Is it Dickey Time?

[shack]

Wonder what odds Vegas has us at now?

TSN says Jays are now 8-1 for the World Series and that, my friends, is the shortest odds in the majors.

 

[Jennifer_]

TSN says Jays are now 8-1 for the World Series and that, my friends, is the shortest odds in the majors.

Eeeeeeee.....

 

[Jennifer_]

I love your excitement! I love when hot girls cheer for the Jays and go to Jays games, it makes me so happy, baseball is back in Toronto! When I was a kid I went to baseball camp, I wanted to be a professional baseball player, I was inspired by the winning ways of the Jays in the early 90's.

Let's go blue jays! clap, clap, clapclapclap, let's go blue jays!

I was young in the 90s and all the games I went to were with my dad- but I was a hardcore fan.

Olerud was batting .400- I used to check his ((and the rest of the team's) stats every day in the newspaper. I knew everyone's eras and obps and every other stat that mattered. (Maybe the stats is why I've always loved baseball lol) I'd listen to games on the radio.

What reignited my interest was watching Lawerie's passion on Labour Day 2 years-ago... I watched almost every game last year (and the ones I didn't- I have the "score mobile" app on both of my phones- you get alerts every time there's a scoring run or when the bases are loaded, and can check what is going on easily... Lol)

I am glad I watched the jays when they weren't winning- I'd be a fan if last season repeated itself... But i can only imagine how it's going to feel cheering for a contender!!! (and living close-enough as an adult to frequent games )

Lets go blue jays!!

(Spring training can't start soon enough!)

 

[bendova]

fyi. ibanez had 19 homers and 62 rbis in 384 pa last year. 500 plus pa will put him on pace for 25 plus homers and 80 plus rbis. that is solid for a cheap dh. Are u trying to say his playoff performance is not important?

I was more referring to the other guys you listed. Actually with more AB his average probably goes down and HR/RBI only increase a little because we would be facing more LHP.

 

[mightymouse007]

I was more referring to the other guys you listed. Actually with more AB his average probably goes down and HR/RBI only increase a little because we would be facing more LHP.

He wont, because he platoons with andruw jones. Getting bk to my point, getting a cheap slugger dh should not be hard. 2b is something we can explore in a trade.

 

[Jennifer_]

The more I learn about Dickey, the happier I am to have him here:

http://sports.nationalpost.com/2012...lue-jays-trade-im-going-to-pitch-my-guts-out/

R.A. Dickey on Blue Jays trade: ‘A team that can win’

You could not make up the R.A. Dickey story if you tried. The up-from-the-depths theme is familiar, even hackneyed. That part is easy. But as you frame in the multiple subplots and fill in the alleged facts, you start to realize that no one would believe all of this stuff.

As wild and sometimes scary as his tale has been so far, Dickey’s incredible journey has just taken another ridiculous turn. The baseball part of his saga just might generate an improbably happy ending.

After arising in triumph from a ruinous personal life and a ruined career, he found astonishing success on the mound for the New York Mets last season. But they were, after all, the New York Mets, who were fun to watch mainly when Dickey was pitching.

So when it became clear a few weeks ago that general manager Sandy Alderson was trying to trade his Cy Young Award winner, Dickey had one request.

“If you’re going to do this, please do it to a team that can win,” he recalled telling his boss.

On Saturday, moments after Alderson called him with the trade news, Dickey got another call from his new boss, Alex Anthopoulos. They met for four hours. And Dickey heard things he had never heard before from a general manager.

You felt like the place you were going had a real chance to do something special
“I got to hear from the mouth of the leader of the organization what his vision was, and how I fit into that vision,” he said. “It makes you feel good, that you felt wanted. You felt like you were going to make a difference. You felt like the place you were going had a real chance to do something special.”

The place is Toronto, the team the Blue Jays. Imagine that.

*****

Dickey spent 48 minutes Tuesday on a conference call with reporters, first getting to know Toronto writers, then taking questions from familiar voices in New York. By the end, the Toronto contingent understood what their New York counterparts had known for three years: R.A. Dickey is thoughtful, articulate and open, his discourse virtually devoid of clichés, whether discussing his emotions or his knuckleball. He is no ordinary ballplayer.

As a boy, his life was scarred by sexual abuse and a troubled home life. As a man, his demons drove him to the edge of suicide. As a pitcher, his career was ordinary and worse before the Texas Rangers saved him in 2005 by suggesting he become a full-time knuckleballer.

In his first big-league start as a full-time knuckleball pitcher, he gave up six home runs and was quickly dispatched to the minors. This new pitch would take some time.

He was 34 in 2010, pitching for the Mets’ Triple-A team in Buffalo, when things changed. The turning point was a start in which he yielded a single to the first batter he faced, then retired 27 in a row.

