Age is but a number

One of the things that makes baseball different from the other three ‘major’ sports, is the fact that many players are able to enjoy much longer careers. Sure, a player — most often a pitcher — may have to undergo an operation or two, but many continue to have success for several more years. Roger Clemens, of course, is proof of that. At 44, the former Blue Jay right-hander made his first minor league start last night in preparation for returning for his 24th big league season — this time with the New York Yankees. Meanwhile, Jamie Moyer, the left-hander who started against the Blue Jays on Saturday night, is also 44 years of age.

So who is the oldest player on Toronto’s current roster? That honour goes to 39-year-old Canadian Matt Stairs, who beats out Frank Thomas by exactly three months (Thomas will turn 39 next Sunday). At 39 years, two months and 22 days old, Stairs ranks as the ninth-oldest player to don a Blue Jay uniform in team history. However, he will soon move up to eighth, passing Tony Fernandez, who, in his fourth and final stint with Toronto, played his final game at the age of 39 years, three months and seven days. How far up the list will Stairs climb? Well, it’s safe to say he won’t assume the No. 1 spot. That distinction belongs to knuckleballer Phil Niekro, who the Jays acquired in August of 1987 at the tender age of 48. He made his final appearance for Toronto just three weeks later at the official age of 48 years, four months and 28 days. To put things into perspective, Nelson Liriano, who hit leadoff and played second base for the Blue Jays in Niekro’s final start, hadn’t even been born yet when the knuckleballer made his major league debut on April 15, 1964.

Dave Stieb is a distant No. 2 on the list, at 41 years, two months and three days. Though No. 3 all-time, Dave Winfield is easily the most valuable ‘old man’ in Blue Jay history. In his final game in a Toronto uniform, which coincided with him delivering the hit that won the Jays their first World Series, Winfield was 41 years and 21 days old.

What about the other end of the spectrum? Well, Jesse Litsch, who enjoyed a spectacular major-league debut last week, is currently the youngest Blue Jay at 22 years, two months and 10 days of age. Litsch doesn’t hold a candle to Brian Milner though, who at 18 years, seven months and six days old, became the youngest player in Toronto franchise history. Milner, a catcher, was selected by the Blue Jays in the seventh round of the 1978 draft (held on June 6). In an unprecedented move, the Jays called Milner up immediately, and the 18-year-old made his debut on June 23, going 1-for-4 in an 8-3 loss to the Texas Rangers. Three days later he made his first start and enjoyed a big game, going 3-for-5 with a triple, a pair of RBIs and three runs scored during Toronto’s famous 24-10 rout of the Baltimore Orioles.

Despite his quick success (4-for-9 in two games) though, Milner was sent to Rookie-level Medicine Hat, where he batted .307 in 51 games, but also tore his stomach lining diving for a ball before the end of the ‘78 campaign. This would be a sign of things to come, unfortunately, as Milner would endure several injuries over the next few seasons, including bone chips in his elbow, a hernia, and shoulder and knee ailments. Finally, after batting just .138 in 37 games at Double-A in 1982, Milner was released by the Blue Jays and never returned to the majors.

To this day, Brian Milner remains the only catcher to ever go straight from the draft to the Major Leagues.

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The old man enjoys a big night at the plate, going 3-for-5 with an eighth-inning grand slam — the 10th of his career — to help lead Toronto to a 13-2 victory over the Phils. Though he’s had just 60 at-bats this season, Stairs now leads the team with a .317 average … The Toronto bullpen works 3.0 innings without allowing a run, a positive sign, indeed … Frank Thomas does not appear in Saturday night’s contest, leaving Aaron Hill as the only Jay to have played in all 42 games this season … Toronto turns to its youth tomorrow, as Litsch makes his second career start …

They’re called ‘pitchers’ for a reason …

With Interleague play having returned this weekend, we are faced with enduring one of the more difficult things to watch: American League pitchers attempting to hit. Perhaps it’s more entertaining than anything. I mean, AL hurlers will seek bare-bones advice from their teammates on hitting this weekend, while likely borrowing a bat that ‘feels the best’. It doesn’t matter — the result will be the same.

