September 6, 2024 • 24 mins
It was the hottest ticket in town in 2009: Blue Jays vs Yankees, Roy Halladay vs AJ Burnett. Come to relive one of Doc's last gems as a Blue Jay, and stay for the extended conversation about Travis Snider's career that you knew was inevitably going to happen the moment you realized he was on a team we were going to talk about in a Storytime. Join us for a look back to May 12, 2009, with 43,737 other fans in the Rogers Centre. It's Sportsfeld Storytime!
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Sick of hearing all the ads? Subscribe to Soda Premium on Apple Podcasts to get rid of them!
Follow @Sportsfeld on X! While you're there say hello to @theZubes and @JGoldsbie or reach out to the show and say hey: podcast@sportsfeld.ca
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And as always, thank you for listening to another episode of Sportsfeld.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
For to Toronto Blue Jays. AJ Burnett man. He has
really been pitching well for Toronto. He's won the seven
of his last eight decisions. He is seventeen and ten
in the season, and he leads the American League in
strikeouts for two hundred eight.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Rtez strikes out hush Beck and his former teammate at
the Florida Marlins. The roll goes around, strikes out, swinging
a miss. Lowry strikes out three ks for Burnett. Back
to Burnett to first. Then he's out of it again.
Strike three, call Maritech's gone. Burnett knocks it down. There's
(00:43):
time to recover and does so. Strike three, call fifth,
strikeout for a J.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Burnett.
Speaker 4 (00:52):
Well, here it is the matchup that we've been waiting for.
The doctor, doctor Halliday doing his thing. I said, possibly
playoff type atmosphere, and you've got it tonight.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
There's a basic down the line. Snyder over to get
it quickly as Damon turns for second.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
Here's the throw in and Damon is out.
Speaker 5 (01:20):
Joe Girardi up quickly too.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
Well.
Speaker 4 (01:25):
Damon what he does, what he does best is put
the ball on the ground hard in play.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Nice play by Snyder to pick the ball.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Turn around.
Speaker 4 (01:32):
Let's see if he's in there though.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Thirty two year old A. J.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
Burnett, where's going to be Colors tonight? He is two
and zero on the year.
Speaker 4 (01:41):
A five point two six Era were.
Speaker 5 (01:44):
Having a miss.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Kevin Cash goes.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Down swinging in his first game as a Yankee.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Two strike, pitch and a swing and a miss.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Snyder goes quickly, oh, two pitch strike three, calls say.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
Good night, mister Tsera. Whoy Helliday is just mowing him down.
Speaker 4 (02:02):
Now, I believe and try to put him away.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
There's the breaking ball, and that's a basic down to
the line.
Speaker 5 (02:08):
Rios is in the score.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Here comes Wells hop to second, goes rolling and it's.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
Too nothing for the Blue Jays.
Speaker 4 (02:32):
A good piece of hitting by Scott Rowland found off
the fastball and got the breaking ball, able to place
it down the line, hit it hard and opt him
get it past a rod.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
A couple runs in sports that it is sports fellows
(03:11):
story time. We are looking back. We are looking back
to the hottest ticket in town in two thousand and nine.
Unbelievable twelve years ago. Already, how's that? How's that possible?
Oh my goodness, I.
Speaker 5 (03:23):
Was watching something today that referenced something being in No.
We were watching an old episode thirty Rock. I referenced
it being in two thousand and seven, and I was like,
oh my god, it's fourteen years ago.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
The fuck the lifetime. It's a high schooler years ago,
right right. Unbelievable, crazy crazy. It is just one of
my favorite games, but before all my new favorite games.
One of my favorite games ever. It is the Toronto
Blue Jays hosting the New York Yankees. It is Roy
Halliday versus A. J. Burnett, the twenty three and twelve
(03:59):
Blue We talked about this in the last week's episode
twenty three and twelve. The Blue Jays were in two
thousand and nine and they never came close to snipping
a Playhoff spot.
Speaker 5 (04:10):
Many when you look at I think it's on Baseball
Reference and you go through the schedule and they have
the like pluses and minuses to mark the streaks this
Blue Jays team. That page is hilarious because the first
month is a bunch of all these pluses. Then they
hit like mid June and mid July. It's just like multiple,
(04:31):
like eight nine lost streaks. It's brutal.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
That is life. That was life. As a Oughts Blue
Jays fan, this is just how it went. Unfortunately, for
worse or for worse.
Speaker 5 (04:44):
Yeah, just for arguments. On May twenty seventh, they were
on a nine lost streak. They went from twenty seven
and eight, last streak twenty seven and fifteen to twenty
eight and twenty three. Then they went back up. They
got to forty and thirty three, and then they would
(05:06):
become a five hundred team like ten games later. It's crazy,
crazy how this team just fucking tanked in July.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
Brutal, absolutely brutal. As you mentioned, the Buddhas were very good.
The Yankees were still under five hundred at the time
they come out of this game fifteen and seventeen. I'll
tell you, looking at these lineups, I think, to the
naked eye, there's only there's one player that is still
in the Major League, which is hard to believe. What
Brett Gardner.
Speaker 5 (05:34):
Brett Gardner was on that team.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
At Gardner played center field and led off for the
Yankees this day.
Speaker 5 (05:39):
Wow, that's crazy.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
Your Yankees starting lineup was Brett Gardner in center field,
Johnny Damon in left, Mark Teschera at first, Alex Rodriguez
hitting cleanup, and playing third, and Dickie Matsue was your
designated hitter. Nick Swisher would take over pinch hit in
DH Later in the game, Robinson Cano, I guess he's
still in the league. Isn't he suspended.
