Thoughts from a guy who likes Baseball.....Field Trip to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame!

Back on January 16th I was lucky enough to get guided tour of the Canadian Baseball hall of Fame in St. Marys with it's Director Scott Crawford.  For a guy who loves baseball like I do, I felt like a kid in a candy store with sauce pan eyes on Christmas morning for those few hours on that cold Saturday morning.

I can't really explain why I enjoy baseball as much as I do, but I do know that one of the things that I cherish is the history that is ever entangled within it.   It's easy to go through the History of baseball and understand why it's considered "America's Past Time", but for Canadians who love the game it's important to realize that within our boarders the game has had it's own rich history. If you ever have the chance to visit the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in St. Marys you need to!

Here are my top 5 (no particular order) favorite things I saw at the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame!

• Home Plate from the 93 World Series -   So cool.  I can't imagine that I was the 1st person to put their foot on the plate, but I felt like a bad ass doing so!

• Tom Henke's Plaque -  Tom Henke was my idol when I was 7 years old.  When I started playing baseball I was a pitcher and I threw harder than all the other kids so for some reason my 1st coach always called me "The Terminator".   I guess this really just brought me back to being a kid! 

• Lucky Toonie Under the Mound -  I guess the guy who is in charge of Marketing for the Blue Jays and the Grounds Crew from this past year were intuitive enough to place a lucky Toonie under the mound at the start of the season in 2015 and then it was donated to the HOF.  It was pretty neat to see how beat up it got over the course of the year.

• Babe Ruth Corner -  Most people don't realize that "The Babe" had a connection to baseball in Canada so it was awesome to see a little area in the hall dedicated to Ruth.  Best thing was they actually had a replica of a Ruth Bat just to feel what it was like.  Let me tell you...I have no clue how he didn't throw a shoulder out by swinging a 54 ounce bat around. 

• Picture of Toronto Maple Leaf Stadium -  I love old stadiums and even seeing a picture of what it would have been like to watch baseball in a place like it gives me chills.  

There is so much history in the Hall that I couldn't possibly talk about all the cool things that pack the walls!  The 5 things above are simply the things that stood out to me the most. One of the most incredible aspects of this museum is that no matter who goes to visit, no matter how old/young, no matter their baseball knowledge, they will find something to connect with.  This is truly an inspiring place to visit. 

Here are a few more picture from the trip!

 

I need to say Thank you to Scott at the HOF for taking the time out of your weekend to let us wander around and ask many questions that i'm sure you've been asked before! Your hospitality was greatly appreciated. 

The trip actually wouldn't have been possible without my extremely thoughtful and loving Wife who once again went above and beyond to get me the perfect Christmas present.  Amy you never cease to amaze!  ##1WIFEEVER #REALMVP

5 Thoughts on Toronto Blue Jays Baseball! - Off-seasonTrades - They've been Storen these up!

So The Toronto Blue Jays made a Trade!  I almost forgot what it was like to have Blue Jays news that was worthwhile talking about! :)  So yes!  The Blue Jays Acquired Arnold Leon from the Oakland Athletics for Cash or a PTBNL.  Oh yes the good old PTBNL.  It's probably gonna be Drew Storen going back to the A's for this one!........Cause Drew Storen is now a Blue Jay!  Awesomeness...

5 Thoughts on the recent commotion in Blue Jays land...Here we go...

1.  So with the Blue Jays pulling the trigger on the Trade that sent good old Benny Fresh Revere to the Former Montreal Expos for Drew Storen. The Blue Jays look to have themselves quite the Bullpen!  Let's just say for fun that Aaron Sanchez is still in the bullpen come April.  Having a back end that consists of Cecil, Sanchez, Storen and Osuna we are looking at a pretty well rounded pen that could (I would like to stress the "could" part there) be among the best in the AL.

2.  Like many others I am a little sad that Ben Revere had to go in the trade, but you have to give to get and I don't think I could really see the Jays be willing to part with any of their younger talent in order to try to shore up the bullpen so unfortunately a very nice piece in Revere had to move.  Truth is I don't think we ever really got to see Revere's best asset used.  Given the construct of the Jays Lineup Revere's speed was something that never really shined...too bad..Not many more exciting plays then seeing guys steal bases IMO.

3. With Revere leaving the Band (Just actually looked it up and a group of Blue Jays are referred to as a band)  the talk among many Blue Jay Fan circles has been around who is going to take over the lead off spot in the lineup.  1st off i'm of the mind that the lead off guy only really matters in the 1st inning of a game and after that it's pretty much anybody's game.  That being said the guy who bats 1st in your line up will always get up more than anyone else on your team and I would like that guy who gets more at bats than anyone else to be one of the better hitters on team.   TULO for Leadoff!  Say what you want that he didn't like hitting there, but go back and look at their record with him hitting leadoff...Just saying

4.  With this departure there is also an opening in Left Field, but because the Jays were dealing from a somewhat position of depth the Blue Jays will look to probably have one of Michael Saunders or Dalton Pompey paroling LF in April.  I'm of two minds on this...One I think Michael Saunders is the better baseball player at this given moment and would provide the 2016 Blue Jays will a more reliable option for a season where they are "Going for it" again, however With the trade of Ben Revere, and both Joey Bats and Michael Saunders being FA's in 2017 the Blue Jays OF after 2016 is looking scary and not in a good way!  So...with that said I could also be convinced that given Dalton Pompey the year to acquaint himself again to the Major League game in 2016 could ultimately lead to a better Blue Jays team going forward.

5. There's a rumor that also birthed into the world on Friday night that the Jays could be looking to trade RA Dickey!  Come on....I really can't see the Jays trading RAD.  Looking at their SP depth I can't see them counting on any of them to be able to give them what RAD has in regards to innings over the past 3 years!  Yes he's not the guy we all wanted him to be when the Blue Jays acquired him, but we needs guys who can pitch innings and given how the front office has handled themselves this off season so far I can't see how they would acquire someone to fill the role that RAD provides them...But hey I'm wrong a lot.

....Let's all agree that we are all Happy that the Blue Jays acquired Storen and not the other closer in Washington!