RealGM

It's inevitable, for the first time since 1993 the Toronto Blue Jays will be in the playoffs!

why do people keep calling the wildcard game the playoffs though.

For explanation: https://www.reddit.com/r/baseball/comments/3mf6ak/the_toronto_blue_jays_have_clinched_a_playoff_spot/

The Jays need one of the Rangers/Astros/Angels to get to 75 losses to clinch. Angels are at 74, Astros at 73 and Rangers at 69.
Astros and Rangers are playing each other right now in a 3 game set, so one of them has to lose 2 games. If the Astros reach 75 losses (2 more losses) thats one way for the Jays to clinch, so the Astros have to win at least 2 and win the rest of their games, giving them 74 losses.
Then lets move to the Angels vs Rangers series the next weekend.
Minimum is the Rangers are at 71 losses from 2 losses in Astros series. They are playing a 4 game set against the Angels though, and since the Angels are at 74 losses the Angels cannot lose another game. So the Angels sweep the Rangers, but then the Ragers have 75 losses. But if the Rangers win at least one game then the Angels have 75 losses.
So although its a bit complicated, the Jays are guaranteed a playoff spot.

Boogie! wrote:why do people keep calling the wildcard game the playoffs though.

Why do people call the ALDS and ALCS the playoffs. Real baseball ends after the regular season and goes directly into the World Series.

The Major League Baseball postseason is an elimination tournament held after the conclusion of the MLB regular season.

It's a game after the conclusion of the regular season. It's a playoff game. Just because it's a one-off doesn't make it less of a reality.

Boogie! wrote:why do people keep calling the wildcard game the playoffs though.

Well, technically it is. It's just a one game crapshoot instead of the usual 5-7 gamers. I suppose one could choose to look at it like the Tuesday play-in games in the NCAA tournament, but it does give us a shot at the WS for the first time since 1993 and that's a great thing.

Like the team, though, I'll save any celebrations for if/when we win the division and there's obviously still work to be done in that regard.

Haven't been on the forums for a while so I'm curious whether any of the more vocal opponents of clearing out the farm for this run in the present have vocally come around as enjoying this ride since? Anybody come around? Anybody feel that even just seeing the Jays in this race again after so many years of irrelevance has made the decision worth it?

As a more casual fan it seems like anything that happens next is a bonus. Seems to me that this run has completely reinvigorated the franchise and baseball fans accross the country regardless of what happens next.

Double Helix wrote:Haven't been on the forums for a while so I'm curious whether any of the more vocal opponents of clearing out the farm for this run in the present have vocally come around as enjoying this ride since? Anybody come around? Anybody feel that even just seeing the Jays in this race again after so many years of irrelevance has made the decision worth it?

As a more casual fan it seems like anything that happens next is a bonus. Seems to me that this run has completely reinvigorated the franchise and baseball fans accross the country regardless of what happens next.

I was against the Price trade at the time because I didn't think they could make up so many games. I'm of course enjoying the ride but there's still that part of me that knows there's probably more bad than good ahead of us.

I think the moment this team slips again the fans will leave. Unfortunately we're a bandwagon fan base and everyone that's suddenly a diehard fan won't be around if this team struggles next year. I don't think the fan base has been reinvigorated. I think they're riding the wave of a team finally doing well. It's just like the Raptors. Suddenly we had the best fans in the NBA and everyone I knew was suddenly a huge Raptors fan. Since that Nets series it's been pretty quiet. Don't think I've talked much Raps with anyone since January.

That was the issue I took with personal friends calling me too pessimistic about the deal. To be fair two of them were proper diehards but the rest are casuals who I know will never talk Jays again once this run ends.

Double Helix wrote:Haven't been on the forums for a while so I'm curious whether any of the more vocal opponents of clearing out the farm for this run in the present have vocally come around as enjoying this ride since? Anybody come around? Anybody feel that even just seeing the Jays in this race again after so many years of irrelevance has made the decision worth it?

As a more casual fan it seems like anything that happens next is a bonus. Seems to me that this run has completely reinvigorated the franchise and baseball fans accross the country regardless of what happens next.

I was against selling the farm but I am definitely enjoying the ride. If the Jays make a deep run in the playoffs then that would make the trades palatable.

I am worried about the ability if this team to sustain success. But with the Beest gone, the recent success, and increased fan support and viewer ratings- I hope this translates to more money and longer contracts that AA can use to attract good talent while rebuilding the farm.

Jinx thread?

It's confirmed on mlb.com
http://m.bluejays.mlb.com/news/article/151749062

Santoki wrote:I think the moment this team slips again the fans will leave. Unfortunately we're a bandwagon fan base and everyone that's suddenly a diehard fan won't be around if this team struggles next year.

Of course people will stop caring if we start sucking again, but that's the case with every other team too.

How many crappy teams can boast about good attendance? Half the stadiums in the league are empty. Yankee stadium has been empty pretty much every night since they lost the division lead. The bandwagon phenomena isn't exclusive to Toronto.

Jays clinch their first playoffs in 22 years, on my birthday.

