Things have been worse

I am completely guilty of being the eternal optimist; always looking on the bright side of things and trying to find the silver lining on what would otherwise be a bad situation. So just because the Toronto Blue Jays are in the midst of a six game losing streak, doesn’t mean that it’s time to lose all hope. The best suggestion I can offer up for the current situation is that things have actually been worse.

April 21st-26th, 2008: The Jays lose 6 straight games, including a sweep at the hands of the Tampa Bay Rays. During this period after being benched for one game, high-priced DH Frank Thomas decided he had enough, as the Jays and the Big Hurt parted ways.

May 9th-12th, 2008: If you thought a six game losing streak was bad, during the Jays road trip to Cleveland, there was a point where they had not scored a run for 31 consecutive innings. The bats finally came alive in the 10th inning on May 12th, but not before almost going three and a half games without having a single Blue Jay even touch home plate.


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June 14th-21st, 2008: Interleague play was not kind to the Blue Jays in 2008. After winning the series opener against the Chicago Cubs, the Jays dropped the next 7 straight games. Manager John Gibbons didn’t even make it out of the road trip alive, as he was canned shortly after the Blue Jays 1-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

May 1st-10th, 2007: This was a point in time where it seemed like nothing was going right for Toronto. The major casualty during this skid was Roy Halladay, as he was sent to the disabled list with appendicitis. Not only that, but the Jays lost 9 games straight. I remember that time vividly because I went on a week’s vacation, only to return and find out that the Jays still had not won a game.

There are many high points and low points throughout the 162 game MLB schedule. This just happens to be a low point for the Blue Jays right now. After standing perched at the top of the American League for so long, it seems like the Jays have been held to such high expectations that fans are willing to jump ship the minute that the waters start getting rough.

Let’s just keep in mind that the Blue Jays are NOT a sinking ship and Shea Hillenbrand learned that hard way that wasn’t true. So please grab a life jacket and weather the storm with us, won’t you?

Ian Hunter

Ian has been writing about the Toronto Blue Jays since 2007. He enjoyed the tail-end of the Roy Halladay era and vividly remembers the Alex Rodriguez "mine" incident. He'll also retell the story of Game 5 of the 2015 ALDS to his kids for the next 20 years.

4 thoughts on “Things <u>have</u> been worse

  • May 25, 2009 at 5:25 am
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    well said. it simply amazes me that during a 162 game season, people reach for the sharp objects because of a 6 game skid

  • May 25, 2009 at 4:28 pm
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    Since this amazing start, the Blue Jays have been up on a pedistal up above every team in the AL East. Now that they’ve come back down to earth a little bit, people are starting to freak out. Let’s all just take a moment to breathe and regroup. After all, the Jays are still only 1/2 a game out of first place.

  • May 26, 2009 at 12:11 am
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    Things got worse today. I don’t know if I can believe that the Beej can turn his shit around. At least not for a little while.

  • May 26, 2009 at 12:52 am
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    I’m with you Scott – Cito’s putting the Beej back into these high leverage situations to build his confidence back up but it’s not really working.

    Now it seems like nobody in the bullpen is safe anymore, all of the relievers except for Scott Downs have been lit up in the last few weeks.

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