MONDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2011
TORONTO SUN
Friday, November 18, 2011
BLUE JAYS UNVEIL LOGO
Ken Fidlin
TORONTO - In the fashion world, it is often said that everything old is eventually new again and, so it is, with the Jays’ latest generation of uniforms unveiled Friday at the Rogers Centre.
In a deliberate attempt to link the current renaissance of the Blue Jay brand with the glory years of the franchise, the team’s new duds are reminiscent of the ones they wore to back-to-back World Series titles in 1992 and 1993.
The Canadian maple leaf plays a prominent role in the logo that also brings back a bird virtually identical to the original that adorned Toronto’s uniforms for the first 20 years of the franchise.
Into the garbage goes the fearsome stylized “J” with the angry bird-head, the most recent of many logo iterations that have been used since last the Jays were a successful entity, both on the field and at the box office. Into the garbage, also, go the black and silver uniform tops that have been prominent the last few years.
“The blue is back in Blue Jays,” said team president Paul Beeston. “We’re not the Jays. We’re the Toronto Blue Jays. The blue is back throughout the logo.
“The red is back in it, too as signified by the maple leaf. It’s a very important part of our logo, our history and of what we represent. We represent Canada and we’re proud of it.”
The new logo also features the distinctive split lettering that was a part of the Blue Jay look from 1977 through 1997. It is also incorporated in the numerals on the backs of the uniform tops.
“What we want to do is connect the past with the future,” said Beeston. “We’re not about the past anymore. We are about where we’re going with the future. But we do want to celebrate the connection between the Doug Aults, the Ron Fairlys and the Bob Baylors, and the George Bells and the Dave Stiebs, and going on to Robbie Alomar and Joe Carter. And now it’s Jose and Ricky Romero along with the good group of players that Alex has in the minor leagues. They are all part of that.”
The Blue Jays spent two years tinkering with the logo and the uniforms, consulting with players, coaches, manager John Farrell and the marketing folks from Major League Baseball. The result is a logo that may seem a dead ringer for the earliest trademark that lasted for the first 20 years of the franchise.
“It’s been modernized,” said Beeston. “You look at this and say ‘We’ve seen that before. We saw this in 1976.’ Fact of the matter is, if you put them side-by-side, you will see the difference. It’s been modernized and energized and it’s going to take us to where we want to be.”
In the modern sports world, some teams change their uniforms as often as they change their socks. With the exception of iconic franchises like the Yankees, the Red Sox, the Cardinals and the Dodgers, marketers are always seeking ways of expressing new “direction” for their teams, while counting on fans to buy up the newest of the new.
The Jays will be looking, no doubt, to score at the cash register with these changes but they are also looking to get closer to their championship roots, creating a welcoming symbol to lure fans back to the ballpark.
Beeston doesn’t expect the trademark or the uniform to change significantly now that they have re-established this one.
“I don’t think it will change too much and I don’t think it should change too much. This mark has been around a long time and there’s been some success with that mark, so let’s keep it.”
While it may have been a two-year project, there was not a lot of debate over whether the team would go back to the original powder blues.
“It came up ... for a couple of seconds. It lacked a seconder,” said Beeston. “I don’t think it was a long discussion. We weren’t going back to the pullovers and the powder blue.”
When all is said and done, a logo or a uniform design isn’t going to put 50,000 fannies in the seats at Rogers Centre on a regular basis.
Winning games is the most direct route for that to happen and Alex Anthopoulos is working on that. Slowly — sometimes painfully-so — the pieces are falling in place but it’s an unpredictable process.
In fashion, they say the clothes make the man but in baseball, it’s the other way around. The new outfits will look just fine but they won’t have that special cachet until, in some future October, they are doused in champagne. Until then, they’re just so many empty shirts.
PIRATES CLAIM JAYS' CATCHER
Ken Fidlin
The Blue Jays added four top prospects to their 40-man roster Friday, but lost catcher Brian Jerolman on a waiver claim by the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The four prospects — catcher Travis d’Arnaud, pitcher Nestor Molina, first baseman Mike McDade and reliever Evan Crawford — all would have been vulnerable to the Rule 5 draft held in early December had the Jays not added them to the roster.
Pitcher Cole Kimball, who had been claimed by Toronto on waivers from the Washington Nationals on Wednesday, was claimed right back by the Nationals on Friday. Kimball, recovering from shoulder surgery, would not have been available to pitch until mid-summer next year, so the Jays had tried to get him through waivers, rather than use a roster spot.
The Jays also claimed RHP Andrew Crawford from San Diego. They now have 38 players on their 40-man roster, with several more changes to come this winter as they fill in their free agent losses.
TORONTO SUN
Saturday, November 19, 2011
REPORT: MLB TO BEGIN TESTING FOR HGH
Sports Network
New York, NY - Major League Baseball’s new collective bargaining agreement, which should be announced next week, will include blood testing for human growth hormone for the first time, according to a report.