I don't consider Wilcard playoffs, even though officially it is. I consider it a CHANCE at the playoffs. Real playoffs are at least 3 games in my mind.

Double Helix wrote:Haven't been on the forums for a while so I'm curious whether any of the more vocal opponents of clearing out the farm for this run in the present have vocally come around as enjoying this ride since? Anybody come around? Anybody feel that even just seeing the Jays in this race again after so many years of irrelevance has made the decision worth it?

As a more casual fan it seems like anything that happens next is a bonus. Seems to me that this run has completely reinvigorated the franchise and baseball fans accross the country regardless of what happens next.

I was always going to enjoy whatever happened, but we're still some distance from knowing whether it was a good idea. How our ownership reacts to a commercial windfall will answer a lot of questions.

We'll know whether this was worth it by November.

AA gambled hard. And I don't think he was shooting just for the playoffs. So we'll see where the dice rolls for AA's big play in the next month. It's one of the biggest "All In" gambles by a Toronto sports GM in decades, something that is both terrifying and exhilarating. Because of this city's awful sports luck, we're trained to want to play it safe. Draft well, think of the future, make low risk trades, don't lose great players for nothing, etc,. We're not used to Toronto executives throwing all our chips in for a boom or bust future--we're used to either treadmilling or selling hope.

I know some of the pics of the celebrations are posted in the series thread, but just wanted to comment here on how I just love watching celebrations like these. There's no other sport where clinching a playoff spot is celebrated like winning a championship (obviously because its so hard to make the playoffs) and I love it! The interesting part of these is because they happen in September with Sept call-ups, so you see guys celebrating that didnt really contribute much to the season but at least they get to celebrate!

This brings back so many memories of when I was 12 years old watching these same type of celebrations in 1992-93. I was just a kid back then with no internet so the only way we can watch these are during the several sports news broadcasts (back then TSN was the only place really to follow sports). So I can't believe that 23 years later, I still have some of these clear images in my head that I'll never forget:

- I remember in 1992 they Jays clinched at a home game in SkyDome. It was the 3rd time in 4 years that they won the pennant (2nd straight year for the White/Alomar/Carter core) so it wasn't really much craziness for guys like White, Alomar and Carter. I remember seeing Devon White's family coming on to the field to give him hug and kisses.

- As I see guys like Kawasaki today having so much fun and going crazy, this reminds me of a young Derek Bell when also in 1992, he was so fricking happy and excited, he ran around the bases and slid home a few times. I was 12 and remember laughing so hard watching that because it was so random. Now, we know that Derek Bell did have somewhat of a role in the post season for the Jays like when he pinch-hit in a WS game and took a walk, setting up for another rookie pinch hitter Ed Sprague to hit the homerun off closer Reardon. Unfortunately, Kawasaki will likely not be on the post season roster so lets enjoy watching his cheerleading now (correct me if I'm wrong - if you're not on the post-season roster, you can't dress and be on the bench/clubhouse?)

- Another hilarious memory I have is I remember spotting one of the September call-ups in 1992, Domingo Martinez, who obviously has no friends on the team and really has nothing to celebrate being "just a Sept call-up" and he just standing by his locker alone (media didnt care for guys like him) with a huge champagne bottle in his hand after chugging it all by himself.

ahhh...good times man....GOOD TIMES. Lets do this again in a few days after the East is clinched!

EDIT: Here's a link to videos of today's celebrations...hilarious!
http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/bigger-celebrations-await-playoff-bound-blue-jays/

93?

Didn't know it was that long.

Gratz. Well deserved.

After watching the celebrations of the Jays winning the WILDCARD, I think I'm starting to understand why KC benched EIGHT guys the day after they clinched the division.

The division celebration is going to be insane just based off those videos...

Santoki wrote:

Double Helix wrote:Haven't been on the forums for a while so I'm curious whether any of the more vocal opponents of clearing out the farm for this run in the present have vocally come around as enjoying this ride since? Anybody come around? Anybody feel that even just seeing the Jays in this race again after so many years of irrelevance has made the decision worth it?

As a more casual fan it seems like anything that happens next is a bonus. Seems to me that this run has completely reinvigorated the franchise and baseball fans accross the country regardless of what happens next.

I was against the Price trade at the time because I didn't think they could make up so many games. I'm of course enjoying the ride but there's still that part of me that knows there's probably more bad than good ahead of us.

I think the moment this team slips again the fans will leave. Unfortunately we're a bandwagon fan base and everyone that's suddenly a diehard fan won't be around if this team struggles next year. I don't think the fan base has been reinvigorated. I think they're riding the wave of a team finally doing well. It's just like the Raptors. Suddenly we had the best fans in the NBA and everyone I knew was suddenly a huge Raptors fan. Since that Nets series it's been pretty quiet. Don't think I've talked much Raps with anyone since January.

That was the issue I took with personal friends calling me too pessimistic about the deal. To be fair two of them were proper diehards but the rest are casuals who I know will never talk Jays again once this run ends.

Your intuition is probably right. So just enjoy the ride. Live in the moment. So much crap we have endured through the years that we all forgot how to.