A what point can we start to believe?

[CapeCrusader]

Its great to see them winning, especially with no leafs and no raps in the playoffs to cheer for. But untill we see them beating our the Yanks, Bo Sox and Rays then theres not much of a chance of doing much more this season.

[Macho]

I believe.

[Randle McMurphy]

Believe in what? We're playing great baseball and are still quite a bit behind the Rays and Yankees (vastly superior teams).

Take these games for what they are and enjoy them. Because there's 40+ games left against the Rays/Yankees/Red Sox where things will change.

[wicked_crossova]

4 and 2 games back is not "quite a bit behind".

[Schad]

4 and 2 games back is not "quite a bit behind".

It is when you're playing over your head by a considerable amount. That's the problem, I'm afraid; it's not just that we would have to keep up this torrid pace while playing tougher teams, it's that we'd have to play better. The threshold for a playoff spot may well be 97+ wins this year, and this isn't a 97+ win club in any universe.

Which is probably why I'm enjoying this season more than any in recent memory. In the past few years, there was a sliver of hope that we could make the playoffs if everything broke just right. We had Doc, so we had a chance (albeit an extraordinarily slight one), and that made the eventual collapses all the more painful. This year, there are no expectations, and absolutely no shot whatsoever at making the playoffs...I can enjoy each game and each improbable win without wondering ohmygodwhatdoesthismeancanwedoit!?, and instead focus on the fact that a high-strikeout, high-power, young-rotation team is incredibly entertaining to watch.

And when the losses come as they will, I can still be happy watching a bunch of schlubs do things that they have no business doing, knowing that we have kiddies on the way soon, and a pretty bright future if our GM is as hyper-competent as he appears to be.

[jalenrose#5]

I'm not a firm believer in teams competing for playoff spots or what not with two guys only averaging over .280. The teams on base percentage (OBP) .312 ranks them 25th in the league. Their team batting average .241 ranks them 24th.

Those two numbers right there are what I look for in a competitive team. You have to score 5-6 runs a game regularly, with good to decent pitching to make any sort of run.

Right now, the Jays need to focus on getting on base and making every at bat count. They are not going to keep this power stroke up for much longer so they need to bat smarter at the plate...and for **** sakes start running a little more on the basepaths. Also, the Jays pitching is really up in the air, who knows if this will last.

Look at where all the top teams are mostly..in both cats...right at the top...where's Toronto??

That's because a good portion of our lineup consists of cast-offs...our on-base percentage relative to batting average is actually very good, but this group can't and never will hit for average. Buck, Bautista and Gonzalez are all sub-.250 career, with Wells being the only guy above .280 lifetime. Hacking is what they do; it'll work until it doesn't, at which point we'll go back to being the 72-77 win club that everyone expected.

As for stealing bases...who do you have in mind? The only guy on our team who has ever stolen 20 bases is Fred Lewis, and that's really not his game.

I was thinking more of guys like Wells, Hill and even pinch runners such as Johnny Mac and McCoy. Not necessarily stealing bases, but starting the runners early, hitting and running etc. We can't really do a hit and run with this team since most of them are career hackers as you said, but getting a running game going can play with a pitchers mind, that's just what I was getting at. I'm glad we have quick guys like Mastro, Pastornicky, Wilson, Hech and others coming up through the system though.

[Chevy Chase]

I love the fact that this team never feels like its out of the game. In the past if we were down by a few runs it was over. Not so today.

And for enjoyment, I love to see guys like Romero put together 12K, complete games. Makes me sorta forget about the loss of RH.

[Schad]

I was thinking more of guys like Wells, Hill and even pinch runners such as Johnny Mac and McCoy. Not necessarily stealing bases, but starting the runners early, hitting and running etc. We can't really do a hit and run with this team since most of them are career hackers as you said, but getting a running game going can play with a pitchers mind, that's just what I was getting at. I'm glad we have quick guys like Mastro, Pastornicky, Wilson, Hech and others coming up through the system though.

