Best Toronto Teams: Part I
No Leafs or Raptors today, which means it's time for some random thoughts again...
1. I've written about a dozen posts, and I can't believe how easy it has become now to blog, in terms of editing, putting in videos, hyperlinks, etc, etc.
Back when I first started blogging in 2006, stuff had to be done in HTML code. So I actually had to learn that thing. You couldn't do simple things like italics and bold types with just ctrl+i or ctrl+b like today. Putting in links to a relevant story or whatever was a pain, too. I had to put in slash, backslash, or whatever you want to call that thing. And if I'd missed one small thing in the code, the link wouldn't be there. And I had to go back and make sure everything was in right place.
Now, with just a few clicks, I can embed highlight videos, put in links to stories or clips, put in photos, etc, etc.
Ah, technology...
2. With all due respect to MLS and CFL, Toronto's last "major" championship came in 1993 with the Blue Jays' second consecutive World Series title. I happened to have watched that famous Game 6, won on Joe Carter's walk-off shot in the bottom of the ninth, on TV in Korea. But since I wasn't in Toronto at the time and I only had a vague idea of the team that the Jays were, I don't count it as my championship moment.
Save for the Argos' Grey Cup wins during the Doug Flutie era, I've never enjoyed a Toronto title as a devoted fan that I am today.
The question begs: will someone, anyone, win a title during my lifetime?
I don't want to jinx anything here. So I am going to shift my focus on the greatest Blue Jays, Leafs and Raptors teams during my years as their fan. I won't count the 1993 Jays. I'll start from 1995, the year that I moved to Toronto.
If I do all three at once, the post will run too long. I will stick with the Jays in this one, and on the next off-day, I will cover the Leafs, and then the Raptors (again, going by the alphabetical order).
The 2015 Blue Jays
This is an easy one for me. The 2015 Blue Jays are hands down the best Jays team that I've watched as a fan. Won 93 games, went to the ALCS (losing to the eventual champs Royals in 6) and should have won 102 games, based on Pythagorean calculation. This was my first Blue Jays postseason, too.
We had two different 11-game winning streaks. We were one game under .500 at the break but finished off with a 48-23 second half.
This was Donaldson's MVP season, highlighted by 41 home runs. Jose also hit 40 homers, and Edwin fell one dinger shy of joining those two in the 40-homer club. With Travis sidelined for most of the season. Goins played very good D at 2B and got some clutch hits.
We made some big trades that got us over the hump, getting David Price and Tulo. I wrote about Tulo's Toronto days here. Price was far better as a Jay, going 9-1 in 11 starts with a 2.30 ERA and 87 Ks in 74 1/3 innings.
Also, Marcus Stroman returned late in the season from torn knee ligaments to go 4-0 in four starts. When he suffered that knee injury during spring training, the diagnosis was he'd be out for season. But he battled back in time to join the playoff push.
Marco Estrada, one of my favorite Jays ever, won 13 games. Buehrle won 15 in his final major league season, though he didn't pitch in the postseason.
Speaking of the postseason, no Jays fan, or no Toronto sports fan, will ever forget this:
That 7th inning was so bizarre, dramatic, spectacular, historic, that you can watch the whole inning right here. I've watched that inning several times and I'll never get tired of it.
That ALDS Game 5 was surely memorable, but my favorite game from that season will always be the division clincher.
It was on Sept. 30 in Baltimore, the first of a double header at Camden. We pounded them 15-2 to lock down the AL East crown, and it was gratifying on many levels for me.
For one, I absolutely hate the Orioles. I just can't stand them. Of all Toronto rivals in all sports, I probably hate them the most. And I don't use the word "hate" lightly. Can't stand Adam Jones, Manny (since departed), Darren O'Day, the whole gang.
Anyway, in 2014, those guys celebrated their AL East title at the dome. So it was so cool to see my boys do the same at Camden.
We had another game to play. But the boys had more partying to do. So Gibby sent out scrubs and we lost 8-1 in a game that went on for just 2:23. It was one of the fastest games we played that season, and felt even faster.
I watched and re-watched the clinching game. As much as I love re-watching sports, baseball can be hard because it runs longer than hockey or basketball, even without all the commercial breaks.
But watching us beat up on the Orioles so convincingly in an empty road park (the O's were going nowhere and there were hardly any fans) was beyond fun. I almost cried watching it live, and did so again later on a second viewing.
The extended September highlights are here:
It washed away the pain of watching and following this team for 20 years and not getting one freaking playoff game.
I am just hoping it won't be another 20 years before we make the postseason again.
