Spiel und Humor » flow problems at times in Montreal and Florida. H

R.A. Dickey lost on Opening Day and Jose Reyes is on the disabled list. Stop me if youve heard this one before, because amazingly its a scenario that Blue Jays fans are now experiencing for the second straight April. Add in the fact that closer Casey Janssen was placed on the DL on the eve of the season, and you could argue things are even worse than they were a year ago for the Jays. Lets get it out of the way right off the top - it was Game 1 of 162. A baseball fan wouldnt feel uncomfortable about a teams chances after just one game, right? But theres no question that theres a sense of deja vu for Toronto fans after Mondays 9-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays. Bad starting pitching last April coupled with the injury to Reyes pretty much killed the Jays chances at contending by the time the calendar flipped to May. So is it an overreaction this time around to have that same ominous feeling that this is nothing more than a continuation of last season? Sure, Tampa Bay is considered a World Series contender and theres no shame in losing to former Cy Young winner David Price. But still. In the 1989 baseball cult classic film "Major League", it was commentator Harry Doyle, played by the legendary Bob Uecker, who said "a lot of people say you can tell how the seasons gonna go by the first hitter of the year." Willie Mays Hays legged out an infield single for the Indians in the movie, then got picked off first base. On Monday, Reyes never made it that far. In the first at-bat of the Blue Jays season, he pulled up while running to first base after aggravating the hamstring injury that had been bothering him during spring training. The team placed him on the 15-day disabled list after the game, meaning it will be the middle of the month at best before we see Torontos star leadoff hitter in the lineup again. The Blue Jays will play three more games at Tropicana Field this week, a place where they have not won a series since 2007. Then its home for three against the revamped New York Yankees to close out the first week of the season. Last year the Blue Jays finished the first week with a record of 2-4, and its entirely possible they could be in that zone again. Given, its very, very early. You cant judge a major league season by the first game. But do you feel uncomfortable about the Blue Jays after witnessing their Opening Day loss? Its Your! Call. Ozzie Smith Jersey . Summers has seen scant playing time with the Coyotes since being selected 29th overall by the club in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, having played in 47 career NHL games. St. Louis Cardinals Jerseys . With the Pirates in the thick of the race in the NL Central, the timing couldnt be better. Liriano struck out a season-high 11 in seven innings to win consecutive starts for the first time this season and Pittsburgh beat the San Francisco Giants 3-1 on Tuesday night. http://www.authenticcardinalspro.com/cardinals-willie-mcgee-jersey/ .ca Fantasy Editor Scott Cullen, NFL Editor Ben Fisher, and Isaac Owusu discuss three hot fantasy football topics. Bob Gibson Jersey . LeBron James and Chris Bosh didnt need any more. Williams scored 11 points in 10 minutes, Alan Anderson scored 17 points, and the Brooklyn Nets finished the exhibition season with a 108-87 win over the Miami Heat on Friday night. Enos Slaughter Jersey .C. -- Gleason Fournier scored the shootout winner as the Grand Rapids Griffins defeated the Abbotsford Heat 4-3 Friday in American Hockey League action.What would you think of a general manager whos had a losing record everywhere hes been? Would you forgive him for making arguably the worst trade in franchise history? Would you hire him if you had the chance? Of course you would, in a "New York" second! At least if his name was Dave Dombrowski. Let me explain. Dombrowski was hired to be the Montreal Expos GM back on July 5, 1988. At 31 he was the youngest general manager in the game. At that point in their history, the Expos had only made it to the postseason once back in the strike split 1981 campaign. The pressure was on to get back to the "promise land" and it was believed the Expos were just one ace pitcher away from getting there. Less than a year after being hired Dombrowski pulled the trigger on a five-player deal with the Seattle Mariners on May 25, 1989. He got his ace in lefty Mark Langston along with a prospect for pitchers Gene Harris, Brian Holman and some guy named Randy Johnson. You might remember him, a flame throwing lefty, a 610" tower of power who had trouble finding the strike zone. Though Langston pitched well going (12-9) the rest of the way, Montreal didnt make the playoffs and Langston signed with the Angels as a free- agent after that season. Johnson, meanwhile, blossomed into a superstar and went on to a Hall of Fame career. Making trades like that can dog a guy for the rest of his career, but Dombrowski