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The Doc Watch: PERFECT!
It was only a matter of time before this happened. The Doc was perfect for the Phillies yesterday. I am filled with happiness and a bit of a tear, we missed that performance by one year.
All the complete games, the two, three and four hitters. How close was Doc to doing that in his time in Toronto. The Jays nation takes their hats off to the one we simply call "Doc".
I thought I would be done with "The Doc Watch" but for this occasion I bring it back.
Category: The Doc Watch
Doc To Philly
That's it, the greatest pitcher in the history of the Toronto Blue Jays is now a Philadelphia Philly. While I am disappointed that we got not one major league ready player, I am estactic that Doc will not be playing for the Yankees or the Red Sox.
As for Roy no longer being a Blue Jay its a sad day. The fact that this organization couldn't find way to put a winning team around the best pitcher in baseball over the last 10 years is beyond me. There have been some good teams over the last 10 years, its not as if they haven't been close, they have won 87 games one year but couldn't get the wild card.
I put this squarely on the shoulders of not only JP Riccardi but on Blue Jay ownership for not providing the resources when they were close enough to make moves that would have put this team over the top.
Being in the same division as the Yankees and Red Sox its no secret that you have to spend money and this team did spend, but they didn't go the extra distance to put the depth on this team, they bought a shiny coat for a rust bucket and hoped the shiny coat would last the year.
I can actually root for Halladay in Philly, I have nothing against the Phillies, Im actually hoping for a nice Yankees/Phillies rematch next year and it would be sweet to see Halladay get the ball late in the next years World Series in a clinching game against the Evil Empire.
Good Luck Roy and thanks for not going to the Yankees/Red Sux. This also will officially end my Doc Watch which was implemented in response to the Yankees "Joba" Watch, while Yankee fans were watching a mediocre pitcher do mediocre things, Toronto fans watches a great pitcher to great things.
Maybe we will get Kyle Drabek in the prospects from Philly.
Category: The Doc Watch | Toronto Blue Jays
The Doc Watch Continues
Now, onto baseball. The Jays increased their lead over the miserable Yankees to 6 1/2 games and Roy Halladay schooled AJ Burnett.
The Doc Watch continued as Doc Halladay went to 7-1 on the season. Derek Jeter, Hideki Matsui, Jorge Posada were all out and injured for the Yankees who only had 30 batters come to the plate.
Toronto meanwhile starts their run against the big dogs in the AL. This week and next will go a long way toward showing their true colors. Cito has this team brimming with confidence and doesn't let them get too high or too low and you can see it on the field. They play for him like no manager they have had since he left in 1997.
For the next three nights Jays fans should be rooting heavily for the LA Angels as well.
Category: The Doc Watch | Toronto Blue Jays | Yankees Suck
The Doc Watch 2009
Last night the Doc Watch continued in fine form. If my math is correct Doc Halladay is already 3-0 after last nights 9-2 slamming of the Minnesota Twins. He went 7 innings 101 pitches, 74 of those for strikes and allowed just one run and 8 strikeouts. All in a days work for Major League Baseball's best pitcher.
Kevin Millar, the free agent JP picked up in the offseason followed up an incredible catch the night before with a grand slam last night to help the Jays take over last nights game.
Aaron Hill also went 3 for 5 giving him seven hits in two days.
I believe last nights win makes the Jays the hottest team in the AL. For those who say that they are peaking too early, we saw last year how a hot start can help a team get out in front and build some momentum early. Things are finally going right for a change minus a minor injury to Jesse Litsch.
Category: The Doc Watch | Toronto Blue Jays
Jays 12, Tigers 5
The return of the Doc Watch last night at Roger's Centre (AKA Skydome) and the Jays didn't disappoint on opening night as they crushed Justin Verlander and the Detroit Tigers.
Doc went 7 innings and allowed 5 runs but really, it was over by the time he gave up those runs, he was coasting. He threw just 99 pitches nearly 70% went for strikes. A masterful first outing for Doc.
For those of you not familiar with the Doc Watch, it was my response to the Joba Watch in NY. Yankee fans have their Joba Watch as they watch a mediocre, unproven pitcher do average things. While we Jays fans watch the best in the game Roy Halladay, thus the Doc Watch was born.
Adding to last nights great first outing, Adam Lind and Travis Snider were both sensational. Lind had a 4 hit game and 6 RBIs, Travis Snider had two hits and a home run. Vernon Wells and Rios each had two hits, Rios scored 3 runs, Wells crossed the plate twice as well.
On the disappointing side of things....I was at the home opener last year when fans got a little out of hand at Roger's Centre (AKA Skydome) and my response was, it was just a one time thing, this won't happen again, Toronto fans after all my years of going up for Jays games are too good.
Last night I was proven wrong. I know its just a select few, but really, why can those select few not control themselves during a home opener? After all the years when Toronto filled Skydome and The Ex, there were very few problems and Skydome was sold out for years during the World Series years. Why are there problems now?
Seeing what happened last night on TV and listening to the Detroit announcers on the satellite dish, lets just say Toronto fans can do better. Granted that as of tonight there will be about 20,000 fewer fans in attendance until the Jays prove that they are for real and in a playoff run, but come on, throwing baseballs at players on the field? I was disappointed as someone from the States who talks up about the fans at Jays games and what great fans they are to have to see the Tigers pull their players off the field.
More security? Less booze at the games? At this point, I wouldn't blame the Blue Jays if they cut off alcohol after teh 5th inning from here on out.
