My good friend and yours, Stephen Amell, from Searching for '93, had me join him on another podcast to talk some more Toronto Blue Jays baseball. This time, we were betting on the Blue Jays. Well, I was betting on the Jays. Stephen was busy betting against them.
Here's a link to the mp3. Have a listen. I guarantee you will enjoy the song off the top. Anyway, we lay down our bets, talk some hockey, where I admit to the world that I am a New York Islanders dynasty denier, and, brace yourselves, even talk about the weather. In Canadian Celsius of course, my American friends. You know who you are. But, yes, exciting shit.
No, I'm not going to tell you what we bet on. You have to listen to the podcast, silly.
Alright. Fine.
There's eight categories, each being an over/under, and each worth one point, with the exception of the first category; wins. It's worth two points. Whoever accumulates the most points at the end of the season is the victor. Scientific, I know.
Categories:
1. Blue Jays O/U wins: 80.5
2. Vernon Wells O/U games played: 125.5
3. Home opener O/U number of fans: 49,500
4. Roy Halladay O/U wins: 17.5
5. Lyle Overbay & Scott Rolen O/U combined home runs: 35.5
6. Alex Rios O/U home runs: 22.5
7. B.J. Ryan O/U saves: 31.5
8. Total attendance O/U for the season: 2,000,000
I took the over. On all of them. If that surprises you, you're an idiot. I'm nothing if not a fatally optimistic homer. And I probably wouldn't be too good at The Price Is Right.
Logic? You want logic? Look, no Blue Jays team led by the Gastonian one is winning fewer than 81 games. Especially not this one ... Am I worried about Vernon's health? Sure I am. But the way I see it, with his bum hamstring, he's getting the injury over with now ... Will the home opener be a sellout? It better be, Toronto ... Barring injury, Doc's winning 18 games. Actually, more ... Can Overbay and Rolen combine for 36 home runs? Let's just say that's probably the stupidest over I went with, but that doesn't mean it's not going to happen ... Alex Rios is going to be frighteningly good this season. Frighteningly. Good ... If The Beej can save 32 games 10 months post-Tommy John, he can do it again in '09 ... As for total attendance, when the Jays are well on their way to winning the pennant, people will be rushing to the Rogers Centre SkyDome. Daily.
So, there you have it. A cool, crisp $100 is on the line. And I'm sure Stephen and I will update you as to who's closer to glory over the summer. We've also decided that the loser (Stephen, eventually) has to be videotaped getting an autograph from the one and only Mike Wilner. In a perfect world, the loser (Stephen, eventually) will pay me via one of those massive cheques, which will then be presented to me by the one and only Monsieur Wilner. (Let us know, Mike.)
Oh, and I've decided: when Roy Halladay is pitching at home this season, I'm heading downtown. A little walk-up ticket action, please. He's worth the price of admission, every time. And like I said in the podcast, he won't be around forever.
Remember to regularly check out Searching for '93. Stephen's got a new layout, and is doing his thing. Follow him on Twitter (follow me, as well), get him up in your RSS reader, and subscribe to his podcast. He's good people. While it will pain me to take his hard-earned money, it's something I must do.
And if you're interested in getting in on some of the monetary action, I'm still taking bets on the Jays winning more than 80.5 games. If you're foolishly thinking under, holla at ya boy, along with how much you're willing to lose. Want to shit on the Jays? (PPP, I'm looking at you.) Put your money where your mouth is.
For the last fucking time: Blue Jays baseball ... you gotta believe.
UPDATE: PPP is taking the under on wins. $50 on the line. I'm going to be fucking rich come September.
12 comments:
I'd take the over all on by Lyle and Scott hitting 36.
Im iffy on the overall season attendance, but only because I am not sure of the numbers from previous years so I have no idea what is the normal baseline.
I like the idea of Stephen tossing you a cheque for $100 but not filling in your name when you win the bet - the scene is eerily reminiscent of how Gregg Zaun was unfairly caught up in the steroid scandal of the Mitchell Report. Because, you know, that scenario makes complete sense.
zaun.. steriods. did they ever watch this guy play?
a. Gaston's never coached a shitty team like this one. The only way they make 82 wins is if the Red Sox and Yankees run away with the wild card/division early enough that the season is done for the BJs and they start playing well.
Wells is already injured and the season hasn't started.
The home opener might have been a sell out in years past because the owners had not given up on the season already.
The problem with Halladay winning 18 doesn't lie with him. It's the rest of the crappy team that will ruin another Cy Young year for him.
Rios - think of him as Antropov.
The better Beej bet would have been the over/under on blown saves.
And no way they hit 2M fans because...they won't make the playoffs. Venezuela-USA, in a 'baseball city', drew only 12000.
What's the idea for the bet?
Johnny: Overbay and Rolen are going to be HUGE this year. In terms of attendance, back when we were winning World Series, we had 4,000,000 come out to the Dome. Now that I think about it, 2,000,000 may be pretty tough to crack.
Stan: I like the idea. And, yes, Zaun styles makes COMPLETE sense. What an idiot.
Kush: Zaun was a gamer. Sure he took the juice, but I'm willing to let it slide. All the cool kids were doing it. Peer pressure is a mother fucker. And he can call one helluva ballgame.
PPP: You're such a jerk. The Jays have a good team that can compete. You can believe the owners have given up on the team, but the team will be fine. They will go out and play hard and compete. I don't doubt that for a second. And the pitching will be fine.
You clearly seem to want the under on 80.5 wins. So how about $20 on that? I take the over.
Are you interested in another $20 on Wells' games played?
How about another $20 on Doc winning more than 17.5? Again, you seem to be impartial to the under.
I'm willing to put $20 on Nikolai Rios.
BJ blew 4 saves last year. That ain't bad. I'm willing to set the line at 4.5, and I'm taking the under. You want the over? $20.
That's 5 bets. We can do them at $20 each, or do it like me and Amell, $100 total, each category worth one point, whomever accumulates more points wins. You let me know.
HOLLA.
PENNANT, MOTHERFVCKERS!
I'm a homer as well but I think I'd take the over on the first 6 for sure. I'd have to think about the last two, though.
Does this mean I shouldn't draft V-dub again this year? That man OWES me for two years of under-production.
Ack: The best part about winning the pennant is: PLAYOFFS!!!1
Escaped: Vernon owes all of us for two-years of under-production. Bastard. But he's going to be huge this year. HUGE.
V dub better hit at least 30 HRs this year or his season was fail. And he needs to strengthen those school-girl like hamstrings.
montinac... the mp3 link is not working
Try it........a now.
I'm a realist. How come I am a jerk? Is there pitching as strong as last season? That's a resounding no. Is Vernon Wells going to be able to stay healthy AND start contributing at the levels expected of a player earning over $100M? We'll see. Will Rios find his home run stroke? We'll see.
There are a lot of question marks and based on past performance and the team's ability to deal with any sort of pressure I don't think it's out of line to assume that they won't do well.
Also, I got your twitter. We're on for $50. Get ready for a summer of hearing it from me;)
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