and moments in the team’s history. Therefore, expect that hat to get its post around September/October. For today, I’ve decided to roll with hat style number four.

The Blue Jays rocked the Jay logo with the backdrop maple leaf from 1997-2002 and featured two different cap styles within that range. This one, the red bill, was only used as the team’s alternate road cap from 1999-2000 while the all blue panel and billed cap was used as a game style during that frame. Unfortunately for me, I’m still trying to track down the all-blue cap so expect that post some time down the road.

The 1997 was the last season (of his first tenure) to feature back-to-back World Series winning manager Cito Gaston at the helm as he was fired mid-season after posting a 72-85 record and failing to have a winning record since their last World Series victory in 1993. The move came as more of a shock to Blue Jays fan because there were still five games left in the season, at which interim manager Mel Queen finished it out with a 4-1 record. Over the next four years the Blue Jays would play under Tim Johnson in 1998 who finished his first and only season with an 88-74 record. Johnson was fired by the general manager Gord Ash, the same guy who canned Gaston, because of credibility issues. What’s funny about this firing is that Johnson did what Gaston couldn’t, get the team playing over .500 ball, yet the team has yet to match or exceed the 88 win mark. Johnson was replaced with Jim Fregosi who only lasted two seasons despite winning 84 and 83 games respectively. Buck Martinez was hired for the job in 2001 and was fired mid-season of 2002 and replaced by Carlos Tosca. Even though Ash made a lot of incredible draft picks from the time he was GM of the Jays (1995-2001), he was also a huge dick who demanded instant results. All I can say with this is that I feel terrible for the Milwaukee Brewers with him in their office. I still don’t know how Ron Roenicke has kept his job for as long as he has.

So I’ll be honest, I made a slight mistake when I decided to mark this cap up back in December of 2011. Instead of looking up the timeline when one of the players played with the team, I just marked it up anyway to par tribute. I realize that my system isn’t perfect, but I try my best.

#9- This is where I made my mistake. For some crazy reason I decided to throw John Olerud’s number up on this hat as opposed to all the other Jays hats I own that I actually wore. Which only goes to show kids: research, research, research. Olerud was drafted in the third round of the 1989 amateur draft by the Jays out of Washington State University as an All-American first baseman and pitcher. Due to my loyal ties to the University of Oregon I am forced to hate this man. Joking of course. He made his debut on September 3^rd of that season, making an appearance in only six games in which he hit three singles in eight at-bats (.375) and scored two runs. As the 1990 season came around Olerud found himself as the team’s starting first baseman. From 1989-1996 Olerud played for the Jays and was a major contributor on the 1992 and 1993 World Series teams. His best season came in ’93 when he won the American League batting title with a .363 average. He also finished the year with a league-high 54 doubles, 24 home runs, 107 RBI and an OPS of 1.072. He somehow only finished fourth for the AL MVP that season.

One thing I need to bring up with Olerud is the use of his batting helmet when playing defense for those who don’t know. During his days at WSU Olerud had an aneurysm removed from his brain after he collapsed during practice. His father was a physician for the school and was the one who diagnosed his condition. Surgeons had to drill into his skull to relieve the pressure and remove the aneurysm as it was life-threatening at the time. As a result of his procedure Olerud needs to protect the area.

The use of the helmet really never slowed Olerud down too much, even though at any moment a freak accident could occur and put his life in jeopardy. He won three Gold Gloves in 2000 and 2002-2003, all with the Seattle Mariners. Olerud only made two All-Star Game appearances as well: 1993 and 2000. In his 17-year career he finished with a lifetime average of .295 and 2,239 hits as well as 255 home runs and 1,230 RBI.

#25- This one I didn’t screw up on thankfully. In 1988 a young Carlos Delgado was signed as an amateur free agent out of the Dominican Republic. For five years Delgado played his way through the Minor Leagues before finally making his Major League debut on October 1, 1993. From then until the end of the 2004 season Delgado played for the Jays, originally back up Mr. Olerud at first base. Delgado’s best years with the Jays came between 1996 and 2004 when he hit at least 25 home runs preseason as well as at least 91 RBI and an average of .262.

