Otto Velez with Roberto and Sandy Alomar. Velez had played on the Santurce Crabbers (winter ball) with their dad.
This one was suggested by RADAR. You young 'uns may not have heard much about the first great DH in Jays history but he was a highlight of the Jays' early seasons. He was the very first Jay to be named AL player of the month (April 1977!) According to Batter's Box, that was the best month by a Jay ever, even better than Edwin.
"Jays starter Ricky Romero could not bring himself to hand the ball over to manager John Farrell after being pulled in the second inning on Wednesday (July 25, 2012) in Toronto."
There was a time not that many years ago when Ricky Romero represented the Toronto Blue Jays (along with Joey Bats) at an All-Star Game. It was 2011. He was having a career year. Sure, he was an injury replacement (for Jon Lester) and Larry King could not place him ("Who the hell are you?"); but he was an All-Star nonetheless and we all had high hopes for the young lefty from the mean streets of East L.A. He was named opening day starter in 2012 before the wheels started falling off..
LK to RR: "Who the hell are you?"
The short story long on Ricky Romero is that his knees blew out. Baseball doesn't always have fairytale endings. He did pitch 8 innings this year for the SF Giant's AAA affiliate in Sacramento. Not much press on him since April, however... He's only 31 years old, married a good Calgary girl who played soccer for our national team, and has earned 14.3MM USD over his short career. Don't feel too bad for him!
I'll save you some Googling : WAGS = Wives and GF's
I choose not to look back in anger. Who knows, he could be the comeback player of the year in 2017!
I'm a fan. One of my favorite "forgotten" Jays ever? As a kid I always loved "The Candyman".
Maybe it was hitting his 20th HR in the very last game of the 1992 season. Probably as a pre-teen in Sydney River, Cape Breton, I thought his nickname was pretty rad. I always thought he was a good defender. But what most likely cemented my inexplicable adoration for this Puerto Rican journeyman OF was this historic clutch hit, winning the first World Series game ever played in Canada:
He had a pretty solid year back in 1992, finishing 4th over in team OPS, ahead of Joe Carter! :
Candy ended up coming back for a cup of coffee with the Jays in 1995 (I do not remember that?), played in over 1400 MLB games, and is a member of the Caribbean and Puerto Rican Baseball Halls of Fame. A key depth piece in the outfield. Like a slower MUJ, who, you know, could hit a little.
I have no recollection of most Jays pre-1990. Ask MK or one of the Mods for the log in information (the Blogger editor is super user-friendly) and go ahead and write your own FFF! This is a community and the more contributors, the merrier. We all look forward to your contributions!