Speaker 5 (06:05):
A yeah, so he's still in the league for sure.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
He played last year, I think.
Speaker 5 (06:09):
I think it's a free agent, so that counts.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
Robinson Cano played second, Malkie Cabrera, who did not play
last year. I checked. It is your starting right fielders,
Kevin Cash behind the plate, who would go on and
is now the manager of the Tampa Bay Rays, and
Ramiro Paana is you're starting shortstop because Derek Sanderson Jeter
was hurt for this game, which is something that I
yelled about a lot from my seat the right field mine.
Speaker 5 (06:35):
There was there was a sort of I don't know,
well what works now, that sort of we're older and
you know, the attitudes towards treating athletes has changed for
the good. But there really was like an innocent just
mock people on the field.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
Oh yeah time. The reason for that is because it's fun.
Speaker 5 (06:59):
Yeah, absolutely true.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
This was This was the thing is that it's fun
to boo the Yankees.
Speaker 5 (07:07):
Especially in like fun ways. It's like reading I think
you introduced me. That's just reading facts about players.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
Yeah, yeah, the best way to heckle, saying their town
and their school and then not even really making it
a heckle, just saying facts about them. It's very strange
and jarring. You're blue like.
Speaker 5 (07:25):
That one would still work today. Who knows facts saying anything?
Speaker 3 (07:28):
I feel like I I the next might go to
a Jay's game. I just like, I just't like to
be quiet and be around the game.
Speaker 5 (07:36):
I say that that, I would agree, and then three beers.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
Yeah, you're a booer. You got a boo.
Speaker 5 (07:41):
I'm not really a booer.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
Your two thumbs down boo.
Speaker 5 (07:44):
I yell, I disagree a lot.
Speaker 6 (07:46):
That's good stuff. That's good stuff.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
Anyway, Blue Booth, it's not the players blue days. Lineup,
Marco Scutero, your lead off and playing shortstop Aaron Hill,
who was ridiculous in two thousand and nine, by the way,
batting second, playing second, Aaron Hill. Aaron Hill's stats just
quickly before we over this all Star Aaron Hill thirty
six home runs and one hundred and eight driven in.
That's wild, Wow, that's wild. He was ever that good
(08:14):
a man. He played a bunch seven hundred and thirty
four plate appearances.
Speaker 5 (08:17):
My god, one hundred and fifty eight games. Jesus him
and Vernon both one hundred and fifty eight mean he
was good.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
What do you want Alex Rios in the three hole
playing right field, Vernon Wells your starting center fielder, eating cleanup.
Adam Lynde. Designated hitter Scott Rowland, who goes three for
four in this game playing third base, followed by Lyle
Overbay batting seventh, playing first, Rod Barajas behind the plate
and batting ninth playing left field. Number forty five. Travis Snyder,
(08:48):
who in the second at that of this game. Absolutely
Hose's absolute hose show Johnny Damon and second base tryn
to stretch of balld to a double. Get out of here,
Johnny Damon.
Speaker 5 (09:00):
I want to bring something up about Travis Snyder please,
that we sort of talked about last week. We were
talking about how his career was kind of completely messed
with from CDO and how that led to a lot
of people training on Seedo and all that. Travis Snyder
for all the flak he got for not being major
league ready in the games he played in the major leagues.
(09:21):
Wasn't that bad?
Speaker 3 (09:22):
That's right, That's right.
Speaker 5 (09:24):
Like we talked either in episode one or episode two
about sort of the rewriting of the two thousand and
nine Blue Jays and everything is terrible and how it's
been rewritten in all our minds, Travis Snyder, he only
played seventy seven games because of the aforementioned messing with
his service time and whatnot. But like he ops plus
(09:46):
ninety five one hundred and five ops plus the following
season and only eighty two games. Like I'm not saying
he was lighting the world on fire or anything, but
like those aren't numbers of like, well you get we
can't you you want a major league roster?
Speaker 3 (10:02):
He was always like this was this is I think
we went through this a little bit with remember when
when Vlad first came up. Is Like the thing is
that he was always like league average, right, he was
always a zero point one or he was a one
point two win player by fangrafts. He's like a zero
point four in two thousand and eight. You know, in
(10:23):
his career he's a three. He's a three win player,
uh twenty four games also, yeah, exactly right, But I
just feel like.
Speaker 5 (10:31):
If Vlad, Lad's a great example. If Lad came up
played eighty two games and ops plus one oh five
in his when he was twenty two years old, you know,
maybe Vlad's a bad example because he was so young.
But you know what I mean, Like, it's not to me,
that's not let's keep sending him up in down numbers.
I'm not saying he's a guy who was hitting so
well you couldn't ignore it, right, But like, his numbers
(10:54):
aren't that much worse than like a couple of years
of Brett Laurie.
Speaker 3 (10:58):
It's funny that you use that exact number, because Flats
rookie year as a twenty year old ops plus one
oh six exactly exactly the same. Trevin Snyder's two thousand
and eight debut was actually more successful than the lady's
twenty year old debut. But that's fine. Listen, Eventually, this
(11:19):
is the thing. The way that this story ends is
that eventually you just have to hit right, no matter
how much, no matter how many reasons it may have happened,
how much of this or that. Eventually you have to
hit no matter what you're being told, and no matter
what instructions you're getting You're gonna have to eventually turn
it on. And I could do this all day. Twenty
(11:41):
fourteen with the Pirates, he was really good. He's really
good with the Pirates. Twenty fourteen, one hundred and forty games,
he had a three thirty eight opp and ops plus
of one seventeen his last full season basically in the league,
although he pinch hit a lot. But still, I'm just
saying it's always there. I get.
