A Nice Little Sunday
All things considered, Adam Lind had a nice little Sunday planned yesterday.
He went to bat against Rafael Soriano, maybe hit a walk-off home run, stuff like that. Maybe hit up the Loose Moose afterward for a couple of celebratory pitchers … but I’m not sure if he had time.
There was something about Adam Lind’s walk-off home run that reminded me of the second last home game of the season from last year on September 26th against the Seattle Mariners.
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Both were walk-off wins courtesy of Lind’s bat and both were inconsequential victories pertaining to the standings, but they were moral victories more than anything.
While the Blue Jays have boasted a powerful lineup of hitters that can go yard at any time, it feels like they have lacked that killer instinct. When the game is tied or they’re down by a few runs late in the game, you don’t get that sense of urgency to score runs that you might experience with teams like the Yankees or the Rays.
However, the past few games this has been a Toronto Blue Jays squad that has not rolled over and played dead. Take Friday for example: they closed a seven run defecit after their starter gave up six runs in the very first inning.
Yesterday was a similar situation late in the game as was Friday’s: Kevin Gregg allowed the winning run to cross the plate. Except the second time around, the Blue Jays didn’t just flame out by striking out in the bottom of the frame.
It’s another one of those intangibles that won’t show up in the boxscore, but it’s something the Blue Jays have been marketing all season long: hustle and heart.
It may be 143 games into the schedule, yet it appears as though the Jays are finally showing signs of both.
Image courtesy of Daylife and AP
There definitely seems to be a true core with an identity, both of which haven't been present in some time. There's a bunch of young guys who know they're going to play together for a long time and you can see they've got pride in their team.
Hired guns are great but without the core and team philosophy in place you've just got another good player playing for his next contract. Get that same player excited about what's going on and those hired guns can push teams to championships. I'm getting ahead of myself here…
Mattt, I think you're on the right track here. Even if AA doesn't sign any big name free agents in the off season, I won't be that disappointed because there are so many young players that are just waiting to break out, given they receive the playing time.