I’m entirely uneasy with using the death of a fan– or sadly, I must say the latest death of a fan– as a jumping off point for some kind of rumination on coping with collective sorrow and what a terrible season it’s been for anyone that follows the Toronto Blue Jays, because very obviously all of that pales in comparison to what happened to Brian Ludwig outside a Calgary bar this week, and what it means for his family, after the 41-year-old father was killed in a fight that started, according to police, via the Calgary Herald, with an argument about the Jays’ pitching staff.
How absolutely senseless and horrifying and stupid.
And yet I think it’s worthwhile today, with this and other, less crucial yet still dispiriting news about the team crashing down around us, continuing what has been an awful few weeks, to deliberately make the connection to that brutal event, and to think about what kinds of powerful emotions this little distraction called sports can stir in us, if only to shake our heads in disbelief and remind ourselves for a second or two that, holy shit, it’s only a game.
Just when you think it couldn’t get any worse…
This is your Game Threat.
Fun/cathartic DJF post idea:
A list of the top 10 (or 20) shitty moments of the 2012 season.
RIP Brian Ludwig.
We may have passion.
But it’s only a game.
my main source of faith at this point? the last “wow, this is just shit all over, what did we do to deserve this” team was the Baltimore Orioles this off-season. <_< we're due. 96 wins in 2013.
as for the article, ugh. poor man. poor family. people who are willing to fight are always going to be able to find something to fight about – not being an asshole is a personal responsibility.
What’s a game threat?
something that happens on game day, excluding most weekend games.
EXCELLENT choice of photo. That pretty much captures it.
Ricky Romero pitches against the Yankees. Cover your eyes.
Yeah, your mom asked me to cover her eyes last night, too. A genetic or psychological problem in your family?
meh
Worst post ever.
Wow. You sure showed him.
It’s really time you stopped posting.
⇧ This is Ice Cream Jonsey again being a fucking pussy and using a fake name.
Mama jokes? What are we, Eleventeen?
Yankees just got Farrell’d.
I like that we’re eschewing records in the title now.
Wow. Condolences to the family of Mr. Ludwig. That’s just awful.
I don’t know why, but I think Ricky will pitch well tonight.
Hopefully the jays can come up with some lil ole loopers, mebbe a couple bloop’s then Cletus can do er up with a lil ol blast.
If only your grasp of the future was equal to your memories.
…a lil ol blooper-looper a blast a bloop a loop & a blast, that’s what we need right there.
HAHAHA I love this
Who is this guy? Not Ricky Romero, surely.
Change up looks good tonight…..small sample size
Where’s Dillon?? That son of a btich!!
?
Dillon!!! You son of a btich!!!! They got you pushing too many pencils????
Tabby says he understands the reasoning, the logic, but it’s dumb. He doesn’t refute it, he ignores it. It’s dumb.
I noticed that. TV went on mute soon after.
Is Girardi not aware of the reverse splits with Romero?
Hate that guy.
That was some nice McCoy.
For a guy who is the butt of so many jokes on DJF he’s playing very well.
Dat_range
If Yescobar wasn’t so nonchalant that ball would have left the park.
I agree
Of course he can’t help it, it’s the genes in his jeans. Sad, really.
That’s a triple for someone who plays the right way.
Swing 3-0, then nothing. Nice at bat there, Yorbert.
YT swings 3-0 at ball four,then watches not one but 2 cock shots down the middle.
That may be new favorite term.
He puts the non in chalant right there the way he gives 115, 116%.
I’m really getting tired of getting Nixed.
Buck tells me savvy veterans like Jayson Nix are why the Yankees are such winners.
it’d be good if Esco could lose a litlle non-chalant over to the Nix
Nice.
Hech!
Adeiny “The Park Factor” Hechavarria
We’ll take it!
What the deuce??
a blast, check
I wouldn’t mind if Hech started next year as our 2B. Jays just couldn’t carry his bat and Gose’s at the same time.
He’s certainly further along on the hitting front.
Well they could sign KJ and hope he goes on a 6 month streak.
Not sure whether I hate Jayson Nix more this year or last year.
Me neither. Fuck him, eh.
