The Perfect Storm of Baseball Fandom

I think I've mentioned before that I started a new job not too long ago, and I've been experiencing a great amount of fatigue lately.  A friend suggested that I'm in the "Jet-Lag" period of the job.  I doubt it, but I'll go with it for the time being, because that explains why I haven't posted much in the blog as of late.  Your girl is TIRED.

And for the series that the Braves just concluded with the Blue Jays, which I had been looking forward to ALL YEAR (pretty much as soon as they announced the schedule, I put a countdown on my blog), I had planned a series of "essays" to write to kick off the whole thing.  I even made notes!  Talking about Adam Lind, Joey Bats and his Bautista Bombs, my precious Yunel Escobar, Magic Man Johnny Mac--Prime Minister of Defence, Aaron Hill (because even if YOU don't love him, I DO), Rzep, Jon Rauch, etc.  I had lists!  Links!  Photo examples!

... But the series is over.  And I'm still going to talk about those things, but less in an "introductory" sense, and more of an "And in conclusion, the Blue Jays are still rad even though they were swept by the Braves."  After I finish editing my 3000+ pictures.  Sigh.

Hat tip to one of my first readers, Parker (Blue Jays fan represent!!), for naming this post for me.  Thanks!!  You're awesome.

And yes, Braves readers, I still love the Braves.  Obviously.  And no, I won't take any of your shit for not rooting for the Braves completely during this series.  Because I don't care what your opinion is on that subject.  I love who I love, and that's that.  (Thanks to Lauren T. and Eric for both reassuring me that my guilt is unfounded and silly.  Also, once again, thanks to Parker for straight up telling me to root for the Jays.  ;)

Right.  So I obviously don't have my gazillion photos edited yet.  But I have a few pictures of "loot."  Wanna see?  Sure you do!

Firstly, I took this photo:

Yunel Escobar, BAMF. 6/20/11

This is clearly the best photo I've ever snapped of Yunel Escobar... or of anybody, really.  And I cannot believe I got that shot, that I caught him in midair, with that shadow, about to fire the ball, smirking.  Me!  

Lauren T. was kind enough to print a copy for me so that I could get it signed.  But I'm useless when it comes to stuff like this sometimes.  I can't yell, I am too flummoxed and shy.  But uh, when I get to sit front row next to the visiting dugout on the last day they're in town?  Girl is on a mission.  And that mission is to find an excuse to say hi to my other favorite favourites (that wasn't a typo).

Thus, fueled by my new-found courage-of-sorts, and with the rather quiet Lauren O. egging me on (instigator Lauren T. wasn't present, sad), I went to go grin like an idiot at my Northerly boys, Eddie-ball and Sharpie in hand.  (Aside:  I love Eddie Perez for giving me this ball.  All of them.  And that Sharpie, y'all.  It has gotten AROUND.)  The fact that I managed to speak at all (while sweat is pouring from all of my pores--not at all attractive, but what can you do?  It's 1 PM in Georgia) was amazing.  I'm a generally shy person, so I have a hard time talking unless someone else starts the conversation.  Otherwise, I go into Waitress Mode, which I've mentioned before... somewhere.  So here I am, near my other favorite team, and I'm wordless.  Gross.  

The first Blue Jay that I saw was Marc Rzepczynski.  I felt like a total tool, y'all.  Some other guys asked him how to say his name, and he pronounced it for them, and I felt proud of myself that I already knew it.  Then I kind of sidled over, much to L.O.'s amusement, and asked him to sign my ball.  "Of course!" says he.  I gushed a thank you, and he looked me in the eyes with a smile and said, "No problem" before he walked away.  HAPPY.  And instantly regretted not asking for a picture.  He's adorbz.

Brandon Morrow and Zach Stewart made their way over after they warmed up a bit, and I managed to very normally ask if they would sign my ball, and take a picture with me (my wits were more about me this time around, you see).  ZS was WAY nice about it and his eyes are very pretty.  And Brandon Morrow?  Can you say gorgeous?  Yes.  I felt like a TOOL.  And my pic with him is ugly.  As in I'm gross, and he's beautiful.  SIGH.  (PS--L.O., I'm not saying anything about your photographing abilities... I'm mostly concerned with my crazed expressions and general sweatiness and bad posture and all-around awkward limbs... sigh.  Why can't I just pose normally??)

Curly (and New) Zach Stewart!

How to be Awkward in a Photo with Brandon Morrow
Example 1

PS- Lauren T.:  THIS is what "GET OFF" actually looks like.  Your supposed "get off" picture is pretty much the opposite.  Ugh.  I look like I'm trying to push him off.  I wasn't.  :P

AND THEN.  JOSE.  FREAKIN'.  BAUTISTA.

