Mulliniks’ Moustache #12 – Pitch Talks #1

On Monday night, I had the opportunity to attend an interesting event, called Pitch Talks. It was, in essence, a baseball panel program where baseball fans have the chance to listen to people in the baseball industry talk about…baseball, and more specifically, the Toronto Blue Jays.

Pitch Talks #1 was hosted by comedian Jordan Strofolino, who even got a dig in against my patron saint, ‘ol Rance Mulliniks, claiming that he got a bunt base hit by hitting the ball off his Adam’s Apple, but it was unconfirmed because it was long time ago and stats weren’t kept back then.

First out of the gate was a comedian – Dylan Gott, who warmed the crowd up for a couple of minutes. Is a baseball forum the ideal place for a comedian? Probably not, but Gott at least focused on a subject that was near and dear to his rotund heart: the oddly-shaped baseball stars we all know and love. From David Wells to Rod Beck to Prince Fielder, and his father Cecil Fielder, then finishing with the obvious target: Babe Ruth. Gott held his own and elicited a couple of laughs.

Soon enough, though, the focus was on one of the first of the main attractions: Jared Macdonald from JaysProspects.com, who is an expert on Blue Jays prospects and claims to have seen every one in person.

Mulliniks’ Moustache #11 – First Week Musings (10 Things to Think About)

Just a few things I’ve noticed now that we’re a full week into the season:

1. Much as we thought to begin with, the much-maligned starting rotation seems to be the Achilles Heel of this team. The good starts have been pretty great, especially Mark Buehrle’s first and RA Dickey’s second starts of the year, but the still-sluggish offense hasn’t been able to cover the sub-par starts thus far (compounded by the absence of Jose Reyes and slow starts by both Edwin Encarnacion and Brett Lawrie).

2. I’ve been super-impressed with Melky Cabrera’s quick start right out of the gate. Hopefully he keeps it up all season. Just imagine if he was able to get the game-winning hit at yesterday’s game, with chants of “MEL-KY! MEL-KY!” raining down from the 34,067 fans in attendance. Fans looking for an early-season hero would’ve found one pretty easily after that. Oh well.

Mulliniks’ Moustache #10 – Beer & The Blue Jays

Allow me, if you will, to paint a picture:

Imagine a sunny, warm summer afternoon. The sun is high in the sky, bathing you in brilliant sunshine. You’re watching your beloved Blue Jays, surrounded by a friendly, well-mannered and unnervingly quiet crowd. In your right hand is a hotdog, topped with your favourite condiments – ketchup, mustard, sauerkraut, onions. In your left hand is another ballpark staple – peanuts in the shell. You settle into your seat. You decided to wear short-shorts today, so your upper thighs are a tad raw due to the warm seat. That won’t dampen your spirits though!

You delicately devour your food as the first pitch is thrown – a strike on the outside corner. Enjoying the first inning, you realize your salty treats have made you thirsty. What’s the tried-and-true, time-honoured way to remedy such a situation? The third piece of the baseball food Holy Trinity – a cold, refreshing beer. You know you’re going to pay through the nose for it, but that’s just the accepted way things are done when you’re taking in the ol’ ballgame.

“HEY! Beer guy! Gimme two!” you bellow to the man doing the Lord’s work.

He saunters over.

Mulliniks’ Moustache #9 – Toronto Blue Jays 2014 Opening Day Lineup

For better or for worse, below is your Opening Day 25-man roster for the 2014 Toronto Blue Jays.

Starting Pitchers

RHP R.A. Dickey

RHP Drew Hutchison

LHP Mark Buehrle

RHP Brandon Morrow

RHP Dustin McGowan

Bullpen

RHP Casey Janssen

RHP Steve Delabar

RHP Sergio Santos

LHP Aaron Loup

LHP Brett Cecil

RHP Esmil Rogers

RHP Todd Redmond

RHP Jeremy Jeffress

Starting Players

C Dioner Navarro

1B Edwin Encarnacion

2B Ryan Goins

SS Jose Reyes

3B Brett Lawrie

LF Melky Cabrera

CF Colby Rasmus

RF Jose Bautista

DH Adam Lind

Bench

INF Maicer Izturis

OF Moises Sierra

C Josh Thole

(This was straight up stolen from torontosun.com http://www.torontosun.com/2014/03/26/your-2014-blue-jays-roster)

Mulliniks’ Moustache #8 – The Bench; The Bullpen

A baseball team’s bench and bullpen are inexplicably and intrinsically linked. Backup position players and (in essence) backup pitchers. In many people’s brains, the bench and bullpen are mere afterthoughts. In reality, though, they play a large part in the fortunes of baseball teams.

Hell, even when a manager throws in the towel and calls on a position player to pitch an inning of mop-up duty during particularly terrible blowouts, he usually calls on a bench player (Jose Canseco notwithstanding) to ply his new trade and float batting-practice-perfected knuckleballs at seasoned major league hitters.

A major league baseball team’s bench is a motley crew of three to five not-quite-everyday-players that spend most of the season seated on – you guessed it – the bench, just waiting for a slow runner to get on base late in the game, or for an everyday player to require a sporadic day off.

We’re motoring towards the end of Spring Training, so as of this point, the 2014 Blue Jays version of The Bench is looking as such:

1. Back-up catcher (RA Dickey’s best friend Eric Kratz)
2. Back-up infielder (the Blue Jays $3-million man Maicer Izturis)
3. Back-up outfielder (out-of-options Moises Sierra)