In 2000 Delgado was one the best hitters in baseball with a .344 average, 41 home runs and 137 RBI. He also led the league in doubles with 57 and made his first All-Star Game appearance. What’s most unusual about his numbers is that he only finished in fourth place for the AL MVP award despite showing incredible discipline at the plate by drawing 123 walks and maintaining an OPS of 1.134. Kind of sucks when you finish behind Jason Giambi, Frank Thomas and Alex Rodriguez.

2003 proved to be another dominant year for Delgado as he finished in second place for the AL MVP with a .302 average, 42 home runs and a league-high 145 home runs and league-high OPS of 1.019 and made his second and final All-Star Game appearance of his career. With the exception of home runs and stolen bases, Delgado had Alex Rodriguez beat all around. It’s one of the few MVP votes that I still take issue with.

After his time with the Jays Delgado signed with the Florida Marlins in 2005 and was traded to the New York Mets in 2006 where he finished out his career at the end of the 2009 season. His career numbers include a .280 average, 473 home runs 1512 RBI and 2,038 hits. I always enjoyed watching him play. He was one of the few power hitters who looked good at every at-bat. For a Dominican player to show as much discipline at the plate as he did it was surely a rare quality. Everywhere he played he was loved by the fans and still gives back to the communities who took him in.

March 2- Toronto Blue Jays

My computer is still out of commission, so I’ve found myself back in the doldrums of the University of Oregon library to write this post before I have to go to work at 4:00 PM. It’s currently 2:37.

The 2003 Toronto Blue Jays cap came as a bit of a surprise to me; mostly because they only used this cap for one year. It was an interesting concept with the Hulked out bird with a Maple Leaf logo tattooed on it's arm, but it was also a bit too busy. I could have sworn I remember them using it for more than that, specifically I recall Roger Clemens wearing it. Upon further review; however, it turns out I was wrong. I’ve never been a big fan of the one and done concept with hats on the field, but at the same time I also don’t mind bolstering my collection with them. It gives me something new to write about, but at the same time I am left with a lack of historical value to it other than a specific moment, a specific player, or a specific accomplishment for the team/player. With a lot of the other hats that I’ve written about I can embellish a bit. With this one, not so much. Sad Ben is sad.

2003 turned out to be phenomenal years for two particular players. I think you’ll agree that my choices on numbers really can’t be argued. Well, sort of.

#24- When I marked up this cap in December of 2011 I had my sights set on this particular player, Shannon Stewart. From what I can recall, I always saw him in the highlight reels making sweet plays and clutch hits. Plus, he had a brief stint with the Oakland Athletics in 2007; so he got bonus points for that. The one thing I had forgotten about, and somehow didn’t notice when I was doing my stat research was that he was traded to the Minnesota Twins midway through the season. Trust me, I feel like the biggest Gomer right now after making that connection. From 1995-2003 and then again in 2008 Stewart donned a Blue Jays uniform and made a name for himself quickly as a fan favorite. He was exactly the best player on the team, but he always did his best to prove that he was. In 2003 he started off hot; hitting .294 with seven home runs and 3d RBI, but as I mentioned a little bit ago, he finished his season with the Twins to the tune of .322/6/38. His grand total was .302/13/73, which was good enough for a fourth place finish in the American League MVP voting. Who finished ahead of him? Carlos Delgado at number two; which turned out to be his best finish in the MVP race. Oops!