The Toronto Blue Jays were fortunate to go 20 years (1977-97) before having to send a pitcher to the plate. But, with the introduction of Interleague play in ‘97, that would all change. Woody Williams made history on June 13 of that season, as the Blue Jays played their first ever Interleague contest against the Philadelphia Phillies — a rematch of the 1993 World Series. Williams became the first Blue Jay pitcher to bat in a regular season game, promptly striking out against Philly starter Curt Schilling in the third inning. However, in the fifth, Williams defied all odds and smacked a single off Schilling for the first ever base hit by a Toronto pitcher. All of a sudden, Blue Jay hurlers were hitting .500.

It hasn’t been pretty since.

Entering the 2007 campaign, Blue Jay pitchers had posted the following totals: .099/.121/.139. That’s 20 hits in 202 at-bats, while drawing five walks and striking out a total of 76 times. Overall, the 2003 season was the one most enjoyed by Toronto hurlers, as they combined to post an ‘impressive’ .214 average (6-for-28 with five runs scored). The highlight of the Interleague season that year came when left-hander Mark Hendrickson became the first and only Blue Jay pitcher to hit a home run, accomplishing the feat against the Montreal Expos on June 21. Unfortunately, the success didn’t carry over to the following two seasons, as the Toronto staff went a combined 0-for-38 in 2004 and 2005.

It’s important to note, of course, that the introduction of Interleague play wasn’t the first time that Blue Jays pitchers had been forced to take their turn in the batter’s box. No, that came during the team’s World Series championship seasons in 1992 and 1993. Against the Atlanta Braves in ‘92, starters David Cone (2-for-4, RBI), Jimmy Key (0-for-1) and Jack Morris (0-for-2) combined to go 2-for-7 in the Series. Meanwhile, six Blue Jay pitchers together went 1-for-8 in the ‘93 Series against the Phillies.

While we tip our cap to Hendrickson for homering against the Expos, we can’t deny the fact that, among pitchers, Todd Stottlemyre produced the greatest offensive moment in Blue Jay history. After all, it truly was offensive. Ironically, Stottlemyre never recorded an official at-bat in a Blue Jay uniform — though he did manage to draw a bases on balls in Game 4 of the ‘93 Series. That set up one of the most comedic moments in World Series history. Following a single by Roberto Alomar, Stottlemyre made the unfortunate decision to try and go first-to-third. If that decision was poor, however, the one to slide head-first — jacket and all — was even worse. The result of Stottlemyre’s infamous ‘belly-flop’ was a nice gash on the pitcher’s chin, as well as enough material for his teammates to rib him for years to come.

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Dustin McGowan gets the first two at-bats by a Blue Jay pitcher this season, going 0-for-2 with a strikeout … Unfortunately, the right-hander also surrenders a five-spot to the Phillies in the fifth, resulting in a 5-3 Toronto loss … Aaron Hill delivers his seventh home run of the season, a two-run shot in the seventh. Though his average has dipped to .279, the 25-year-old Hill is still displaying his newfound power stroke. In fact, a quarter of the way through the season, he is on pace to hit 27-28 home runs and drive in 98-100 runs. Both would set new franchise marks for a second baseman (Roberto Alomar had 17 HR and 93 RBIs in 1993) … Marcum-Moyer Saturday night …

Philly connection

When the shaggy, mullet-wearing ball club from Philadelphia descended upon Toronto back on October 16, 1993, they were — for all intents and purposes — an unknown. Of course the Phillies and Blue Jays had never met before (Interleague play wasn’t instituted until 1997). However, that would soon change. A hard-fought, six-game World Series quickly brought the two cities together, and a lasting connection was made. In the 13 seasons since Joe Carter ‘touched ‘em all’ on October 23rd, 1993 at SkyDome, there has been a significant number of players, coaches and management that have helped keep this connection alive.

Jim Fregosi, who was the manager of the Phillies in ‘93, was hired by the Blue Jays in 1999 and managed for two seasons in Toronto, compiling a 167-157 overall record. Ironically, Cito Gaston joined Fregosi’s staff in 2000 and served as Toronto’s hitting instructor once again for two more seasons before joining the front office in 2002.

