Hi, this is Fred Wallace with ” Off the Wire “.
I’m not one of those ‘ I-Told-You-So ‘ guys, but I KNEW the Toronto Blue Jays wouldn’t last long in the Major League Baseball Playoffs.
Toronto was swept by the Tampa Bay Rays in their best of 3 series, and all the indicating arrows in advance pointed to such a result.
In the era of COVID-19 MLB post season, it was a 1 vs 8 scenario.
The Rays had home field advantage, for what that’s worth, no matter how long the series went.
And as illustrated all season long, the youthful Blue Jays were prone to staggering blunders in the field, at the plate and on the base paths.
The odds were clearly in favor of Tampa Bay and it was illustrated in the Game 2 thumping of Toronto that concluded the series.
I found it interesting watching the 2nd game that the Jays TV tandem of Buck Martinez & Joe Siddall were critical of the Jays pitching format in Game 1; the criticism arising around the time the series outcome was no longer in doubt.
” You can’t script a baseball game “, was the common theme presented by the TV guys.
And based on their respective experience behind the plate and around the game, I respect their perspective.
However, what if the Jays had won the opener with the unconventional management of pitchers ? They only lost 3-1, which was vastly better than what transpired in Game 2 when Toronto’s ace Hyun Jin Ryu got battered.
Furthermore, the Blue Jays managed 3 runs over 18 innings, 2 of which were solo homers by Danny Jansen.
So no matter who pitched for Toronto, they weren’t getting much run support.
I do like the Blue Jays potential, but I TOLD you they weren’t going to beat Tampa Bay
I’m Fred Wallace