Forgotten Fan Favourites Vol #6: John Cerutti

Or..The Potential Untapped....

I wanted to talk about or jog some memories on John for some time and I'm kinda doing this on the fly so bear with me...

Forgotten Fan Favourites Vol #5: Ernie Whitt

Or...ERNIE! ERNIE! ERNIE!

Da man...Looking Badass

And on the move...Giddyup!

Leo Ernest Whitt....Some of you may laugh...some of you may not ...but in my mind if there is a franchise all-time catcher ..it's Ernie.

Ok...I'll tell you why I think this once the laughing dies down....I'll just go get a beer....or six.....

Forgotten Fan Favorites Vol. #4: Otto Velez

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.

#TBT - Barry Bonnell

Bonnell came over to the Jays in the Chris Chambliss trade in 1980 I mentioned last week. He was here for four years, the high point of his career. As a Jay, he put up a 3.4 WAR, slashing .281/.331/.416. (You can see his complete stats here.) He played all three outfield positions as well as third base.

Forgotten Fan Favorites Vol. #3: Ricky Romero

"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!

#TBT - Pete Vuckovich

He was an original Blue Jay. He wasn't here long. He recorded the first Jays shutout. He recorded the first Jays save.

Surviving September Baseball: The Conclusion (More Lies)

Part 4:

Quest For The Holy Grail.. OR.. Jane And Ted's Not So Excellent Adventure (False Advertising)

Summing Up Our Playoff History To This Point

Surviving September Baseball Part 3

Part 3:

Running Up That Hill ( A Deal FROM God....Sorry Kate) OR Flops Lead To Swaps And Make Us Tops....

 She's Crazy....Crazy Hot

 Searching For That Elusive Pennant

Surviving September Baseball Part 2

Part Two: 

Grate Expectations OR Stieb's A Lemon And I Want My Martinez Back...(No Apologies To Meatloaf)

 

Robin Always Was A Whiner

Surviving September Baseball

Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Dosh

 

(With profuse apologies to Stanley Kubrick)

Everyone's Seen This Movie Right?

Part One : Turning The Corner....

Forgotten Fan Favourites Vol #2: Jim Clancy

 1985 Donruss Card....No Mustache !

Yes... Jim Clancy...or Big Jim....or Diamond Jim...or as I've seen listed James Petrosky ..whichever...it's a moot point.

The man could pitch.

Forgotten Fan Favorites Vol. #1: Candy Maldonado

Candy Maldonado, circa 1992

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!

#TBT John Mayberry

I loved Mayberry while he was a Jay. He was on the downswing by then but he was the first legitimate power hitter the team had. It was fun watching his towering shots leave Exhibition Stadium. He was a great player for a kid to see.

#TBT - Steve Grilli

With the trade of Jason Grilli, much is being made of the fact that his dad had been a Jay. So who was this guy?

He was drafted by the Tigers in 1970 out of Gannon University. As far as I can tell, he's the only player ever drafted from there. Working his way through the system, he made his major league debut in 1975 as a September call up and stayed in the bullpen the next couple of years, making 36 appearance in 1976 and 30 in 1977.

At the end of that season his contract was sold to the Jays. He spent the next 2 years in Syracuse, getting a September call up in 1979, He pitched in one game, 2 1/3 scoreless innings in relief. That was the last time he saw the majors.

He went back to Syracuse in 1980 and was released by the club at the end of a horrific 1981 spring training. The O's bought his contract and sent him to Rochester. While there, he pitched in the longest game ever, coming in the 33rd inning. He faced 3 batters, got none out, and then gave up the game winning hit. This got his baseball cap into the Hall of Fame. He retired at the end of the season.

This article is a thorough summary of his playing career. BRef's page is here.

The best story I could find from his playing days was when he was with the Chiefs. In 1979, while pitching for the Chiefs, he would do an air banjo routine to a Doobie Brothers song during the seventh-inning stretch. Sadly I wasn't able to find out which one.

In 2010, he was featured in a book called A Bitter Cup of Coffee: How MLB and The Players Association Threw 874 Retirees a Curve by Douglas J. Gladstone. The book outlines how a bunch of players got shafted when the pension rules changed in 1980. This article talks about the book.

These days he runs a bar in Syracuse, The Change of Pace. Rumour has it they have the best wings in town. As they say, the Anchor Bar created them, The Change of Pace perfected them.

He also is the colour analyst for the Chiefs' tv broadcast. He moved into the radio booth upon retirement because everyone loved his personality and at some point transitioned to tv. Time Warner broadcasts 24 games a season. I bet he doesn't talk about how big and strooooong a player is.

Which brings me back to his son. A month ago he did a radio interview in which he talked about Jason and pitching injuries in general. You can listen here. And a fun fact -  they were the first American father-son duo to both save games in the majors.

Assuming this is Jason with his dad. I know you'll all love the facial hair.

You always remember your first crush - JJ Cannon

This one's for my brother who, as a wee lad, fell in love with JJ Cannon. We all started calling him JJ (my aunt still does) which then shortened to J, which we all still use today.

So who was this guy?

Gone too soon: John Cerutti

I'm writing this having spent the day at a friend's memorial. While preparing to go I was reminded of someone else who passed too soon - John Cerutti.

The original hot dog

I was a kid when the Jays came to Toronto. I remember the names Roy Howell, Dave McKay, Doug Ault, Bob Bailor, and Pete Vuckovich but the first player that I can see in my mind is Rick Bossetti.

He was the perfect player for a kid. In 1979, he played all 162 games for the Blue Jays, hitting .260/.286/.362 (complete stats here) and leading all AL outfielders in putouts, assists, and errors.

He wasn't the greatest player but he played hard, was flashy and a prankster. He grabbed the imagination of the fans, who called him Hot Dog. What I didn't know as a kid was his habit of watering the field. During the game. Or that he hated clothes (something I can totally relate to.)

Anxiety

After opening the Grapefruit League season playing against his old team, JP Arencibia opened up to the Philly press about his struggles with anxiety while he was a Blue Jay. Big League Stew wrote about it the next day, where author Mark Townsend disclosed his own battle with anxiety. JP then went on the Blundell show (of all shows, why?) and talked in more detail, which then sparked this article on Sportsnet.

It's hard to let go

I've spent a bunch of time on Purple Row since the Tulo trade. Remembering what it was like when Doc left, I've been fascinated in watching their mourning process.

For an ex-player, they've written about him a lot. During the playoffs they were (mostly) rooting for us while commenting how happy Tulo looked. And when Tulo did a couple of interviews with Ken Rosenthal and Bob Nightengale at the beginning of spring training it sparked a few more:

Troy Tulowitzki says Rockies spring training more like 'a country club'
Is this a Troy Tulowitzki quote or Taylor Swift breakup lyric?
Troy Tulowitzki's cognitive dissonance, Rockies' broken promises make everyone miserable

I highly recommend reading all the articles and comments, but the last piece is the most interesting one. Matt Gross, the author, has been the most visibly heartbroken Tulo fan at Purple Row. The article is definitely worth a read but what really caught me was something he said in the comments: