A winged menace
CHICAGO — The White Sox and Rays encountered quite the stubborn pigeon here at The Cell this afternoon. In the top of the second inning, the bird landed on the field down the first-base line and began walking back and forth all along the chalk line.
At one point in the inning, Rays first-base coach George Hendrick tried to shoo the bird away, but it flew a few feet before dropping back down to the dirt. The pigeon kept up the act, much to the amusement of those in the seats and in the pressbox, for the entire inning.
The feisty fowl made its way toward home plate in the middle of the second, but was scared when one of Matt Garza’s warm-up pitches zipped by above his head. So, he treated back down the first-base line, waddled on the infield grass, and made it almost to second baseman Akinori Iwamura.
Finally, when the bird moved back in front of home plate with Ken Griffey Jr. up in the bottom of the second, Rays catcher Dioner Navarro moved from behind the plate and waved his glove at the bird, who hopped toward the mound. Garza walked off and shooed the bird, too, and the fans erupted in a hilarious chorus of boos.
Garza’s attempt to get rid of the bird suceeded temporarily. After Griffey singled to center, the bird flew to near the third-base dugout, but refused to leave the field. Soon, a second pigeon joined him near the mound — though that one flew off when he heard the crack of Alexei Ramirez’s bat.
At the end of the inning, Tampa Bay third baseman Evan Longoria trotted off the field and ran toward the bird and scared him off, with the pigeon finally flying away. Is there anything that rookie can’t do? Man, it was pure entertainment. Oh, and the Rays are up, 1-0, in the third.
~JB
Major League Bastian 
Jordan…
Good luck with your marathon in Chicago. I hope the weather isn’t like last year. I’m sure you recall last year’s weather. Hot…hot….hot….
Bears kicked some tail today and Michigan State is looking good. Wow, could be a good football year for you. The Bears have a shot at the division. 9 wins should take that division. Once again good luck with the marathon.
It looks like at least 1 Chicago team will win a playoff game. LOL! Cubs under Pinella tanked again. 0-6 the Cubs are under Pinella in October. I think the Cubs looked very tight in Chicago. While the Dodgers looked more relaxed. Torre’s presence helped the young Dodgers.
Wasn’t able to catch the game today, but that sounds hilarious.
I don’t blame that pigeon, I’d be scared of Longoria as well. The guy is on fire right now.
Good news from Jordan’s mailbag, Janssen is supposed to throw off a mound in November then take December off and possibly be ready by spring training.
GSJ, I agree with your comment in the previous post it would be pretty cool to see Manny back at Fenway.
An LA versus LA final would also be pretty cool. I’m torn.
Congratulations to TB. Just goes to show that a team can be successfull, even with a payroll of only $43,745,597.
L.A. Sure stunk.
I think Boston should pay rent for the space they inhabit in LA’s collective heads; they’ve beaten them so many times in the playoffs it’s unreal. I did think this year was going to be different though.
Congrats to Boston, except Bosox. lol
GSJ.
Bosox is to high and mighty to talk to us anymore.lol.
Garry & GSJ….
I’m here. Calling me high and mighty Garry. I am not, sorry to inform you. lol. Hope all is well with the both of you. Who would have thought that T.B. would be in the A.L.C.S. when the season started. Certainly not me! I’m guessing there will some tempers flaring in this series. It should be fun. Where is Kate? Does anyone know? LOL!!
I’m not sure who I’ll cheer for in the ALCS, Boston or TB. I’d love to see TB win it all, proving money isn’t the issue, a good minor league system is. On the other hand, if the Dodgers win, I can’t imagine how much fun it will be to watch Manny come back to Fenway with Joe Torre. Yank fans eat your heart out. lol
The way Manny is playing and the added motivation of Fenway, will probably add up to 2 hr’s each game played there.
I wonder if that was the same pigeon from Game 4. Anyway, the Jays need to trade Jason Frasor and Shawn Camp. I think the Angels and Red Sox both make sense as trading partners. What role do you think Brian Jeroloman will play in 2009. I say he should start. I discuss it all on my blog.
