Expectations

"Crushing one another with colossal expectations."

                      - Stuck Between Stations by The Hold Steady

Good God it doesn't take long for the rabble to rouse.

Not a month into the Major League Baseball season and the sky is falling for fans of the Toronto Blue Jays. It has been 20 long seasons since Canada's team has sniffed the postseason. 1992 and 1993 are years of legend. The Jays marched through the American League and won its only two championships. Since then, the team has been a disappointment. Every ounce of hope snuffed out to shrugs like it was supposed to be that way; like the Jays never belonged in the conversation to begin with; like it was a fluke.

For every Roy Halladay there was a Josh Towers. For every Carlos Delgado there was a Vernon Wells. There was never a complete roster. Attendance dropped and a fourth or third place finish became the norm, the expected finish.

When the Jays acquired Jose Bautista in 2008, it didn't turn any heads. He was a depth addition to spell the regulars when they got injured or needed a day off. He was a role player. He remained as such for most of 2009 before having a huge September mashing 10 of his 13 home runs on the campaign. He proceeded to lead the majors in dingers into 2011. How soon we forget.

With his glimpse of hope being injected into the Jays, people started getting interested again. He gave Toronto fans something to cheer for. An underdog story. Being the underdog, though, missing the playoffs was still a foregone conclusion but steps were being made. Good drafting and some savvy trades beefed up the farm system with guys like Brett Lawrie, Travis d'Arnaud, and Kyle Drabek. Some have panned out, others not so much and others have since been moved.

How soon a tune can change.

Injuries plagued Bautista and the Jays in 2012 but another under the radar acquisition, Edwin Encarnacion, thrived in his new leadership role. Then the team did something it hadn't done since those fabled days in the early 90s. General manager Alex Anthopolous made some huge moves to make the team relevant in the hunt for a postseason berth. They dealt youth like d'Arnaud, Jake Marisnick, Justin Nicolino and Noah Syndergaard for big league talent Josh Johnson, Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle, and R.A. Dickey. Hope was restored.

Then the 2013 season began and as we hit the end of April, the Jays sit with an underwhelming 8-12 record. The world is over! Burn the whole organization to the ground. Bring me the head of Alex Anthopolous!

It's a long season, but apparently patience has given way to desperation and rage. For the first time in years, the Blue Jays were pegged to be front runners for the AL East and a rough start to the season has apparently destroyed everything. Fans are looking for scapegoats, excuses, anything to sick their teeth into and tear to shreds. It brings out the worst in people.

Some comments are relatively innocuous. A friend of mine, a hardcore Blue Jays fan, posted "different year, different players, same ole pathetic bluejays" to his Facebook. Others, like on TSN comment boards, have been more vitriolic and downright maddening. After a loss to the Yankees on Saturday, fans were calling out Bautista for his back spasms saying he is a bust and should man up and play through his injuries. They've called him a disgrace, a fraud. This is horrible. If you are suggesting someone to risk further injury to sate your desire as a fan, you are giving the whole notion of sports fandom a bad name. He does not owe you his health. If he takes the time he needs to recover and can offer a more balanced approach on the field, he will be more likely to produce the desired results. But no, play through it because the ignorant fan demands your blood, sweat and tears. Sweat, perhaps but let's not ask for him to destroy himself for our bloodlust.

"Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing," Vince Lombardi said.

The city, the country, wants a champion. This is fine, but learn to temper your expectations. Baseball seasons are long and nothing is lost after one month. The St. Louis Cardinals overcame a huge deficit in 2011 to sneak into the playoffs on the final day of the season. That team won the World Series. It shocked everyone, Cardinals fans included.

Fans want immediate results. Well, that doesn't always happen. There is a chance that this isn't the beginning of a dynasty as many soothsayers predicted. It may, however, evolve into a successful season the longer we press into it.

When the 2013 NHL season began, albeit after the delay of the strike, no one believed the Montreal Canadiens would be a playoff contender. The team's hot start and continued success brought its following out of its slumber as people started to believe. Fans on a message board I frequent were saying things like "I don't even care how this season ends, it's been a success."

That's what expectations can do. The Habs have stumbled down the stretch and any fan who has followed this team through the year can attest to the fact that it's been a remarkable ride. While an early bounce in the postseason will certainly be disappointed, it won't necessarily be a crippling blow.

