Evolution of a contender

Sporting News, The, August 16, 1999 by Tom Maloney

Benefiting from productive trades, lively bats and a strong bullpen, the Blue Jays are making a surprising run for the playoffs

En route to a postgame shower at The Ballpark in Arlington, Toronto's David Wells ducked behind the media scrum enveloping Carlos Delgado's locken Delgado had hit three home runs, including the game-winner in a 5-4 win last Friday, the club's 30th come-from-behind victory this year.

"Do you find it easy to hit three home runs in this stadium?" Wells asked, playing reporter.

"No, it wasn't easy," Delgado said. "I think your perfect game was easier ..." A pause. "... against Minnesota." Wells ended the exchange in the most intelligent way that sprung to mind.

He mooned Delgado.

This scene illustrates how the atmosphere around the Blue Jays has morphed from funeral procession to baptism service. Considering where they stood in the standings two months ago--nine games under .500 on June 12 and near hopelessness--it's amazing they are in the wild-card race with the A's and Red Sox.

"Nobody gets down, nobody quits," says Delgado, who powers Toronto's offense with MVP candidate Shawn Green. "We just keep swinging until the last out." Those swings are plentiful, all right--the club led the A.L. in strikeouts through last Saturday--but the Jays ranked first in the A.L. in doubles and stolen bases and were fifth in homers and runs. Green and Delgado rank first and second in the A.L. in extra-base hits, and third baseman Tony Fernandez is challenging for the batting title and leads the league in on-base percentage.

Manager Jim Fregosi, drawing from Sports Psychology 101, has identified the club's goal as the title, not the wild-card berth.

To make the playoffs, the team would have to continue to defy odds, given the following factors: Only 22 of the Jays' last 50 games are at home (where they're stronger); starting pitchers Kelvim Escobar (erratic) and Chris Carpenter (inconsistent, but he hasn't lost since May 28) are struggling; they are weak in center field and creaky at third base (with Fernandez's aching knees); and most damning of all, they are 9-23 vs. A.L. teams that are over .500.

As Fregosi points out, most of those losses came back then-in that other season, before June 12, when, affected by a multitude of early-season injuries, the Blue Jays' roller-coaster ride hit bottom in Philadelphia. For nearly a month, the front office had seemingly sat on its collective fannies watching the defense--devastated by the loss of shortstop Alex Gonzalez to a shoulder injury--bumble away games. Finally, G.M. Gord Ash traded popular lefthander Dan Plesac to the Diamondbacks for shortstop Tony Batista and righthanded reliever John Frascatore. The next day, Pat Hentgen outpitched Curt Schilling, and on June 15, workhorse reliever Paul Quantrill completed his recovery from a broken leg suffered in a January snowmobiling accident.

The climb up Everest was on. The Blue Jays constructed a 20-game swing by winning 34-of-48 games to go 11 games over .500.

"They're a good ball club, and that shortstop has made them a much better ballclub," Yankees manager Joe Torre says. Fregosi agrees, saying that Batista, who has produced 15 homers and 39 RBIs in 47 games and played solid at short, has "exceeded our wildest dreams." Frascatore, the bullpen's resident vulture, is 6-0 since arriving.

For all of the club's success stories, Fregosi says rookie Billy Koch is the key to the turnaround. Koch, with a 101 mph fastball, replaced Robert Person in May to record 23 saves in the first 26 chances.

The Blue Jays also have benefited from the February deal that sent Roger Clemens to the Yankees for Wells, lefthander Graeme Lloyd and second baseman Homer Bush. "You don't replace a Roger Clemens," Carpenter says. "But by trading him, we filled some big holes."

Bush, filling the club's three-year void at second base, had a .310 batting average and 22 stolen bases through last Saturday. He, leadoff hitter Shannon Stewart (an A.L.-high 33 steals) and Green (18 steals) complement the batting order's power with speed. Lloyd leads the team in appearances. Wells and Hentgen anchor a staff that compiled a 4.02 ERA in the pivotal 48-game span.

Along with Wells, newcomer Joey Hamilton and Hentgen have recovered nicely from slow-to-awful starts.

When Person went to the Phillies for lefthander Paul Spoljaric in May, Plesac became expendable and made the Arizona trade possible. Just before the deadline, Toronto got switch-hitting David Segui from Seattle to insert between lefthanded hitters Green and Delgado as an antidote to lefthanded specialists. Segui, who injured a knuckle on his fight hand last Saturday, was expected to miss pivotal games this weekend against Oakland.

With Quantrill's return and Frascatore, Fregosi no longer was forced to turn reluctantly to rookies Pete Munro and Tom Davey to set up Koch. "The bullpen's done the job, but after that, the single-biggest thing is we're far more mature as a team," Quantrill says. "If the pitchers do give up a go-ahead run or if we fall behind early in the game, we don't get the wind knocked out of us."