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HomeSportsHart AttackHARTLEY MILLER’S HART ATTACK – (Blue Jays clicking) July 15th, 2016 EDITION...

HARTLEY MILLER’S HART ATTACK – (Blue Jays clicking) July 15th, 2016 EDITION 584

91 down and 71 left for the Toronto Blue Jays.

The MLB all-star break comes to an end this weekend.

The Blue Jays 51-40 record is actually ahead of last year’s pace but they will need to finish 42-29 just to equalize last year’s 93-69 record.

Although slugger Jose Bautista has been injured (and just a .230 batting average when in the lineup) and some other key players, including Troy Tulowitzki (.239) and Russell Martin (.228) inconsistent, the Jays have been producing at the plate.

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(To Tulowitzki’s credit, he is batting .301 with 10 homers in his last 35 games)

The Blue Jays have been averaging 5.7 runs per game over their last 49 games (32-17) which is better than last season’s whopping average of 5.5 runs per game.

Over the first 42 games, Toronto averaged just four runs per contest.

Offence brings the fans out and the Jays are delivering again this year with the team sitting 5th in the majors in runs (447) and 3rd out of 30 in homers (131).

While offence creates excitement, pitching continues to determine success and Toronto is more than holding its own.

The Jays starters lead all of the major leagues with an average of 6.36 innings-per-start for a total of 579.1 innings this year.

The team 3.76 ERA puts them 7th out of 30 teams.

Marco Estrada (5-3 with a 2.93 E.R.A.), the Jays best pitcher this season, has been dealing with a sore lower back but will come off the disabled list soon.

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The 33-year-old Estrada has put forth a quality outing in 12 of his 16 starts.

The bullpen was awful in April, but like the rest of the team, has shown signs of improvement in the last couple of months.

Defensively, the Jays have the 5th fewest errors (43), are 3rd in Defensive Efficiency Ratio and lead the majors in put outs.

The Blue Jays have started out as a better road team this year (24-20) although their home record (27-20) is not on pace with the 53-28 mark in 2015.

(Toronto was just 40-41 away last year)

One area that remains a puzzle and that is games decided by one run.

Toronto is 9-16 in one-run games this year and a league-worst 39-63 in one-run games since 2014.

A look at the standings show the Jays only two games back of A.L. East leading Baltimore.

They are tied with Boston for second in the division with both teams holding down the two wild card spots, although six teams are only 5 ½ games or less behind them.

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Blue Jay fever continues to sweep the country.

TV ratings are on a massive upswing and Toronto leads the American League in per-game attendance, on a pace to easily top the three million mark.

In case you were wondering, the Blue Jays, at $147 million, are just 13th in player payroll.

The A.L. West cellar dwelling LA Angels are 5th at $178 million, yet they have the 5th worst record in the major leagues.

With the non-waiver trade deadline of August 1st, the Blue Jays should again be buyers which will be a challenge for first year Team president Mark Shapiro and GM Ross Atkins.

Last year they added Tulowitzki, David Price and LaTroy Hawkins at the deadline.

I doubt they will be able to duplicate that feat, but the Jays are well positioned to follow their 2015 success.

Are they favorites to win the World Series? No.

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Will they reach game six of the ALCS last year? Perhaps not.

However, there is no clear cut favorite in the American League and at this point the Jays have arguably as much or more talent than anyone else.

Yes, for a second straight year, optimism and the Blue Jays go hand in hand.

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I am not sure why the Prince George Spruce Kings have been dealt one of the worst league schedules ever.

Sure, it’s great to try and get off to a good start and play 14 of the first 18 in P.G. at the RMCA, but closing with 15 of 16 on the road is brutal.

The Spruce Kings 2016-17 BCHL regular season wraps up at the end of February, yet they only have one home game after mid-January and that will be on a Thursday night, Feb. 9th against Kelowna.

Financially, perhaps the Spruce Kings can use the early season revenue that the gate receipts can bring, but I don’t believe there is any logical reason for having seven P.G. home games in both September and October, four in November, six in December, three in January and just one in February.

Fans are more interested in games in the 2nd half, unless a team is out of the running, which was the case for the Spruce Kings last season.

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To suggest this is a bizarre schedule would be an understatement.

By the way, the Spruce Kings play four home games on a night the P.G. Cougars are also at home in regular season action at CN Centre: September 30th, October 22nd, December 2nd and December 9th.

From the Quote Rack:

Kobe Bryant received a vintage Pontiac Parisienne in LA Lakers colors from Snoop Dogg as a retirement gift. The car drives okay but it smokes like crazy.

Sideline Chatter in the Seattle Times on a Fark.com headline

The Denver Broncos say they won’t trade Von Miller. I guess the Warriors didn’t offer enough in return.

Contributor Bill Littlejohn of South Lake Tahoe, California

Kevin Durant said on meeting the Warriors, “It was organic. It was authentic.” Was KD talking basketball or becoming a spokesman for Whole Foods?

Comedy writer Janice Hough of Palo Alto, California www.leftcoastsportsbabe.com

Many top rated basketball players and golfers have decided not to participate in this year’s Olympics due to the Zika virus threat. “You know there are drugs available for that,” said the Russian track and field team.

Comedy writer TC Chong of Vancouver http://alwaysfunny.com/


And in case you missed it:

An ex-featherweight boxer from Sudbury, Ontario, survived a round of fisticuffs with a 300-pound black bear by punching its nose. That’s right: it was a bear-knuckle fight.

Comedy writer RJ Currie www.Sportsdeke.com

Hartley Miller is the sports director and morning news anchor for 94.3 the Goat. He also is the 94.3
radio color commentator for P.G. Cougars home games. His column appears Fridays on
myprincegeorgenow.com.

Send along a quote, note, or anecdote to [email protected]
Follow him on twitter: @Hartley_Miller

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