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		<title>Finding Meaning on the Pitcher&#8217;s Mound</title>
		<link>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2017/03/12/finding-meaning-on-the-pitchers-mound/</link>
		<comments>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2017/03/12/finding-meaning-on-the-pitchers-mound/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 12 Mar 2017 10:54:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Isaac Boloten]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[baseball]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=9436</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Editor&#8217;s note: In a bit of a departure from our normal fare, Isaac Boloten has decided to share one of his own stories about how the game of baseball can affect our lives in unexpected ways. I am as awkward as they come. No matter the endeavour, I always bring a little bit of weirdness to [&#8230;]]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><em>Editor&#8217;s note: In a bit of a departure from our normal fare, Isaac Boloten has decided to share one of his own stories about how the game of baseball can affect our lives in unexpected ways.</em></p>
<p>I am as awkward as they come.</p>
<p>No matter the endeavour, I always bring a little bit of weirdness to the table. As the last man off the bench for my basketball team, my entrance into the game is often met by the watchful eyes of people wondering how hilariously I’ll screw up. Whenever I was given a chance to hit for my baseball team, every pitch I took was followed by giggles from my dugout regarding the unorthodox way I load up for my swing. If I was lucky enough to get on base, the mere thought of me attempting to slide gave everyone at the park a good chuckle.</p>
<p>If I had to characterize this persona, I’d say it resembles a cross between Hunter Pence and Joe Biagini, but with significantly less coordination and athletic ability. And I’ve embraced it.</p>
<p>Obviously if it were possible, I would rather be smooth, seamlessly outgoing, and have an idea of what to do with my hands in a photograph (seriously, if anyone knows, let me know). But I have accepted that this is who I am and I may as well make the best of the unorthodox gifts I’ve been given.</p>
<p>I’ve been able to come to terms with myself because there has always been one place where all of the weirdness is eliminated.</p>
<p>The pitcher’s mound.</p>
<p>When I’m on the mound, I live in an alternate reality where I can be taken completely seriously. I can live in a world in which I can slide into second base and take ball 3 without playful ridicule. The moments on the mound where I have had success have been some of the most exhilarating thrills of my life.</p>
<p>At some point last winter, that went away. I started to feel tightness in my shoulder during a bullpen session. I noticed my fastball was down a few ticks and I wasn’t getting quite the same pop I usually had. These things happen routinely as a pitcher. Sometimes all it takes is a day or two off and you’re right back to where you need to be. This had been the case for every other injury scare I had been through before.</p>
<p>By the time spring rolled around, the pain still hadn’t subsided, so I grew frustrated and decided it was probably time to go see a specialist. My original diagnosis was a shoulder impingement, a fairly common injury for a pitcher. This came as somewhat of a relief; the way doctors described the condition indicated that the recovery would be a breeze. “Impingement” was generally preceded by the word “only” or “just”. I “only” had to see the specialist once per week. I “just” had to do some strengthening exercises daily to build my endurance back up. These were light tasks, and I completed them diligently.</p>
<p>Diligence doesn’t come easily to a 17-year-old who specializes in procrastination, but when it came to something as important as getting back on the mound, the work seemed elementary. This is why I was so disheartened when the treatment was “complete,” and I still felt tremendous pain with every pitch. The specialist had nothing new for me. I was told to just keep going with the treatment, payments, and exercises for another month. This process was repeated until the entire season passed me by.</p>
<p>A whole year. Gone.</p>
<p>When I tried to throw again during fall ball, it was a challenge just to get the ball to the plate, let alone do it with any sort of precision. It was at this point I decided the status quo was unacceptable. I needed an MRI.</p>
<p>I received my results last week. As it turns out, I have a torn labrum and will be undergoing surgery in May.</p>
<p>The first thing I did upon hearing my diagnosis was run a Google search for “torn labrum baseball.” The results were a wide range of articles detailing how terrible the injury is, coming in hot with headlines like “the career-ender” and “the most feared injury in baseball”. These headlines are not without substance. The success rate on coming back from labral tears is extremely low in professional baseball. And that low rate deals with players who are in peak physical shape and whose incentive to come back is astronomically high. There are millions of dollars on the line, with families to support and livelihoods to tend to, not to mention professional rehab facilities.</p>
