2012-04-19

Evan Crawford Lookalikes?

After meeting lefty hurler Evan Crawford and getting to photograph him a bit a couple weeks back on a New Hampshire Fisher Cats road stop in Trenton, NJ, I began to notice some similarities between the man that would become a Blue Jay, and a pair of celebrities. Check out the imagery below and let us know what you think.

Above, we see Crawford side-by-side with actor Bradley Cooper, star of the classic film The Midnight Meat Train and other things too probably.

Also, we can check out Crawford beside pro wrestling champion Chris Sabin, who we presume you've likely never heard of.

Tell us your thoughts. If you have other Blue Jays or baseball lookalikes, let us know about those as well.
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2012-04-17

1BJW Interview: NH Pitching Coach Tom Signore

In the early going this season, the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats are already known for their well-regarded pitching prospects. The man that guides those young hurlers is pitching coach Tom Signore.

The weekend before last, I had the opportunity to sit down with the coach and get his thoughts on various pitchers for his club including Drew Hutchison, Chad Jenkins, Deck McGuire as well as newly promoted Blue Jay Evan Crawford and a guy fighting to return to the Blue Jays, Brett Cecil. Tom also spoke about his love for New Hampshire and more.

Check out the media player below to listen to all the exclusive comments from NH pitching coach Tom Signore.


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2012-04-14

1BJW Interview: LHP Evan Crawford

With Blue Jays reliever Sergio Santos missing some time on paternity leave, Toronto called up left-hander Evan Crawford from Double-A New Hampshire on Friday. Crawford, 25, was a member of the Fisher Cats club that won the Eastern League championship last year.

In three outings with the Fisher Cats this season, the 8th round draft pick from 2008, has not allowed a run. Additionally, this spring, with the big league club, Crawford struck out 5, walked 1 and allowed no hits or runs in 4 innings.

Last week, prior to Crawford's promotion, I spoke with the Alabama native about his time with the big club in spring training, his pitch repertoire, his coaches and plenty more. Check out the media player below to listen to the full interview.




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2012-04-11

1BJW Interview: RHP Prospect Chad Jenkins

Righty pitching prospect Chad Jenkins had a solid season debut last week, in his start at Trenton. The Blue Jays' first round draft choice from 2009, recorded a win when he tossed 6 innings of 5-hit, 1-run ball while striking out 2 and walking none against the Yankees affiliate for the Double-A Fisher Cats.

Last season, the Kennesaw State product posted a 9-12 record with a 3.70 ERA in 27 combined starts at Class A Advanced Dunedin and Double-A New Hampshire.

After his first win of the 2012 season, the 24-year-old took some time to answer some questions about his pitch repertoire, Twitter, his coaches in the Toronto developmental ranks and much more. Check out the media player below to hear the full interview.

Link

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2012-04-09

1BJW Interview: Sal Fasano Talks 2012 Fisher Cats

This past weekend, the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats began their Eastern League title defending season by winning 2 out of 3 games against the division rival Trenton Thunder (Yankees affiliate) on the road.

In the series, A.J. Jimenez had a nice Double-A debut, Chad Jenkins had a strong outing, Mike McDade continued with the production that made him an Eastern League All-Star last year and the team showed resiliency by winning twice in come-from-behind fashion.

After the second game of the series, I had the opportunity to speak with Fisher Cats manager Sal Fasano about several subjects. Check out the media player below to hear that full interview.


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2012-04-07

Deck McGuire Talks About Rough Season Debut


5 innings, 11 hits allowed, 8 earned runs, 2 walks, 6 strike outs, 5 HR....that's the line for Blue Jays' 2010 1st round draft pick Deck McGuire for the defending Eastern League champions, the New Hampshire Fisher Cats in Saturday's contest. The righty hurler struggling mightily in his 2012 regular season debut against division rival Trenton (NYY affiliate). In the first four innings, lead-off batters were 4-for-4 against McGuire with 4 runs scored. Most alarming of all the difficulties throughout the afternoon affair was the 3rd inning, when Zoilo Almonte, Rob Lyerly and Melky Mesa each went deep for a trio of convincing homeruns to start the frame.

Overall, McGuire, who posted a 2-1 record with a 4.35 ERA in four Double-A outings and a 7-4 record with a 2.75 ERA in 19 games for Class A Advanced Dunedin last season, seemed in good spirits and was fully ready for his next turn on the hill, following the loss.

