I had the sheer pleasure of being in the audience last night as Roy Halladay threw his seventh complete game of the season, absolutely dominated the New York Yankees, and led the Blue Jays to a 5-0 win.
Watching Doc do his thing on the mound is akin to watching a master at work; like watching an artist paint a masterpiece. It is simply beautiful. Like poetry, man. No one in baseball does it like Harry Leroy Halladay III.
For Doc, yesterday was simply another day at the office, despite facing one of baseball's most feared lineups. He struck out eight and walked only one. The only hit Halladay allowed before the 9th inning was a line drive to centre field by uber douchebag Alex Rodriguez, which Brad Wilkerson completely misplayed. If Vernon Wells or Alex Rios were playing centre field last night, Doc would have taken a no-hitter into the 9th inning.
Over his last 12 starts, Halladay is 8-1. He leads the American League in innings pitched and strikeouts. His seven complete games thrown are more than any other team - team! - in baseball. Cleveland's entire staff has thrown six complete games, good for second behind Halladay. Read that again. Let it sink in. The man is a machine.
Remember in Terminator 2, when Arnold knifes himself up and reveals his robotic arm? I think Halladay has that same arm. He is from the future. A pitching machine sent back in time to save the Toronto Blue Jays. He is truly a joy to watch, and an argument could be made that he is the greatest pitcher to ever take the mound in the history of the franchise. Enjoy him while he's here, Toronto. Appreciate him. Give him a hug. Tell him you love him. Because he won't be around forever.
While Halladay was at his filthy best last night, he did get some help from his defence. I was thinking about how best to describe the play Marco Scutaro and John McDonald made in the 8th inning, but some blessed soul has already uploaded it to YouTube. Check it out:
A thing of beauty, eh? Johnny Mac had to reach for the ball from Scutaro, spin around, and throw a bullet over to first in time to get the runner. No problem. He really is the Prime Minister of Defence. That might have been the best defensive play I've ever witnessed at a baseball game.
All of a sudden, after the sweep of the Baltimore Orioles, which included two - two!!! - come from behind, walk-off wins, the Jays are only a game under the .500 mark, with two more dates with the Yankees. And A.J. Burnett, on only three days rest, is getting the start on Sunday.
A sweep of the boys from the Bronx will send the Jays into the all-star break with a 48-47 record, and make manager Cito Gaston look like one incredibly smart man. I don't know about you, but I'm not ready to throw in the towel on this season just yet. Not when I see that type of effort from Roy Halladay and the boys against the New York Yankees.
Doc will of course be representing the Jays at next week's all-star festivities. Sure, Cleveland's Cliff Lee is having a great season and it looks like he'll get the nod to start the all-star game for the American League. That's great. I don't really care who starts, because we all know who the best pitcher in baseball is.
His name is Roy Halladay, and he's well worth the price of admission.
July 12, 2008
Worth The Price Of Admission
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27 comments:
My feelings exactly.
http://www.bugsandcranks.com/toronto-blue-jays/spencer-kyte/best-in-the-business-bar-none/
True story, I used to be madly in love with Alex Rodriguez. But I was like 11 at the time, so cut me some slack...
Oh and this is Wrap btw.
wrap...a-rod...really? really?
http://wraparoundcurl.wordpress.com/2008/06/26/it-was-nice-knowing-you/
That might answer some of it.
that was, as the kids say, a whole lot of awesome. i totally understand why a-fraud is dead to you. he's such a douchebag.
but, man, those mariners had a heck of a ball club over there for a couple of seasons.
so, did you end up going to college and getting that journalism degree? and where can i see some of these t-shirts the kids keep talkin about?
Naw, I actually left college after last quarter. I could never decide on a major.
I need to make more shirts, but the link to them is down the right under merch. My facebook link is there too.
"get your t-shirts here"...well, don't know how i missed that one.
and pardon this ridiculously ignorant question (my excuse: i'm new to wraparoundcurl), what team does tokarski play for?
My team. The Spokane Chiefs. WHL.
Now with two Memorial Cups.
You saw the clip where the cup got dropped? Yeah, that was my team.
that clip was unbelievable. the silence in that rink when the cup dropped, and the look on those two guys' faces...priceless.
so our teams have something in common, you know, the embarrassing moments. def not the winning. oh no, def not.
i'm feelin that "tokarski saves" shirt. did he get picked up in the draft?
Yes he did. In the fifth round by Tampa. He should have moved soooo much faster than that. He was absolutely stunning in the Memorial Cup final. He had 53 saves. His stats all season were amazing. For some reason he would get shafted in rankings. He is a ridiculously OCD netminder. But I love him for it.
that's right, he had a phenomenal mem cup tourney. it's all coming back to me now.
ok, so your boy is officially a member of the lightning, and you're not becoming a tampa bay fan?!?
Eh, he is still with the Chiefs. He has two more seasons there. Hockey in Tampa doesn't entirely work for my brain.
it might be the perfect situation for him...tampa's not exactly a goaltending hotbed. mike smith and kolzig? please.
and you're right about hockey in tampa. it just seems, well, kind of dirty.
can't believe they won a bloody cup. ugh.
Are you in shock my pretty pretty Chiefs won a cup?1
no, your pretty pretty Chiefs were well deserving. i still have a bitter taste in my mouth from when tampa won the cup a few years ago over calgary. tampa! the stanley cup! those two simply should not go hand-in-hand.
are you callin a spokane repeat?
Ah ok. More understandable. The Leafs need their eye on Tyler Johnson.
johnson's draftable next season?
Yes. There are others too. But he is one of my favorites. His Jim Halpert hair makes him extra adorable.
"There are others too."
i feel like i'm being introduced to this long lost tribe of hockey players in the amazon, with you as their only contact to the outside world. its exciting.
You should look up the wiki page and find out the Chiefs alumi.
Bryan uh, McCabe was a Chief.
mccabe, val bure!, pat falloon, brad ference, ray whitney, jason labarbera...a proud history.
i think mccabe might be the biggest to come out of spokane. it's a shame no one on this damn city can stand him anymore.
Spokane hates the Red Wings. But we all love Mike Babcock.
wasn't he wearing some chiefs gear during the final?
Yes he was. He was asked about it in an interview. I can't remember what he said.
me neither. i remember what you remember, the askage.
babcock is good people. i was hoping he might be a candidate behind the bench here in the city of your new favourite team.
I was hoping my boy Tokarski would have went elsewhere besides Tampa. But I hope it works out. Jared Spurgeon went to the Islanders (super tiny defensemen, but effective) and Mitch Wahl went Calgary (ughhh those teeth...)
spurgeon's hair is out of control!
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