Article: Toronto Blue Jays Cult Heroes Bracket: Loonie Dogs Region

[Mac]

Twins Daily recently ran a list of the top nine cult hero, fan favourite Minnesota players since the 2000 season. Trying to come up with a similar list of Blue Jays was difficult. Not lacking for names, determining how certain Jays resonate with us is incomplete without input from you. In order to do that, we’ve created a bracket of 16 Blue Jays who can be looked at as cult heroes of the fan base within the last 25 years.

There is no logic to the seeding (everything's made up and the points don't matter!), so you can use any criteria you wish in voting: vibes, hustle, trying to throw hands with Shea Hillenbrand, etc. We have split the bracket into two, starting off with eight guys, as well as a few names you might have been expecting to see that were left out:

Orlando Hudson, Reed Johnson, Kevin Pillar, Marco Scutaro - All fan favourites, and while three of them were hard to omit personally, I had to draw a line somewhere, one I placed at having had a 5+ WAR season as a Blue Jay.

Kevin Pillar - deemed too good for this list

Marco Estrada, Justin Smoak - I'm drawing said line at All-Star appearances as a Blue Jay as well.

Davis Schneider, Ernie Clement - I am sure these guys will be in a future iteration of this list, but their body of work isn’t finished. Let’s hope their resumes get padded this fall.

Onto the round one matchups for the Loonie Dogs Region!

(1) John McDonald vs. (16) Joe Inglett
When he was traded to Detroit in July 2005, Johnny Mac was nowhere near the top of this list. That ascent began when he returned to the Blue Jays as the player to be named later in November.

Continuing to wow Jays’ fans with his defensive abilities, McDonald stepped into the starting shortstop role midway through 2006 when Russ Adams was deemed no longer it. Royce Clayton and David Eckstein arrived in following years to take the job, but the Prime Minister of Defence outlasted each.

For all the defensive wizardry, everyone remembers Father’s Day 2010. McDonald took time away in June to be with his father Jack, who passed away from cancer. Two days after the funeral, McDonald returned and stepped to the plate for a pinch-hit appearance in the ninth. After a warm welcome back from the crowd, McDonald took an 0-1 pitch over the wall in left, leading to an emotional home run trot with a final wish from Jack (“Hit your next one for me”) fresh in mind.

Nicknamed “Voodoo Joe” by manager John Gibbons for avoiding being sent down to the minors due to others’ misfortunes, Inglett made the most of his biggest opportunity in 2008. With an injury to Aaron Hill, playing time opened up for Inglett, and his bat vaulted him into Toronto’s lead-off spot for the majority of the second half. Inglett finished with a .297 average and played every position for Toronto outside the battery and first base. 

(8) Shaun Marcum vs. (9) The Molina Brothers
If Nick Markakis had a say, Marcum would win this thing. Pitching with an unacceptable amount of velocity for present times, the right-handed Marcum cut and sank the ball to the tune of a sub-4.00 ERA across 95 starts between 2006 and 2010. He missed 2009 after Tommy John surgery before returning to be Toronto’s Opening Day starter the next season. It was his best and last year with the Blue Jays before he was dealt to Milwaukee for Brett Lawrie, leaving Markakis to fend for himself against the remaining pitchers in the American League:

Nick Markakis vs. Shaun Marcum: Year-by-Year Totals Table

Year	PA	AB	H	2B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2006	5	4	1	0	1	1	1	0	.250	.400	1.000	1.400
2007	7	6	3	0	2	2	1	1	.500	.571	1.500	2.071
2008	11	8	5	1	2	3	3	1	.625	.727	1.500	2.227
2010	12	11	3	2	0	0	1	1	.273	.333	.455	.788
Totals	35	29	12	3	5	6	6	3	.414	.514	1.034	1.549

Provided by Stathead.com: Found with Stathead. See Full Results.

Two-thirds of the world’s most famous catching family spent time in Toronto; brief but memorable stints for each. One of the best defensive catchers of his generation, José slashed a career best .281/.342/.425 in 2011, the final of his two seasons as a Blue Jay. Bengie came to Toronto in 2006 on a one-year deal after eight seasons and a World Series title with the Angels.

In over 7,350 at-bats during 28 combined major league seasons, the lead-footed brothers hit just nine triples, but each had one during his time with Toronto. Bengie finished a double shy of the cycle on August 17 in Tampa, when he sent the dugout into hysterics after he slid safely into third base in the second inning of a Blue Jays win. The third and final triple of José’s career also came at the Trop in his last season with Toronto during a fun game in which Jon Rauch and Shawn Camp each blew save chances.

(5) John Gibbons vs. (12) Tim Leiper
The return of Gibbons as manager before the 2013 season was a major surprise in an offseason full of activity. Gibby spent parts of five seasons as the skipper before he was fired in 2008 to give way to Cito Gaston and John Farrell. The ensuing years of mutiny and M*sshole only helped mythicize Gibbons in Blue Jays lore, but a return? Longtime Toronto Star writer Richard Griffin didn’t have Gibby in his top 50 guesses as Farrell’s would-be replacement.

It is now hard to imagine those 2015 and 2016 teams being led by anyone else. He famously fought Ted Lilly in the middle of an 87-win season in 2006 but didn’t get his nose bloodied smelling Josh Donaldson’s cologne ten years later. The Gibby that returned was laid-back (he’s smoooakin’) but still authentic, and a good game manager as well. While Gaston: Part Deux was a sad exercise in needing to leave the past in the past, Gibbons returned to lead the most exciting Blue Jays squads since the World Series. 

No one smacked asses and yelled attababe quite like his first base coach, Leiper. He spent three decades playing and coaching in the minors before Gibbons hired him to coach first base in 2014, a position Leips held for Canada in the 2004 Olympics. Despite years of Brian Butterfield, Leiper proved that base coaches can be loved by this fan base, and even a higher power (but not by San Diego).

(4) Billy Koch vs. (13) Jason Grilli
My childhood Blue Jays fandom was briefly interrupted by Rod Smith telling me on TSN’s newly minted SportsCentre that Billy Koch had been traded. Koch was the quintessential closer at the turn of the century, staring down opposing hitters with his wispy soul patch before snarling 100 mph fastballs at them. Koch posted three 30+ save seasons for Toronto before he was sent away for Eric Hinske, and it would be a decade until the Blue Jays found stability in the ninth inning again. 

Moving on from Koch turned out to be the right play. Billy Beane did the same thing after getting an AL-leading 84 appearances from Koch in 2002, dealing him to Chicago for Keith Foulke. Three years later, Koch washed back to Dunedin for one last hurrah as a Blue Jay and professional pitcher. After four dismal outings in the spring, Koch was gone, only to momentarily return to yell at Scott Schoeneweis from the Tropicana Field stands.

Toronto had Roberto Osuna closing in 2016, but with nothing reliable between the rotation and the ninth, Ross Atkins acquired Grilli from Atlanta two months into the season. Coming off an Achilles injury and struggling since his return, Grilli arrived in Toronto with few expectations. After five straight clean appearances to start, Grilli earned the trust of his manager and pitched well in high-leverage situations throughout the dog days of that summer. Grilli faltered down the stretch but rebounded for another five scoreless appearances in the postseason. It’s best not to talk about 2017, but Grill Cheese was a moment.

The final eight names will be revealed in the coming days, so let me know who had better be among the last set of names in the comments.

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[mphenhef]

It appears polls have been broken on the site since they were introduced.  I'm seeing one vote on these ones despite there being many more than that the day it was posted.