He was SWARMED y'all.  My new friend Neil (from Kitchener, ON) and I were the only ones wearing Jays gear.  Oh, yes.  I broke out my Jays hat for this game, that's right.  I was not messin' around.  So, Joey Bats was trying to sign a kid's ball, and the pen didn't work, so I gave him my Sharpie to use.  He signed my ball after that.  And I told him he was amazing, and he smiled and said, "Thank you."  I never said I was a conversationalist, y'all.  I got out of the way, so that other people could get their stuff signed, and then everybody left, and he had a really long conversation in Spanish with someone... and then I asked if I could get a pic with him, and he was like, "I can't..." when he saw how many people started coming back.  "I've gotta go back down, I'm sorry."  And he smiled apologetically.

In-Depth conversation here.

At this point, Lauren said how attractive Joey Bats is.  :)

Later, a couple Jays started slowly coming back up into the dugout (AaronHill and Mike McCoy).  Some guy started shouting at Mike McCoy and then these little boys showed up, calling for AaronHill.  ("Mr. Hill!!  Mr. Hill!  Mr. Hillllll!!!!")  So I popped up and went to get my ball signed too.  I mean, really.  He was RIGHT there.  I told him that he's great, and that I hoped the Jays won.  (SO creative, I know.  Shoot me.)  Then the kid behind me asked if he (AaronHill) like his (the kid's) hair.  AaronHill looked confused for a sec until the boy's mom turned him around; the kid had gotten a #2 buzzed into the back of his head!  AH cracked a smiled at that, and then laughed.  "That's great!" he said.

Note:  I am the only adult here.  /groan.

So, check it out!!  My Blue Jays autographs on my Eddie-ball!

Brandon Morrow (#23)

Marc Rzepczynski #34
Zach Stewart #56
JOSE BAUTISTA #19

Aside:  Look at how considerate they were to keep all their signatures all lined up!  (Even though there was SO much space.  Morrow (above) and Hill (below) totally found white space to sign.  (I didn't include Rzep, because he signed first.)

Aaron Hill #2

AND THEN!  Yunel came out of the dugout (with the starting lineup) to do pre-game warmups.  L.O. is quiet.  And more shy than me.  And I told her I'd yell at Yunel for her.  So as soon as he ran out, I yelled, "Yunel!!"  He looked back, saw Lauren (waving her Escobar #19 Braves jersey) and me, smiled, and motioned "later."  

Sure enough, he came back and signed my pretty picture and Lauren's jersey.  And grinned at us both.  I could just die!!!

Of course, because of this, I missed JoJo and JP Arencibia coming in from the bullpen and back to the dugout.  And I missed Adam Lind.  And Johnny Mac.  But... you know what?  That's ok.  Because Yunel Escobar signed my picture of him!  :D  Lauren and I, btw, were both stunned by how massive Yunel is (even though we knew), but you know, then he's right there, looking at you in your face... and you are simply struck.  He's a big dude!  And we failed to do the following:  1) ask for pictures, DUH.  Giant gorgeous man, standing mere inches from us, and we don't ask for pictures?  Ugh.  Just shoot me.  Seriously.  And 2) forgot to tell him to whistle during Chipper's at-bats to annoy him.  :D

YUNEL ESCOBAR #5

Look how big and loopy his autograph is!  LOVE.

OK.  Here are some teaser pics from Game 3 of the Braves/Blue Jays series:  

Nate McLouth + Jose Bautista converse in Spanish.  AWESOME.

More to come soon.  No procrastinating on these, for sure!

Blue Jaysin' It Up

I love Toronto.  It's the city where my cousins grew up, the city with the awesome Chinese food, in the land of maple syrup and poutine.  I pretty much love everything about Toronto, and no, not even the winters would make me think twice about moving there, if given the chance.  I mean, seriously.  The Chinese food alone is incentive enough.  Also, I love Canadian accents and cool Canadian currency... and Canadian boys.  Mmm... Canadian boys... with their accents... and access to excellent Chinese food... and legitimate cold weather... *swoon*

I meant, I love Atlanta!  (You can't call me a traitor, I DO love Atlanta.  But Toronto = VACATION NO WORK SLEEP EAT DRINK BE MERRY DREAMY MEN CITY, and Atlanta = Where the Players Play.  And I'm pretty tired of the players playin', ya know what I'm sayin'?)

So as I mentioned before, I was planning on going to a Jays game while in Toronto, though, I'm pretty sure nobody in my family wanted to go at all... I'm the baseball fan in the family.  *shrug*  Sorry, guys?

Besides!  It was my first Blue Jays game since June 22, 2004.  And in 2004, I saw the Jays play Tampa Bay, as well.  (yes, I cheated, and looked up the box score.  I wasn't as into the Jays then as I am now.)  BUT I did remember that Fred McGriff was the DH in that game (for the Devil Rays), and I also remember that the SkyDome was still the SkyDome, and the roof was open.  I could see CN Tower.  :)  Also, Eric Hinske was still a Jay at that point, so I saw Hinske play in a Jays uniform 6 years ago.  :)  I also saw Jose Bautista play in a Rays uniform.

Jays fell to the Rays that day, 5 to 1.  But to be honest, nobody expected otherwise.  (I say this with all the love in the world for the Jays... but they were not very good.  Howie Clark, who now plays for the Twins, scored the only Jays run, I think.)