Speaker 5 (12:03):
I don't know. I know the way we view players
has changed. And I'm not just saying this to appeal
to you, but I just find it. I've ever since
we talked about the rewriting of the Black Jays. It's
just I find it all very interesting how it went
down for like a lot of these guys.
Speaker 3 (12:21):
Yeah, well listen to you know, it drops off. He
sort of doesn't maintain that for sure. Fourteen one five,
he's really pretty bad. In twenty eleven.
Speaker 5 (12:31):
I mean more, how we think about all these guys
sort of on the whole.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
Yeah, well, you know, we know how the service time.
Speaker 5 (12:39):
Aaron hill opis nine sixty three that year, And in
my mind Aaron hill was always.
Speaker 3 (12:44):
Like, Okay, he's an all Star.
Speaker 5 (12:47):
Yeah, I know, it's crazy.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
The snider thing is, you know.
Speaker 5 (12:50):
I'm sorry that was that game he didn't obs nine
sixty three.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
But still you get to the point where your service
time isn't you're not it's not like free to renew them,
and then it just like, well we can, we can
pay somebody nothing to be League average.
Speaker 6 (13:05):
It is what happensure.
Speaker 3 (13:06):
That's why he turns twenty seven and nobody wants them
even though he's a you know, ninety three career ops plus.
Speaker 6 (13:14):
It's just not what he's supposed to be doing.
Speaker 3 (13:15):
Anyway. Now that word flying into this episode, Draf Snyder,
I knew it was going to happen. It's Holladay versus Burnette.
It is I don't want to overuse this term, vintage
Harry Leroy Halliday the third. I mean he is jacked up.
He is stone silent, barely emoting at all. The crowd
(13:36):
is I was in there at this game right field line.
This is as I said, This was before I knew
what playoff atmosphere was. This is what I thought playoff
atmosphere was.
Speaker 5 (13:47):
Also to your point of vintage right Holliday. Game time
of two hours and twenty two. What a fucking in
a game that featured thirteen hits twenty two minutes. What
a dream?
Speaker 3 (14:01):
A dream? Don't make him like that anymore. I'll tell
you he gets up. He gets one, two three. In
the first gardener ground out a weak groundout, which is like, ugh, yes,
weak groundouts. That's a whole The whole game is week groundouts.
Johnny Danman gets hosed by Snyder trying to stretch one
to share a week pop out, everything everything on here
from the game description, it's it's weak ground out, Rodriguez
(14:25):
weak ground out, Matt Sue week to shortstop ground out first,
Basemino pitture a week, the Blue Jays would get on
the board. It takes a while. This is the beautiful
thing about this is it's like a picture's duel, which
is what's the cool thing. And that was what made
it so fun. As you were there and you were
booing aj but he was also pitching well, and it
(14:45):
was like, yes, like it's this is he's pitching well,
and Howiday's pitching well, and howa day is going to
end up being a little bit better. So much fun.
I can't even begin to tell you. I also went
to while we're talking about, like the only reason to
go to Jay's games, like you had to go to
was taboo people. I also went to the John Ferrell
return game.
Speaker 5 (15:03):
I was at that game as well.
Speaker 3 (15:05):
Yeah, tons of fun too, I think one of the World
series that year. So not that's fun. But the fourth
is where it gets little. Harry Rios doubles Wells walks,
Lind walks, Scott Roland, who is the MVP of this game,
not named Holliday, doubles the left two runs score, and
then Brajas with a sack fly to bring in Lynd
Three nothing, Blue Jays through four. Snyder's strikes up swinging
(15:27):
DWN in the ending not important. But what is important
is Halliday has only given up one hit to this point,
and that guy did not get on base because he
was hosed. Halladay in the fifth gets a weak ground out,
a strikeout swinging, and a first base on assisted. So
now we're through five, Holliday hasn't had a base runner
(15:48):
and it's three nothing, and you're like, oh my god,
there's no way they lose this game. You're just like
it's hard to even describe what it was like to
have Doc.
Speaker 6 (15:54):
In these situations.
Speaker 5 (16:06):
It's like when you look at his stat line from
this game to go first of all, to go to
seven and one on the season, so in May also
and then just like the five hit, complete game, one
hundred and three pitches. It you know, it's one of
(16:28):
those things that you don't pay it or you do
pay attention to it. But it's like to see these
kind of performances basically every day from Roy Halladay, like
this was kind of his norm. This wasn't a pitching performance.
I was like, Wow, what a great game from Holiday.
It's like, oh, he threw a complete game in like
just over two hours. Yeah, and only threw a hundred pitches.
(16:51):
And that was just what Halliday did. And I think
that you know, you said it when you reacted to
the game time, and I said when I was thrilled
at the game time because of that, That's how I
think Jay's fans watch baseball now. Like I think when
we see a pitch that takes a long time, Blue
Jays fans get fucking impatient, like even if it's a
(17:13):
Blue Jay.
Speaker 3 (17:13):
We also had Burley afterwards, right, and he was like
the master.
Speaker 5 (17:16):
And everyone loved that. And I think, like it can't
be overstated. Obviously can't be saying how good right Holliday
is was, but it also can't be saying I think
how much he shaped our opinion of pictures in this town.
