Not So Weekly Poll
Can't really call it a weekly poll since it's been a month or so, but the Best Jay Closer poll has been closed for a while and Tom Henke won. So the last of the Best Jay player polls is Best Jay Middle Reliever. So choose from the list of setup or middle relievers, we have had a few really good ones.
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this is a good race, so far
with Ike, Quantrill, and Downs splitting over 90% of the vote about evenly. Ike’s 1986 was likely the best single season for a Jays middle reliever ( though he did save 10 games that season) , with166 Ks in 157 innings, only 46 walks, and a sub-1 WHIP, but he only had one other great season for the Jays, the following year.
Quantrill had great ERAs for many years, but he also put a lot more runners on (only in his final year with Toronto did he have a WHIP below 1.2). He had the longest tenure (5 years) of the three and only one of the years was bad, though a couple were mediocre. He also didn’t get the K’s the other two got.
Finally, Downs has never had a bad year for the Jays with 2 solid years as a swingman and then 2 incredible seasons, but also never approached the dominanace that Ike had in 1986. However, Downs is the only one with 2 years of ERA+ over 200 (neither of the others is even close). I voted for Downs on the basis that Quantrill was a little more hittable and Ike didn’t have enough service time on the Jays, with a season and a half less to his credit than Downs. One could easily make a case for the other two though.
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
Eichhorn was pretty good when he came back to the Jays....
in 1993, he was a big part of our World Series win that year with a 2.72 ERA setting up for Duane Ward. He was traded to us during the 1992 season and had a 0 ERA in the playoffs of both seasons. Quantrill pitched in 107 more games for the Jays but Eichhorn pitched 20 less innings as he would often go 2 or 3 or more innings in a game. They both had 6 seasons with the team and 5 each as relievers. Quantrill pitched a ton of games but Eichhorn pitched a lot of inning.
Guess I’m giving away who my choice was. But then I had Eichhorn #32 and Quantrill #33 on the top 50 list.
I think if Downs has another season or two like last year he be the easy choice.
Whoops....I think you made a mistake in the last couple of sentences....
Ike has a little more ‘service time’ than Downs….I think you are missing the 1992-1993 seasons when Mark came back to the Jays.
you're right
somehow Ike’s work with the 92 and 93 teams totally slipped my mind while I was considering this question. He was a big contributor to both of those teams, with a solid season and a half. I’d have to say Eichorn should win the prize, though I agree with you that Downs can pass him if he plays out his current contract and continues to pitch as well as he has. That’s far from a given, though.
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
Now you have to change your vote.....
It is really close between the three, they are the three middle relievers on the Top 50 list and I went back and forth on Quantrill and Eichhorn, which should be ahead, but Mark had a little bit better ERA and pitched in our World Series wins and would often pitch several innings. Paul was a one inning guy, but then he pitched 80 games a year. And Quantrill’s Canadian…..
haha
I still can’t understand how that slipped my mind. Maybe I can blame the 70-hour workweek?
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
i have a 70-hour pay period
but my pay-period is two weeks long.
"The NY Mets are my favorite squadron" -- Apu Nahasapeemapetilon
Was Dennis Lamp the guy
who used to imitate other ballplayers? For some reason I remember him doing a good impersonation of Mattingly’s swing.
"The NY Mets are my favorite squadron" -- Apu Nahasapeemapetilon

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