Citing two people briefed on the matter, The New York Times said Saturday that MLB’s new labor deal will call for blood testing to begin when players report for spring training in February.
It will make MLB the first major North American sport to blood test unionized players. Baseball has tested minor league players since 2010 because it didn’t need the union’s consent.
The revelation comes more than five years after MLB commissioner Bud Selig told fans the league was ready to tackle the issue of HGH by funding a study.
In 2007, former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell unveiled a report on performance-enhancing drugs in MLB that detailed the league’s HGH problem.
The NFL’s new 10-year collective bargaining agreement was to include blood testing for HGH, but players eventually rejected the idea.
TORONTO STAR
Monday, November 21, 2011
MARINERS’ GREG HALMAN STABBED TO DEATH; BROTHER HELD
AP
ROTTERDAM, NETHERLANDS—Dutch police say Seattle Mariners outfielder Greg Halman has been stabbed to death and his brother has been arrested as a suspect.
Rotterdam Police spokeswoman Patricia Wessels says police were called to a home in the Dutch port city early Monday morning and found Halman bleeding from a stab wound.
The officers attempted unsuccessfully to resuscitate the 24-year-old.
Wessels says the officers arrested Halman's 22-year-old brother. In line with Dutch privacy rules, she declined to give his name.
She said the brother was being questioned by police.
Halman was born in Haarlem, Netherlands, about 20 kilometres outside Amsterdam.
TORONTO STAR
Friday, November 18, 2011
JAYS’ NEW LOOK A RETURN TO THE FRANCHISE’S ORIGINAL VALUES
Richard Griffin
In an invitation-only extravaganza on the playing field at the Rogers Centre, the Blue Jays introduced a new logo and new uniforms for 2012, with some of its star players as models.
The simple logo, somewhat retro in design, paid tribute to city, country and team history and should be well-received. The only issue now is for GM Alex Anthopoulos to put a winning team on the field.
Perhaps as the updated team slogan moving forward, the club could paraphrase Billy Crystal and his SNL character Fernando, claiming “It’s better to look good than to play good.”
The Jays invited a cross-section of corporate partners, advertisers and media, with the new design paying tribute to the original Blue Jay character from ’77, while incorporating all the other necessary trappings.
The circular patch features the Jays head over the red outline of a baseball, with Toronto in block letters above the bird and Blue Jays in the original uniform lettering below. And to make sure Canada is recognized, the logo shows a prominent red maple leaf on the right side, below the bird’s blue head plumage. Long-time fans of the Jays will be pleased.
Seven Jays came out modelling the seven different versions of the uniform, including the batting practice jerseys. The players were Jose Bautista, Adam Lind, Ricky Romero, Yunel Escobar, J.P. Arencibia, Brett Lawrie and Brandon Morrow.
The most noticeable thing about the seven versions was the return to blue and the absence of black, that someone long ago had decided was appealing to the younger fans. The most impressive new look was the uniform worn by Romero. It featured white pants and a blue alternate jersey.
The uniforms and the new logo are the club’s first important hit of the season, but won’t be its most important.
‘LOOKS LIKE THEY’VE CREATED A NEW CLASSIC’
Daniel Girard
The verdict on the Blue Jays’ new unis from local fashionistas:
“The new uniforms have a strong retro vibe. The new logo is sharp and does a nice job of incorporating the Canadian maple leaf without overwhelming the logo. Looks like they’ve created a new classic. Conversely, they played it pretty safe and calling this uniform ‘new’ is a stretch. . . . It’s fairly generic and I wouldn’t call it exciting.”
— Christopher Bates, Christopher Bates menswear
“This redesigned uniform does not break new ground. It’s not a radical new design, more a return to their heritage with the iconic blue colour and bringing back the name ‘Blue Jays.’ I love the sharp graphic blue jay logo with the red maple leaf but find the placement on the front of the jersey on the lower left a bit odd.”
Derick Chetty, Star fashion reporter
“I do like how they’ve gone back to the original logo, classic with a modern twist.”
— Melissa Austria, Founder of Gotstyle, The Menswear Store
“The Blue Jays’ re-brand has elements that will resonate with Toronto baseball fans of all generations. The team has gone back to identifying themselves with the iconic double blue colour palette, and is working to reinforce their connection as Canada’s team through details such as the prominent maple leaf.”
— Michael Budman, Roots Canada co-founder
TORONTO STAR
Saturday, November 19, 2011
PROMISING BASEBALL STARTS THAT NEVER PANNED OUT
Joseph Hall
Don’t feel bad for Blue Jays backstop J.P. Arencibia, who was utterly snubbed in the voting for American League rookie of the year honours last week. It may have been a blessing in diss-guise.