#32- From 1998-2008 Roy Halladay was a pretty decent pitcher for the Blue Jays. And of course when I say pretty decent, I mean he was a dynamo. 2002 was the first year he made the All-Star team, an accomplishment he repeated in 2003 as well. Halladay started a League high 36 games and completed a League high nine of them. He pitched in a League high 266 innings and went 22-7 with a 3.25 ERA that season. His 22 wins were also a League high. But what’s most surprising is that 2003 was the first of two years that he’s won the Cy Young award; the second coming his first year with the Philadelphia Phillies. Like Stewart, I recall seeing way more highlights of Halladay, as the two plus Delgado were really the only notable and consistent players year after year. But still, I could have sworn that Halladay had more hardware in his trophy case.

January 13- Toronto Blue Jays

It’s not uncommon for team to switch uniform colors and styles to help bring in new revenue for a dwindling team. More times than you’d imagine, not only does a change of appearance help out financially, it also brings an unusual amount of success for a fledgling team. Take the Tampa Bay Rays for example. They went to the World Series in 2008, the same year they not only changed their colors and logos, but also when they changed their team name for the Devil Rays to just the Rays. When the Toronto Blue Jays made a switch back in 1995, it really caught people by surprise. The team was a year removed from back-to-back World Series victories, and the classic look of that era was holding strong for retailers. But not only did the Blue Jays change their colors and logo, they did it four times from 1995-2011, until finally landing on their current style, a tribute to the early 90s. However, the hat in which I am writing about tonight served as the team’s road cap from 2004-2005, before taking over as their game cap until the end of the 2011 season. The best the team ever finished during that stretch was a modest 87-75, good enough for a second place finish in the American League East, but not a trip into the playoffs.

I think it’s pretty fair to say that the brightest stars to shine during that stretch were Roy Halladay, Vernon Wells and a much underutilized Shea Hillenbrand; however, with this hat I got a bit personal with my marks.

#19- Jose Bautista didn’t really come onto the scene until the 2010 season when he hit an unprecedented 54 home runs on the year. My personal tie with this year is that I had Bautista on my fantasy team, and not only did he do well for me, he was the key reason I won my 7^th straight championship. Early in the season I had been monitoring his accomplishments closely. Bautista always had the ability to hit for power; however, his average was rather shaky. For this reason, Bautista sat on the free agent wire for the first month of the season… and two weeks after that. I generally don’t pull the trigger on someone throughout the season unless they can prove to me that they’ll be a pivotal player in my lineup. After Bautista hit his 13^th home run of the season, I picked him up, and dropped Seattle Mariners outfielder Franklin Gutierrez who had done well for me the previous season. I figured with Bautista I would be able to get at least 35 home runs and over 100 RBI out of him. Little did I know that my prediction was selling him short. As I mentioned earlier, dude pal crushed 54 home runs and knocked in 124; a fair portion of which he clubbed during my playoff run. With my championship in tact and Bautista as the clear MVP of my team, I enshrined his number in the Benjamin Christensen fantasy baseball Hall of Fame.

#26? You guessed it, Adam Lind. Like Bautista, Lind became a Benjamin Christensen fantasy baseball Hall of Fame member after the 2009 season when I had drafted him and Aaron Hill in the 10^th and 11^th rounds respectively in my league. I can’t even begin to describe the amount of trash talking I go for drafting both of them, especially considering that I could have easily picked both up off of the free agency wire a month or two into the season. But, I persevered, and stuck by my guns. Hill had a career year, if you don’t remember, but so did Lind. Hill went .286/36/108 but Lind went .305/35/114, and yet the Jays somehow didn’t climb higher than 4^th place in the AL East that year. Sadly, as the year came to a close, so did Lind’s dominance in the league. The next three years weren’t too kind to him as he never hit above .255. In 2012 Lind found himself DFAed and playing in AAA for a portion of the season before the Jays gave him another shot and he began to hit for power again. But, it was 2009 where Lind took my MVP honors and locked up my 6^th straight championship, which proved especially satisfying when I rubbed in the faces of the losers at season’s end. From an unexpected 10^th round pick to fantasy work horse; Adam Lind, you done good kiddo.