Without re-hashing too much the horrible season that was, here’s my Top 3 lists concering the 2009 Blue Jays (and before you ask why not five – I thought, for this bunch, five items in a list was really reaching):

Top 3 Games I Saw (in no order):

• May 12 – Blue Jays 5, Yankees 1 (attendance – 43,737): One of the most energized and pent-up crowds I’ve ever been witness to at a sporting event. With good reason; it was Allan James Burnett’s first start at the Rogers Centre since he opted out of his Blue Jays contract and left for the lucre of the Bronx. Many Toronto sports fans – baseball or not – considered this exodus a betrayal of the most personal order. Never mind the fact that Burnett finally figured out how to be a very good pitcher after his first two seasons in Toronto garb were plagued by injury and inconsistency. So it came to pass that the baseball gods would line up Burnett against good friend, former mentor, and Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay. The game was a hot ticket, as the walk-up to buy tickets for this game was huge – the lineup to get in from Gate 14 stretched all the way to Front St. from Blue Jays Way. I sat in the 200 level, left field corner (not my usual Toronto Star seats – I had shelled out the gelt because of the matchup, and a few of the boys went with me, including Yves, a Yankees fan), just behind the fair pole. The home side booed Burnett with every chance they got, and the place erupted when the Blue Jays scored three times in the fourth inning. The jeers for Burnett exceeded the vitriol saved for another popular target – Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez. The loudest noise for Burnett was saved for his departure in the eighth inning, after giving up a long home run to Blue Jays second baseman Aaron Hill. All in all, a great day for the home side – I would hold game this up as Exhibit A if one opines that Toronto’s an apathetic baseball town.
• May 29 – Blue Jays 6, Red Sox 3 (attendance – 32,026): This was the Blue Jays’ first home game back after a nine-game, ten-day road trip that saw them lose every contest and their first-place lead in the division. So to say that the team was looking for a little home cooking was an understatement. A nice coincedence that night – the game took place on my birthday, which was spent at Sightlines Restaurant with the boys, including Movie Mike (an unabashed, freshly indoctrinated member of Red Sox Nation). In addition to the open buffet which included Alberta prime rib and garlic mash, I got an Alex Rios bobblehead (I had missed out on the giveaway earlier that year, and I was offered a Lyle Overbay bobble, which I declined) courtesy of the Sightlines staff. The Red Sox may have been finished after a five-run fifth inning, but my belly was full after the fourth. As for the game itself, the winless streak was snapped thanks to the return of Jays pitcher Casey Janssen, his first home appearance in almost two years. Janssen weaved in and out of trouble, allowing baserunners in every inning he pitched but came away relatively unscathed. The solid outing resulted in his first win after injury had wiped out his 2008 season. Don’t call it a comeback…
• May 18 – Blue Jays 3, White Sox 2 (attendance 24,206): This Victoria Day matchup was the peak of the 2009 season. The win capped a four-game sweep of the South Side visitors and was a great way to spend the holiday Monday. Too bad the Rogers Centre was closed. Lefty reliever Jesse Carlson provided a harbinger of things to come (in his sophmore year as a Blue Jay) by allowing the Pale Hose to tie it up at 2-2 heading into the eighth inning. This set up some late-inning heroics in the form of slugging right fielder Alex Rios. In probably his last clutch performance in Toronto, Rios laced a two-out triple to drive in the go-ahead run. After the final out was recorded, the PA announcer proudly boasted of the team’s success in the AL East and its 3 1/2 game lead on second-place Boston. Way to jinx a season, guys.

Top 3 Worst Games I Saw (in no order):