Arencibia, who hit 23 homers and 78 RBIs while steadily improving his performance behind the plate, did not receive a single nod from any of the 28 AL baseball scribes who bestow the best new arrival award.
But that freshman feting — won this year by Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Jeremy Hellickson — is in no way a harbinger of major league success. Indeed, like an appearance on the cover of a certain sports periodical, it seems to cast an ominous spell on many who earn it.
Oh sure, a few rookies of the year — 14 of 128 — have gone on to Cooperstown-worthy careers. And active laureates like Derek Jeter, Ichiro Suzuki and Albert Pujols will surely up that count.
But as any Jays fan who watched 2002 award winner Eric Hinske’s game tank afterwards, the top rookie ranks are replete with mediocrities and outright failures. A remarkable number of others, like Mark (The Bird) Fidrych and “Super” Joe Charboneau also suffered career-shortening injuries.
Not counting those wounded recipients, here’s a list of the top junior circuit rookies who failed to live up to their first-year promise.
DON SCHWALL
A 15-7 freshman season, coupled with a 3.22 era and 91 strikeouts, earned Schwall an all-star nod and rookie honours with the 1961 Red Sox. The Sox featured another newcomer that year by the name of Carl Yastrzemski. Yaz, of course, would go on to a Hall of Fame career. Schwall, not so much. Two losing seasons later, he found himself in the ’pen with the Pirates and was out of the game in the spring of 1967 with a 49-48 record and 408 Ks.
CURT BLEFARY
Hands up anyone who remembers Clank. So named by Baltimore teammate Frank Robinson for his foot-tied fielding, Blefary impressed enough at the plate for the Orioles in 1965 — clubbing 22 homers and 70 RBIs — to cop the AL rookie nod.
In seven subsequent seasons with a total of five teams, Blefary racked up just 90 more of the former and 312 of the latter while finishing with a .237 lifetime average.
Upon his untimely death in 2001, his ashes were scattered in Baltimore’s old Memorial Stadium, which was being demolished at the time. He never covered the stadium’s field more thoroughly.
RON KITTLE
Kittle could clearly kill the ball, bashing 35 homers and driving in 100 in his 1983 rookie year with the White Sox. But the popular player — who over his career landed an MLB record seven home runs on the roof of old Comiskey Park — soon proved that pop was all he had.
After his rookie of the year campaign, which also saw him named to his only all-star game, Kittle’s average plummeted while his strikeouts soared. He finished his career with a .239 average, along with 744 Ks to go with 176 homers. He never sniffed another 100-RBI season.
ALVIN DAVIS
Davis began with a bang for the woeful Mariners in 1984, reaching base in his first 47 games that season. But his 116 rookie RBIs would prove a high-water mark for his career and he’d only best his 27 home runs once, with 29 three seasons later.
PAT LISTACH
The young Brewer won the 1992 award solely on the basis of his speedy soles, swiping 54 bases that year. Oddly enough, another AL rookie by the name of Kenny Lofton would place a distant second in the voting, having handily outpaced Listach’s steal total by 11. Lofton would enjoy a 17-year all-star career and finish with 622 swipes. Listach would be out of baseball five years later with 116.
KAZUHIRO SASAKI
A 2000 AL “rookie” after a decade-long career in Japan, Sasaki was a bullpen ace with the Mariners, notching 129 saves in four seasons with the team. His departure after 2003, however, had little to do with his arm and a lot to do with his trousers, which he had trouble keeping zipped with his wife and children an ocean away. He asked to get out of his contract in 2004 when the infidelities came to light.
ERIC HINSKE
Ah, Eric. The Jays rewarded him for his 24 homer, 84 RBI, .279 season in 2002 with a five-year, $14.75 million contract. He repaid the team the following year with 12 homers, plunging RBIs and an anemic batting average. About the only thing he kept up was his bloated error count. Hinske managed to crack the 20-homer mark just once more, with exactly that many for Tampa Bay in 2008. Unlike the Jays, however, Hinske has made three World Series appearances, winning two rings as a utility player.
BOBBY CROSBY
In 2004, the Oakland A’s shortstop led all AL rookies with 130 hits and 34 doubles and that, along with his 22 homers and some slick fielding, made him a nearly unanimous choice for the award.
By 2009 he was a utility infielder. By 2010, he was out of the game.
TORONTO STAR
Sunday, November 20, 2011
NO WRONG CHOICE IN WIDE-OPEN AL MVP RACE
Blue Jay slugger Jose Bautista dominated the key offensive categories in 2011, but playing for a team that didn't make the post-season will likely hurt his MVP chances.
Richard Griffin
There are a couple of popular misconceptions about the procedure when it comes to MVP voting in major league baseball. The first is that there is an East Coast bias. The second is that voting is done after the playoffs and that a post-season nosedive can affect your status. Neither is true and as such there are 10 or more candidates for the American League award who deserve consideration on the 10-choice ballot.