Aaron
http://districtboy.mlblogs.com/
Bosox.
If you want to court Kate you have to become a Blue Jay fan,and remember she is a class -A- lady,If I was a young man I think I would come a calling,I probably have a daughter older than her lol.
And by the way I think she is worth changing teams for.
I say the Dodgers meet Tampa in the World Series,and the Dodgers win.Tore is the Man.
Aaron
Jeroloman should start in AAA next year along with Thigpen. Hopefully next year Jeroloman learns how to hit himself out of a paper bag, sorry walks don’t do it for me-risp and rbi’s do. The guy that should be here is Arrencibia, Thigpen should be traded. We have better prospects coming up.
Garry, I wish I knew your wife’s email address. If I did I’d copy your post and email it to her and let her know her guy is looking at another gal. lol
gsumner.
You back stabing S.O.B.–LOL.
GSJ.I’m safe Itold my wife what I posted and she thought your post was funny,PHEW.
Aaron
I think the Jays would love to trade both Camp and Frasor. The problem is they probably wouldn’t get much in return-at best a b or c prospect. They might have got more if a deal was done before the trading deadline, but not now.
It would not surprise me if the Jays non-tendered both of these guys, let someone else sign them and get two sandwich draft picks. That’s probably the best they can do.
With Accardo coming back, our pen stacks up with BJ Ryan, League, Accardo, Downs, Carslon, Wolfe and Tallet. With Davis Romero fully recovering from his injury and having a good year at Syracuse, Tallet might also be vulnerable. I just don’t see any space for either Frasor or Camp. The other guy who might be in the bullpen mix is Richmond who is great against rh’s. Both Richmond and Wolfe are better than Camp.
Garry…
To be with Kate the rules state that I have to be a Jays fan? Hmmmmm. That is a tough one for sure. lol. Time for me to go, I’m off to buy my old school Jim Clancy shirt. LOL!! Then again maybe they’ll have a Kelly Gruber shirt. lol.
Jays will get zilch for Camp/Frasor. Neither are type A/B free agents. Camp might have options left so he could start next year in the minors? Not sure. If not, I would assume both are non-tendered considering they are dime a dozen guys. I think JP said they might try Tallet as a starter. That would be kinda scary.
JB
I noticed the list of Jays players in the AFL did not include Brian Dopirak. I might be mistaking, but I thought in the origional release he was included to go. What happened?
gsjays.
You can talk to Scott Campbell on the Jays site.
Kate.
I think Bosox is ready to switch teams for you.lol.
Well, I won’t go deeper into the whole Jeroloman/Camp/Frasor issue because I discuss it all in my blog, but after all this talk about the bullpen, what about Casey Janssen? That’s a tough situation. My two cents: he should be used as a starter, and start 2009 in AAA. If anyone gets injured, he can get called up to the majors as a starter or reliever. Plus, after missing so much time, Las Vegas will be a good place for Janssen to get back into the swing of things.
“gsjays” — I don’t know why you think so highly of RISP or RBIs, but you should definitely read Michael Lewis’s “Moneyball”. That will completely change your view on baseball. If you don’t want to read a WHOLE BOOK, then I’ll leave with a quick bit: RISP and RBIs are serioulsy overrated, and .OBP and .OPS are the two best hitting statistics in baseball. Trust me (or read the book).
Aaron
http://districtboy.mlblogs.com/
Aaron
Denbro and Riccardi are both converts of money ball and maybe the last two in MLB that are. Denbro stressed OBP this year-and look where it got us-4th place. Over and over again hitters would fail to drive in runs in scoring situations until Denbro was fired.
It’s not a coincidence that after Cito and Tennace changed direction which dramatically increased the hitting with risp, our record improved dramatically.
It’s all fine and dandy to get on base, but to win the game you need to drive in runs and thats all about hitting with risp and delivering rbi’s.
Congratulations, to Matt Stairs who hit his first career post season home run tonight in LA. Called in as a pinch hitter in the top of the 8th inning with the game tied, he hit a “no doubter” and put the Phillies up by 2 runs.