1. I've written about a dozen posts, and I can't believe how easy it has become now to blog, in terms of editing, putting in videos, hyperlinks, etc, etc.
Back when I first started blogging in 2006, stuff had to be done in HTML code. So I actually had to learn that thing. You couldn't do simple things like italics and bold types with just ctrl+i or ctrl+b like today. Putting in links to a relevant story or whatever was a pain, too. I had to put in slash, backslash, or whatever you want to call that thing. And if I'd missed one small thing in the code, the link wouldn't be there. And I had to go back and make sure everything was in right place.
Now, with just a few clicks, I can embed highlight videos, put in links to stories or clips, put in photos, etc, etc.
Ah, technology...
 |
| Say what you will about the dome. A beautiful ballpark to me. |
2. With all due respect to MLS and CFL, Toronto's last "major" championship came in 1993 with the Blue Jays' second consecutive World Series title. I happened to have watched that famous Game 6, won on Joe Carter's walk-off shot in the bottom of the ninth, on TV in Korea. But since I wasn't in Toronto at the time and I only had a vague idea of the team that the Jays were, I don't count it as my championship moment.
Save for the Argos' Grey Cup wins during the Doug Flutie era, I've never enjoyed a Toronto title as a devoted fan that I am today.
The question begs: will someone, anyone, win a title during my lifetime?
I don't want to jinx anything here. So I am going to shift my focus on the greatest Blue Jays, Leafs and Raptors teams during my years as their fan. I won't count the 1993 Jays. I'll start from 1995, the year that I moved to Toronto.
If I do all three at once, the post will run too long. I will stick with the Jays in this one, and on the next off-day, I will cover the Leafs, and then the Raptors (again, going by the alphabetical order).
The 2015 Blue Jays
This is an easy one for me. The 2015 Blue Jays are hands down the best Jays team that I've watched as a fan. Won 93 games, went to the ALCS (losing to the eventual champs Royals in 6) and should have won 102 games, based on Pythagorean calculation. This was my first Blue Jays postseason, too.
We had two different 11-game winning streaks. We were one game under .500 at the break but finished off with a 48-23 second half.
This was Donaldson's MVP season, highlighted by 41 home runs. Jose also hit 40 homers, and Edwin fell one dinger shy of joining those two in the 40-homer club. With Travis sidelined for most of the season. Goins played very good D at 2B and got some clutch hits.
We made some big trades that got us over the hump, getting David Price and Tulo. I wrote about Tulo's Toronto days here. Price was far better as a Jay, going 9-1 in 11 starts with a 2.30 ERA and 87 Ks in 74 1/3 innings.
Also, Marcus Stroman returned late in the season from torn knee ligaments to go 4-0 in four starts. When he suffered that knee injury during spring training, the diagnosis was he'd be out for season. But he battled back in time to join the playoff push.
Marco Estrada, one of my favorite Jays ever, won 13 games. Buehrle won 15 in his final major league season, though he didn't pitch in the postseason.
Speaking of the postseason, no Jays fan, or no Toronto sports fan, will ever forget this:
That 7th inning was so bizarre, dramatic, spectacular, historic, that you can watch the whole inning right here. I've watched that inning several times and I'll never get tired of it.
That ALDS Game 5 was surely memorable, but my favorite game from that season will always be the division clincher.
It was on Sept. 30 in Baltimore, the first of a double header at Camden. We pounded them 15-2 to lock down the AL East crown, and it was gratifying on many levels for me.
For one, I absolutely hate the Orioles. I just can't stand them. Of all Toronto rivals in all sports, I probably hate them the most. And I don't use the word "hate" lightly. Can't stand Adam Jones, Manny (since departed), Darren O'Day, the whole gang.
Anyway, in 2014, those guys celebrated their AL East title at the dome. So it was so cool to see my boys do the same at Camden.
We had another game to play. But the boys had more partying to do. So Gibby sent out scrubs and we lost 8-1 in a game that went on for just 2:23. It was one of the fastest games we played that season, and felt even faster.
I watched and re-watched the clinching game. As much as I love re-watching sports, baseball can be hard because it runs longer than hockey or basketball, even without all the commercial breaks.
But watching us beat up on the Orioles so convincingly in an empty road park (the O's were going nowhere and there were hardly any fans) was beyond fun. I almost cried watching it live, and did so again later on a second viewing.
The extended September highlights are here:
It washed away the pain of watching and following this team for 20 years and not getting one freaking playoff game.
I am just hoping it won't be another 20 years before we make the postseason again.
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