With every loss the Blue Jays take, the fans are running to the hills to profess how much of a disgrace the team is. Get off your high horses and cheer your damn team through the bad times like you would during the good. That's what you sign up for as a fan, whether you like it or not. Have a chat with a Cubs fan about disappointment. That will put your pain into perspective.

Would you chastise your child's sport's team for its losses? Maybe you would, but then maybe you should take a hard look in the mirror. No, the players on the Jays are not personally known to the fans but the beauty and the beast of it all lies in the emotional connection we form with these players.

Will the Jays win the World Series? It's far too early to tell. It is clear that the team is not going to be the indestructible behemoth as it was advertised. There is time for everything to balance out. Reyes' injury hurts and only exacerbates the holes in the lineup that were glossed over in favour of focusing on hype. 

Wait it out and enjoy the game of baseball, even if things don't always turn out in your team's favour.

AQ REDUX: The boys of $ummer

<-- Me enjoying a Fenway Frank

Baseball is a huge part of my life. The following column was first published in the Aquinian in September 2007. I was supposed to write a pop culture column for the arts section but this is what my brain churned out. So instead of picking up where I left off, a sports wrench was thrown into the spokes of my arts column.

It had to be this way, it was in my head and it needed to be put on paper. So I did what anyone would do...I wrote it at work. My history of finding ways to kill time while working at a call center would fill a book -- a mostly uninteresting book, but a book nonetheless. That summer I had ordered MLB.TV, which allows you to watch every out of market baseball game live on the internet.

The call center scheduled me for a series of 5pm to 2am shifts. Around 10, all the authority figures left the asylum to the inmates. Probably because anyone of importance wouldn't agree to work such insane hours, but us mere peons grateful for their generosity of employment had no choice.

Being a nightowl as is, it wasn't a big deal to me especially since I had a corner cubicle where I could twist my monitor to face the wall. Facebook was blocked by the server but mlb.tv wasn't. So my late night shifts consisted of watching west coast teams like Oakland, LA, San Francisco, etc. Other than that I usually read at my desk once I realized I wasn't going to stay much longer. As long as the job was done -- and done right -- then what's the big deal?

Call centers and most menial jobs put the fear into the employees mostly because they'll hire anyone and anyone they hire is completely expendable. It's much more stressful an atmosphere than playing baseball for a living. Sure, the media scrutiny is insane but so is the payroll. So the amount you get paid should be somewhat relative to the interest the media pays to you, I guess. However, if the media didn't care about baseball, or sports in general, would the players make less? It's spiraled so far out of control now that my column probably seems a bit dated... judge for yourself.


The boys of $ummer
by Jason Wilson





















The crack of the bat; the pop of the mit; the smell of the grass blades kicked up in the air. The elements of baseball fill me with self-awareness and the uncanny realization it is summer.

Since I was young this game has represented a peace of mind that drifts to the outer reaches of consciousness for most of the year. Watching Joe Carter hit that fabled home run for the Toronto Blue Jays in the 1993 World Series -- TOUCH EM ALL JOE! -- remains one of the most pleasant memories of my childhood. Baseball represents more than a simple sport or a game. It represents joy, purity and innocence...or at least it used to.

"If you build it, he will come". Ray Kinsella heard these words whisper through the wind to his ear while walking through his corn field on his Iowa farm. An image of a baseball diamond appeared in the middle of the field. While Kinsella didn't know why, or who exactly was speaking, he needed to build it, he needed to follow the voice's advice.

When the field was built, the "ghost" of "Shoeless" Joe Jackson appeared in the field and was soon followed by others from baseball's yesteryear. Most notably along with Jackson were the other eight members from the 1919 Chicago Black Sox banned for life for cheating.

This is fantasy. Field of Dreams is not a testament of reality, but of what baseball has meant to North Americans for over a century. "Shoeless" Joe tells Kinsella when he first appears that he would have "played the game for food money" and even "for free" after hitting a few more balls for the first time since being banned for life. How many of today's (living) sports stars would do the same?

Somewhere along the line power and greed took hold of the sports world. Owners care more about winning than what the total is in their bank accounts. Most owners have come to the point where money is no object so they can afford the best players at whatever the cost. Free agency has put the ball in the players and agents courts to demand wages and the owners giddily pay whatever price is asked if they think a championship will soon follow.

