Today the Toronto Blue Jays finished their season at a pretty surprising 85-77. In this season there were a lot of great moments and great seasons statistically by some of the Jays. In this blog I will go over all of the moments that stood out for me and players that stood out both positive and negative.
1. Jose Bautista - What is there to say about Jose Bautista. Bautista set a Blue Jays record for homeruns in a season, passing George Bell. He also became the first Blue Jay ever, to hit 50 home runs, and ended up with an astonishing 54. Will be interesting to see what Anthopolous does this offseason in terms of a contract with him.
2. Brandon Morrow's near no-hitter - Only one Blue Jay in franchise history has pitched a no-hitter, that being Dave Steib. Brandon Morrow, the player the Jays acquired in a trade with the Seattle Mariners this offseason for Brandon League, went 8 and 2 thirds innings with a not hitter only to be broken up on a weak ground ball by Evan Longoria just out of the reach of the diving Aaron Hill. Speaking as someone who was at the game, this had got to be the loudest I'd ever heard the crowd at the Rogers Center since the world series days.
3. JP Arencibia's Debut - JP Arencibia was called up when John Buck was placed on the 15 day DL and he made the most of his first game. Against the Tampa Bay Rays, the Blue Jays had an 8 HR performance and the star of that show was JPA. He knocked 2 HRs, a double and a single in his debut. This was not only the greatest debut in Jays history but probably the greatest debut in MLB history.
These are the three moments that stood out to me. Good season for the Jays and I'm looking forward to next year already.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Toronto Maple Leafs - Done the Preseason
Yesterday the Leafs finished their preseason with a 4-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings, finishing the preseason at a respectable 5-3-1 leaving them 1st in the Northeast. Now I will do a version of the good the bad and the ugly of the Leafs preseason.
The Good: Phil Kessel - Kessel dominated the preseason. Potting 6 goals in the 9 game preseason the Leafs had, he looked like the 40 goal scorer we all hope he can be. He finished the preseason with a 3 assist night showing that he can do more than just score. Kessel is the only real numer one line forward the Leafs had and looked like it this preseason.
Nik Kulemin - Kulemin took huge steps near the end of the year in 2010 and he was rewarde with a new contract worth 2.35 mil. Kulemin kept the trend going this preseason scoring 5 goals. Production out of Kulemin is necessary in order for the Leafs to even think about contending this year.
Honorobale Mention: Kris Versteeg, James Reimer, Luca Caputi
The Bad: Jonas Gustavsson - This year, Gustavsson is going to be depended on heavily this year to split the load with Jean-Sebastien Giguere this year and is hoped to be the future starting net minder for this team. Although his stats aren't astonishlingly bad, (posting a 3.53 GAA and a .902 Save % in his 4 starts), the monster let in numerous soft goal over his shoulder and that is something that must be fixed.
Nazem Kadri - The player that most people were looking to see play this preseason was Nazem Kadri. Kadri, the 7th overall pick in 2009, was looked upon to fill the shoes of the second line center position and inject some offence into that line. That did not work out. Outside of his one great game vs. the Senators in wihich he had 2 goals and an assist, Kadri was held pointless. Not only was Kadri dismal offensively, but he looked shaky in the defensive end and was not moving his feet. Kadri will most likely be sent down to the Marlies (AHL) and will possibly be called up sometime this year.
The Ugly: Colby Armstrong - This summer, on July 1, while everyone was waiting to see where the Kovalchuk's and all the other big name free agents would go, the leafs picked up a scrappy forward from the Atlanta Thrashers for a lofty price of 3 mil per season. Even though this was most likely an overpayment, leafs fans still applauded the signing thinking that this is just the type of player that Burke would like. Armstrong has put up horrendous numbers, only scoring 1 goal and being a -5. If the leafs hope to contend for a playoff spot, Armstrong MUST preform and be that agitator and 2o goal scorer that he can be.
