What Came First: The Player(s) or the Fans? An Open Letter to Paul Beeston and Alex Anthopoulos

What Came First: The Player(s) or the Fans?

An Open Letter to Paul Beeston and Alex Anthopoulos

December 7, 2011

Dear Mssrs. Beeston and Anthopoulos,

First, we must point out the obvious; there is little chance that either of you will read this letter and there is an even lesser chance that you would make any baseball operation decisions based on it. However, as Torontonians, knowledgeable baseball fans and loyal Blue Jays fans, we were appalled at the statements made yesterday based on what appeared to be your collective decision to “call-out-the-fans”.

Hopefully, your arguments that the team (i.e. Rogers) would not shell-out the money needed to sign a prized free agent until the fans returned to the ballpark was a combination of your exhaustion with being linked to every free agent on the market and a clever ploy to try and keep asking prices low. We assume it was neither, so with all-due respect gentlemen, you have got some nerve!

Yes, it is too easy to concede that throwing money at every Troy, Lyle, and Vernon is not the best way to build a consistently competitive franchise. We will also concede that many Blue Jays fans, have admired the way you two gentlemen have gone about your business, essentially turning the franchise around and building a core nucleus of players that will hopefully lead the Jays to the promised land of the playoffs again. We will even grant you some latitude in recognizing that there has to be a positive correlation between team payroll and team revenues. However, where you and we the fans part ways is how you put this all on us, the loyal fans of this great city.

We have supported this team for almost twenty years of mediocrity and ineptitude. Many of us have been to the “big” games where the atmosphere was as electric as a rock concert, but now coming out to support the team just became a little bit harder. How can we support our Jays yet again when we know that this year will be like all of the other years?

This off-season presented you with the opportunity to tell the fans, “This is it; we’re ready to take that next step. Come along for the ride.” In fact, every word that came from your mouths prior to these winter meetings appeared to be sending this exact message. We were excited. Many started planning on going in on season tickets for what was sure to be the true renaissance of our proud franchise. Instead, the message you sent fans these past few days is now, “You want us to spend? Invest in the team.” Not only is that disrespectful to the fans who have been investing in a team that has not made the playoffs since 1993, but it is also illogical. Imagine if a company like Apple told the public that it would only make better products once consumers bought enough of its mediocre product? To say that this would be totally absurd, illogical and flat out crazy would be an understatement, but yet you said it.

To us, the loyal and knowledgeable fan base, the availability of some seemingly attractive free agents coupled with the fact that the traditional big-spenders aren’t in a position to drive-up the market and the fact that the Jays actually have a strong core of Major League players and prospects, should have made for an easy decision by Blue Jays management and Rogers to get a deal done and bring in a big-name free agent. You want fans to come to the ballpark? Put together what could be one of the most dangerous line-ups in Blue Jays history on the field and you can be almost certain that fans will start returning to the Rogers Centre in droves.

We conclude with this: we are disappointed, more than anything. Disappointed that our beloved Jays won’t take that next step this year…again; disappointed that we’ve been duped into believing that the payroll will go up, independently of gate revenue; and mostly disappointed that the team still doesn’t get it. If fans had a team to cheer for that would be playing a meaningful game past May, then don’t you think we would? Baseball in Toronto is as alive today as it was in the glory days. Reward the fans for their loyalty and patience, and you will be rewarded with our support, and yes, plenty of our money.

Yours truly,

Mario Middonti & George Diplas,

On behalf of Toronto Blue Jays Baseball Fans

Cc: Toronto Media

The 2011 Toronto Blue Jays: The Lunchbox Heroes! - 5 Reasons to Get Behind Our Boys of Summer

The A.H. era began last year (After Halladay that is) and Blue Jay fans had hoped for the best, expected the worst, and got a tremendous 85 win season out of an exciting young group of ballplayers. Which brings us to the current year and a mixed bag of prognostication going on with some saying the Jays haven’t done much to improve and others saying they may have what it takes to compete for that elusive American League Wildcard spot. Here our 5 solid reasons to enjoy the season regardless of what camp you fall in. So get behind these boys – these Lunchbox Heroes (see point 2 and 5) - in 2011 as it will be the beginning of the next great era in Blue Jays baseball.

1. The nPo – the New Pitching Order: sad to see Shaun Marcum off to the Brewers, but his exit from this rotation has opened the way for the young crop of pitchers to show their stuff. We cannot wait to see a rotation that will include Romero, Morrow, Cecil, Drabek and probably Litsch or Rzepczynski. There are also a slew of other young arms that could crack this order or, in the least, give the Jays a tremendous amount of depth. Five years from now, we could say that we saw these future (or imminent) group of All-Stars when they started to really show their stuff - nPo 4 Life!