To hear Deck's exclusive post-game comments about his poor outing click here or check out the media player below.


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Winning Continues for New Hampshire

The winning ways have continued into the new season for the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. Last fall the Double-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays won the Eastern League championship. In the first two contests of their 2012 campaign, the team looks just as dominant.

Following a win in the season opener at Trenton on Thursday night, the Fisher Cats rode an extremely solid outing from starting pitcher Chad Jenkins to a 2-0 record to start this year in front of 3,792 fans.

The righty Jenkins did not start off very hot, digging his team in a hole, as he ran the count full on the Yankees affiliate Thunder lead-off batter Abraham Almonte and served up a solo homerun.

According to Jenkins, he didn't feel as though he had his best stuff while on the mound Friday night. Jenkins was able to battle through the chilly weather and lacking full confidence in his offerings to down the Thunder by a score of 3-1.

Describing the mishaps in the opening frame, Jenkins said, "The first hitter, I got to a full count and (catcher A.J. Jimenez) wanted a fastball in, so I thought, 'Alright. He has seen away the whole at bat. We'll go in.' I was telling myself- 'cause I know one of them got me in spring training, in my last outing, and I threw that one down, so I was like, 'I'm not throwing this one down.' I let go of it and realized that middle of the plate isn't the best place to throw it either. (Almonte) unleashed on it."

After the homer to Almonte, third baseman Ronnier Mustelier followed that with a single, but ended up stranded on third as Jenkins settled in. Spreading just three more hits allowed over the next 5 innings without a walk, Jenkins earned his first win of the new season.

The Fisher Cats offense was led by first baseman Mike McDade, who went 3-for-4 including a double and a 2-run single that plated the defending champs' first scores of the night in the 5th inning.

New Hampshire added a run in the 6th inning on a sacrifice fly that brought home Justin Jackson.

The 'Cats bullpen was tough also, holding opposing batters without a hit over 3 innings. Matt Daly, Danny Farquhar and Aaron Loup each tossed a scoreless frame. The Louisiana native, Loup, earned the save.

According to NH manager Sal Fasano, this early success should allow the team, which was happily engaging in some debate over the varying musical tastes in the clubhouse after the game, to connect a considerable amount.

"It's nice to start out on the road with a couple of victories because it's a good bonding experience for (the players)," Fasano stated. "So, when they start playing for one another and they start caring about one another- that's one of the things we don't talk about in development, is actually caring about one another and playing your best for one another. To start out like that, it's a good way to start the season and hopefully, we can continue with the momentum and have a start like we did last year."

The Fisher Cats wrap up their three-game series with the Trenton Thunder on Saturday afternoon, before they head to Reading to begin a set with the Phillies' affiliate on Monday.
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2012-04-05

We Got A Winner!


Barring any last minute craziness, here is the Opening Day 25 Man Roster for your 2012 Toronto Blue Jays:

JP Arencibia
Jeff Mathis
Adam Lind
Kelly Johnson
Brett Lawrie
Yunel Escobar
Omar Vizquel
Colby Rasmus
Jose Bautista
Eric Thames
Ben Francisco
Rajai Davis
Edwin Encarnacion

Ricky Romero
Brandon Morrow
Joel Carreno
Henderson Alvarez
Kyle Drabek
Sergio Santos
Francisco Cordero
Jason Frasor
Darren Oliver
Casey Janssen
Luis Perez
Carlos Villanueva

And with that the third annual 1BJW 25 Man Roster Challenge has come to an end. This year 23 out of 25 was good enough to take home the hardware. Naturally, the tie breaker came into play which was the team's overall spring training record.

After some careful consideration, here is your champion:

Team Jason
18-15 

If you aren't familiar with Jason's site, let us break it down for you. It's probably the most detailed and up to date MLB/MILB roster info site on the entire internet.

We are willing to concede that we may have made a major strategical error when we asked him to submit a ballot.

The grand prizes included both a baseball autographed by such Blue Jay standouts as Joe Inglett and Randy Wells AND the coveted Randy Knorr autographed 8 x 10 photo. We trust they are going into a Blue Jay friendly environment.

Please join us in sending some warm congratulations out to Team Jason.


Thanks very much to everyone that played this year. Hope to see you back next time.

Go Jays!

2012-04-02

Erajai Thavis

Rajai's big smile fucked everything up but still a nice effort on the Photoshop

Remember way back in 2006 when Gibby implemented the platoon in LF and made it work to perfection? Fast forward to modern day and here's a look at what my trusty CBS site projects the current two half players as accomplishing in 2012. Get ready to be excited!