Meanwhile, a handful of players on the 1993 Phillies squad later joined the Jays as well. Mariano Duncan, who played second base for the ‘93 Philadelphia team, was acquired by Toronto during the 1997 campaign and finished his career in a Blue Jay uniform. Dave Hollins, meanwhile, joined Toronto prior to the 1999 season, but appeared in just 27 games before being released on June 21. Mickey Morandini also ended his big league career as a Blue Jay, appearing in 35 games for Toronto in 2000.

The man who constructed the Blue Jays’ World Series-winning ball clubs is now the general manager of the Phillies. Pat Gillick was named to that post on November 2, 2005. And who did Gillick hire as his new bench coach in 2006? None other than former Blue Jays manager Jimy Williams.

Both will be in attendance as the Jays and Phillies hook up tomorrow for their 19th ever regular season contest.

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As if there wasn’t enough history between these two teams, how about this: (courtesy of Wikipedia) … During 1944 and 1945, the Phillies changed their name to the “Blue Jays”. The change did not catch on apparently, as very little effort was made to promote it. Still, Philadelphia briefly sported a Blue Jays patch on the sleeve of their jerseys. The team’s name was fully changed back to “Phillies” in 1946 …

The art of hitting .300

Entering action Wednesday night, the Blue Jays were ninth in the American League with a .254 team batting average. This, despite the fact that for the second straight season, Toronto was the first club to reach 100 hits in the majors. Since then, however, the bats have gone largely silent. In fact, no Blue Jay is batting over .300 with the requisite number of plate appearances to qualify for the AL leaders (Troy Glaus has a .320 mark, but is well short of the 124 required PA’s).

This is a far cry from last season, when Reed Johnson (.319), Lyle Overbay (.312) and Vernon Wells (.303) all managed to hit over .300 for the year. Meanwhile, Alex Rios (.302) and Frank Catalanotto (.300) fell just four and three plate appearances short, respectively, from qualifying themselves.

Since 1977, Toronto has had 31 players accomplish the feat. Roberto Alomar (1992-95), Tony Fernandez (1986-87 & 1998-99) and Shannon Stewart (1999-2002) each hit over .300 four times in a Blue Jay uniform. Meanwhile, George Bell, Damaso Garcia, Paul Molitor, Carlos Delgado and Wells each did it twice. But it’s a man who managed the feat just once as a Blue Jay who posted the greatest single-season mark in franchise history.

Of course that man is John Olerud, who enjoyed a special year in 1993 en route to becoming the first and only Blue Jay hitter to ever win an American League batting title. In fact, Olerud made an early run at becoming the first player since Ted Williams (1941) to hit .400 in a season. The Blue Jay first baseman was at even .400 as late as August 1 before gradually falling off the pace. In the end, he would post a .363 mark along with an astounding .473 on-base percentage.

Aside from Olerud’s achievement, the big news down the stretch that season surrounded the fact that Toronto had the chance to finish with the top three hitters in the AL. Molitor did his job, finishing at No. 2 with a .332 mark. And though it came down to the final day, Alomar managed to hit safely in his first two at-bats and was removed from the game by manager Cito Gaston to ensure that his .326 average would best Kenny Lofton’s .325, thus making Toronto the first team in 100 years to boast the league’s top three hitters.

Welcome to ‘The Show’

You know what they say about first impressions: they can be lasting — regardless of whether they are good or bad. Just ask Jeff Ware, one of 24 pitchers — including 22-year-old Jesse Litsch, tonight’s hurler — whose Blue Jays debut came as a starter. Ware made his back on Sept. 2, 1995 against the White Sox at Comiskey Park. Battling first-game jitters, the right-hander surrendered seven runs — six earned — in just 1.1 innings before heading to the showers with a career 40.50 ERA. Unfortunately for Ware, he failed to bounce back and, after posting a combined 7.47 ERA in 18 games (nine starts), his career in the big leagues was over.

Of course, there have been impressive Blue Jay debuts as well. For example, right-hander Mauro Gozzo gave up just three hits in eight shutout innings in a 7-0 win over the Rangers on August 8, 1989. However, this didn’t translate into a successful career. In fact, that would be Gozzo’s best game ever (by far), as the righty went on to post a record of 7-7 and a 5.30 ERA over parts of six seasons with the Jays, Indians, Twins and Yankees.

