Blue Jays columnist takes Opening Day loss in stride

April 2, 2008 by Benjamin Kabak 40 Comments

Wait. No, he didn’t. Richard Griffin writing for the Toronto Star complains that the Yankees won due to the timely hitting and stellar fielding of a player who was supposed to be suspended. Where is the baseball justice? he asks. Meanwhile, the next time a Blue Jays pitcher gets suspended for plunking a batter and conveniently serves that suspension while nursing a sore something-or-other, I’m sure no one in Toronto will be complaining.

http://www.replacementlevel.com/ Sean McNally

Awww the Blue Jays think they’re contenders. So cute. *tussles Eckstein’s hair*
Sciorsci

Richard Griffin’s a joke. Do a quick search on FJM for some of his articles and you’ll quickly see that this is hardly some of his worst work.
Curramba

How does this idiot know that Melky’s replacement wouldn’t have done the same?
- pete
  
  seriously – gardner would have been his replacement or maybe damon, and both of them are faster than melky. actually, aaron hill’s double would have been caught too if melky had been serving a suspension. As for the home run, i don’t know but who says he has to serve his suspension on opening day anyway? Oh yeah and by the way, the jays runs came on cheap hits anyway. I think timely hitting is more deserving than getting away w/ 4 broken bat singles and 2 infield singles.
Chris

Somebody is salty….
cjc

sad just sad
mike f

sore losers up there in canada huh?
mike f

now i feel stupid for taking off my cap last night for “Oh Canada”
http://knickerbockerchatter.blogspot.com/ Bruno

And what about Halladay being bush-league? Running his mouth at Melky for taking a CROWD REQUESTED curtain call! ABSURD! This is the last opening day at THE MOST HISTORIC STADIUM/arena/park IN ALL OF SPORTS HISTORY, and our young, energetic, crowd favorite CF hits a BIG HR off of a Cy Young caliber pitcher, after a 10 pitch at bat, and Halladay has problem with him taking a curtain call? pssh.
CaptainCargo

Hallabray is just as big a whiner as Griffin.

The guy acted like a spoiled crybaby for most of the game. “Get back in the dugout, it was “barely” a homer” “WAH! My second baseman dropped the sure DP ball!! Sniff sniff”

Someone should call a WAH WAH WAMBULANCE for Hallabray.
mustang

I agree with all of you, but Bruno, Melky could of waited between pitches. I think Halladay had every right to be upset and showed it by taking Melky down with 3 pitches in his next at bat. If they weren’t any man on base Melky would of probably been knock down. I’m a Yanks fan but Melky was wrong he just should of been happy that ball even got out.
- bkight13
  
  It’s OUR stadium and if the fans want to cheer and call Melky out for a curtain call then Halladay has to deal with it. You could see Halladay after the HR mouth “this f-ing ballpark” like the HR shouldn’t count because it just cleared the fence. The Jays have turned into a bunch of whiners since ARod punked Howie Clark last year.
steve (different one)

i don’t have *too big* of a problem with Halladay chirping at Melky, the curtain call WAS a little excessive. i understand the fans were fired up after a long off-season, and it was a great AB….but it was only the 6th inning, it merely tied the game, and it was a pretty cheap HR. by that standard, every HR hit this season will get a curtain call.

also, it feels a little hypocritical to criticize Halladay while ignoring Joba’s “antics”. i love Joba, and i am fine with what he did, but i bet we’d be railing on an opposing pitcher for doing that.

all that said, this was a ridiculous article. Melky was supposed to be suspended? so what? the appeals process has been this way for years, don’t whine now just because Melky hit a HR.
- Adam
  
  yeah man, i feel like a hypocrite too for liking joba when he pulls the exact same antics on the mount that makes be hate papelbon.
  - Whitey14
    
    I’m really glad others feel the same way (only in reverse)…I saw the highlights of Joba’s excitement and I was initially thinking it was bit excessive. However, as I watched Papelbon close out the ninth last night I certainly felt as though I had been hypocrytical. It can’t be right for one guy and wrong for the other so in my opinion it’s right for both of them to be excited about pitching well. They’re young and enthusiastic which is something both of these teams have lacked for a few years now…
- http://bleacherreport.com/users/11036-Ryan_Barry barry
  
  Right on.
- pete
  
  sure melky’s hr was a cheap one, but so was every blue jay hit/run pretty much (both runs scored on outs after hitters had gotten infield singles or broken bat hits). I’ve always thought that a pitchers energy/excitement/frustration should never be aimed towards an opposing player, which is why i don’t have much problem with joba here (or papelbon or k-rod) because he was just amped up after making a great pitch against a great hitter. Halladay, on the other hand, was yelling at a player after the play, when he was basically in the dugout.
mustang

Totally agree on all points steve (different one) you nail it.
http://knickerbockerchatter.blogspot.com/ Bruno

I don’t have that a big of a problem with what Halladay did either. I was just pointing out the hypocrisy that is Richard Griffin.
- steve (different one)
  
  agreed. the column was terrible.
bkight13

The fans were giving Melky his due for the 2 catches and the HR. Plus they were letting him know that not everyone wanted to see him traded. People are getting too obsessed with not showing up the other team PC horse crap. If Halladay doesn’t like it, too bad.
- steve (different one)
  
  i think the point is that you wait until between pitches at least.
  - bkight13
    
    why? we don’t owe the opposing pitcher any considerations. Should Tony Romo be able to ask the fans to quiet down at Giants Stadium. If it makes him mad and he loses focus that is even better for the Yanks.
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=56352514 Jamal G.