Davis:

330 AB 90 Hits 46 Runs 2 HR 35 RBI 34 SB

Thames:

490 AB 132 Hits 78 Runs 18 HR 69 RBI 7 SB

Combined:

820 AB (hey it's possible) 222 Hits 124 Runs 20 HR 104 RBI 41 SB

That's some serious MVP type production right there!

So, here's exactly what we need to do.
  1. Start Thames against the RHP
  2. Pinch hit for him with Davis against the LOOGY or put Davis in as late game defensive sub/pinch runner
  3. WIN THE WHOLE FUCKING THING

MSM vs Bloggers Part 68,412




Word on the street is the Blue Jays are actively courting some bloggers as evidenced by the selective invitation to the State of the Franchise festivities not too far back. After the gong show of an off-season which is being described by some most as an epic failure due to the perceived lack of spending, it was certainly time for the Blue Jays to take a look at the PR department and try something new. Inviting a few influential internet types with lots of page views and Twitter followers to come to the annual winter party seemed like a good start. I mean these guys and gals live and die with the Blue Jays as much as any card carrying season ticket holder, if not more right? 

We here at 1 Blue Jays Way were not approached - was it maybe because of the AA banging a porn star photoshop - and quite honestly don't give a flying fuck. Unlike some, our vision or goal has never been to someday turn this into a career because quite frankly we already have those.

This blog is and will always remain a place where we speak our minds about any topic without fear of retribution from others. That is, after all, what a blog should be all about.

That being said, I'm sure it would be cool to have more access to the players, coaches and management personnel at the Major League level. 

Or would it? 

On one hand that would theoretically give us more shit to type about, which would in turn give you a reason to stop by and read it. On the other hand that access comes with a price tag. And it's a big one.

The hardcore fan of the team will always have some kind of beef with the people that cover the team on a daily basis. That is just the reality. Elliot uses anonymous sources too much. Griffin is still bitter from the Ricciardi era. Wilner is just a Rogers apologist. Davidi is a quote whore. And on and on it goes. But these guys walk the beat and have to deal with the team no matter what they write. That just has to be a difficult situation to navigate through especially when the going gets tough.

Aside:

I got an email from Lance Broadway last month. It went like this:

Hey. My name is Lance Broadway. I played in the Blue Jays organization in 2010. I would like to talk with the overseer of this blog if that is possible. Can someone call me at 214 XXX XXXX or shoot me a number and I will call at your convenience please.

Ready to call bullshit I responded with this:

Sorry for sounding skeptical but given the nature of the Internet I have a hard time believing its really you. Is your inquiry something we can handle over email?

He came back with this:
Understandable. No I would rather talk over the phone. I do not mind answering some question you may have over email if that will help but as far as what I need to talk about I would rather not over email.

At this point not even remotely believing that a former Major Leaguer somehow found the need AND took the time to email me, I decided to look into it further. Within an hour or so a friend was able to confirm that both the phone number and email account were both legit so this was in fact The Lance Broadway and we weren't the first blog he had approached. Mind blown.

We arranged a time to talk and I recorded the entire thing without his knowledge or consent (sorry Lance). Remember I have no journalist standards whatsoever and based on his cryptic emails, I really wasn't sure how this conversation was going to play out.

Now, at this point I really only have two choices.

The first is share all the audio with you and pretty much burn any chance I have of ever talking to this man about anything ever again.

The second is not share the audio out of respect for a genuinely nice guy who made a poor decision a few years back and is now looking to pick up the pieces.

If I was a full time journalist this is a no brainer. No chance that conversation ever sees the light of day, end of discussion.

If I was a typical blogger only interested in breaking a story I would ABSOFUCKINGLUTELY fire this thing up consequences be damned. 

Conclusion:

These two forms of "media" are like Travis Snider/Adam Lind/Colby Rasmus and left handed pitching meaning they just do not mix well. The Blue Jays PR department is simply trying to control the message. I'll say it again:

The Blue Jays PR department is simply trying to control the message.

Currently they have no way of dealing with what bloggers have to say and they know it. By strategically putting them in situations were they are face to face with the players, coaches and senior management it theoretically will be a lot more difficult to write something negative about them. You might just think twice about saying Adam Lind is a bag of shit that has no business hitting behind the most dangerous hitter in baseball if you hung out with his wife and child for a picnic before a game.