Jerry Garvin may be the only Toronto pitcher to come close to matching Gozzo’s debut performance. At 21 years of age, Garvin picked up the second win in Blue Jays franchise history (April 10, 1977), tossing eight innings during a 3-1 win over the White Sox. On a side note, if you’re looking to buy a house (in California), Jerry can help you out here.

Here’s a list of other ‘notables’ and how they fared:

Jim Clancy — July 26, 1977 vs. Texas: Loss (14-0)
(2.0 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 1 K)

Dave Stieb — June 29, 1979 @ Baltimore: Loss (6-1)
(6.0 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 5 K)

Juan Guzman — June 7, 1991 @ Baltimore: Loss (5-3)
(4.2 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K)

Chris Carpenter — May 12, 1997 @ Minnesota: Loss (12-2)
(3.0 IP, 8 H, 7 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 5 K)

Roy Halladay — September 20, 1998 @ Tampa Bay: ND (7-5 win)
(5.0 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K)

For the record, the last Blue Jay starter to win in his Major League debut was Gustavo Chacin, who did so on September 20, 2004 at Yankee Stadium. The last to accomplish the feat at home was Brandon Lyon (August 4, 2001 vs. Baltimore).

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On Tuesday night, Litsch accomplishes what Halladay, Carpenter, Stieb, Clancy and Guzman failed to do: record a win in his Major League debut as a starter … The 22-year-old allows just one run in 8.2 innings in what ‘The 500 Level’ is calling the best ever debut outing by a Toronto starter in franchise history … Alex Rios, who smashes a leadoff homer in the first, scores both runs in the Jays’ 2-1 victory … With a record of 4-1 over their past five, Toronto sends A.J. Burnett to the hill in the homestand finale tomorrow …

Frank the Tank

Sure, it’s unimaginative. But really, if anyone named ‘Frank’ should, in fact, be given the handle ‘The Tank’, it has to be 6-foot-5, 275-pound Frank Thomas. Plus, he’s lived up to the title during his career, amassing 487 home runs in 17 big league seasons entering the 2007 campaign. Unfortunately, however, the Blue Jays have yet to see the Thomas they hoped for (especially after shelling out $18-million for a two-year contract in the off-season). The behemoth is off to a slow start, batting .239/.352/.396 with five home runs and 17 RBIs entering action Monday night.

On the bright side, Thomas has played in each of the team’s 38 games this year. In fact, only second baseman Aaron Hill can say the same. However, this also means that he’s had ample opportunity to find his power stroke. But find it, he hasn’t. In fact, entering Monday night’s contest, Thomas was averaging just one home run for every 31.8 plate appearances this year (5 HR, 159 PA). Aside from his 60-game rookie campaign, Thomas has posted a lower average just once during his career; in 1999, when he went deep once every 39.33 PA’s (though he still managed to hit .305 with a .415 on-base percentage that season). For his career, the 38-year-old slugger has managed one homer for every 18.8 plate appearances (487 HR, 9161 PA).

Only two players in franchise history have posted a better mark while wearing a Blue Jay uniform (and accumulating at least 1,000 plate appearances in the process). Surprisingly, with a rate of one homer per 17.91 PA’s, Carlos Delgado is No. 2 on the list. The leader? Tony Batista, who managed a home run every 17.05 plate appearances during his three seasons in Toronto. Here is the top 10 (again, minimum 1,000 PA’s):

1. Tony Batista (17.05)
2. Carlos Delgado (17.91)
3. Fred McGriff (18.58)
4. Raul Mondesi (21.42)
5. Jesse Barfield (21.61)
6. Brad Fullmer (21.94)
7. Joe Carter (22.14)
8. John Mayberry (22.85)
9. Josh Phelps (22.89)
10.Shawn Green (23.24)

In terms of total home runs, George Bell, of course, was the franchise leader with 202 when he left Toronto after the 1990 season. However, he would be overtaken on September 25, 1997 when Joe Carter — in his final week as a Blue Jay — belted his 203rd homer in a Toronto uniform during a 4-3 win over the Orioles at SkyDome.

Once again though, this record was destined to be broken. And the man who batted fourth for the Blue Jays in that September, 1997 contest would be the one to do it. Indeed, Carlos Delgado claimed the record for himself on May 11, 2001 — less than four years later. But Delgado didn’t stop there. After finishing the ‘01 campaign with 39 long balls, the slugging first baseman compiled 107 more in his final three seasons as a Blue Jay, finishing with 336 during his tenure in Toronto.