Hech looks good, nice smooth swing. Swings like a lefty.
Buck is trying to drill the concept of “park factor” into Tabler’s thick skull…without success.
Buck has enough of his own troubles without forcing him to wear Tabby the Albatross around his neck.
At least our TV crew isn’t as nauseating as the White Sox duo… #silverliningto2012
Nice pitch RIckRo
Atta kid Cletus
No Cletus!
Bad, Cletus! Bad!
hahahah
Who wins a debate between Pat Tabler and Gary Busey?
The one that has the finger paints.
sorry…the one WHO has the finger paints. #yournamemightbePatTablerwhen
haha
Holy fuck is that funny. Finger paints, lqtm.
Golly gee whiz
Colby would not have made that mental error were it not for his sore groin.
Touche!
Fucking Larussa’s fault that colby did not get back
So, Law says 2013 is going to be one of the weakest in years. No better year to burn a 1st rounder on a very good player, then right?
We’re still #7.
Austin Meadows who is ranked by Klaw as 5 and by others anywhere from 3-9 would be a great guy to get.
yeah, well we draft “safe college arms” in the first round such as jenkins, mcguire, and stroman.
only two of them suck and the third is a cheat.
http://www.chrismwebb.com/2012/08/stromans-suspension-highlights-cba.html
So if Stroman was on the 40-man roster, he’d get a warning and go on with his day. Instead he gets nailed for 50 games + winter ball. If the Jays called him up on September 1, who knows, he could have been a week away from being in the clear.
Or if players would pay attention to what the hell they are putting in their bodies we wouldn’t be talking about this right now
Have you taken any cold/flu meds in the lasy year?
If yes then you probably would have failed this test too.
So pretty please, with sugar on top, shut the fuck up.
That’s not an excuse at all.
Every payer has access to a list of remedies and supplements that are clean.
To go away from that list is idiotic at BEST.
You think a 20 year old kid would consult a list if a product is available in every drugstore in North America.
He was probably thinking, “I’m a good guy, I’d never use roids, HGH, sythetic testoerone” I’m clean.
And then he takes Flu med, or a worout energizer, or an 8 hour energy drink and gets lumped in with all the TRUE cheaters.
Incidentily that list of approved products is longer then War and Peace. Why don’t you try and read it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_League_Baseball_drug_policy
Wikipedia is a wonderful thing!
“You think a 20 year old kid would consult a list if a product is available in every drugstore in North America.”
Uh, he’s a professional athlete.
He’s not just another 20 year old.
He’d better god damn well consult a list that’s readily available to him.
Also, I guarantee you that every single minor league player is given a sermon before they start playing about drugs, what’s banned, what’s not and the dangers of using medications and supplements.
Every University athlete in Canada sits through a seminar like this, and you’d better believe pro athletes sit through them too.
Alli, I don’t want to argue with you anymore but please answer me this.
Why are you so eager to condemn this kid?
He made a stupid mistake, had he actually wanted to cheat the system he would have been caught with HGH or Synthetic testerone. Something that would give him a few more MPH on his fastball or give hive him a third bicep. What he took opens the lungs, get’s the blood pumping, makes you alert. It does not help you perform better.
Most relievers slug back 3 redbulls which are probably much worse for the body and do the same thing.
I’m not condemning him, but I’m not making up excuses for him either.
It was stupid what he did, in the truest meaning of the word. Just flat out DUMB… just no reason for it at all.
Stupidity notwithstanding, the interesting thing to me is how doing the exact same (stupid) thing while on the 40-man roster is a warning, whereas off the 40-man roster it’s a 50 game suspension. All the more frustrating considering there was a chance Stroman was a week or so away from being put on the 40-man roster.
Brumfield -
Don’t disagree there at all. Such a strange situation in that regard.
Go back to riding the pine for a while sport.
Oh I’m sorry didn’t realize it was to much work for a professional athlete to read a list provided to the of illegal substances. My apologies.
Am I suposed to fill in the blanks?
Hechavarria and Rasmus are polar opposites in how close they stand to the plate.
I guess that’s better than being polar bears.