Speaker 3 (17:31):
M m Well said top six week round out, week
pop out, week round out. I mean howadays like not
even like, he's just unconscious, unbelievable. To the seventh ground
out and he goes up a double Johnny Damon. Uh,
he gets to share this wriking out, but a rod
stings him for a single through the left side. He's
(17:54):
at second after a double. Two, then one had a
ground ball that gets through a base hit for Roger Guys.
Snyder is up and throwing, and in comes Damon with
the Yankees first run, making a three to one game.
I mean, Damon's knocked in by Alex Rodriguez.
Speaker 4 (18:16):
Well, this is what Alex Rodriguez does, is he's able
to drive in runs. With man on second base, breaking
ball down, he stays on it and shoots it through
the hole.
Speaker 3 (18:24):
The cutout is no more base runners on. He then
gets Nick Fleisher striking out, so three to one going
in to the bottom. And then in the bottom of
the eighth, Aaron Hill he's.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
Been always so productive in that number two haul and
here's a drive to left field.
Speaker 3 (18:40):
Back is David and you could kiss that one goodbye.
Speaker 5 (18:44):
What about Player.
Speaker 6 (19:06):
No.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
A J.
Speaker 4 (19:06):
Burnett, Well you'll get is he'll miss his spots now
and again, and he misses.
Speaker 3 (19:10):
With a spot up, hits a solo shot. Alex Rios
walks and by the way, looking back, walking in this
back like in twenty twenty one. A. J. Burnett is
out of this game through six innings like there's no reason,
there's no reason to be in the game in the eighth.
But at this time, you know you wanted both these
guys to throw a complete games that was like what
(19:30):
we were there to see, and the man gave it
to us. Hill hits a leadoff home run in the eighth.
Rios walks two, gets two outs and then rolling again
RBI single up the middle. Rio scores that gets Burnett pulled.
And this is probably the second highlight of this game,
beyond everything Jack does, is Burnett comes just short of
(19:53):
a complete game and we get to boo him off
the field with two out of the eight. So sad
I was so satisfying.
Speaker 5 (20:05):
It's funny, like we've talked a lot about how you know,
Kyle Lowry hasn't played in front of a Toronto crowd
this year, and how unfortunate that is. We are going
to get like baseball where we don't get to boo
guts of the field and a pitching change. That's that
is one of the best I think what that playoff
game you and I went to with Queta and the
(20:27):
whole crowd just ragging on him and like that is
an underrated baseball thing. Mocking pictures forty seven thousand people
mocking one pitcher is an underrated baseball thing.
Speaker 3 (20:40):
Absolutely correct, Absolutely correct. That does it for Burnett. And
one of those great things is he he had like
a pretty decent game. He seven and two thirds, seven hits,
five or and four walks, three strikeouts. Not a great game,
I want to I said that one hundred and ten
pitches though, That's where it's like, there's just no way. Yeah,
hundred and ten picture they would take. They would have
(21:01):
taken him out if not in the seventh, they would
taken him out after the Aaron Hill home run for sure,
or after he walks Alex Rios after the home run
for sure. Anyway, they didn't and they lost. Halliday comes
back out for the ninth gives up a double Toromiropana.
There's no chance he's coming out of this game. There's
no there's no not even for a second. Do you
think Howida is coming out of this game? He gets
(21:22):
a fly ball from Gardner, a week round out from Damon.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
Under the first Old Day has it and Ridless the
master wielding his magic to night against the Yankees, Roy.
Speaker 3 (21:35):
Halliday, a complete game factory in the groundout first base
unassisted from Tashera. That is your final Blue Jays. Five
Yankees won, Holliday nine innings, five hits, one earned, five k's,
and you knew Jake zero walks I mean obviously.
Speaker 5 (21:52):
Of course, of course walk it walk a batter.
Speaker 3 (21:56):
He faces thirty batters in nine.
Speaker 5 (21:59):
Innings and all with only five strike.
Speaker 3 (22:05):
Ups, one hundred and three pitches fucking fucking jem, one
hundred three pitches only, six swinging strikes, unbelievable, seventeen ground balls,
eight fly balls only, five line drives, twenty three strikes
looking just like crazy, forty three strikes by contact, strikes,
(22:25):
balls put in play or fouled off, just vintage Holiday.
All you can possibly ask and as you wish before,
this will be his last season with the team of
one of his final great starts two thousand and nine,
Roy Holliday vanquishing.
Speaker 6 (22:41):
A J.
Speaker 3 (22:42):
Burnett because he was cursed anyway, and a mighty cheer
went up. Just a ton of fun, I remember this
game is so fondly, just a ton of fun to
be there and to It's one of those ones where
at the time it was one of the games where
you like, you dream on twenty fifteen happening, and you
dream on like, man, this team is good right now,
(23:03):
and if they're able to keep this going and Snyder
pans out and uh Wells turns it around, and you know,
Hill keeps it going, and Lynn can turn it around
like if you were one of those ones always used
to do with the Blue Jays, is if if if, if, if,
like seven ifs in a row all hit, We're gonna
(23:24):
be a great team. Rahi Romero was on this rotation,
see like, oh my god, maybe there's a chance, but.
Speaker 5 (23:29):
It's funny, you say. How The next time we got
something like this in Toronto was the John Farrell game,
and then the Red Sox won the World Series because
the Yankees sure showed us.
Speaker 3 (23:44):
I mean whatever, the Yankees, don't you know at this period,
if they weren't winning one hundred and ten games in
the World Series, then.
Speaker 5 (23:54):
Then that's also very just.
Speaker 3 (23:56):
They also did win the World Series, they won one
hundred and three and fifty nine, so fair enough. Fair enough,
they beat the Philadelphia Phillies, who would then turn around
and get Roy Halliday to try to remedy this the
very next season. So that closes it up on the game.
