For baseball lovers, Labour Day has always held a special place in the game’s calendar. Teams play the first five months of the season to be close at the start of September.
Managers will tell you if they can keep their team within three or four games of a lead at Labour Day, anything can happen. Get hot, they say, and you can make the playoffs, especially these days when more and more teams can qualify.
But Labour Day has its dark side as well–a time to admit that maybe this season didn’t go so great, that it’s time to, ahem, call it day.
There will be no stretch drive for this year’s Toronto Blue Jays. In fact, it’s been a long, long time since this club has played any meaningful games in September, 20y years to be exact: since the Jays ruled the baseball world with back-to-back World Series victories in 1992-93.
But this year is more painful than usual for Jays fans. As the club heads to Arizona to begin a three-game series against the Diamondbacks, it tote a 62-75 record, good for last place in the American League East, 19.5 games out of first.
Spring Training was filled with optimism. A lot of so-called smart people were predicting that the Jays would win the AL East, or–at the very least–give everyone a real run for their money.
Not!
A combination of injuries, bad trades, bad luck and downright sloppy baseball has been the norm. You really have to earn a 62-75 record. There will be no stretch drive for a pennant this year.
Toronto Star columnist Richard Griffin has been covering the Blue Jays for 18 years and is likely the most knowledgeable baseball writer in the country. Throughout this season, he has provided RCI with an update on events at Rogers Centre
Terry Haig spoke with Richard Griffin on Monday about the past and the future of this ballclub that broke its fans’ hearts….again.
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