I'm not a fan of the hit-and-run, unless you have a team with virtually no power. It's great on a ground ball to a middle infielder, but you'll often see the runner hesitate if they don't read the ball immediately off the bat (and that's a tricky thing to do), which not only defeats the purpose, it leaves them stranded in space. No statistical evidence to back it, but I've heard many ex-players in the broadcast booth say that it distracts the hitter, leading them to swing at pitches that they normally wouldn't. I'd sooner just let the hitters hit.

[tecumseh18]

I'd sooner just let the hitters hit.

And definitely Cito agrees.

Last year, we thought the early run was sustainable because even though some guys might cool off, surely Wells and Rios would start to pick it up (they didn't).

This year, we're looking to Lind and Hill to eventually come around and make up for the inevitable Bautista and Gonzalez drop-offs. I have an uneasy feeling that's not going to happen.

But I can't help but wonder where this team, for this year, would be if we had kept Halladay and Rolen, and if Lind and Hill could get back to last year's levels, and if Overbay could get back to his career levels. Then I would really start to believe.

[kavan]

Look, say what you want but if we play well we will win if we dont we will suck no way to say yea yea bla bla yaba yaba... if this were not ready that.

Guess what the truth is if these guys keeping hitting and we keep coming from behind and are pitching stays some what solid, if your scoreing 10 runs a game you will win more then loose.

Vernon is playing like Vernon should, Lind and Hill maybe the Wells and Rios of last year. Gonsales and Batista are the Lind and Hill of last year.

Snider is still Snider.

Buck is playing better then any catcher ever has for us. I can think as far back as Darren Fletcher since we had some real power from are catcher. Zaun was okay hit some home runs in the clutch.

Are defence is soild and are pitching consists of more then just 1 Ace and 4 duds. We have 3 good pitchers and 2 of them that are Ace or Ass any given day. We will either be in the game 3-4 times a week instead of winning once for sure. I take that as we have more chances to win because on are 5 man rotation out of the 5, one or two of them will shine and a L is an L whether its by 15 runs or 1 =).

I can see Lind and Hill coming around because they just seem to be starting off a little slow, but I think as long as we can score runs and play good D and most important can come back from behind we give our selves a chance to win every day.

Deciding factors on our success, serise against Tampa, Yanks and Boston. Right now if we would of taken 2/3 from Boston and Tampa last few times we played them we are on the top of AL.

Give it another month and a half we will know whose swinging and whose throwing strikes, you will only then have a good idea at who is going to keep it up or who has picked it up. Cant forget we get clutch performances from are most unlikely hero's and that makes winning teams!

Go ahead dont be optimistic be realistic but dont doubt the success so far even if its bare minimum and next to nothing. I just want to be in the running for the Wild Card because I know it will be coming out of the AL East this year! Like most the serise vs the Twins starting tonight should be big for us to stretch our legs and run with are winning streak!

[spacehobo]

However the true beauty of sports is its unpredictability and although the Jays were given 100:1 odds to win the World Series this year, there is always that one instance where they shock the world and win it all. There is no reason why the Jays cannot keep up their current pace and finish third - a mere afterthought only a few years ago - ahead of one of the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, or Tampa Bay Rays. For a team that has proclaimed that they are in year one of a long-term rebuilding project that would be a tremendous accomplishment and catalyst for future success along the rebuild.

http://kevindilee.blogspot.com/2010/05/2010-toronto-blue-jays.html

[Randle McMurphy]

But I can't help but wonder where this team, for this year, would be if we had kept Halladay and Rolen, and if Lind and Hill could get back to last year's levels, and if Overbay could get back to his career levels. Then I would really start to believe.

If that was the case, then I'd start to believe this team would finish 3rd, win 85 games, and still be out of the playoffs.

[satyr9]

I didn't know we were supposed to stop so we could start again.

Just a small town girl livin' in a lonely world
She took the midnight train going anywhere.
BLAH BLAH BLAH

Don't stop believin'
Hold on to the feelin'
Streetlights people
oooohaaaaahooaahaaahoah

[SharoneWright]

Once you listen to this 20 or 30 times in a row, you will believe.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bt-RZHJYQGc[/youtube]

[Chevy Chase]

That's funny because my 5 year old son wouldn't stop singing it for the three weeks of the Olympics. Now all he will sing is that relief for Haiti song, "When I get older..."