Welcome back, oh how I missed thee

Okay, I’m all in.

It’s been a long time since I’ve been this excited for baseball season. Actually, a real long time … probably since the late 1990s. That’s what happens when you’re a Toronto Blue Jays fan.

I was spoiled growing up. Toronto was always in the hunt for the American League East and ended up buyers at the trading deadline. They actually won the World Series … not once, but twice! Those were the days.

The season actually extended past June 30. Then sometime around 1996, the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox decided to flex their financial muscles.

It began with Roberto Alomar leaving … for more money. Then Shawn Green was traded … because Toronto couldn’t afford him. And Pat Hentgen was traded … because Toronto couldn’t afford him. Then Carlos Delgado left … for more money.

Somehow the championship script was flipped, and I was left holding a bunch of outdated Toronto garb while my friends enjoyed playoff runs with their teams.

The Raul Mondesi years were not fun.

I guess I should blame Pat Gillick, the architect of the Blue Jays somewhat dynasty. He left and ended up turning Seattle into a 100-win team and then gave hungry Philadelphia fans a successful run they’re still enjoying … deservedly so. Nice ace pitcher you have there.  

I received some relief and brief excitement during the Vernon Wells and Roy Halladay era. But that didn’t last long, and I’m not talking season-by-season … rather in-season. It was a time when I grudgingly got interested in April, briefly excited in May and nervous in June. By July – usually as a result of a three-game sweep at the hands of the Yankees or Red Sox – the Blue Jays were essentially out of it. I’d be left with four weeks of heat, humidity and boredom until NFL training camp.

But this year is different. I feel it. Maybe due to the fact Toronto has actually gone back – sort of –to its old uniform style (circa early 1990s). And I’m liking it. Holy Fred McGriff … I’m getting giddy! 


- Jaime North