We will come in next week and talk about the
fallout maybe mentioned that twenty nineteen and where the two
(24:17):
thousand and ten team, what to do with Halliday, all
the fallout from that, and the soul searching that comes
with the next five years. We'll do all of that
next week on the next episode of Sports Felt Storytime.
For to Toronto Blue Jays. AJ Burnett man. He has
really been pitching well for Toronto. He's won the seven
of his last eight decisions. He is seventeen and ten
in the season, and he leads the American League in
strikeouts for two hundred eight.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Rtez strikes out hush Beck and his former teammate at
the Florida Marlins. The roll goes around, strikes out, swinging
a miss. Lowry strikes out three ks for Burnett. Back
to Burnett to first. Then he's out of it again.
Strike three, call Maritech's gone. Burnett knocks it down. There's
(00:43):
time to recover and does so. Strike three, call fifth,
strikeout for a J.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Burnett.
Speaker 4 (00:52):
Well, here it is the matchup that we've been waiting for.
The doctor, doctor Halliday doing his thing. I said, possibly
playoff type atmosphere, and you've got it tonight.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
There's a basic down the line. Snyder over to get
it quickly as Damon turns for second.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
Here's the throw in and Damon is out.
Speaker 5 (01:20):
Joe Girardi up quickly too.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
Well.
Speaker 4 (01:25):
Damon what he does, what he does best is put
the ball on the ground hard in play.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Nice play by Snyder to pick the ball.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Turn around.
Speaker 4 (01:32):
Let's see if he's in there though.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Thirty two year old A. J.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
Burnett, where's going to be Colors tonight? He is two
and zero on the year.
Speaker 4 (01:41):
A five point two six Era were.
Speaker 5 (01:44):
Having a miss.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Kevin Cash goes.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Down swinging in his first game as a Yankee.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Two strike, pitch and a swing and a miss.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Snyder goes quickly, oh, two pitch strike three, calls say.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
Good night, mister Tsera. Whoy Helliday is just mowing him down.
Speaker 4 (02:02):
Now, I believe and try to put him away.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
There's the breaking ball, and that's a basic down to
the line.
Speaker 5 (02:08):
Rios is in the score.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Here comes Wells hop to second, goes rolling and it's.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
Too nothing for the Blue Jays.
Speaker 4 (02:32):
A good piece of hitting by Scott Rowland found off
the fastball and got the breaking ball, able to place
it down the line, hit it hard and opt him
get it past a rod.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
A couple runs in sports that it is sports fellows
(03:11):
story time. We are looking back. We are looking back
to the hottest ticket in town in two thousand and nine.
Unbelievable twelve years ago. Already, how's that? How's that possible?
Oh my goodness, I.
Speaker 5 (03:23):
Was watching something today that referenced something being in No.
We were watching an old episode thirty Rock. I referenced
it being in two thousand and seven, and I was like,
oh my god, it's fourteen years ago.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
The fuck the lifetime. It's a high schooler years ago,
right right. Unbelievable, crazy crazy. It is just one of
my favorite games, but before all my new favorite games.
One of my favorite games ever. It is the Toronto
Blue Jays hosting the New York Yankees. It is Roy
Halliday versus A. J. Burnett, the twenty three and twelve
(03:59):
Blue We talked about this in the last week's episode
twenty three and twelve. The Blue Jays were in two
thousand and nine and they never came close to snipping
a Playhoff spot.
Speaker 5 (04:10):
Many when you look at I think it's on Baseball
Reference and you go through the schedule and they have
the like pluses and minuses to mark the streaks this
Blue Jays team. That page is hilarious because the first
month is a bunch of all these pluses. Then they
hit like mid June and mid July. It's just like multiple,
(04:31):
like eight nine lost streaks. It's brutal.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
That is life. That was life. As a Oughts Blue
Jays fan, this is just how it went. Unfortunately, for
worse or for worse.
Speaker 5 (04:44):
Yeah, just for arguments. On May twenty seventh, they were
on a nine lost streak. They went from twenty seven
and eight, last streak twenty seven and fifteen to twenty
eight and twenty three. Then they went back up. They
got to forty and thirty three, and then they would
(05:06):
become a five hundred team like ten games later. It's crazy,
crazy how this team just fucking tanked in July.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
Brutal, absolutely brutal. As you mentioned, the Buddhas were very good.
The Yankees were still under five hundred at the time
they come out of this game fifteen and seventeen. I'll
tell you, looking at these lineups, I think, to the
naked eye, there's only there's one player that is still
in the Major League, which is hard to believe. What
Brett Gardner.
Speaker 5 (05:34):
Brett Gardner was on that team.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
At Gardner played center field and led off for the
Yankees this day.
Speaker 5 (05:39):
Wow, that's crazy.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
Your Yankees starting lineup was Brett Gardner in center field,
Johnny Damon in left, Mark Teschera at first, Alex Rodriguez
hitting cleanup, and playing third, and Dickie Matsue was your
designated hitter. Nick Swisher would take over pinch hit in
DH Later in the game, Robinson Cano, I guess he's
still in the league. Isn't he suspended.
Speaker 5 (06:05):
A yeah, so he's still in the league for sure.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
He played last year, I think.
Speaker 5 (06:09):
I think it's a free agent, so that counts.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
Robinson Cano played second, Malkie Cabrera, who did not play
last year. I checked. It is your starting right fielders,
Kevin Cash behind the plate, who would go on and
is now the manager of the Tampa Bay Rays, and
Ramiro Paana is you're starting shortstop because Derek Sanderson Jeter
was hurt for this game, which is something that I
yelled about a lot from my seat the right field mine.