What was an all positive night was briefly ruined by a few nut jobs. Hopefully this is the last time I have to post about the behavior of Jays fans because it hurt to see and Im not even from there.
Category: The Doc Watch | Toronto Blue Jays
Sniff, Sniff..... I Smell Spring
I have to admit I like the new uniform. Toronto across the top of the bird is pretty sharp. As much as this offseason brought little in the way of free agency, this guy, Roy Halladay is the best pitcher in baseball and as long as the Jays have him there is always hope in the spring.
If everything goes right around him there is always a chance. 3 more days till spring training game one. "The Doc Watch", Toronto's answer to the "Joba Watch" in which Yankees fans get their panties in a knot over a mediocre pitcher while Jays fans watch the best pitcher in baseball complete games and shut teams out, continues in a few short weeks.
Category: Signs of Spring | The Doc Watch | Toronto Blue Jays 2009 Preview
The Doc Watch
He got to 20 wins last night with you guessed it, another complete game. I don't care what Cliff Lee did this year, Roy Halladay has done this consistently for the last 6 years and deserves the Cy Young. He has 9 complete games and has pitched 20 more innings than any other starter in baseball.
His 9 complete games was good for first in all of baseball, the next closest? Cliff Lee with 4. Roy Halladay dominated.
Category: The Doc Watch | Toronto Blue Jays
The Doc Watch
This is more than just a Doc Watch, its a "Bird Watch". The Toronto Blue Jays continued their late season push last night and while it may be too little too late to capture a playoff birth, I think its safe to say that no one in the AL in contention for a playoff spot wants to see the Blue Jays in the opposite dugout.
Cito Gaston said a few days ago that he wants to make a statement closing this season and let other teams take notice. Well, here it is and the team is responding to that.
Roy Halladay last night was lights out again in getting his 18th win, giving up just one earned run over 7 innings. Lets compare that to the Joba Watch, 4-3 on the season and only one win since July 30th. Not much to watch there Yankee fans. Again, the bandwagon is driving by again, hop on board before the train passes.
Speaking of passing, that could happen tonight, a Blue Jay win and a Yankee loss and the Toronto Blue Jays will over take the New York Yankees for third place in the AL East, at which point we can look for a volcano to erupt in NY as the members of the Steinbrenner family all simultaneously combust with anger.
The Jays have now won 6 in a row, they are 8 games over .500 and have turned the competitive corner under Cito Gaston.
Say what you want about JP Riccardi but by bringing Gaston back he brought back a guy that I was looking for earlier in the year, a guy who bleeds Blue Jay Blue. Gaston does that and the players love playing for him.
He has developed Brandon League who is now throwing 98-100 mph smoke again coming out of the bullpen, thats before you get to BJ Ryan. He has gotten guys to hit who were not hitting, pitchers to pitch even better than they were before and most of all, he has gotten the attention of the fans of Toronto.
Lately, attendance has been up consistently at Rogers Centre. Its been hovering around 30,000 a game, with over 32,000 last night against the Rays who despite their winning record is not a huge draw. Slowly but surely, you are starting to feel a buzz about this Toronto team, Im here in Buffalo watching games on TV and I can tell the crowds are bigger, the announcers are more excited and there just seems to be more optimism about this team.
Instead of going out and trying not to lose and hoping the pitching holds up like was the case earlier in the season, the Jays are finding ways to win. There is a difference and it makes watching the games more exciting. If they pass the Yankees this weekend, I have a feeling there will be no looking back.
The playoffs may be mathematically out of reach, but realistically there are still four games to play against the Red Sox and four games against the White Sox. Its not unheard of to go into the final two weeks 5-7 games out of a playoff spot and overtake a team or two. It happened to the Mets last year, we all know and try to forget about 1987 with the Tigers, and Oakland did it a few years back when they went on their monster late season streak and got in by winning 20 something in a row.
No matter what happens, Cito wants to make a splash and make something happen. Regardless of what happens, they are turning heads and JP's job for now is safe in my book.
Category: The Doc Watch | Toronto Blue Jays
How Good Are They?
Tonight against the Tampa Bay Rays, the Toronto Blue Jays showed how good their pitching staff really is. Of all the pitchers they rolled out tonight (5 all together), no one had an ERA higher than 2.69.
Roy Halladay had the highest at 2.69, BJ Ryan had the second highest at 2.68. Everyone else was substantially lower!
5 pitchers and everyone was in the mid 2's or lower and one, Scott Downs has an ERA of 1.31. Folks, just because you knock out the Jays starter, doesn't mean you are going to get a cream puff reliever.They are the leagues best pitching staff by a mile.
Any kind of offense for the first half of the season and this team is in first place.
Category: Sports | The Doc Watch | Toronto Blue Jays
The Doc Watch
The Doc Watch continued last night, no it wasn't a shutout or a complete game. It didn't have to be. What was impressive about last night wasn't the fact that Doc was lights out again. (he was as usualy). It was the fact that the Toronto Blue Jays broke out the whooping sticks and laid a 21 hit, 14-3 beating on the evil empire New York Yankees.
Next up is the Boston Red Sox. Cito Gaston has this team playing passionate baseball and it shows as they have won four out of their last five games which have all been against the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees.
If the Jays can keep it up and either win this series against the Red Sox or by some miracle sweep them, they can officially start talking about wild card races. The offense is finally starting to turn around what was a horrible start into what could be a great finish and the pitching looks like it is what its going to be, great the rest of the way so its not an impossible task.
Category: Sports | The Doc Watch | Toronto Blue Jays