<p>For me, the stakes are not nearly as high. I have never come close to being able to make a career out of playing baseball. Scouts have never given me a second look, regardless of the numbers I was putting up. My life without baseball this past summer was certainly different, but at the end of the day, I survived. And yet I couldn’t get over my diagnosis. I have been completely broken up since, unable to take my mind off of the possibility of never pitching again. I have been forced to think about why I’ve been such a wreck.</p>
<p>Why do I care so much? Tirelessly mulling over the answer to that question has led me to a conclusion of which I was not previously aware of.</p>
<p>When I am on the mound, I am alone, 60 feet, 6 inches away from home plate with a clean slate.</p>
<p>The batter is not aware that when I speak to someone whom I have a desire to impress, the English language becomes foreign to me.</p>
<p>He doesn’t know that I shake and turn a potent shade of red whenever I make an important presentation.</p>
<p>All the batter knows is that I’m right-handed, and about 5’10’’. That’s it.</p>
<p>There’s a certain beauty in being able to make a first impression. The mound gives me the opportunity to recreate myself over and over. There, I can earn actual, unironic respect. Off the mound, this respect is harder to come by than you’d think.</p>
<p>For that reason, I will do whatever it takes to beat the odds.</p>
<p>I need to get back to the only place where my performance is the sole determinant of my character. The only place where I feel as if my presence is met with complete sincerity.</p>
<p>I will once again stand 60 feet, 6 inches away.</p>
<p><em>Lead Photo: © Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports</em></p>
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		<title>This Week in Blue Jays: Playing Meaningful September Baseball</title>
		<link>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/09/04/this-week-in-blue-jays-playing-meaningful-september-baseball/</link>
		<comments>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/09/04/this-week-in-blue-jays-playing-meaningful-september-baseball/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 04 Sep 2016 11:39:53 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jenn Smith]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[This Week in Blue Jays]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[baseball]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[blue jays]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[playoffs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[september]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=6268</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[For the second year in a row, as August fades and the first hint of autumn weather signals the end of summer, the conversation has once again turned to that of meaningful baseball in September for the Toronto Blue Jays. Meaningful September baseball. If you haven’t done so already, let that sink in for a [&#8230;]]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>For the second year in a row, as August fades and the first hint of autumn weather signals the end of summer, the conversation has once again turned to that of meaningful baseball in September for the Toronto Blue Jays.</p>
<p>Meaningful September baseball. If you haven’t done so already, let that sink in for a minute.</p>
<p>So many years of having nothing to look forward to in September, save for playing spoiler to whichever teams were still fighting for a playoff spot. Despite having all the love in the world for a team, to be a fan of one that ends every season simply playing out the string is a tedious existence. And yet, here we are, two games into meaningful September baseball, still (tied for) first in the division, and it feels as though there is so much with which to be concerned.</p>
<p>And, I totally get it. After the exhilaration of last season’s unexpected division championship and playoff run, during which both the opposition and this fan base were absolutely blown away by the juggernaut that was this team’s offense, this season has had a very different vibe. While the Jays have already been blown out the same number of times as all of last season (12 games), they have won just 25 game by five or more runs (with 27 games remaining) compared to blowing out other teams 37 times in 2015. Rather than leading the league in runs as they did last season, the Jays are fourth in the majors and second in the AL East behind the one team that could potentially oust them from first. Their +99 run differential is nowhere close to the +221 run differential of last season, despite having mostly the same lineup. In other words, the Jays are winning in a less spectacular fashion than last season, leaving little room for error when the bats turn cold as they have a number of times the last few week and, in turn.</p>
<p>Yet, they have just one fewer win than they did after 135 games last season. Bolstered by an improved pitching staff that leads the American League and is fifth in the majors with a 3.81 team ERA, thanks primarily by their starting rotation, which has a combined ERA of 3.72 entering yesterday’s game, the Jays have simply found other ways to win. It&#8217;s not nearly as much fun to watch as last season, however, and with the Red Sox hitting the cover off the ball, being tied for first feels like a very tenuous position in which to be.</p>