“Finally, I wasn’t having to think about mechanics, and I wasn’t having to think about where do you put your foot and where do you have your wrist and how high is your elbow,” he recalled. “It was a much more organic experience for me, where I could just go out there and instinctually perform and get the results that I wanted. From then on, it’s just been a real rapid growing period.”

That organic sense quickly lifted him to the big leagues, where he has enjoyed three straight remarkable seasons. In that period, he has thrown more than 600 innings with a 2.95 ERA. In parts of seven seasons before 2010, his ERA was 5.43.

And now, almost in the blink of an eye, he goes from a bad Mets team to a club that has not sniffed the playoffs in 20 years. But during that same blink, the traditionally tightfisted Blue Jays opened the vaults and made a gigantic trade with Miami and signed two worthy free agents and acquired the best pitcher in the National League.

When Alderson told him about the trade, which was contingent on the Jays working out a contract extension, Dickey said he allowed himself, perhaps even willed himself, to endure a moment of sadness, for he deeply appreciated the chance the Mets gave him to “redeem” his career.

The sadness did not last long. Moments after Alderson called, the phone rang again. Anthopoulos was already in town with manager John Gibbons. Dickey was impressed, and even more so after their long dinner.

“I can’t tell you how excited I am to be part of an organization that’s committed to winning and putting a product on the field that the fans can be excited about coming to support, [with] quality guys in the clubhouse,” he said.

Then, realizing that he had lapsed into athlete-cliché mode, he added: “You know, a lot of people say these things at the beginning of spring training and the beginning of all new things. But I think in this particular case, the reason it feels so good is because it’s so true. You don’t feel like you’re trying to convince yourself of the things that you’re saying.”

*****

Knuckleballers are renowned for longevity, so it is a mug’s game to guess whether his Toronto term will mark the end of Dickey’s career. He is under contract at a bargain price through 2015, and if the Jays want to keep him in 2016, they hold a US$12-million option.

He says he looks forward to bringing his wife and four children to a new city he calls “beautiful,” full of fans he calls “passionate.”

I think it’s going to be a fantastic place for my family to be and a fantastic place to go to work
“I enjoy culture,” he said. “I enjoy involving my family in things that are diverse and multicultural. Toronto certainly represents that in a lot of different ways. I think it’s going to be a fantastic place for my family to be and a fantastic place to go to work.”

At some point in any story about R.A. Dickey, the time comes simply to stop. So there will be no ruminations about the eclectic set of books in his locker nor his charity work nor the mysteriously missing ligament in his elbow, nothing about his being a born-again Christian and self-proclaimed Star Wars nerd and climber of Mount Kilimanjaro, no mention of his gaudy swing-and-miss statistics nor his best-selling biography nor his contract to write books for kids.

No one would believe that stuff anyway. For now, the Blue Jays and their fans can focus on having added a remarkable pitcher, not to mention a remarkable man, to a roster that has blossomed overnight into a legitimate contender in a town starved for sporting success.

“I’m all in,” Dickey said. “I’m going to pitch my guts out for the Toronto Blue Jays, the fan base there. [Anthopoulos] knows what he’s getting and I know what I’m getting. I feel like that’s a good start to a good marriage.”

 

[shack]

Those links I posted from New York newspapers were mostly negative in terms of the Mets letting him go,

 

[JamesDouglas]

I was young in the 90s and all the games I went to were with my dad- but I was a hardcore fan.

Olerud was batting .400- I used to check his ((and the rest of the team's) stats every day in the newspaper. I knew everyone's eras and obps and every other stat that mattered. (Maybe the stats is why I've always loved baseball lol) I'd listen to games on the radio.

What reignited my interest was watching Lawerie's passion on Labour Day 2 years-ago... I watched almost every game last year (and the ones I didn't- I have the "score mobile" app on both of my phones- you get alerts every time there's a scoring run or when the bases are loaded, and can check what is going on easily... Lol)

I am glad I watched the jays when they weren't winning- I'd be a fan if last season repeated itself... But i can only imagine how it's going to feel cheering for a contender!!! (and living close-enough as an adult to frequent games )

Lets go blue jays!!

(Spring training can't start soon enough!)

You're a true fan, if you'd like tickets for the upcoming season I'll gladly give you some.

 

[JamesDouglas]

How special would it be if the Jays won the world series in 2013, the 20th anniversary of their last world series win? If they live up to the hype this city will go insane, 50,000+ fans every game, parties, parades, you name it, this city will deliver it for a winning Jays team.

 

[Jennifer_]

You're a true fan, if you'd like tickets for the upcoming season I'll gladly give you some.

I'm a ridiculously true fan. I'd buy tickets from you but not a mooch

How special would it be if the Jays won the world series in 2013, the 20th anniversary of their last world series win? If they live up to the hype this city will go insane, 50,000+ fans every game, parties, parades, you name it, this city will deliver it for a winning Jays team.

you know what? I didn't even realize that it's the 20th anniversary. So true!!
I don't want high expectations - I'll be happy to see them win the AL East.