Tomas Kaberle - Kaberle, along with Kovalchuk, was the talk of the offseason. Rumors were flying around about where Kaberle would go and who the Leafs would get back in return. When the clock struck midnight on August 15th, Kaberle had not been traded, thus closing his window of him not having a no trade clause. Burke stood by his defenceman saying that he was a vital part of the orginization and would be huge for the team. Kaberle had a brutal preseason, starting with the rumors that his dad said he didn't like coach Ron Wilson and wanted a trade, and ending with some pretty bad play both in the defensive end and what was supposed to be his strong suit, the PP. Kaberle is a vital cog to the PP and has to do a better job if the Leafs want to improve their league worst PP from a year ago.
The Good: Phil Kessel - Kessel dominated the preseason. Potting 6 goals in the 9 game preseason the Leafs had, he looked like the 40 goal scorer we all hope he can be. He finished the preseason with a 3 assist night showing that he can do more than just score. Kessel is the only real numer one line forward the Leafs had and looked like it this preseason.
Nik Kulemin - Kulemin took huge steps near the end of the year in 2010 and he was rewarde with a new contract worth 2.35 mil. Kulemin kept the trend going this preseason scoring 5 goals. Production out of Kulemin is necessary in order for the Leafs to even think about contending this year.
Honorobale Mention: Kris Versteeg, James Reimer, Luca Caputi
The Bad: Jonas Gustavsson - This year, Gustavsson is going to be depended on heavily this year to split the load with Jean-Sebastien Giguere this year and is hoped to be the future starting net minder for this team. Although his stats aren't astonishlingly bad, (posting a 3.53 GAA and a .902 Save % in his 4 starts), the monster let in numerous soft goal over his shoulder and that is something that must be fixed.
Nazem Kadri - The player that most people were looking to see play this preseason was Nazem Kadri. Kadri, the 7th overall pick in 2009, was looked upon to fill the shoes of the second line center position and inject some offence into that line. That did not work out. Outside of his one great game vs. the Senators in wihich he had 2 goals and an assist, Kadri was held pointless. Not only was Kadri dismal offensively, but he looked shaky in the defensive end and was not moving his feet. Kadri will most likely be sent down to the Marlies (AHL) and will possibly be called up sometime this year.
The Ugly: Colby Armstrong - This summer, on July 1, while everyone was waiting to see where the Kovalchuk's and all the other big name free agents would go, the leafs picked up a scrappy forward from the Atlanta Thrashers for a lofty price of 3 mil per season. Even though this was most likely an overpayment, leafs fans still applauded the signing thinking that this is just the type of player that Burke would like. Armstrong has put up horrendous numbers, only scoring 1 goal and being a -5. If the leafs hope to contend for a playoff spot, Armstrong MUST preform and be that agitator and 2o goal scorer that he can be.
Tomas Kaberle - Kaberle, along with Kovalchuk, was the talk of the offseason. Rumors were flying around about where Kaberle would go and who the Leafs would get back in return. When the clock struck midnight on August 15th, Kaberle had not been traded, thus closing his window of him not having a no trade clause. Burke stood by his defenceman saying that he was a vital part of the orginization and would be huge for the team. Kaberle had a brutal preseason, starting with the rumors that his dad said he didn't like coach Ron Wilson and wanted a trade, and ending with some pretty bad play both in the defensive end and what was supposed to be his strong suit, the PP. Kaberle is a vital cog to the PP and has to do a better job if the Leafs want to improve their league worst PP from a year ago.
Preview
I am starting this blog to share my opinions and views of the three major sports teams in Toronto; the Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Raptors and Toronto Blue Jays. Pretty much I'll make a blog about each big game/series or whatever big stories I have time for. Although this is called the "Toronto Sports Blog" I'll most likely post about other major stories in the leagues of the teams. Of course what I would write is just my opinion and not fact so feel free to comment and share your opinion.
That's all for now. I should be posting my first real post tomorrow.
That's all for now. I should be posting my first real post tomorrow.
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