Having been through something somewhat similar just recently I readily admit it's a fine line to walk. One that I would wholeheartedly prefer to leave for someone else to deal with.

Fantasy Baseball Pool

Every year my buddy over at the Canadian Baseball Hall Of Fame does a fantasy baseball pool. Since day 1, I have been helping out by basically doing all the heavy lifting for him while he collects the money and puts it towards a great cause.

Not bitter at all, I am.

What I do like about it is it's complete bias toward Canadian MLB players. Unlike some, I think it's perfectly fine to be a homer and cheer on my fellow countrymen just a little bit harder.

The pool itself is ridiculously user friendly and it only costs 10 bucks. Check it out here.

Deadline for entry is Wednesday, April 11, 2011 at 11:59pm EST

Fak Yu


The minute I heard your Toronto Blue Jays were in the running for the Japanese "ace" known as Yu Darvish, I ran downstairs to my completely outdated CD collection and pulled out a gem from my past.

Tokyo Ghetto Pussy.

I felt it is worthy of it's own paragraph. Now before you laugh at me (too late?) it's important to remember we were all young and stupid once upon a time.

This disk contains some serious musical genius, such as:

Everybody On The Floor (Pump It) - Radio Edit
Everybody On The Floor (Pump It) - Remix
I Kiss Your Lips
To Another Galaxy

I immediately inserted this disk into the CD player in my car and there it has remained since. I defy you to listen to track 2 and have a bad day. Can't do it.

The thing is, every time I indulge in this now not-so-secret pleasure it prompts me to daydream about what could have been. 

At first the ESPN hype machine was in overdrive mode with daily reports on his 7 pitch mix, mid 90's fastball, blah, blah, blah. It was and still is to an extent impossible to escape.

A typical internal conversation that I have, while listening at ear bleeding volumes with my foot to the floor, goes a little something like this:
  • Man, we really missed out on something here.
  • Hold on there Captain Positive, maybe, just maybe, we lucked out.
  • Impossible. HE HAS 7 FUCKING PITCHES.
  • Sure he does. Which ones can he throw for strikes to MLB hitters?
  • Who knows and who cares! It would sure be fun to watch.
  • Granted. But for the money spent, shouldn't we already know the answer to this question and many others?
  • Fuck that, it's not my money.
  • Nice attitude moron. It's all relative. You could pay for two entire drafts with just one year of his combined salary/posting fee.
  • He's going to be a star and we missed out big time.
  • Well he's being paid like he's a star, so he had better become one.
And that's pretty much where I leave it every single time.

Only time will tell whether this move that did not happen was in fact a good one. 

In the interim I'm relieved that it's somebody else's problem.

And Down The Stretch They Come


With only a few days left until the Blue Jays have to officially announce their Opening Day roster, I thought it would be fun to sift through the carnage that is the 25 Man Roster Challenge and see where all the competitors are at. Trying to guess the players at the start of camp who will compose the team by the end of camp always proves to be much more difficult than it seems.

From what I can tell, the magic number appears to be two, meaning that if your ballot contains just two mistakes, you're probably out of the running unless something absolutely major goes down.

Here are the teams left with only one player wrong:

Team Gregor

Team Jason

Team Jeremy

Team Clint

Team Drock

Team Ant 

Team Man With The Golden Arm

Team Jordan

The first six ballots are identical and they basically hinge on well being of one Ben Francisco's hamstring. The skeptic in me thinks that Francisco is over at the Minor League camp playing games not because he can lead off every inning in a controlled environment as we are being told but in fact he's there because the team wants to back date his upcoming DL trip.

My team is still in the running as I've got the out of options mirage known as Luis Valbuena making the club instead of Francisco. I never really understood the thinking behind keeping a fifth OF and it may ending up winning me the Challenge.

Team Jordan has hitched his wagon to the dark horse known as Aaron Laffey. Still a possibility. I guess.

All the other remaining ballots appear to be left leaning against the wall eye fucking the pretty girl while she dances with your buddy.

UPDATE:

The Blue Jays lineup for today's game against the Tigers is out and Francisco is in it hitting in the three spot. Sooooooooo there goes that theory.

Davis-CF
Vizquel-SS
Francisco-RF
Lind-1B
Thames-LF
Mathis-C
Valbuena-2B
Knecht-DH
Ahrens-3B
Cecil-SP