• July 25 – Rays 10, Blue Jays 9 (attendance – 26,527): Even though my ticket says 500 level, I occasionally move down to the 100 level and take in the game from a more aesthetically pleasing view. More often than naught, I don’t get caught (and I won’t reveal my methods here). Suffice it to say, I’m thinking now that every time I do this, I anger the baseball gods, which results in a wacky game for my team. And this game was one of them strange but true bits, as the Jays blew leads of 8-0 and 9-1 to lose a game they had every right to win. The bullpen imploded, allowing five runners to score in the last three innings of regulation. The guilty culprit was injury-prone lefty Scott Downs, who looked like recently released contemporary B.J. Ryan in giving up two home runs to tie the game in the ninth inning. After that, I knew the home side was done, and the loss inevitable; unfortunately, to prolong the agony, it didn’t take place for another three innings. The Rays pushed a run across with some patience and clutch hitting in the 12th inning. In the latter half, the Jays had the former but not the latter, as they walked the bases loaded with one out, but failed to score. I hate to put it on slugging second baseman Hill – who had a career game by whacking two home runs – but when he took a called strike for the second out of the 12th inning, I groaned loudly. To make matters worse, as the win was clinched for Tampa Bay, I was sitting next to a bunch of loud Rays fans who gushed about their team’s grit and perseverance. Sigh. (Note: I still skulk to the 100 level, but I try not to sit there lest I anger the baseball gods again.)
• August 7 – Orioles 7, Blue Jays 5 (attendance 30,795): Flashback Fridays are nice but sometimes annoying – does anyone really remember Balor Moore? – but this certain Friday took precedence. This was the Friday to honor the back-to-back World Series Champions of 1992 and 1993, as organized by the players themselves. I have to admit, the timing is kind of odd, considering the team presently is not even close to sniffing distance of the postseason. The pomp and ceremony surrounding this event would masquerade another lousy season since the salad days of the early 1990s. These events, though, do bring in the crowds and the problems those present. And sure enough, the lineups were long to get in thanks to pre-game autograph sessions (of which I did not get any, thank you Rogers Centre staff). You would think the team on the field would be pumped, wearing the home duds of those championship squads and seeing their predecessors and the trophies that were won on that very same field. Unfortunately, after five innings, the party went splat. Rookie Ricky Romero pitched five splendid innings – four of them hitless – but surrendered a 3-0 lead when the O’s scored four in the sixth frame. The bullpen, a strength in those championship runs, was a bane for the remainder of the game, allowing the Orioles to pad their lead to 7-3 and making the celebration anti-climatic. To make things worse, word spread that night it was to be Alex Rios’ last appearance in a Toronto uniform this series; his contract along with his underachieving play had been claimed by the Chicago White Sox. And I didn’t get any autographs on my World Series memorabilia…
• July 23 – Indians 5, Blue Jays 4 (attendance – 32,061): There are losses, and then there are losses to teams that should be beaten like they stole something. This year’s edition of the Cleveland Indians are a team that reflect the latter. But somehow, the 2009 Blue Jays have a way of genuflecting to the opposition and letting them steal a game they have no right in winning. Especially moreso in the last two-thirds of the season. This loss was more galling since the lowly Indians were on the verge of trading their two best and best-paid players in the form of perennial All-Star catcher Victor Martinez and defending AL Cy Young (most outstanding pitcher) winner Cliff Lee. The game was a nice weekday afternoon start, something I cherish since I work late and never get to see a full game in its entirety; that day I stayed from start to finish. I was spewing out curses and epithets by the end of said game, saving my venom for Jays first baseman Lyle Overbay, who struck out LOOKING to end the game with the tying run on third. Hey Lyle – Rogers pays you to swing the bat and drive the run in, not to try and pad your freakin’ on-base percentage. What’s more appaling is that while the Jays had seven of their eight hits go for extra bases (five doubles and a home run), they fell one run short of an Indians team whose lone extra bse hit counted – a two-run triple by Indians rightfilder Shin-Soo Choo (my favorite baseball name at the moment). Terrible, terrible game for the Jays.

Top 3 Single-Game Individual Jays Performances I Saw That Were Not By Roy Halladay (once again, in no order):

• April 6 – Adam Lind goes 4-for-5 with six RBI in a 12-5 win against the Detroit Tigers: Opening Day 2009 was Lind’s coming out party, and the beginning of a breakout season that culminated in him leading the Toronto ball club with 114 RBI. Now if they could only find a position for him…left field, first base or DH?
• June 26 – Ricky Romero tosses a two-hitter over seven innings, striking out seven Phillies in a 6-1 win against the defending World Series Champions from Philadelphia: In quite possibly his best start of the season, rookie Romero had a no-hitter for six innings before it was broken up by a clean line drive to right field by Phillies All-Star second baseman Chase Utley. Left-hander Romero showed impressive control by only walking two hitters. Could he be the ace when Doc departs? That night provided a best-case measure for that scenario.
• September 15 – Travis Snider hits two tape-measure home runs at the new Yankee Stadium en route to a 10-4 rout of the New York Yankees: Yes, I went to new Yankee Stadium, and to christen my trip, the Jays were the opposition. Nice coincedence, eh? I loved the new place, while wondering how the older place was, and Travis liked it even more. Snider homered in successive innings – the first to tie the game 2-2, and his second padded the Toronto lead to 5-2 – but as befits his inconsistent rookie season, he struck out in the only other at-bat I saw. Like my headline suggests, I only base it on the play I witness; I didn’t see the remainder of his final at-bats, where he struck out both times.

As per this last list…as sorry as 2009 was, the performances by this core three make the future look bright.  Next posting…I saw a lot of Doc’s starts at home this season, including a road start at new Yankee Stadium. I’ll list the best of the best. This may also double as a requiem to his Blue Jay career. Plus, my ALCS-World Series predictions.