How 'Bout Them Blue Jays?

So the Major League Baseball season got off to a start the other day, but much more importantly, the Toronto Blue Jays season started on Tuesday, with a convincing win over Minnesota. The Jays have an incredible buzz around them right now; anything is possible for this team.

For good reason too. The Jays' general manager, J.P. "Moneyball? What Moneyball?" Ricciardi finally decided that there was more than one way to win the World Series and dusted off the ol' cheque book, landing some free agent fish in the offseason. A.J. "Tommy John" Burnett, "Hammerin'" Troy Glaus, Lyle "The Other Guy" Overbay, and Bengie "Don't Forget About Me" Molina, to be exact. With those boys, plus Roy "Dr. Cy Young" Halladay and Vernon "I Don't Need No Carlos" Wells, the Jays have their first shot at doing something since the glory days of the early 90's. We should be so hopefull.

But if ever there was a year to break up the 1-2 Yankee-Red Sox stranglehold on the AL East, it's this one. The Yankees, while fielding a starting nine that could take on any all-star team, have a pitching staff with a combined age of approximately 250 years (180 without Randy "I Ain't Never Touched My Sister" Johnson). The Red Sox on the other hand, with the departure of Johnny "Stylin' In Pinstripes" Damon have returned to being those lovable losers we used to know and love (And another thing: What's holding Curt Shilling together? My guess is duct tape).

So things are looking up for the boys from up north. The general consensus among those whose business it is to know is that the Jays will be very much in the wild card hunt come September. Do the cards hold a World Series in the Jays future? Well, let's not go over board here, but hey, why not? Stranger things have happened.

And one more thing. I'm really surprised that no one else has picked up on this story, because it seems pretty obvious to me. With their opening night win, that puts the Blue Jays at 1-0 on the season. Going to my calculator quickly, that puts them on pace for...carry the one... multiply the denominator... add pi... a 162-0 season. I don't mean to beat the Jays' drum too loudly, but that's pretty impressive.

"Touch 'em all Joe"

Jason

ADDENDUM: So it appears I was a little premature in predicting an undefeated season for the Jays. Whoops, my bad. With their spanking at the hands of Minnesota last night, that puts the Jays on pace for a mediocre 81-81 season. And I had such high hopes for this team too... So you can call off the parade down Yonge St. I really thought this team could do something special this year. Sigh... maybe next year.