I knew that article was crap as soon as I saw he spelled CENTER, “centre”. You’re in NY, speak English the American way, the broken way dammit.
- http://www.replacementlevel.com/ Sean McNally
  
  Dude, he may be writing from NY – but his copy desk is in Canada. So expect articles about pitching and defence; labour talks and centre fielder Vernon Wells.
mustang

Your right about Richard Griffin Bruno, but he is just looking for reason to hate. I don’t feel very good about tonight game. Moose against a pissed off Jays team. Oh, well that why we have a bull pen. LOL
mustang

Another point bkight13 is that the “showing up” sometimes just gets out of hand. How many here are tired of watching Manny stand at home plate for 10 minutes after a HR. All Melky had to do was wait between pitches.
- bkight13
  
  It’s the fans calling for the curtain call. They won’t stop until Melky pops his head out of the dugout. It wasn’t showing anybody up, in fact it probably quieted the crowd. I just have never bought into the “don’t make the other team mad” theory.
  - Whitey14
    
    I think it’s less about making the other team mad and more about showing class. cabrera is young and he will learn throughout his career when to do it and when to wait a few moments to do it.
    Those types of incidents do tend to lead to bean brawls and I don’t think anybody wants that.
    With regard to his suspension, the yanks didn’t do anything against the rules. The suspension/appeals process in baseball is ignorant to begin with, but all teams get to take advantage of it so it’s not worth bitching aboot ;-)
  - steve (different one)
    
    your logic doesn’t follow since at no point was Halladay mad at the FANS.
    
    if there is an unwritten rule that you don’t take curtain calls while a pitcher is in his windup, then Melky should have respected that.
    
    They won’t stop until Melky pops his head out of the dugout.
    
    right, but so what? Halladay didn’t care that the fans were loud. he cared that Melky popped out of the dugout during his delivery.
    
    all he had to do was wait 5 seconds.
Tripp

They care about baseball in Canada?
mustang

I see your point bkight13.
Funny Tripp. LOL
Mike R.

The only reason this is news in Toronto is because the curling season is over.

I heard that the Blue Jays are also upset at the fact that the crowd was yelling causing them to lose focus. HA!
CaptainCargo

Halladay definitely showed his 2nd baseman up by yelling and screaming when Aaron Hill blew a sure DP ball that allowed the go ahead run.
zack

Everyone can bitch and moan all they want about Hallady being a sour puss and hard ass or bush league or whatever but a) those are exactly the same qualities and reactions people WORSHIP about O’Neill and b) I would KILL to have Halladay on the Yanks. Period. He is better than any starter w have right now and may have in the next ten years.
ctkaiser

A lot of terrific comments but please spare me any more talk of unwritten rules and what’s politically correct anymore. Bob Gibson and Sandy Koufax aren’t pitching anymore. When was the last time Doc had 32 start seasons back to back? I think I hate Toronto more than the Red Sox. At least the Red Sox have great players. What the heck have any of these players on Toronto won? Did somebody yell something when Hill dropped the DP ball? If that was Cano the whole world would be yelling he was too nonchalant! Halladay should have struck out Melky in the sixth like he didi inthe ninth. He knew before he threw the pitch that the fence was 314′ or is there a witness that Jeffrey Maier moved it in 10′ while the ball was in the air? Give me a break. Toronto can enjoy this season while they settle into 3rd possibly 4th place. As for Joba have you noticed Papelbon’s antics? There’s nothing wrong with either of them doing what they do.
CaptainCargo

Pauly never showed his own teammates up for on field mistakes.

There’s a world of difference there. Halladay was a jerk for doing it last night. No way around it, no matter how much you’d love to see the guy on your team.
pete c.

Toronto had another pitcher that used to do that tohis fielders when they screwed up. His name was Dave Stieb and his teamates got tired of it just like they will if Halliday doesn’t stop. melky’s a kid, he’s gonna do those things until someone says not to. the best part was watching Joe G. bounce out of the dugout when it was over. What a breath of fresh air, as opposed to mister hohum, looks like we won another one.
Joey h

they can say what they want if you ask me. im just sitting here happy for two things, one being the great perfomance i ntheir win yesterday and how O CANADA GOT BOOOOOOOED!
Joey h

A FEW THINGS I WOULD LIKE TO ADDRESS ON OLD COMMENTS ON THIS POST. 1. ROY HALLADAY IS A JOKE. SCREAMING AT EVERYONE FROM DUGOUT TO DUG OUT FROM THE HOT CORNER TO FIRST BASE. BUT NOT FOR NOTHING HOW CHEAP WERE THE HITS THE JAYS GOT. WANG THREW 4 SOLID GREAT PITCHES SO C’MON. wangs face was the same for every one of these. halladay needs to grow up and except not everyone is gonna have a great game. sure he pitched a hell of a game with 47 pitches through 5 or w/e it was but you arent always going to have the 4 pitch innings, oh yeah thats right 4 pitch inning, by stellar defense on the bluejays part and a good solid pitch on roy’s part. the gods honest truth is that the jays wont finish better than third place. sure its the right thing to have high expectations and confidence for your team but give me a break. Enough said.