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Third baseman Troy Glaus delivers a tie-breaking, two-run homer in the eighth inning Monday night to lead the Blue Jays to a 5-3 victory, their third in four contests … For the record, Glaus is averaging a home run every 15.93 plate appearances (45 HR, 717 PA) since joining the Jays last season … Jeremy Accardo nails down his second straight save, while Casey Janssen picks up the win, lowering his season ERA to 0.93 in the process … Jesse Litsch will make his Major League debut tomorrow for Toronto in Game 2 of this series …

Nooo!!!

Hits were hard to come by at the Rogers Centre Sunday afternoon, as the Jays and Rays combined for just six of them overall during Tampa Bay’s 2-1 victory. Toronto starter Shaun Marcum didn’t allow a hit in 6.0 innings, in fact, while Rays starter Jae Seo gave up just two in his 7.0 innings of work.

Though neither Seo nor Marcum can be considered prime candidates to throw a no-hitter, the same cannot be said of the trio of hurlers who have managed to turn the trick against the Blue Jays over the last 30 years (don’t worry … Mr. Stieb will get his due soon at ‘The 500 Level’). The first opposing pitcher to do so was Len Barker, who in fact, accounts for the lone perfect game against the Jays in team history. He accomplished the feat on May 15, 1981.

If Barker wasn’t a household name though, the other two most certainly were. Dave Stewart became the first pitcher to toss a no-hitter in Toronto when he blanked the Blue Jays, 5-0, on June 29, 1990 as a member of the archrival Oakland Athletics. Using his patented stare, Stewart struck out eight different Blue Jay hitters at least once, finishing with 12 on the afternoon in front of 49,817 at SkyDome. The no-hitter was made official when Tony Fernandez flew out to center-fielder Dave Henderson for the final out.

Interestingly, not even a year later the Jays were no-hit once again, this time by hall-of-famer Nolan Ryan. In what marked his major-league record seventh ‘no-no’, Ryan — 44 at the time — struck out 16 Toronto batters, including Roberto Alomar, Devon White and Glenallen Hill three times apiece. It was Alomar’s third strikeout, in fact, that ended the contest — a 3-0 Texas victory.

Needless to say, Jae Seo is no Dave Stewart and he’s no Nolan Ryan. And if the Blue Jays hope to crawl back into contention this season, they’d better start acknowledging that.

Be like Ike

Vernon Wells, with some aggressive baserunning, made a winner out of reliever Scott Downs on Saturday afternoon, as the center-fielder scored all the way from first base on a Lyle Overbay single. Downs, a situational lefty, has been solid this season out of the Jays’ bullpen. In fact, the three earned runs he gave up to the Red Sox on Wednesday were his first this year. Overall, he has appeared in a team-high 17 contests and is on an early pace to appear in 76 or 77 games this season. Last year, Downs (59) finished second to currently injured closer B.J. Ryan (65) in that category.

In the team’s 30-year history, the Blue Jays have had four relievers (Mark Eichhorn (’87), Duane Ward (’91), Paul Quantrill (’01) and Trever Miller (’03)) top the American League in appearances. Additionally, a Toronto hurler has appeared in at least half the team’s 162 games on three seperate occasions. Ward pitched in exactly half (81) in 1991, while Quantrill worked 82 times in 1998.

Submariner Mark Eichhorn, meanwhile, holds the Jays’ franchise mark. He matched an American League record, in fact, by making 89 appearances during the 1987 campaign. The man who finished second that year — Mitch Williams — would of course become famous in Toronto for a different reason just six years later as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Known for his unique sidearm delivery, Eichhorn made 18 appearances in June alone that season, including six out of seven games from June 6-12. Overall, he finished with a 10-6 record and a 3.17 ERA on the year.

Eichhorn definitely made the most of his deceptive delivery. He had to, as this quote from an AL scout suggested:

“Normally hitters argue about how hard a pitcher throws, but in Eichhorn’s case the opposite is true. Even the most veteran hitters say they have never seen a major league pitcher throw a pitch as slow as Eichhorn does.”