Speaker 5 (06:35):
There was there was a sort of I don't know,
well what works now, that sort of we're older and
you know, the attitudes towards treating athletes has changed for
the good. But there really was like an innocent just
mock people on the field.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
Oh yeah time. The reason for that is because it's fun.
Speaker 5 (06:59):
Yeah, absolutely true.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
This was This was the thing is that it's fun
to boo the Yankees.
Speaker 5 (07:07):
Especially in like fun ways. It's like reading I think
you introduced me. That's just reading facts about players.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
Yeah, yeah, the best way to heckle, saying their town
and their school and then not even really making it
a heckle, just saying facts about them. It's very strange
and jarring. You're blue like.
Speaker 5 (07:25):
That one would still work today. Who knows facts saying anything?
Speaker 3 (07:28):
I feel like I I the next might go to
a Jay's game. I just like, I just't like to
be quiet and be around the game.
Speaker 5 (07:36):
I say that that, I would agree, and then three beers.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
Yeah, you're a booer. You got a boo.
Speaker 5 (07:41):
I'm not really a booer.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
Your two thumbs down boo.
Speaker 5 (07:44):
I yell, I disagree a lot.
Speaker 6 (07:46):
That's good stuff. That's good stuff.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
Anyway, Blue Booth, it's not the players blue days. Lineup,
Marco Scutero, your lead off and playing shortstop Aaron Hill,
who was ridiculous in two thousand and nine, by the way,
batting second, playing second, Aaron Hill. Aaron Hill's stats just
quickly before we over this all Star Aaron Hill thirty
six home runs and one hundred and eight driven in.
That's wild, Wow, that's wild. He was ever that good
(08:14):
a man. He played a bunch seven hundred and thirty
four plate appearances.
Speaker 5 (08:17):
My god, one hundred and fifty eight games. Jesus him
and Vernon both one hundred and fifty eight mean he
was good.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
What do you want Alex Rios in the three hole
playing right field, Vernon Wells your starting center fielder, eating cleanup.
Adam Lynde. Designated hitter Scott Rowland, who goes three for
four in this game playing third base, followed by Lyle
Overbay batting seventh, playing first, Rod Barajas behind the plate
and batting ninth playing left field. Number forty five. Travis Snyder,
(08:48):
who in the second at that of this game. Absolutely
Hose's absolute hose show Johnny Damon and second base tryn
to stretch of balld to a double. Get out of here,
Johnny Damon.
Speaker 5 (09:00):
I want to bring something up about Travis Snyder please,
that we sort of talked about last week. We were
talking about how his career was kind of completely messed
with from CDO and how that led to a lot
of people training on Seedo and all that. Travis Snyder
for all the flak he got for not being major
league ready in the games he played in the major leagues.
(09:21):
Wasn't that bad?
Speaker 3 (09:22):
That's right, That's right.
Speaker 5 (09:24):
Like we talked either in episode one or episode two
about sort of the rewriting of the two thousand and
nine Blue Jays and everything is terrible and how it's
been rewritten in all our minds, Travis Snyder, he only
played seventy seven games because of the aforementioned messing with
his service time and whatnot. But like he ops plus
(09:46):
ninety five one hundred and five ops plus the following
season and only eighty two games. Like I'm not saying
he was lighting the world on fire or anything, but
like those aren't numbers of like, well you get we
can't you you want a major league roster?
Speaker 3 (10:02):
He was always like this was this is I think
we went through this a little bit with remember when
when Vlad first came up. Is Like the thing is
that he was always like league average, right, he was
always a zero point one or he was a one
point two win player by fangrafts. He's like a zero
point four in two thousand and eight. You know, in
(10:23):
his career he's a three. He's a three win player,
uh twenty four games also, yeah, exactly right, But I
just feel like.
Speaker 5 (10:31):
If Vlad, Lad's a great example. If Lad came up
played eighty two games and ops plus one oh five
in his when he was twenty two years old, you know,
maybe Vlad's a bad example because he was so young.
But you know what I mean, Like, it's not to me,
that's not let's keep sending him up in down numbers.
I'm not saying he's a guy who was hitting so
well you couldn't ignore it, right, But like, his numbers
(10:54):
aren't that much worse than like a couple of years
of Brett Laurie.
Speaker 3 (10:58):
It's funny that you use that exact number, because Flats
rookie year as a twenty year old ops plus one
oh six exactly exactly the same. Trevin Snyder's two thousand
and eight debut was actually more successful than the lady's
twenty year old debut. But that's fine. Listen, Eventually, this
(11:19):
is the thing. The way that this story ends is
that eventually you just have to hit right, no matter
how much, no matter how many reasons it may have happened,
how much of this or that. Eventually you have to
hit no matter what you're being told, and no matter
what instructions you're getting You're gonna have to eventually turn
it on. And I could do this all day. Twenty
(11:41):
fourteen with the Pirates, he was really good. He's really
good with the Pirates. Twenty fourteen, one hundred and forty games,
he had a three thirty eight opp and ops plus
of one seventeen his last full season basically in the league,
although he pinch hit a lot. But still, I'm just
saying it's always there. I get.
Speaker 5 (12:03):
I don't know. I know the way we view players
has changed. And I'm not just saying this to appeal
to you, but I just find it. I've ever since
we talked about the rewriting of the Black Jays. It's
just I find it all very interesting how it went
down for like a lot of these guys.
