Happy Birthday Russ Adams and Scott Richmond

Scott Richmond turns 44 today. Richmond was a favourite of mine.

He had a great story. Scott came to the Jays within a year of pitching for the Edmonton Cracker-Cats of the Independent Golden Baseball League. And he’s Canadian. He threw for Canada in the Beijing Olympics, was on Team Canada for the WBC, and pitched in the Olympic qualifying round.

He made five starts for the Blue Jays in 2008, putting up a 4.00 ERA. In 2009, Scott started the season in the rotation and had a terrific first month. He was named AL Rookie Pitcher of the Month for April after going 3-0 with a 2.70 ERA. Unfortunately, things went downhill from there. Things would have been better if he had a pitch that he could use to get lefties out (I used to think he’d make a good right-handed version of a LOOGY). He finished the year 8-11 with a 5.52 ERA in 27 games, 24 stars.

He missed most of 2010 with a shoulder injury, making a few starts at AAA and finishing with a 1.98 ERA in 9 games. Scott spent most of 2011 and 2012 in the minors, with four appearances with the Jays.

After 2013, he signed with the Rangers and spent two seasons in their minor league system. In the past few, yeah

I thought he might make a good reliever if you could pick his spots, pitching mostly versus RHB, but it didn’t happen for him.

Over the last few years, Scott pitched in China, Italy, Australia, and for a Quebec independent league team. He also pitched for Team Canada in the Pan-Am games, picking up a silver medal. He must have some great stories to tell about his travels.

He’s retired from ball now. He is married and has three daughters.

Happy Birthday, Scott.

Russ Adams turns 43 today. He was our number one draft pick in 2002 and was our shortstop of the future at one time, but it didn’t work out. Russ had a hard time with the throw from short and didn’t hit all that well. The Jays tried moving him to second, but he still didn’t hit much, and Aaron Hill was a better choice at the position.

In 5 seasons with the Jays, he hit .247/.313/.372 with 17 home runs, 85 walks, and 118 strikeouts in 993 PA.

He had one full season with the Jays, playing 139 games, hitting .256/.325/.383 with 8 home runs and 63 RBI.

Adams signed with the Padres as a free agent in 2009 and then Mets in 2010 but didn’t return to the majors. He last played in the minors in 2011.

I had a lot of affection for Russ.

Happy birthday to Russ.

It is Sean Reid-Foley’s birthday today, too. He turns 28 today.

He is a Met now after being part of the Steven Matz trade. He had Tommy John surgery in 2022 and has returned to the Mets this month, pitching in three games this past week.

Happy Birthday Sean

My dad’s birthday would be tomorrow, but he passed away last year. I miss him. His final year or so wasn’t great, but he still enjoyed watching sports, which was nice and gave me hope for my future. As long as I can still enjoy sports, I can deal with getting older.