2. The Young Sluggers: no one is expecting the Jays to surpass the truly incredible team homerun total from last year, but we fans should have even more bashing to look forward to this year. The original ‘Lunchbox Hero’ Travis Snider will hopefully have an injury free year to hit some long ball, joined by J.P Arencibia and many of the usual suspects from last year – including the reigning MLB HR King Jose Bautista. We also have the young Canuck Brett Lawrie to look forward to who should get at least a partial season under his belt this year – and maybe more.

3. The John Farrell Crew: the Blue Jays new manager is 'new' at being the head honcho, but his resume speaks for itself – not least of which is his time as the pitching coach for the Red Sox. He has surrounded himself with many of the coaches - Dwayne Murphy for example - who have been pivotal in developing/improving the play of key players, as well as having former Cy Young winner Pat Hentgen in the bullpen, and a former catcher and manager – Don Wakamatsu – on the bench. Granted, fans generally don’t get excited about coaching per se, but this coaching staff will should guarantee the consistent improvement of a young crew throughout the year – which is exciting for true fans to watch.

4. Some Small Ball: loved the long ball last year, but Farrell has already said he expects to see a little small ball as well – the ability to generate those extra bases via steals or aggressive base running, bunting, hit and run plays – and this will make for some truly entertaining days at the park. Alex Anthopoulos has added some tools to the roster to make this possible – like Rajai Davis (probable leadoff hitter?) and Scott Podsednik (injury aside). I grew up with lots of love for Cito – I am nostalgic for the glory years – and even have an autographed Cito Gaston card – but I am looking forward to seeing a more ‘active’ manager and the psychology involved in small ball which adds another layer to the game.

5. The Twitter-sphere: last but not least – let’s get excited about this young group of guys and their willingness to engage with fans. No doubt social media and modern athletes don’t always mesh – and the recent history is already littered with bonehead decisions – too many to mention – but it seems these ‘New Jays’ are willing to take their chances and stay connected. So take them up on their offer – and get connected! Get online and follow @blawrie13, @jparencibia9, @CEC0208, and @RickyRo24. And don’t forget Travis Snider - who has given himself the moniker @Lunchboxhero45. So come on sports fans, let’s get behind our ‘Lunchbox Heroes’ and watch the beginning of the next great era in Blue Jay Baseball.

The Death of the NBA - Why the Owners & Players Can’t See the Forest for the Trees

Hold on tight if you are a true basketball fan because we are witnessing the demise of an entire league

The NBA is on the road to whatever the opposite of parity is (disparity that is) and it will put any true fans in a state of despair. It did not begin with LeBron James’ decision debacle but that surely amplified what is ruining professional basketball for the true fan.

We now have a league where players are deciding the composition of the roster (see Miami Heat), players under contract negotiating with owners from other teams in the MIDDLE OF THE SEASON (see Carmelo Anthony) and players essentially deciding which teams and markets are worth playing for. This will continue with Chris Paul making his way to New York in the offseason, and Dwight Howard finding his way out of Orlando. And the owners can certainly share in the blame for not only being complacent while this is occurring, but facilitating it and actively participating in it.

This is destroying the competition fans crave. This is telling fans in a majority of NBA cities that their support is useless. This has to end. The landscape of the NBA has to change so that a majority of teams, at any given point, can compete for a playoff spot and subsequently, be competitive in the playoffs.

It is worth outlining the opposing argument to this view. Some would say that players’ have earned this right and that they are merely exercising powers that anyone else in their position would in order to look out for their best interests. I agree. They are doing a great job of looking out for their interests. Players want to win championships, increase their visibility and hence marketability, and play in regions with lower taxes, and maybe warmer weather. But the problem is that when a person or group is looking out for only their interests with no regard for the interests of the entity that gives them the opportunity to make a living – they are failing to see the forest for the trees and may actually be killing the forest. If there are less viable and thriving markets as a whole, this will lead to less teams, less money and less merchandising dollars, period. With the expansion professional sports leagues have experienced in recent decades, ensuring the viability of these expanding markets seems to have been forgotten – and this problem is ruining the product - particularly in the NBA.

Critics would also say that along as a team is winning, players will want to come such as in San Antonio – but San Antonio is the exception not the rule. You cannot build a thriving system around an exception. Also, if star players continue to make their way to ‘better’ markets, there will be no talent to build around in other cities. Sure, fans in Miami are thrilled, but a league cannot exist with L.A., Boston, New York and Miami alone. Owners and management are to blame as well though, and one has to wonder what they have to gain by allowing this to be occurring right under their noses.

Regardless, the person entrusted with seeing the forest and not the trees – the person entrusted with worrying about the game as a whole is the commissioner David Stern, in conjunction with the Board of Governors. David Stern saved this league once, and true fans who notice what is going on are waiting to see what he’ll do now. Ideas floating around include a franchise tag on certain players, or cap exceptions for one star player on every team. I know many of us true fans are waiting to see how this plays out in the coming year, before star players and ignorant owners clear-cut all the trees without planting the seeds for the future forest.