Speaker 3 (12:21):
Yeah, well listen to you know, it drops off. He
sort of doesn't maintain that for sure. Fourteen one five,
he's really pretty bad. In twenty eleven.
Speaker 5 (12:31):
I mean more, how we think about all these guys
sort of on the whole.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
Yeah, well, you know, we know how the service time.
Speaker 5 (12:39):
Aaron hill opis nine sixty three that year, And in
my mind Aaron hill was always.
Speaker 3 (12:44):
Like, Okay, he's an all Star.
Speaker 5 (12:47):
Yeah, I know, it's crazy.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
The snider thing is, you know.
Speaker 5 (12:50):
I'm sorry that was that game he didn't obs nine
sixty three.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
But still you get to the point where your service
time isn't you're not it's not like free to renew them,
and then it just like, well we can, we can
pay somebody nothing to be League average.
Speaker 6 (13:05):
It is what happensure.
Speaker 3 (13:06):
That's why he turns twenty seven and nobody wants them
even though he's a you know, ninety three career ops plus.
Speaker 6 (13:14):
It's just not what he's supposed to be doing.
Speaker 3 (13:15):
Anyway. Now that word flying into this episode, Draf Snyder,
I knew it was going to happen. It's Holladay versus Burnette.
It is I don't want to overuse this term, vintage
Harry Leroy Halliday the third. I mean he is jacked up.
He is stone silent, barely emoting at all. The crowd
(13:36):
is I was in there at this game right field line.
This is as I said, This was before I knew
what playoff atmosphere was. This is what I thought playoff
atmosphere was.
Speaker 5 (13:47):
Also to your point of vintage right Holliday. Game time
of two hours and twenty two. What a fucking in
a game that featured thirteen hits twenty two minutes. What
a dream?
Speaker 3 (14:01):
A dream? Don't make him like that anymore. I'll tell
you he gets up. He gets one, two three. In
the first gardener ground out a weak groundout, which is like, ugh, yes,
weak groundouts. That's a whole The whole game is week groundouts.
Johnny Danman gets hosed by Snyder trying to stretch one
to share a week pop out, everything everything on here
from the game description, it's it's weak ground out, Rodriguez
(14:25):
weak ground out, Matt Sue week to shortstop ground out first,
Basemino pitture a week, the Blue Jays would get on
the board. It takes a while. This is the beautiful
thing about this is it's like a picture's duel, which
is what's the cool thing. And that was what made
it so fun. As you were there and you were
booing aj but he was also pitching well, and it
(14:45):
was like, yes, like it's this is he's pitching well,
and Howiday's pitching well, and howa day is going to
end up being a little bit better. So much fun.
I can't even begin to tell you. I also went
to while we're talking about, like the only reason to
go to Jay's games, like you had to go to
was taboo people. I also went to the John Ferrell
return game.
Speaker 5 (15:03):
I was at that game as well.
Speaker 3 (15:05):
Yeah, tons of fun too, I think one of the World
series that year. So not that's fun. But the fourth
is where it gets little. Harry Rios doubles Wells walks,
Lind walks, Scott Roland, who is the MVP of this game,
not named Holliday, doubles the left two runs score, and
then Brajas with a sack fly to bring in Lynd
Three nothing, Blue Jays through four. Snyder's strikes up swinging
(15:27):
DWN in the ending not important. But what is important
is Halliday has only given up one hit to this point,
and that guy did not get on base because he
was hosed. Halladay in the fifth gets a weak ground out,
a strikeout swinging, and a first base on assisted. So
now we're through five, Holliday hasn't had a base runner
(15:48):
and it's three nothing, and you're like, oh my god,
there's no way they lose this game. You're just like
it's hard to even describe what it was like to
have Doc.
Speaker 6 (15:54):
In these situations.
Speaker 5 (16:06):
It's like when you look at his stat line from
this game to go first of all, to go to
seven and one on the season, so in May also
and then just like the five hit, complete game, one
hundred and three pitches. It you know, it's one of
(16:28):
those things that you don't pay it or you do
pay attention to it. But it's like to see these
kind of performances basically every day from Roy Halladay, like
this was kind of his norm. This wasn't a pitching performance.
I was like, Wow, what a great game from Holiday.
It's like, oh, he threw a complete game in like
just over two hours. Yeah, and only threw a hundred pitches.
(16:51):
And that was just what Halliday did. And I think
that you know, you said it when you reacted to
the game time, and I said when I was thrilled
at the game time because of that, That's how I
think Jay's fans watch baseball now. Like I think when
we see a pitch that takes a long time, Blue
Jays fans get fucking impatient, like even if it's a
(17:13):
Blue Jay.
Speaker 3 (17:13):
We also had Burley afterwards, right, and he was like
the master.
Speaker 5 (17:16):
And everyone loved that. And I think, like it can't
be overstated. Obviously can't be saying how good right Holliday
is was, but it also can't be saying I think
how much he shaped our opinion of pictures in this town.
Speaker 3 (17:31):
M m Well said top six week round out, week
pop out, week round out. I mean howadays like not
even like, he's just unconscious, unbelievable. To the seventh ground
out and he goes up a double Johnny Damon. Uh,
he gets to share this wriking out, but a rod
stings him for a single through the left side. He's
(17:54):
at second after a double. Two, then one had a
ground ball that gets through a base hit for Roger Guys.
Snyder is up and throwing, and in comes Damon with
the Yankees first run, making a three to one game.
I mean, Damon's knocked in by Alex Rodriguez.