Stairsy CRUSHED it!!!
I believe a good team needs a mixture of OBP guys, RISP guys and OBPS guys. You let the OBP player (near the top of the order) get on base and then you have your RISP guys (4th, 5th in the lineup) drive them in or atleast move them around the bases. You also need some guys with POP to drive themselves and guys on first base in.
A well rounded lineup (see Boston and TB) will be the most consistant and productive, with everyone knowing their role and staying in that mode. KNOW YOUR ROLE is how a TEAM wins. Not money ball or small ball or whatever else term you want to use.
The only thing this team needs is a shortstop with speed and some pop.
Burnett will not opt out.
Stairs is a hero.
That Stairs homer was awesome to watch for fans of the Jays this season.
Somehow, I feel a part of us hit that homerun too, and it feels good. Made my thanksgiving day off.
http://homerfoodandhistory.mlblogs.com/
Burnett opting out is as sure a thing as anything in the history of anything.
Sorry plus but your wrong.
rmattty-I agree totally.
Hey what do you guys think of Beeston coming back? I hope it’s longer than just short term. Now if he can convince Gillick to come back as well, we’ll be all set.
Bringing Beeston back is one of two positive decisions this club has made (the other Cito ) in a long, long time.
Beeston coming back is a very good move. We know what he brings to the table, and we know we will get max effort in finding the best possible long term solution with him. He truly cares about this franchise’s success and that is why he is, in my opinion, the only choice for the interim position. You can’t just throw someone in who is not intimately knowledgeable of the personal of the club in a short term position.
Here is hoping that no one wants the job and we get “stuck” with Beeston.
If Beeston stays and he talks Gillick into coming back what happens to JP any ideas anyone.????.
On the road again.lol.
jp will be headed back to wooooster, mass. can’t wait, sha, na, na, na, na, na, na, na….good-bye
Grats on the run, Jordan! I’ve been running for a few years now and I’d be pretty hard pressed to even crack 5 hours.
If Ricciardi can manage to sign either of Tony Fernandez or Pat Borders, I think he can save his job.
If the team fires JP it will cost them two years salery,But if they trade him to another team it will cost them nothing.
The best bet is to trade him in the American League so when we play that team we will be sure of a sweep.
Interesting discussions…
1) Don’t know about Camp, but I’d be willing to bet the farm that Frasor ain’t coming back.
2) I wouldn’t mind seeing Jeroloman get the job as back up next year, to start the year. He’s quite possibly the back up of the future for the Jays, and sounds like he’s a pretty good one (for a back up). I think Arencibia starting in AAA next year is the right thing to do. If he forces his way up mid-year, so be it.
3) RISP: I think it’s very debatable whether or not a player can turn it on and off (by trying harder?) depending on whether or not there’s someone in scoring position. If that were the case, why wouldn’t they always turn it on? If they have the ability to do so, and don’t, they should be held accountable, no?
4) RBI’s: Depends a lot on who bats ahead of you and whether or not they get on base, have speed, etc. Also, if you’re a power hitter, your RBI totals should naturally be higher because you have the ability to drive in more runs, more quickly, in different types of situations.
5) I also think it’s important to have a mix. Walks are good, hits are good, home runs are good, and situational hitting is good. Bottom line is you have to get people on base and then find a way to bring them home. Any time you get on base that’s good (OBP), and any time you drive someone in, that’s good.
6) JP’s not going anywhere for now, and you all know it. Now, if the Jays have a horrible April/May, that might change.
I agree with most of what you said Rene, well said.
How about Boston, unfrigginbelievable.
Jordan,
I know you’re a fan of the trilogy, I heard today they’re working on a fourth Bourne movie. I don’t know how they can continue the story logically given that Ultimatum was supposed to be the last one but i’ll look forward to it none the less.
http://www.cinematical.com/2008/02/25/damon-and-greengrass-to-return-for-bourne-4/
Well thought and written, Rene
Aaron
http://districtboy.mlblogs.com/
Think of all the beauty that’s still left in and around you, and be happy.
http://www.nicetick.com
– Air Jordan