Baseball Beginnings: The Toronto Blue Jays

July 2-4, 2013

If any optimism lingered around the 2013 Blue Jays at midseason, the Canada Day series squashed it. 

The 2013 team infamously entered the season with the expectations of a World Series favourite largely because of two blockbuster offseason trades. But these Blue Jays proved to be mediocre at best through the first three months and despite a surprising 11-game winning streak in June, their postseason chances were already minuscule.

I didn’t cover the first game of the four-game set against Detroit, a Toronto win, but I rolled in on July 2 for the first time as a credentialed reporter, ready for the next three games. 

I was nearing the end of my internship with Yahoo Canada and I’d pitched a story about why Jose Bautista should hit second in the Blue Jays lineup, citing the analytical advantages, even though Bautista had said he was more comfortable in the No. 3 spot. The idea was uncomplicated and would be strengthened by a quote from Bautista or the manager. 

As I later learned, John Gibbons ordinarily did a media session with reporters in his office, followed by a scrum on the field with TV cameras before every game.

This information is not necessarily disclosed to newcomers, though, so I missed the first availability. (I’ll admit I would’ve been too nervous to ask my question in front of the other reporters anyway.) When the on-field scrum ended, I approached Gibbons as he walked toward the batting practice cage and spit out my question. I think he sensed that I was out of sorts and politely gave me a thoughtful answer I could plug into my story.

Bautista’s place in the lineup wasn’t among the pressing concerns for the Blue Jays that season. It certainly wasn’t why the team had a losing record.

But it was still an interesting insight into baseball’s daily tensions. The difference between success and failure in the sport is so finite that every decision is scrutinized. 

Over nearly two months at spring training and a six-month regular season with very few days off in between, there’s a constant churn of results and storylines to dissect. In a season like this one where it went all wrong, then the theatrics came fast and furious on and off the field in Toronto.

The Blue Jays starter in the first game I covered was Chien-Ming Wang. He had a rough outing, giving up six runs and getting pulled in the second inning. Desperate for starting pitching due to injuries, Toronto signed Wang in June and he gave them three decent starts during their aforementioned winning streak. 

But his leash was short and this loss was his second straight stinker. It didn’t take long for a resolution to come forth. Before Gibbons’ postgame news conference, a Blue Jays media relations staffer announced that Wang had been designated for assignment and was now off the major-league roster.

The majority of players in peril of being designated for assignment are not well known. But Wang had reached the majors with the Yankees in the mid-2000s and flirted with stardom; he finished second in American League Cy Young voting in 2006 but injuries derailed his career shortly thereafter.

Plus, like many Asian major-leaguers, Wang had his own beat documenting his every move. When I walked into the clubhouse after the game, Wang was facing Taiwanese reporters minutes after being informed he was being released.  

It was a raw scene, a proud professional athlete coming to terms with his situation and putting on a brave face. But any deeper reflection for Wang would take place elsewhere. Another player would be occupying that locker the next day.

The second game of the series, another Blue Jays loss, raised the emotional stakes.

In the fourth inning, Colby Rasmus slid hard into second base and collided with Tigers second baseman Omar Infante, who suffered a broken leg. The Tigers were angry; prominent players like Max Scherzer and Torii Hunter called it a dirty play.

Rasmus’ response instantly became the top priority from the Blue Jays side but he was not around when media entered Toronto’s clubhouse.

As interviews concluded and players filed out, the newspaper writers returned to the press box to make their print deadlines. But the reporters who worked for websites waited for Rasmus. I figured I should stay too.

It was at least an hour after the clubhouse opened that Rasmus emerged from the shower. He walked toward his locker and we slowly surrounded Rasmus as he got dressed. When he turned around, he expressed surprise about our interest in speaking with him but acquiesced after a Blue Jays staffer suggested he should talk.

The scrum was tense. Rasmus spoke deliberately. He bucked when asked if he clipped Infante but eased up when a reporter explained that in this case, clipping means incidental contact rather than the NCAA football penalty, which is a blindside block often targeting the knees and is considered a cheap shot. Rasmus grew up in Alabama and is a rabid Auburn fan.

Rasmus insisted he didn’t intend to injure anyone but understood why the Detroit players were upset. He seemed to expect and accept that the Tigers would likely retaliate.

By the third game, the drama was already unfolding before I arrived at the ballpark. Earlier that day, Blue Jays catcher J.P. Arencibia was a guest on Sportsnet 590 The Fan and ripped Sportsnet analysts Gregg Zaun and Dirk Hayhurst. He said the duo was overly critical of the team and the players didn’t respect them.

Arencibia’s comments immediately replaced the Rasmus slide as the hot-button topic of choice in Toronto sports talk. Unsurprisingly, a media mob awaited Arencibia before the game and he addressed them further. Arencibia stood by what he said on the radio and added that as former players Zaun and Hayhurst should better convey the difficulty of the major leagues to the fans and perhaps accentuate the team’s positives more often.

That night, Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander dominated in an 11-1 Detroit win and left little doubt about the broken state of the Blue Jays’ season.

Postgame, reporters lingered near Arencibia’s locker. He said he had nothing to add about the feud but would take questions about the game. In the scrum, he was professional with his answers but also clearly exasperated; the toll of an underwhelming season wearing on a young player who wasn’t making good on his potential

From 2013 through 2017, I wound up covering the Blue Jays more than anything else. And while the grind of baseball does instigate emotions, these were all extreme examples.

Most game days go by without the starting pitcher being cut or players finding themselves at odds with the opponent or the media. 

I got all three on consecutive nights in my first series, which was one hell of a welcome to the big leagues.