Roy Halladay Pitches Great Game, Jays Beat Mariners.

by Tom Dakers on Sep 25, 2009 10:31 PM EDT in Toronto Blue Jays Game Recaps

Anytime anyone tries to tell you Roy Halladay isn't the best pitcher in baseball, remember this game. Complete game shutout, 9 strikeouts, no walks, 7 hits. He threw 114 pitches, 81 of them were strikes. It is great watching him, he throws quick and keeps the game moving. The game was finished in 2 hours and 11 minutes. You have to like that.

Offensively, Aaron Hill hit a 2 run homer in the 6th and that was all we needed. But we got 2 more in the 7th when Jose Bautista drove in Travis Snider and John McDonald. And one more in the 8th when Edwin Encarnacion scored on a Lyle Overbay double. We had 9 hits, 2 for Bautista and 1 each for everyone else except Adam Lind. Since Lind's been so good, we will excuse him for that, but his average has dropped under .300. Even Rod Barajas had a hit, finally, after an 0 for 20 run.

Jays of the Day? Doc, of course, (.468 WPA) and Aaron Hill (.212). Bautista deserves honorable mention. No Suckage Jays today. Moonraker came closest at -.091.

Tomorrow David Purcey (1-2, 5.31) goes up against the M's and Ian Snell (7-10, 5.03). It is a 1:00 Eastern start. We had a lot of fun in the game thread today so join us tomorrow if you are watching the game. Maybe Cito, could we give Ruiz a start. Just to remind us he is on the team?

During the post game interview, Kevin Millar tried to get Doc with shaving cream, but Doc saw it coming and ran and we all know Millar can't hit a moving target (yeah I know, cheap shot).

There are rumors all over that Pat Gillick will be named team president. If that's true, I'll bet you they will spend some money on players. Gillick has never been shy to spend money. It is a fun rumor, but with the internet it could be just one person's idle suggestion that gets picked up all over. We will see.

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which Pat Gillick are we talking about?

Wasn’t he famously termed “Stand Pat” Gillick by the media in the mid-late 80s because the Jays never did anything much in trading/free agency? Then in about 1991 he suddenly turned into “Trader Pat” because we were close.

Not saying he wouldn’t do a good job but “never been shy to spend money” might not be the most accurate reading ever. Check out Ernie Whitt’s account of his free agency in 1987 (I think) which basically portrayed Gillick as a massive douche who probably would have killed the deal if it hadn’t been for Beeston intervening.

I think he would spend money if he thought we were going to be a contender but we are so, so, so far away from that. On the other hand I don’t see him orchestrating a massive rebuild either, which makes me wonder if we’ll be in for a bunch more 86-win seasons (much like the Jays ca. 1984-1991 with a couple of exceptions).

Hate to be a downer but I’m not really a huge fan of the whole “let’s try to bring back the glory days by rehiring dinosaurs” (Cito, Beest, and now Gillick I guess) movement we’re seeing here. I think it’s pretty obvious by now that the game has passed Cito by, and even if it hadn’t he’s already said he’s not planning to stay around long enough to lead us to the promised land. Just seems to me (as someone who was around for the supposed glory years) that we need a new direction.

by voodoomusic on Sep 25, 2009 11:21 PM EDT reply actions

sound argument

by aagoodfella on Sep 25, 2009 11:35 PM EDT up reply actions

Gullick has done good things in Seattle and Philly...

Just cause Ernie Whitt complains doesn’t mean that Gullick wouldn’t spend money. Pat wouldn’t be coming to the Jays unless they were willing to spend. He spent money in Toronto (we had the highest payroll in baseball), he spent money in Seattle and he spent in Philadelphia. HE wouldn’t come here if they were only going to spend $60 million in payroll.

by Tom Dakers on Sep 25, 2009 11:49 PM EDT up reply actions

I don’t really think it’s fair, in this case, to compare the re-hiring of Cito to the re-hiring of Gillick. Has the game passed Cito by – the evidence suggests it has. However Gillicks success in Philly and in Seattle (both more recent than during the Jays glory years) suggest that he still has the ability to build a winner.

That’s not to say that I specifically HOPE we get him, nor is it to try to add any fuel to the rumour fires – simply to comment that if he comes back on board, it’s far too early to judge – and since we haven’t made the playoffs in more than a decade, I’d suggest it can’t really hurt to take the chance.

by Blue and White Expat on Sep 26, 2009 1:00 AM EDT up reply actions

great points

but as others have pointed out, the Gillick situation is somewhat different. No one mentioned Baltimore, but Gillick built very good teams there in the mid/late 90s and had some impressive playoff appearances. So he has essentially built winners everywhere he’s gone and in each of those situations, he took over teams that weren’t especially great.

That said, I agree with you that Gillick isn’t really the person you want if you’re planning a massive rebuild. To me bringing in Gillick would signify, as Tom suggests, that the team is planning to go for it and won’t hesitate to spend money to fill holes.

I’m not sure that Gillick, who has to be in his 70s by now, will want to take the new job far from his family in Seattle, 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

by hugo on Sep 26, 2009 7:07 AM EDT up reply actions

I seriously doubt it

Pat Gillick returning sounds like a writer’s pipedream at best.

The only way I can see that scenario happening is if Rogers is actually commited to splitting the President’s job into a President of Baseball and a President of Operations (Baseball), where one is only responsible for the product of the team, scouting, and personnel management, and the other gets all the operational stuff – gates, reciepts, broadcast deals, travel and logistic factors, etc. In that scenario, the President of Baseball for the Jays becames essentially the GM’s GM. That is the only possible circumstance I can see Gillick coming back for.

That being said, in that case, it would make sense. It would be a largely part-time job, that would not require Gillick to be in Toronto all the time. 2-3 days a week at most, and the rest he could remote from his home in Seattle. In that scenario, you can give the fans JP’s head, and promote Anthopiolis or LaCava as GM, since they would be likely to accept the fact that their position as GM for now is as essentially the assistant to the President, looking for a little more experience. Most GM candidates would not accept that kind of situation, but an internal candidate? I’d say either of them would go for it for a couple of years.

So there is a logic there. You give the fans their sacrificial goat, get your young GM, and trumpet one of the past greats returning to Toronto. From Rogers standpoint, I can see supporting that.

by dexfarkin on Sep 26, 2009 2:11 PM EDT reply actions