was only getting started. In September 1991, he became general manager of the expansion Florida Marlins. By 1997, the Marlins had won their first World Series thanks in part to the open vault approach of owner Wayne Huizenga, who just as quickly ordered Dombrowski to dismantle the team after the 1997 triumph. Dombrowski was gone by the time the Marlins won their second World Series in 2003, but it was organization and the team he helped build. The Blue Jays were interested in hiring Dombrowski in 2001, but he chose the Detroit Tigers where he became club President as opposed to GM. But that didnt last very long. After the Tigers dropped their first six games in 2002, he immediately fired GM Randy Smith and manager Phil Garner and assumed the general managers title for himself. The next couple of years were rough, especially 2003 when the Tigers lost a Major League record 119 games breaking the All-time mark of the woeful 1962 New York Mets. By 2006 though, the farm system was flourishing, the right deals were made and Tigers made it to the World Series for the first time since 1984. Though they lost the Fall Classic in five games to the St. Louis Cardinals, the Tigers were back as a team that would be factor in the American League for the foreseeable future. They made it again to the World Series in 2012 under Jim Leyland but lost again, this time to the San Francisco Giants in four straight. But its not just the World Series appearances that intrigue you about Dombrowski. Its the way he constructs the "monster deal." In less than seven years, he has pulled off four career defining deals, that are arguably four of the biggest completed over that time span. It started on December 4, 2007, when he picked up Miguel Cabrera, who would become a two-time Triple Crown champ and lefty Dontrellle Willis from his old club in Florida for six prospects none of whom are with the Marlins now, though one lefty reliever Andrew Miller was dealt by the Boston Red Sox to the Baltimore Orioles at this years non- waiver trade deadline.dddddddddddd Two years later on December 8, 2009, he may have pulled off the biggest trade of the bunch in a three-way swap with the Arizona Diamondbacks and the New York Yankees. The haul: a former first round draft pick of the D-Backs Max Scherzer who would go on to win the Cy Young award four years later, pitcher Dan Schlereth, reliever Phil Coke and centre field prospect Austin Jackson from the Yankees. Detroit sent right hander Edwin Jackson to Arizona and centre fielder Curtis Granderson to the Yankees. The Yankees completed the swap by sending right hander Ian Kennedy to Arizona. This past off-season, Dombrowski was able to pull off a more modest one-for-one deal with the Texas Rangers. This one allowed the Tigers to send the onerous contract of Prince Fielder to the Rangers for second baseman and top of the order hitter Ian Kinsler. Dombrowski had no way of knowing Fielder would break down and require neck surgery that would knock him out for basically all of the 2014 season, but it turned this deal into a steal. That leads as to this years non-waiver trade deadline. After Oaklands Billy Beane had acquired ace lefty Jon Lester from Boston along with Jonny Gomes, for slugging outfielder Yoenis Cespedes, Dombrowski played his trump card and picked up former Cy Young winning lefty David Price from the Tampa Bay Rays in a three-way swap with the Rays and the Seattle Mariners. The price tag, no pun intended wasnt nearly as steep as you might have expected. Seattle got centre fielder Austin Jackson from Detroit. The Rays wound up with Tigers lefty Drew Smyly, Mariners middle infielder Nick Franklin and a prospect. You could argue Dombrowski won all four of those blockbuster deals. As mentioned off the top, Dombrowski has had a losing record with each team he has been the GM of, though there were extenuating cash flow problems at times in Montreal and Florida. His career record as a general manager is a meager 905-975 with about eight weeks to go in the 2014 season. But who would argue that he hasnt put together a Hall of Fame resume and maybe this will be the year he joins the elite group of general managers whove won World Series in both leagues. *** Interesting stat in the Buffalo News this week; the Bisons have made 194 roster moves this season, and that was before the Blue Jays called up reliever Chad Jenkins this week. That is a modern franchise record. The Bisons are in an all-out playoff push and last made the post season in 2005. This will give you an idea of how important that 21-9 month was to the Blue Jays. They are only (27-26) since June 1st. Still the Jays are holding down that second Wild Card slot and are just a 1.5 game back of first place Baltimore in the AL-East. The upcoming home stand starting Tuesday night against Baltimore and continuing through next week versus Detroit is the most important August stand in two decades. Thats where the real playoff push begins. ' ' '