Brownie19

I think that's well said Grant. I don't think there's any doubt that Joe Carter is beloved by a huge % of the (older) population. He was incredibly popular when I was a kid. I do struggle with the reality that he wasn't nearly as good as I was lead to believe as a kid, but that's OK. Baseball evolved and we know more now. Most don't know the game enough to ever change their opinions and thus Jumpin' Joe will forever be one of the most famous and beloved Blue Jays.

That is unacceptable...

I'm late to the party - but that's a massive win. Gutsy performance from Fluharty. Dodgers are really good. Ohtani is next level.

Despite some recent struggles, the Dodgers look like they are up for this series. We had Kershaw on the ropes before that Straw double play. That was rough. What an incredible matchup to watch. Both the old boys were dealin' like it was 2012 again. Fun to watch. Tough loss - Little needs to be better, but it's baseball, can't win them all. Great game overall - and welcome back Buck!

I'd love to see the pitch ninja on a couple of those pitches by Treinen. He is filthy.

Exactly. Why do fans give up so quickly on this team? How many comeback wins do we have this year? You may be right tonight, but what a poor way to be a fan. Have some optimism.

Isn't it interference to kick the catchers arm/glove - even if he was going to be safe?

Dan certainly has improved the broadcast and made Buck more tolerable. Buck & Tabby was difficult at times.

I will always have a bit of an issue with Buck and his inability to adapt as the game itself has. There are new young fans listening to him that he has an influence on. I think there's some responsibility to at least try and understand the changes we've seen over the past 10-20 years and provide some insight into why they've happened and the pros and cons associated with it. Adapt or die. Instead, he's always take the opportunity to complain about changes that have been made - just blindly b*tching about them at every turn, even when there's all kinds of evidence of the benefits they provide (such as catchers on 1 knee). It's always "back in my day, when baseball was way better" - always inferring todays game is sh*t. There's no way the team would hire someone with the same approach/attitude today. He also regularly says things that are just wrong. As long as your a casual, you don't notice it, so it flies under the radar, but it's bad sometimes. I guess that makes me a tofu and unsweetened soy beverage person for not liking the "old man yells at clouds" approach. That said - I do enjoy the voice and it's become the voice of summer for so long now that I do miss it. I'll certainly enjoy hearing him back in the booth - recognizing those days won't last forever.

Varsho yes, but Santander adds a ton of pop without a huge K%. 44 HRs with a sub 20% K rate last year...he certainly fits the "don't K" mentality the Jays have adopted.

I think you'll hear media within baseball talk about it a lot - simply because most hate strikeouts and hate how much the game has changed. They don't like the mentality that strikeouts are OK/accepted because it's viewed as bad for baseball (which is probably is). I do think there's something to making contact in the playoffs. You're often facing the best pitchers and if you can't get the bat on the ball consistently, it's hard to have success. I think that was a big part of the Astros success (along with stealing signs of course). It will be interesting to see how it plays out.

She's a girl, so Max didn't seem appropriate. We like Scherzer or "Scherzy" for short. The link is also much more obvious this way.

C'mon - really? That's incredible man. Soak it up and enjoy. I'm super jealous.

If you polled people, I suspect Joe Carter gets some votes - Pillar might too. But for me, it's Doc. That said, George Springer is absolutely one of my favourite players of all-time. I love his energy, love the way he plays the game, love how he's a spokesperson for people with speech impediments, loved watching his perform in the playoffs for the Astros and of course now I've loved watching him join my favourite team. I think there's a very good chance that if you ask this question in 2035, the answer is going to be Vlad, without any shadow of a doubt.

Wow right in the feels - now I'm crying at work. Thanks Omar. I will be the first to admit I've never really been a big fan of Buck, but that still makes me emotional. Like him or not, he's been the voice of the Jays for decades and I wish him nothing but the best (f*ck cancer). Kershaw v. Scherzer and the return of Buck on the same night? Special stuff right there...LFG Jays.

You're starting to hear this on the talk radio shows more and more. Talking about how the Jays are proving you can have tons of success with guys who put the ball in play. Guys who don't just swing for the fences and such. Of course they did mention the Jays do have some pop in their bats too, which is why it works. As someone mentioned yesterday, it's similar to the recent Astros teams - and of course people think of the 2015 Royals. In reality, we're somewhere in between those 2 as we don't have the same ISO/pop that Houston had, but we have more than KC did. What I find ironic is that for the past 2-3 years, almost everyone has complained about Donny Baseball and his use the whole field message/mentality. He was blamed for ruining our offense and the FO took all this flack for targeting contact over power in the draft and in free agency. People suggested power wins in the playoffs (maybe it does?) and that slapping the ball around and putting it in play is trash and outdated and that it was ruining the franchise. What's interesting is we've been Top 5 in MLB in K% during every year since 2021. We've made about a 3% improvement in K% this year and jumped to #1 of course, but this strategy seems to have been in place for years now. Everyone complained we didn't have enough pop in the lineup, yet our team ISO was higher in 2022 and 2023 than it is this year and it's only 0.01 higher this year than last year. Despite the coaching changes and addition of Popkins - the approach/results seems quite similar to years past. Perhaps the biggest difference is the # of different players contributing/producing? It is amazing to see how results change opinions so fast. I've heard people within the baseball industry suggesting the Jays are proof that players do still have the ability to cut down their swing and put the ball in play more - avoiding strikeouts. I think in general, there is a lot of worry throughout baseball that K's are getting way too high and it's hurting the game. They want to see more action, which is felt to be better from a fans perspective and better long term. MLB is a copycat league. If (when!) the Jays win the WS this year, it will be interesting to see if other teams change their philosophies.

This is such an iconic and incredible pitching matchup tonight. Absolutely must watch TV IMO. 2 legends of the game. And it's the return of Buck to the broadcast booth? Unreal. We have a new rescue dog that we just adopted (foster fail of course) and she has 2 different coloured eyes, so of course my youngest wants to name her Scherzer. I can't think of a better name!

Sounds like he's a tweek away from being an absolute stud... although you don't see many success stories on guys walking 7-8 per 9. That may be unfixable.

He looks to be in better shape at least? His mechanics look different - or maybe I just forget as it's been so long.

You're reading into it too much. What's next? excluding stats because the wind was blowing out that day?

Man - it's getting hard not to get excited about Johnny King...

Every team gets to face the Rockies this year, so there's no real reason to feel that skews the Jays stats (although yes, some AL teams may not have faced them yet).

It didn't. We're now at a team wRC+ of 114, tied for 2nd in baseball, just one tick behind the Yankees. We are 5th in baseball in runs scored and #1 in all of MLB in positional player WAR. On the offensive side of the ball, we are elite.

I think as fans we've been accustom to absolutely nothing going right over the past 2 years. Now on an average year, it just appears that we're getting super lucky. I think the needle is on the on the right side this year, but it's not some magically lucky season.