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Bird is Still the Word

By Stephen Johns

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Photo by Andrew San Juan from the Torontoist Flickr Pool.


It’s still too early to panic.
True, there’s never a good time for a nine-game losing streak, although it’s arguably better now than, say, in September. But for the Toronto Blue Jays, one of Major League Baseball’s early season feel-good stories, the current skid’s threatening to undermine a lot of the goodwill they’ve generated thus far. That doesn’t quite make this weekend’s three-game series against the Boston Red Sox a “must-win,” but as far as mid-season series against divisional opponents go…well, it might just be.
The Blue Jays desperately need to get back on track. The current losing streak is notable for encompassing not one, but two Roy Halladay starts. Halladay’s as reliable a stopper as there is in Major League Baseball, yet last Friday in Atlanta he was outduelled by Kenshin Kawakami as the Blue Jays lost 1–0 to the Braves. Wednesday versus the Baltimore Orioles, meanwhile, Halladay left with the Jays leading 8–3—then watched helplessly as the bullpen turned a five-run lead into a 12–10 extra innings loss. Halladay won’t get a shot against the Red Sox this weekend, meaning it’s up to Casey Janssen, Brian Tallet, or Ricky Romero to stop the bleeding. It’d also help if Adam Lind and Scott Rolen could bust out of their individual slumps, or if Vernon Wells would start justifying his increasingly ludicrous contract.
Moreover, the Blue Jays need to convince Toronto sports fans (who’ve proven to be a very fickle bunch where baseball’s concerned) that the real Toronto Blue Jays are the ones who were leading the American League East up until last week, not the team that’s coming off back-to-back-to-back sweeps against the Red Sox, the Braves, and the Orioles. A series against Boston is a perfect opportunity to do just that. There’s still plenty of time for the Blue Jays to right the ship, still plenty of time to show they’re actually a really good team as opposed to the one that’s limping into June. There’s still plenty of reason to let optimism reign.

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  • http://undefined nib

    the real Toronto Blue Jays are the ones who were leading the American League East up until last week, not the team that’s coming off back-to-back-to-back sweeps against the Red Sox, the Braves, and the Orioles.

    Well, as Mike Wilner said the other day on Jays Talk (and no, I don’t take everything Mike Wilner says as fact), the “real” Blue Jays aren’t the 27-14 season-starters they were two weeks ago, nor are they the ones who are in the midst of a nine-game losing streak. The “real” Jays probably fall somewhere in the middle.
    No one, going into this season, expected them to have such an explosive start. And after that start, no one expected them to slide like they did the past two weeks. But baseball is beautiful because of the amount of games. Things tend to level out.
    And believe me, I hope like hell the Jays can turn things around and continue the season with the same BOOM factor they started out with. But these past couple weeks have been a bit of a reality check, and we can’t just expect that because of a great start they’re going to make the World Series, or win the AL East. I mean, again, don’t get me wrong, I want that as much as the next guy, but I think part of the reason this streak has been so tough to take is because you tend to get ahead of yourself on the heels of such an amazing month and a half of sport.
    But yeah, woo-hoo! It’s great to have them back in town. Let’s all rally behind our boys and end this fucking losing streak!!!
    Also, Aaron Hill is one of the top guys in the running for the AL All-star team second baseman. So go vote for him at Bluejays.com!

  • Stephen Johns

    “I mean, again, don’t get me wrong, I want that as much as the next guy, but I think part of the reason this streak has been so tough to take is because you tend to get ahead of yourself on the heels of such an amazing month and a half of sport.”
    But that’s the beauty of being a sports fan, isn’t it? ;) It’s all about getting ahead of ourselves; nine-game losing streaks mean more than they should (not just in the context of the game, but life in general) just the same as nine-game winning streaks. Last night’s game was great; let’s hope Tallet and Romero can pick up at least a win between the two of them and right the ship. Thanks for the comment!