<p>Entering the month of September, the gambling site Bovada <a href="http://news.nationalpost.com/sports/mlb/oddsmakers-have-toronto-blue-jays-fourth-in-line-among-world-series-favourites" target="_blank">listed the Jays as being the fourth favourite</a> to win the World Series at 15-to-2 odds, behind the Cubs (3-to-1), Nationals (11-to-2) and Rangers (13-to-2). The Jays are also favoured to win the AL East at 10-to-11 odds in comparison to 8-to-5 odds for the Red Sox. <a href="http://pfm16.baseballprospectus.com/odds/" target="_blank">Baseball Prospectus</a> places the Jays&#8217; odds of making the playoffs at 90.6% with a 48.8% shot at the division title. As <a href="https://theringer.com/just-a-heads-up-the-blue-jays-are-still-awesome-3c70989ebc81#.jv3hk0wro" target="_blank">Michael Baumann of The Ringer</a> writes, over the first four months of the season, the Jays spend four days tied for or in sole possession of first; they spent the month of August leading the division for 26 of 31 days.</p>
<p>That’s little consolation to fans who have watched this offense struggle to score runs against the Rays and Angels while surrendering a ton of runs to the Twins. Such inconsistency is, simply put, both frustrating and worrisome, especially when the Red Sox just keep mashing. In his most recent piece for The Score, Simon Sharkey-Gotlieb <a href="http://www.thescore.com/news/1080994" target="_blank">looked at the contenders&#8217; schedules</a> for the remainder of the season. Entering September, the Jays had ten games remaining versus sub-.500 teams while the Red Sox had nine (two of which have been played by each team &#8211; the Jays&#8217; two losses to the Rays and the Sox&#8217;s two wins against the Athletics). Conversely, the Jays will play 19 games versus teams at or above .500, compared to 20 for Boston.</p>
<p>Twenty-two of the Jays&#8217; remaining games are within the division with 16 on the road, while the Red Sox will play 23 against division rivals with 19 road games. Three of those are in San Diego, where Big Papi will either have to play the field or not at all. While the Jays have a slight edge in terms of scheduling, the most likely scenario is that it will take the six games that the two teams have remaining against one another that will decide the division. In their thirteen previous games this season, the Jays have won seven, suggesting that the race really is too close to call.</p>
<p>I&#8217;m not going to lie. I&#8217;m not comfortable with where the Jays are right now. Anything less than another division championship would feel like a disappointment, and, quite frankly, the thought of a possible one-and-done wild card game is something for which I am not prepared. But, this feeling, this passion, this angst, could not exist without meaningful baseball in September. And, while I&#8217;m not at all comfortable with the position in which the Jay are currently, it sure as hell beats all those years of having nothing to play for in September.</p>
<p>Quick Hits:</p>
<ul>
<li>Though his on-field contributions are on display nightly, it can be easy to forget the impact that a veteran player such as Troy Tulowitzki has behind the scenes. While we&#8217;ve heard stories about he and Josh Donaldson sitting around discussing hitting, his <a href="https://www.thestar.com/sports/bluejays/2016/09/02/the-education-of-the-blue-jays-marcus-stroman.html" target="_blank">mentorship</a> of Marcus Stroman is perhaps more notable. The two have become quite close, with Tulowitzki taking the sophomore under his wing to help him navigate the ups and downs of 162-game season. Quite frankly, we probably all could use some life advice from Troy Tulowitzki.</li>
<li>Seventeen year old Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who <a href="http://jaysjournal.com/2016/09/02/vladimir-guerrero-jr-wraps-strong-first-season-blue-jays/?utm_source=dlvr.it&amp;utm_medium=twitter" target="_blank">played with the Bluefield Blue Jays</a> in the Appalachian League this season, ended the year with a .271 batting average and .808 OPS with eight home runs, 46 RBI and 64 hits in 276 plate appearances. There’s no doubt he’s built for power, but has yet to settle into a defensive position – he made eight errors in 113 chances at third base. Though he’s a long way off from making his major league debut, he is no doubt someone to follow as he ascends the minor league ranks.</li>
<li>Conversations with Cabbie may just be the most entertaining of all. This one in particular, in which our boys in blue discuss their <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqfyfu_lHyk" target="_blank">&#8220;main gloves&#8221; and their &#8220;side gloves&#8221;</a>, is so full of innuendo that, well, we can&#8217;t be entirely sure they were talking about gloves.</li>
<li>And, finally. In case you somehow missed it, Sportsnet’s Barry Davis filled time Thursday night by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ozifh-65sVE&amp;feature=youtu.be%20" target="_blank">writing and recording a song</a> in honour of reliever Joe Biagini, who was given a chance to <a href="http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/hurricane-barry-writes-song-biagini/%20" target="_blank">react while the cameras were rolling</a>. It&#8217;s the latest in an ongoing series of delightfully awkward interactions between the two that has made for one of the more lighthearted side stories of the season.</li>
</ul>
<p><em>Lead Photo: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports</em></p>
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