..or polar ice caps
As bad as Romero has pitched, can you really think of many games during his losing streak that the jays would have won had he only given up 2 or 3 runs instead of big number? I say this because seems like when he pitches during the streak, they score either one or zero runs anyway
I’m actually amazed that Yescobar didn’t call for it.
Remember when rasmus first came over here and he would basically catch everything he could get to? including times when he nearly decaptiated Jose? Now he is deferring like bitch to rajai davis and a rookie rf. wtf is wrong with this guy’s head
Funny, I remember it quite differently. I remember him deferring to Bautista way too often. Those close calls were Jose’s fault it seemed to me.
Yeah, I remember it this was as well. He constantly deferred to Jose when they got close.
yup, Colby Wasn’t taking charge in center when he first came up.
Well, hell.
Gee, one run loss. AGAIN immediately following a rare one run win. Fucking drives me nuts.
at the risk of asking a potentially stupid question, why do you not bring up jeff mathis to pinch hit in the 9th?
or did i miss a previous game in which he got hurt??
Because he is Jeff Mathis.
From the “I’d never believe it if I didn’t see it” file, the Orioles have 14 more wins than the Blue Jays.
Yep, tied for a wild card spot, 7-3 in their last 10, winning record on the road. Makes you wonder about baseball experts, doesn’t it? Notice also how Buck Showalter gets so little respect in spite of his record of achievement with multiple teams. You think he might just know something about baseball?
I think he knows something, he’s able to impart it to his players, AND they buy into it. That bullpen of theirs has the 3rd highest IP’s in the AL. It could be a problem in the last few weeks of the year. But so far they’re handling it.
It is almost as if Showalter knows more about baseball than the rest of us. Who knew?
And you know what else? The Jays still have a better run differential.
Showalter is slam for Manager of the year…yes?
Yeah Lind looked great strikng out on a breaking ball in the dirt-typical and especially after letting a strike one fastball that was dead RED go right on by. The pitchers know he will not swing on the first pitch so he gets dead red and it’s an easy strike and then they toy with him and he always fishes in the dirt once gets to strike 2.
Look, if Hech can hit .217( currently) versus Johnson’s .220 currently and Hech gives better D then go with Hech for F sakes. He’ll cost half as much as Jognson and not strike out 200 times a year! and we can use the savings from this and getting rid of Fraser 3.4m and Teahen s 5.5m, that’s over 10m right there for one pitcher-say hello Marcum or maybe Ervin Santana
Dont know if Marcum wil be able to pitch in the AL East. they used to beat him up pretty good.
Have you watched Ervin Santana this year? Fuck me, he’s been awful. Not sure I want Marcum back either. Loved the guy, but feel he is decline.
Hey guys, watch out tomorrow fa dingers-fa-dough…ah hit a dinger & ya’ll get some dough…may not be much dough, but ya’ll ‘ll get some dough anyways…
Well, I can’t come up with the words to describe how shitty the past 4 or 5 weeks (or longer) have been as a Jays fan. Thinking about watching hockey again in October…oh yeah that’s fucked, NBA…ya right..ha ha. NFL usually but its distant from the heart until January. CFL, sure its the Canadian thing to do but still second tier. Luckily I’ve still got my Jays World Series tapes and by fuck we better be in on the bidding for some Japanese free agent super all star psycho player this year or else……
This winter I will be hitting F5 at DJF and mlbtraderumors. No time for lesser sports.
Ha! I almost refreshed myself into a rubber room last year doing that…..and I guess if I’m being honest, this year will be no different.
NH faced new RedSux prospect Allen Webster in his first Eastern League game – Marisnick hit a triple off him, 3 runs in 4 IP vs. Webster but he had 7 Ks.
I’m becoming depressed being a Blue Jay fan. I just hope this season doesn’t get any worse…
RIP Brian Judwig
These idiots could have fought about anything, just because they argued about the Jays doesn’t mean its connected to the Jays.
If 2 guys get in a fight over a girlfriends lululemon pants, does that directly connect lululemon to the fight? Was the batman movie directly connected to the shootings in colorado? No, stupid people will be stupid people.
I don’t think you understand the meanings of the words “directly” and “connected”.