Dazed & Confuzzled

My favourite Toronto Blue Jay Jose Bautista launched his nineteenth homerun yesterday in a loss against the surging Washington Nationals at the Rogers Center. Bautista found his groove again, but at a cost the Blue Jays dropped five of their last six games since the start of this latest chapter of inter-league baseball, which I like to call "Give the Yankees easy games to win so they can make the playoffs again" baseball. Bautista sits third in the major league homerun race with nineteen HR, two behind White Sox clean up hitter Adam Dunn, and three behind the leader, Texas Ranger Josh Hamilton (According to MLB Stats, as of June 14th, 2012).

As a Blue Jays fan, I'm disappointed with this offensive slump, and with both starting pitchers Brendan Morrow and Kyle Drabek out of the lineup for fifteen days, and potentially six starts between them, our chances to build off the success of late 2010 and 2011 are beginning to slim down.

GIANTS' Matt Cain celebrates after throwing the
22nd perfect game in modern MLB history

Speaking of inter-league wackiness, how long would it take for the Major League Baseball to switch to an all-designated hitter format for both American and National leagues? I suppose when, after a very close pennant race, the losing team will complain the winning team had the luxury of using a DH in their inter-league contest while they had to suffer with their pitcher swinging and missing in the penultimate last game of the season for both teams. When the Houston Astros announced they were leaving the National League, I said professional baseball would become all-DH by the start of next season, and if not then by the start of the 2014 campaign when they realize inter-league cost one team a chance at the postseason because they did not have the luxury of inserting a designated hitter in their 162nd game lineup card.

Before I forget, I would like to congratulate San Francisco Giants' star pitcher Matt Cain, who became only the 22nd pitcher in the modern era of Major League Baseball to throw a perfect game. He tossed fourteen strikeouts against the Houston Astros last night in San Francisco to preserve a 10-0 victory, and a spot in history as the first Giant in the 130-year history of the franchise to retire all 27 batters he faced in one game ^_^ Well done, Matt Cain! Now, if only I could buy cream coloured baseball pants to wear during for city ball? For more on this game, click here to go to MLB beat writer Chris Haft's account of this historic game.