Blue Bird Banter

Former Blue Jays reliever Paul Quantrill turns 56 today. He spent six seasons with the Jays and pitched in 386 games, sixth in team history for games (and no one will be passing him soon unless we somehow bring back Aaron Loup). His best season with the Jays was 1997 when he had a 1.94 ERA in 77 relief appearances. He had a rubber arm, pitching in 80 or more games in five … [Read more...] about Happy Birthday Paul Quantrill and Ryan Tepera

Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images Also on this day, Jays trade for Damaso Garcia. Ten Years Ago Alex Anthopoulos traded Adam Lind to the Brewers for Marco Estrada. I wasn’t overly thrilled about the trade. He appeared to be a mediocre 5th starter/long reliever/swingman type. I expected a little more for Lind. I worried about Estrada’s tendency to give up home runs. … [Read more...] about Today in Blue Jays history: Jays trade for Marco Estrada

Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images Fred McGriff turns 61 today. McGriff was born in Tampa, Florida. The Yankees drafted him in the 9th round of the 1981 amateur draft. Don Mattingly blocked his way to the majors for the Yankees. The Jays picked up McGriff, Dave Collins, Mike Morgan and cash for Dale Murray and Tom Dodd. That trade worked out. Pat Gullick had the golden … [Read more...] about Happy Birthday Fred McGriff

Brad Penner-Imagn Images With the end of the World Series (congratulations to the Dodgers for defeating Evil and keeping the planet safe), we have the official start to the off-season. These are the dates things happen this off-season. Today: Players can become free agents The Jays traded away most of the eligible players to be free agents. The only Jay who could be … [Read more...] about Off-Season Dates

Photo by Luke Hales/Getty Images The Yankees seem to be insisting on making a series out of this. I guess another game is good, but I’d rather have a quick four and out. There was a moment that should never happen at a baseball game, and yet, I get the feeling we will see more and more of it: More on the fan and an incident that should not happen again. Story from … [Read more...] about OpenThread: World Series Game Five