Speaker 4 (18:16):
Well, this is what Alex Rodriguez does, is he's able
to drive in runs. With man on second base, breaking
ball down, he stays on it and shoots it through
the hole.
Speaker 3 (18:24):
The cutout is no more base runners on. He then
gets Nick Fleisher striking out, so three to one going
in to the bottom. And then in the bottom of
the eighth, Aaron Hill he's.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
Been always so productive in that number two haul and
here's a drive to left field.
Speaker 3 (18:40):
Back is David and you could kiss that one goodbye.
Speaker 5 (18:44):
What about Player.
Speaker 6 (19:06):
No.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
A J.
Speaker 4 (19:06):
Burnett, Well you'll get is he'll miss his spots now
and again, and he misses.
Speaker 3 (19:10):
With a spot up, hits a solo shot. Alex Rios
walks and by the way, looking back, walking in this
back like in twenty twenty one. A. J. Burnett is
out of this game through six innings like there's no reason,
there's no reason to be in the game in the eighth.
But at this time, you know you wanted both these
guys to throw a complete games that was like what
(19:30):
we were there to see, and the man gave it
to us. Hill hits a leadoff home run in the eighth.
Rios walks two, gets two outs and then rolling again
RBI single up the middle. Rio scores that gets Burnett pulled.
And this is probably the second highlight of this game,
beyond everything Jack does, is Burnett comes just short of
(19:53):
a complete game and we get to boo him off
the field with two out of the eight. So sad
I was so satisfying.
Speaker 5 (20:05):
It's funny, like we've talked a lot about how you know,
Kyle Lowry hasn't played in front of a Toronto crowd
this year, and how unfortunate that is. We are going
to get like baseball where we don't get to boo
guts of the field and a pitching change. That's that
is one of the best I think what that playoff
game you and I went to with Queta and the
(20:27):
whole crowd just ragging on him and like that is
an underrated baseball thing. Mocking pictures forty seven thousand people
mocking one pitcher is an underrated baseball thing.
Speaker 3 (20:40):
Absolutely correct, Absolutely correct. That does it for Burnett. And
one of those great things is he he had like
a pretty decent game. He seven and two thirds, seven hits,
five or and four walks, three strikeouts. Not a great game,
I want to I said that one hundred and ten
pitches though, That's where it's like, there's just no way. Yeah,
hundred and ten picture they would take. They would have
(21:01):
taken him out if not in the seventh, they would
taken him out after the Aaron Hill home run for sure,
or after he walks Alex Rios after the home run
for sure. Anyway, they didn't and they lost. Halliday comes
back out for the ninth gives up a double Toromiropana.
There's no chance he's coming out of this game. There's
no there's no not even for a second. Do you
think Howida is coming out of this game? He gets
(21:22):
a fly ball from Gardner, a week round out from Damon.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
Under the first Old Day has it and Ridless the
master wielding his magic to night against the Yankees, Roy.
Speaker 3 (21:35):
Halliday, a complete game factory in the groundout first base
unassisted from Tashera. That is your final Blue Jays. Five
Yankees won, Holliday nine innings, five hits, one earned, five k's,
and you knew Jake zero walks I mean obviously.
Speaker 5 (21:52):
Of course, of course walk it walk a batter.
Speaker 3 (21:56):
He faces thirty batters in nine.
Speaker 5 (21:59):
Innings and all with only five strike.
Speaker 3 (22:05):
Ups, one hundred and three pitches fucking fucking jem, one
hundred three pitches only, six swinging strikes, unbelievable, seventeen ground balls,
eight fly balls only, five line drives, twenty three strikes
looking just like crazy, forty three strikes by contact, strikes,
(22:25):
balls put in play or fouled off, just vintage Holiday.
All you can possibly ask and as you wish before,
this will be his last season with the team of
one of his final great starts two thousand and nine,
Roy Holliday vanquishing.
Speaker 6 (22:41):
A J.
Speaker 3 (22:42):
Burnett because he was cursed anyway, and a mighty cheer
went up. Just a ton of fun, I remember this
game is so fondly, just a ton of fun to
be there and to It's one of those ones where
at the time it was one of the games where
you like, you dream on twenty fifteen happening, and you
dream on like, man, this team is good right now,
(23:03):
and if they're able to keep this going and Snyder
pans out and uh Wells turns it around, and you know,
Hill keeps it going, and Lynn can turn it around
like if you were one of those ones always used
to do with the Blue Jays, is if if if, if, if,
like seven ifs in a row all hit, We're gonna
(23:24):
be a great team. Rahi Romero was on this rotation,
see like, oh my god, maybe there's a chance, but.
Speaker 5 (23:29):
It's funny, you say. How The next time we got
something like this in Toronto was the John Farrell game,
and then the Red Sox won the World Series because
the Yankees sure showed us.
Speaker 3 (23:44):
I mean whatever, the Yankees, don't you know at this period,
if they weren't winning one hundred and ten games in
the World Series, then.
Speaker 5 (23:54):
Then that's also very just.
Speaker 3 (23:56):
They also did win the World Series, they won one
hundred and three and fifty nine, so fair enough. Fair enough,
they beat the Philadelphia Phillies, who would then turn around
and get Roy Halliday to try to remedy this the
very next season. So that closes it up on the game.
We will come in next week and talk about the
fallout maybe mentioned that twenty nineteen and where the two
(24:17):
thousand and ten team, what to do with Halliday, all
the fallout from that, and the soul searching that comes
with the next five years. We'll do all of that
next week on the next episode of Sports Felt Storytime.
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