Buffalo Boy's Blog

The greatest thing about home openers is there is always something special. Last night two of the greatest members of the Blue Jay family were recognized on the Wall of Excellence. Roberto Alomar and Paul Beeston were enshrined last night for all to remember on the wall and rightfully so.

Leave it to picky fans to bring up one incident to try to ruin a career. Roberto Alomar made one mistake his entire career as a second baseman and it wasn't even with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Alomar spit in the face of the umpire, yes a disgusting act at the time but the fact that fans were bringing that up as their lasting memory of him when he was playing for Baltimore at the time is to me short sighted and very distasteful to bring up on a night when we should have been remembering the great times Alomar gave us.

The Fan 590 on the way up to Toronto pointed out that the Umpire wasn't innocent in the altercation either and that is not the first time I heard that. 

So that comment aside, Alomar deserves to be on that Wall of Fame for every hit and play he made in Toronto and almost all of the hits and plays seemed to be of the clutch variety. I remember in 1992 in the ALCS how the Jays absolutely destroyed Dennis Eckersley who wasn't the same pitcher after that series and Alomar was a big part of that massacre. 

Alomar should go into the Baseball Hall of Fame no questions asked. The guy looked like he could still get out there and show the kids a thing or two. I have to say, the memories of the presentation had tears welling up in my eyes.   

Paul Beeston basically was the reason Baseball landed in Toronto and helped build the franchise into the two World Series Winning teams. For the playoff years of the 80's and 90's it was Paul Beeston and Pat Gillick at the helm and one of the best management teams in all of baseball. 

In addition to that, Geddy Lee of Rush was sitting the action seats behind home plate for the game which was another great highlight of the night. I thought Rush was still on their extended tour but Geddy I know always has time for baseball.