Something about sport unites. I really really hope (and kinda expect that the Skydome (it's not the rogers centre lol) will be back to 90s-comparable attendance

 

[Ironhead]

I was young in the 90s and all the games I went to were with my dad- but I was a hardcore fan.

Olerud was batting .400- I used to check his ((and the rest of the team's) stats every day in the newspaper. I knew everyone's eras and obps and every other stat that mattered. (Maybe the stats is why I've always loved baseball lol) I'd listen to games on the radio.

What reignited my interest was watching Lawerie's passion on Labour Day 2 years-ago... I watched almost every game last year (and the ones I didn't- I have the "score mobile" app on both of my phones- you get alerts every time there's a scoring run or when the bases are loaded, and can check what is going on easily... Lol)

I am glad I watched the jays when they weren't winning- I'd be a fan if last season repeated itself... But i can only imagine how it's going to feel cheering for a contender!!! (and living close-enough as an adult to frequent games )

Lets go blue jays!!

(Spring training can't start soon enough!)

You are in for a treat Jen if the Jays do turn out to be strong contenders.
I was in my early 30s when they won in '92 and '93.
You will not only be checking the Jays scores, but you will be checking the scores of the Yankees, Rays, Red Sox and Orioles also any AL team that is compeating for the AL wildcard if the Jays are in that race.

 

[Jennifer_]

You are in for a treat Jen if the Jays do turn out to be strong contenders.
I was in my early 30s when they won in '92 and '93.
You will not only be checking the Jays scores, but you will be checking the scores of the Yankees, Rays, Red Sox and Orioles also any AL team that is compeating for the AL wildcard if the Jays are in that race.

haha - so true.
well I kinda did that this past year - but wowserina Jim Bob. Baseball is not gonna be a good thing for my ADD lol (easily-distracted ... lol)

 

[GPIDEAL]

.... so awesome to see the number of Jay's fans at every road game (especially somewhere like Seattle).

I saw the Jays play at the 'grapefruit league' (not a road game of course, but I have married chums who surprised their wives with a Florida vacation only to take them to watch pro baseball in the off-season).

Also saw them in their inter-divisional league inaugural game against the Cubs at Wrigley Field a few years ago (a short trip to The Windy City just to see them with my real sports fan friend like you - I just fake it).

There was a guy in my hotel in Havana whose 'chica' wore a Blue Jay cap. We got talking and he's from Scarborough.

As for a real Blue Jay, there was one outside my window at work the other week (very rare to see in a commercial-industrial area).

 

[GPIDEAL]

One reason why I'm looking forward to next year are the size of the crowds at the games. To state the obvious, Skydome is kinda dead when there's just 18,000 fans attending. The largest crowd I've seen was at Cito's last home game. It might have been about 35,000. Unfortunately I wasn't in Toronto in the early 1990s when they were selling out 50,000 seats every game.

I remember the early days from before the Skydome but my REAL sports fan buddies were at Exhibition Stadium to see their very first game (it snowed).

Of course, I celebrated both World Series Championships on the streets of Toronto. (I used to share season's tickets).

 

[mightymouse007]

I was only 7 years old when jays won the world series. I didnt start to watch or know baseball at that time. I see myself going to maybe a dozen or more games next year.

 

[Jennifer_]

I was only 7 years old when jays won the world series.

.... I hate you

(I wasn't that much older than you though lol)

 

[mightymouse007]

.... I hate you

(I wasn't that much older than you though lol)

No worries jenn. Looks are deceiving. I guess both me and u fit the same category. We don't age if u know wut I mean.
It seems like ra dickey is ur new love. perhaps u can get his jersey and post it as ur new sig pic. wut ya think?:eyebrows:

 

[JamesDouglas]

I was only 7 years old when jays won the world series. I didnt start to watch or know baseball at that time. I see myself going to maybe a dozen or more games next year.

I was the same age as you when they won their first world series. It's funny because that was the first year I started watching baseball and they won that year, and then they won again the next year. As a young kid I thought the Jays were the centre of the universe and were supposed to win every year, boy was I wrong.

 

[shack]

I was the same age as you when they won their first world series. It's funny because that was the first year I started watching baseball and they won that year, and then they won again the next year. As a young kid I thought the Jays were the centre of the universe and were supposed to win every year, boy was I wrong.

Even sadder is my exact same experience with the Leafs. I started watching in '61-'62, the first of three in a row.

I've found out the hard way that it is indeed a cruel, cruel world.

 

[teassoc]

I was the same age as you when they won their first world series. It's funny because that was the first year I started watching baseball and they won that year, and then they won again the next year. As a young kid I thought the Jays were the centre of the universe and were supposed to win every year, boy was I wrong.

My first live game was in June 93 (in a corporation box) when the Jays beat the Yankees at home. I was a lot older than 7 though!!!