Jays Brass: Too Soon To Panic About Power Failure
Posted May 2, 2008 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The fans are in a panic, many believe the season is already over, and some are demanding the axe drop on both the manager and general manager.
Welcome home, Toronto Blue Jays.
Back from a brutal 2-7 road trip that dropped them into the American League East basement, the local nine found themselves Friday trying soothe their out-of-patience supporters before opening a seven-game homestand against the Chicago White Sox.
Mobbed by reporters and cameras, team president Paul Godfrey was offering “a full vote of confidence for everyone on the field and everybody in the offices,” while also drawing on his political background to deftly deflect questions about the futures of both beleaguered skipper John Gibbons and GM J.P. Ricciardi.
“The decision is not being made today, I have to watch and see how the season progresses but I have to tell you, I’m not in any rush because there’s a lot of baseball to be played,” said Godfrey, who dodged questions on what would prompt him to make changes.
“We’ve played roughly one-sixth of the season and I think it’s unfair to the players on the team, it’s unfair to the management of the organization to try and make a judgment. To say, I’m drawing a line in the sand if you’re not at this level at this time, I think is unfair and puts undue pressure on them to do their jobs effectively.”
Of course, had the players been doing their jobs more effectively such questions wouldn’t need to be asked. But to be fair, the nervous nellies around the team are in dire need of some perspective.
The Blue Jays headed into Friday’s play on a dismal 4-11 slide, largely because they’ve hit just .116 (14-for-121) with runners in scoring position. With three of those losses coming by one run and four more by two runs, the missed chances to score have really hurt.
Fortunately for them, no one else in the AL East is playing especially well right now either, and the Blue Jays were just 4 1-2 games out of first place when the day began. Fans writing off the team’s chances — and there were no shortage of them on talk radio — need to remember that there are five months left and such swoons are typical for most clubs.
“It’s not like we’re 30 games out of first place, it’s not like we don’t have a chance to be in the playoffs,” said Ricciardi. “You can’t (assess a month) with a sense of urgency because if we were 17-12, we wouldn’t start printing playoff tickets.
“In the course of a season, unless you run away like the ’84 Tigers or the (’05) White Sox, you’re going to have a bad month in there somewhere. History will tell you that. Hopefully ours is behind us.”
Much of the belief that things will get better among the Blue Jays is rooted in their pitching staff, which has been terrific so far this season. Despite arriving back in Toronto with a 12-17 record, the Blue Jays had still scored more runs (119) than they had allowed this season (112).
A few timely hits and they very easily could have been 7-2 on their road trip instead of the other way around.
“We’re overdue,” Gibbons said of his offence. “That’s just the way it is, we’re not going to continue in that drought. The law of averages is on our side.”
In the clubhouse, frustration over the close losses was leading to determination rather than resignation. Vernon Wells, batting just .250 (9-for-36) with RISP, was one of several players to take extra batting practice, joking that, “I’m going to go learn how to hit again.”
Third baseman Scott Rolen, activated off the DL during the trip and one of the few hitters doing some damage lately, believes there’s little reason to get too stressed out about things.
“If you keep perspective then you’re under the realization that it is a long season,” he said. “If you run into a stretch like this in July, I’m not sure it’s as dramatized as this.”
Still, second baseman Aaron Hill said the offence understands they have to start carrying more of the load and stop squandering all the strong efforts from the pitching staff.
“That’s what’s frustrating for us, because we know we’re a better ball club and these guys are going out there doing what they’re supposed to be doing and we’re not,” he said. “They’ve picked us up so many times, we’ve got to return the favour.”
Left-fielder Shannon Stewart believes the Blue Jays should take heart that they’ve played some of their worst baseball and remain within striking distance of first place. Patience is key.
“This is the only game where you have to kind of let things take their course because a lot of freaky things happen in baseball and there’s so many games,” he said. “If you beat yourself up and get down on yourself, you make things worse than it’s going to be. …
“What makes it frustrating is some of these games in April could be a determining factor if we go to the playoffs. The thing is you can’t really worry about what’s happened, just worry about today.”
Godfrey was adamant about giving his team time to make that happen, adding that there was no pressure from his superiors at Rogers Communication Inc., or team owner Ted Rogers to make a move.
“Not that I know of,” said Godfrey. “I haven’t spoken to him about anything about this.”
The players hope to keep things that way.
“A manager can only put a team out there, he can’t play for us,” said Stewart. “It is what it is, that’s the tough thing about sports, somebody has to take the blame. He’s putting the team in the best situation he can to win, that’s all you can do.
“You can’t ask more than that.”