More and more, players will hold out to demand better pay. It's painful to watch superstars like Alex Rodriguez play the game like it's a job. Yes he is getting paid the big bucks, but there is no joy in him on the field; he is all business. When Ken Griffey debuted with the Seattle Mariners in the late 80s, he was a kid and played with the verve of a boy his age. His smile represented everything baseball should. Since signing with Cincinnati (and a trade in 08 to the White Sox) before the 2000 season, his smile has faded as injuries have plagued him. The disappearance of joy is accompanied by the tainted purity of America's National pastime.

Steroids and big contracts have damaged the connection between the game and the die-hard fans. Sure, Barry Bonds has never tested positive for steroids, but his career is one of the most sscrutinized in the "steroid era" by those in the media and fans alike. Bonds breaking the home run record in 2007 should have been dramatic and celebrated. Instead it will forever be thought of hand in hand with speculation. Many label Bonds a cheater, having tainted a once-pure game -- I think Roger Clemens has done more to damage the game. Watching the allegations pile up, and the controversies mount, the innocence is gone.

There is no salary cap in baseball and there never will be. The player's association wouldn't allow it. They stand to make a killing, and why not? They retort that they travel so much and are away from their families over half the year and deserve those contracts. They have been consumed by their own celebrity and the fans and media are partially to blame along with the bottomless walleted owners. Would anyone in Major League Baseball play just to get by? The fun is lost. I love baseball, it means more to me than a sport should and yet it will potentially carry a cloud of corruption for all time.

Cue to four years ago. My dad and I sitting in the front row on the right field foul line in Fenway Park. A Fenway Frank in one hand and a beer in the other, sitting with my dad at Fenway experiencing my first Major League baseball game. A Canadian kid falling in love again with America's game seems almost blasphemous but to me it was joyful, pure and innocent. Hearing the crack of the bat, the pop of the mit and smelling the freshly cut grass brought back the magic of the game that to me at least represents the character of us.

Baseball, along with everything else now, is under a constant microscope calle the public eye. Sometimes we see beyond the looking glass into the harsh reality proving we are all human, even the baseball players we as children idolized. Even with this harsh reality it is comforting to know it can all disappear for an afternoon sitting in the stands chowing down on overpriced food and warm beer cherishing the game that has not changed much on the field in a hundred years.

On rare occasions, the magic is still there.

Philadelphia sports fans are the equivalent of a crap salad

One of my favourite sports sites is deadspin.com. I have its blog roll at the bottom of my page here, but I feel the need of promoting this story they ran yesterday.

The Angryville Chronicles is a compilation of stories from Deadspin readers discussing various encounters with Philadelphia sports fans over the years. Some of it is disgusting, some vile, some offensive...well mostly all of those things. But it's also hilarious in the "thank God it didn't happen to me" kind of way.

It makes me understand what my friend Kris was saying when he said he can't get excited for the World Series this year. He hates the Phillies with every fibre of his being. While I don't get his loathing for Jimmy Rollins or Pat Burrell, the Philadelphia fans by and large have a history of ass-holish behaviour.

Tampa Bay is a horse of a different colour. The Rays have no fans, or at least very few. It doesn't matter that game one sold out in 61 minutes. Of course it sold out! It's the World Series. Now if the Rays have more fans than their visiting opponents regularly in the regular season, they are a legitimate fanbase. The team deserves its spot in the World Series, the fans do not.

That stadium was a ghost town all year and with the team's depressing history, who can blame the fans for staying away. At least in the beginning. But as the season wore on, no one showed. Similarly, the Florida Marlins have won two championships and still can't find a consistent crows at its games. For some damn reason, baseball doesn't thrive in Florida.

Game one was a decent affair, but I'll admit I watched more of the movie Trading Places with Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy in their prime. I've seen it before and yet I was more involved with that movie than the first game of the World Series. It's a shame, because I was amped for it beforehand, but then I got easily distracted as Scott Kazmir pitched sloppily and the Rays bats couldn't generate much of anything. Watching Dan Aykroyd go from a snooty millionaire to a degenerate drunken Santa Claus waving a gun was much more entertaining.

What will be most disappointing is if this series goes out with a whimper. A four-game sweep that everyone forgets and writes off. I'm a Cardinals fan but even I can agree the series where St. Louis defeated the Tigers in five games was a dull series. It could be the championship series games for each league will be more interesting than the World Series...which has been the case the last few years.