Pretty Good Moments of 2009: Opening Day

After taking a few days to decompress, I figured it would be a pretty good idea to go back and pick out the few moments of brightness from an otherwise dark season to help remind us why we put ourselves through it day after day.

First up, opening day.

Highlighted by Adam Lind's home run and 6 RBIs, a homer by Travis Snider, hanging 8 earned runs on Justin Verlander, and the biggest crowd of the season, the Jays coasted to a 12-5 win with Roy Halladay pitching. Even Alex Rios and Vernon Wells had great games (2-3 with 2 walks and 2-4 with a walk, respectively)!

Of course, there were also the idiots who thought it would be good idea to throw paper airplanes onto the field and maybe could have caused the Jays to forfeit the game, but we can ignore that.

Shitty Loss: Complete the Sweep Edition

Didn't watch this one (couldn't, anyway), but it seems like it was more of the same old same old we've been seeing against the Rays all season. 4-14 vs. the defending AL champs this season.

The Rays also became the first team to beat Roy Halladay four times in a season.

And Marco Scutaro got hurt, which means that we'll get to see some wacky line-up combinations for as long as he's out (say hello to Jose Baustista, lead-off hitter).

And Travis Snider sat again, wouldn't want him to get any at-bats against Major League left-handers.

At least the Jays are done with the Rays for the season. That's something to be happy about.

Something To Pull Your Hair Out Over

Despite it being said that, upon being recalled from AAA a few weeks ago, that he would play every day down the stretch for the Blue Jays, Travis Snider found himself sitting AGAIN as a left-handed pitcher toed the rubber for the opposing team. Since being brought back up from Las Vegas on August 18, the Jays have played 25 games and there have been 4 games that Snider hasn't been penciled into the starting line-up. All 4 games have been against a left-handed starter, however, 2 of the starters (Nate Robertson and Derek Holland) have ERAs over 5.00, another (Brian Duensing) was making only his 5th career start, and the final one (Andy Pettitte) has an OBA of .273 vs. lefties this season as opposed to .249 vs. righties. In other words, perfect pitchers to get some experience against.

Now, Snider's numbers in the majors against lefties have been nothing to write home about (in only 39 MLB ABs, a small sample size if there ever was one, his line is .231/.318/.282) and if the Jays were contending for anything, then I could maybe see the logic in having him ride the pine when there's a southpaw out there. But this is a team that MAYBE could win 70 games and hasn't had a realistic shot at making a playoff run since June.

There is no excuse (except for maybe a flare-up of his back injury) for Snider not to be out there each and every game. If he would be facing Sandy Koufax circa 1964, I could maybe see the logic in giving him a day off, but when the opponent that night is Nate Robertson, a pitcher with a sterling .316 OBA against left-handed hitters this season and hasn't even been good enough to be in the rotation most of the year when he's been healthy, Snider has to be out there taking his hacks. He's going to need to face big league left-handed pitching at some point in his career, isn't the whole point of him being in the majors to do it now?

When I wrote the other day that there were more important things to worry about than Kevin Millar getting playing time, this is what I meant. I'm not sure if Cito is still upset over Snider telling him that he doesn't want his help during the game or if he really thinks that this is the best way to develop him as a hitter, but someone needs to get in his ear and tell him that this is not acceptable.

Shitty Loss: 09/09/09 Edition

9 strikeouts (and 9 hits allowed). 9 innings. A chance to go to 9-0 against the Twins.

It would have been nice if the offense could have helped him out. Aside from a pretty good night from Travis Snider (and, I guess, Encarnacion's triple), the Jays made Carl Pavano look like, well, Roy Halladay, and probably put the final nail in the coffin of Doc's Cy Young chances this year.

At least this one was over quickly.

Shitty Loss: Rain Delay Edition

The game had it's entertaining moments, at least. I wanted nothing more than for Travis Snider to be the hero against Papelbon, but I guess it wasn't to be. Of course, they couldn't go down quietly in the 9th, that's not the Jays way, even though they were pretty lucky to get the bases loaded there.

But man, I keep waiting for Aaron Hill to stop hitting home runs and it still hasn't happened. I don't know if 40+ is possible, but, even with his early season power surge, I didn't think 30 was possible and he has proved me wrong and then some. With Roy Halladay's Cy Young chances and Ricky Romero's Rookie of the Year hopes seemingly fading by the start, seeing if Hill can catch Alfonso Soriano's American League record of 39 long balls or Davey Johnson and Rogers Hornsby's MLB record of 42 is about all Jays fans have left to cheer about in this lost season. With games left in homer friendly parks like Fenway, Yankee Stadium, and the Ballpark in Arlington, you'd have to think he has at least a decent shot.

Non-Shitty Win: Wild Pitch Edition

Well, I had a whole 'Shitty Loss' post written. I talked about how I resigned myself to a loss after Kapler's home run and how the Jays did their usual thing of getting the tying run on in the 8th before ultimately falling short. I wrote how it was nice to see another good start from Rzepczynski, how it didn't matter that Millar was the clean-up hitter because Kazmir was dealing, and how I was just glad that Snider isn't sitting against tough lefties right now.

Then, the 9th happened. I wondered what the point of pinch hitting with Barajas was and then he went deep. I then figured that I could just add a paragraph to the post I had already written about how that just delayed the inevitable and the Jays lost it in the 14th inning, or something.

And then JP Howell forgot how to throw strikes and did his best BJ Ryan impression. I guess it's fitting that the Jays didn't have to rely on a clutch hit from someone in order to win this one.

On a slightly pathetic note, however, I was a little upset that the Jays rallying for the win cost my fantasy team a win from Scott Kazmir. Yeah, I'll take the 10 strikeouts, but I could make the playoffs in this league and need anything I can get. The Jays aren't playing for anything, they could have helped me out this one time.

Shitty Loss: Masshole Edition

I was all set to chalk this up as a non-shitty loss. Falling behind early, Beckett is a pretty good pitcher, Romero has trouble with the Red Sox, and, with the Jays having to go to the bullpen early and those guys being hit or miss, I figured that Boston would pile on a few more runs and make this a laugher.

Well, I have half-right, as the bullpen didn't do a very good job bailing out Romero, who's RoY chances look to be dwindling by the start.

Obviously, it was great to see homers from both Ruiz and Snider. If they can keep their Vegas mojo going maybe I won't have to make so many of these posts.

Do they have to make things so excruciatingly close, though? Seriously, 23 one-run losses on the season is insane and both Ruiz and Lind came within feet of hitting one out against Papelbon (God, do I hate that guy) and winning the game for the Jays and almost had me believing they would actually pull a win out of their collective asses.

I should probably know better by now.