“Take me out …”

As a result of the Jays losing nine in a row, as well as the J.P. Ricciardi-B.J. Ryan fiasco, the crowds have been sparse at the Rogers Centre since the club returned Tuesday to begin a nine-game homestand. After drawing well on ‘Toonie Tuesday’, only 21,784 turned out to see the Jays-Red Sox on Wednesday, and just 22,290 took in Thursday’s Roy Halladay-Tim Wakefield matchup. And finally, despite snapping their losing streak, the Jays drew just 20,542 against the Devil Rays tonight — their lowest attendance on a Friday night this season.

Hopefully this isn’t a sign of things to come. After all, the Blue Jays have witnessed an increase in attendance every year since 2002. As well, last year’s overall mark of 2,302,212 was the club’s highest since 1998.

At any rate, neither of these totals come close to what Toronto enjoyed during the ‘glory years’ — both on the field and at the gates — between 1989-1993.

In fact, the club set attendance records in each of those campaigns, capped off by a count of 4,057,947 in 1993. During that remarkable run, the Jays witnessed 60 consecutive sellouts between May 18, 1990 and April 8, 1991 (Opening Day). Indeed, even ‘500 Level’ tickets were in great demand during that stretch.

The initial hoopla surrounding SkyDome is now long gone. As well, despite recent ‘aesthetic improvements’, there’s no denying that Rogers Centre remains near the bottom in the American League in terms of ‘ballpark beauty’. Sure, it bests Tropicana Field and the Metrodome; but comes nowhere close to Camden Yards or Jacobs Field, let alone the baseball ‘museums’ in the AL like Yankee Stadium or Fenway Park.

Still, there is a lot to be enjoyed at a baseball game in Toronto. However, it’s no secret: winning will put more fans in the seats. But, despite an almost inconceivable amount of injuries, this current Blue Jay ball club is still good enough to win its share of games. Will they win enough to keep the fans coming? Only time will tell. But A.J. Burnett definitely took a step in the right direction Friday night.

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Just hours after learning that fellow teammate and Blue Jay ace Roy Halladay will miss 4-6 weeks with appendicitis, No. 2 man A.J. Burnett delivers perhaps his best outing of the season, striking out 10 and allowing just a single run in 6.2 innings, finally putting an end to the Jays’ nine-game skid … As if the Jays need more bad news, third baseman Troy Glaus pulls up lame running to first base in the opening frame and leaves the contest … Lyle Overbay continues to swing the bat better, going 2-for-3 on the night … Leadoff hitter Alex Rios hits his team-leading seventh home run of the season … Among the many question marks that remain on this Blue Jay ball club include the complete lack of offense out of the shortstop position. John McDonald gets the nod on Friday night and goes 0-for-4, making him 1-for-25 (.040) over his last nine games … Dustin McGowan looks to make it two in a row tomorrow at 1:07 pm …

Manager of the Year?

With his team having lost nine straight games, John Gibbons isn’t exactly on pace to win American League Manager of the Year honours. At this point, he’s just hoping to keep his job. The same can’t be said of Bobby Cox though. Not now; nor when he was manager of the Toronto Blue Jays.

After starting his managerial career with the Atlanta Braves, Cox was hired by the Blue Jays to replace Bobby Mattick prior to the 1982 season. Essentially, Cox’s signing marked the beginning of Toronto’s climb to respectability — and then, contention in the American League East. Back-to-back 89-73 (.549) seasons in 1983 and 1984 set the stage for what would be the Jays’ best regular season in franchise history.

A 99-62 (.615) record in 1985 earned the Blue Jays their first American League East title and first trip to the postseason. For his club’s success, Cox was named AL Manager of the Year, a feat that hasn’t been matched since by a Toronto manager. Cito Gaston came close in 1989, but finished second to Frank Robinson (even though Gaston’s Jays beat out Robinson’s Orioles for the division crown that season).

Unfortunately, Cox, the winningest manager in Blue Jay history (355-292 — .549), opted to leave Toronto after the ‘85 season to assume GM duties with his hometown Atlanta Braves.

“That was the hardest thing I ever did in my life, having to leave there (Toronto),” Cox said. “Those were four of the best years I ever spent in baseball. I loved it. I loved it there.”

Cox was forgiven, but not until October 24, 1992 when the Blue Jays captured their first World Series title — fittingly, against Cox and his hometown team.