The Weekend That Was

Image courtesy of Daylife via AP

I have a confession to make; I was a horrible Blue Jays fan this past weekend. Of the three games against the New York Yankees, I only watched one. It’s not something I’m proud of, but just wanted to get that out of the way.

So you’ll have to forgive this mishmash of topics, as there really isn’t one cohesive theme to this post. Just a grouping of a bunch of random thoughts in one place.

First off, congratulations to Brandon Morrow on what was likely his best start of the season. And of course I decided to let him go off my fantasy team this week, and he throws eight innings out shutout baseball.

Just another Saturday morning garage sale

I was at the game on Saturday, and the Blue Jays had their annual Jays Care Garage Sale. Having never been to one of these, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. But they did have some pretty interesting things for sale.

Most of it was just merchandise autographed by former players; baseballs, bats, hats, etc. I thought it was funny they were selling a Brett Wallace game used bat. Did he even ever have a major league at bat before he was traded?

Nothing really peaked my interest at the table, so I ventured down to the Jays Shop where everything was 50% off. And also being a sucker for bobbleheads, I couldn’t stop myself from purchasing a $3 dollar B.J. Ryan Bobblehead.

The weirdest thing was the guy right behind me in line had a B.J. Ryan Bobblehead as well. As the line snaked around the store, I overheard him say “I can’t believe I’m standing in a line this long for something that’s $3 dollars”.

So I turned around, and low and behold the two of us had the exact same thing in our hands. We both acknowledged how odd the purchase was, but that at the price, it was too hard to resist.

C.B. Bucknor was kung fu fighting

As far as the game was concerned on Saturday, the thing I noticed the most was how home plate umpire C.B. Bucknor was having way too much fun calling third strikes on the Blue Jays.

Not to mention his strike zone was a little questionable, but he always called third strike with an emphatic punch. From my vantage point, it looked like he was doing kung fu or something.

And just to back up my suspicion that Bucknor was favouring the Yankees that game, any time the Yankees struck out, it was a very subdued version of his emphatic motion. I think C.B. wanted to look good on the highlight reel.

Let’s go easy on Adam Lind

Lastly, I was reading John Lott’s article on Adam Lind from Saturday’s National Post and couldn’t help but feel sorry for Lind. He’s had a tough year, but some folks are writing him off completely and pulling the trigger on a trade to send him elsewhere.

We all have our own demons, and Adam Lind has obviously struggled with them this past year. The transition from DH to first base has taken a toll on him, and it has undoubtedly affected other aspects of his game. It’s no secret to him, his manager, or the fans for that matter.

Baseball is an escape from the everyday for most of us, but the players have to live with it 24/7. If you or I have a bad day at work, we just go home and shake it off. But all the fans get to see Adam Lind’s bad days at work, and after having that many bad days in a row, it must really add up.

All of Lind’s hard work at first base has paid off, but it has some at the cost of his effectiveness at the plate. With the season winding down, I hope Adam Lind can clear his head and come back in 2012 as a renewed player.