However, the Jays game that I attended six years later was different.  I could choose between a Tampa Bay game or a Boston game.  As much as I wanted to do both, it just wasn't possible because there were 7 of us cousins... And also, limited funds.  For some reason, we thought that the Sunday game (August 8, 2010) was going to be a Ricky Romero game... even though my phone disputed this.  But I figured that Ryan would know since he lives in Toronto, and follows the Jays a bit more than I do.  Nope.  It was Brandon Morrow.  The boys (not my brothers or cousins) seemed displeased.  I was a little bit disappointed, myself.  Ricky Romero is awesome.  But I had watched (on MLB.tv) Morrow pitch against the Orioles, and he got himself out of whatever trouble he got himself into, every time.  I was impressed, and that was enough for me.
Plus, he's cute.

Reuters Pictures

So of course, we get there late.  Look.  What can I say?  I'm the baseball fan, but I also like sleep.  Plus there were 7 of us... and 2 more meeting us at the game.  We got seats overlooking left field.  NICE view... but the the roof was closed because it was overcast.  I wish it had been open because it felt really still in there... like the air was dead.  (I like moving air... it's a thing.)  Also, no pictures of  CN Tower like this, so boo.

We were walking towards our seats when there was sudden cheering.  Want to know why?  Because Yunel Escobar (who Ryan likes to call my boyfriend) had scored a run in the bottom of the 1st, driven in on a single by Vernon Wells!  (Yay, Yunel! <3 <3 <3)  It was the only run that would be scored during the game.  The previous game was a 17-11 monstrosity (8 homers by the Jays, there), and the roof was open.  With the dead air and the offensive outburst the day before, the bats were relatively quiet.  

Meanwhile, Brandon Morrow had already had himself a 1-2-3 top of the 1st... 3 strikeouts, and that's including Evan Longoria.  Andrew then proceeded to explain to me that if a Jays pitcher has 7 Ks, then you could present your ticket at a Pizza Pizza (see Scott Pilgrim vs. The World) for a free slice.  

Yes, that ticket.  It's pretty.

Brandon Morrow had his 7th strikeout by the 4th inning.  He didn't stop there, though.  Jays fans should have been able to get two-and-a-half slices of pizza, because Brandon Morrow struck out 17 Rays.  That was not a typo.  SEVENTEEN.  One-Seven.  Against Tampa Bay.  The Toronto Blue Jays SWEPT the Tampa Bay Rays.  They won the series against the Yankees (in New York, no less!) coming into the Rays series.  How awesome was it that I got to catch this?  And I watched a BEAUTY of a game.  Pitchers' duels are boring for casual baseball fans or ... non-baseball fans.  But for people like me, it's super exciting.  (Or distressing, depending on which team you're rooting for...  Le sigh, Braves... le sigh.)

He had a no-hitter going up until the 9th inning, with 2 outs.  :(  And of course, it was Evan Longoria who broke it up.  And Aaron Hill looked absolutely distraught over not getting to that ball.  Honestly, though, I don't think he would have had a play.  Poor guy.  He clearly wanted very badly to help Morrow to that no-no.  BUT!  Brandon Morrow had his first 1-hitter, and his first complete game on August 8, 2010.  The only hit he gave up was a single by Evan Longoria.  There are really worse things, don't you think?  :)  The Jays players gave him a Gatorade shower and not one, but two shaving cream pies to the face after the game.  This video doesn't show the second pie, which involved Shaun Marcum hiding behind a lawncare vehicle and sneaking up and getting Morrow in the face after he'd already been doused and pied!  :)

Gatorade Shower! (AP)

Shaving Cream Pie #1 (Reuters)

Shaving Cream Pie #2, Courtesy of Shaun Marcum (Reuters)

Vernon Wells, I should mention, made a spectacular catch which I saw live... !  He's awesome.  

I'm sad that I didn't get to see any particular Yunel acrobatics or any Jo-Bau homers... but really, what could Yunel do?  Morrow had taken it upon himself to give everybody a nice relaxing day.  

OH!  And I saw Jose Molina steal a base.  Standing up.  IT WAS AWESOME.  I wish I had gotten a picture of it, but I'm not a very diligent photographer, in spite of my penchant to stick cameras in everybody's faces.  The Jays dugout was practically rolling around laughing when they saw what had happened.  Jose Molina stole a base, dude!  Get real! 

Another interesting thing (which I also failed to take a picture of):  the beers had lids on the cups.  There were LIDS on the cups of beer.  No beer spillage!  EXCELLENT.  :)

I'm still trying to get my pictures organized.  I have fuzzy iPhone photos, decent (and blurry) point-and-shoot photos, and disappointingly wobbly and blurry dSLR photos.  I promise that when I get those sorted out, I'll post them here!  I got a couple of decent Yunel shots (but he looks tiny in them).  And I got a couple shots of Jose Bautista, before he shaved off his beard.  Didn't get any of Aaron Hill or any non-blurry Brandon Morrow photos though... le sigh.