Infographic: How much do Canadians love baseball?
Posted: January 13, 2021 Filed under: 21st Century | Tags: ALCS, Baseball, infographics, Kansas City Royals, Major League Baseball, MLB, Rogers Centre, sports, statistics, Toronto Blue Jays 5 CommentsThis infographic baffles me in its sparseness. According to the Environics Analytics website, the graphic was created in light of the Toronto Blue Jays’ first playoff appearance in 22 years (going on to lose the 2015 ALCS to the Kansas City Royals). Compared to what appears to be less than 20% Canadian interest in the sport, a 2006 Gallup poll found that 47% of the U.S. public considers themselves to be baseball fans.
I haven’t been able to find a statistic revealing how many Canadians took the time to watch any of the 2015 playoffs, though attendance at the Rogers Centre was just under 50,000 for each of Games 3-5. Of course, Canadian attendance at Blue Jay games in 2020 was pretty much zero thanks to the pandemic and the Blue Jays getting kicked out of their own country for the season.
This day in baseball: Olerud’s surgery
Posted: February 27, 2019 Filed under: 20th Century, This day in baseball | Tags: Baseball, John Olerud, Major League Baseball, MLB, sports, Toronto Blue Jays, Washington State University 2 CommentsAfter collapsing on January 11th following a workout, John Olerud underwent brain surgery for the removal of an aneurysm on February 27, 1989. Olerud, a left-handed first baseman at Washington State University, went on to be the Blue Jays’ third round pick in the June Amateur Draft.
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Infographic: AL East logo history
Posted: October 26, 2016 Filed under: 20th Century, 21st Century | Tags: Baltimore Orioles, Baseball, Boston Red Sox, history, Major League Baseball, New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays, Toronto Blue Jays 2 CommentsI stumbled across this graphic in my random internet wanderings depicting a history of the logos and uniforms for the teams in the American League East. I love how this graphic also gives an idea of just how long these teams have been around, relative to one another.
It looks tiny here, but click on the image to get to a larger version.
This day in baseball: Schilling’s shutout
Posted: October 21, 2016 Filed under: 20th Century, This day in baseball | Tags: Baseball, Curt Schilling, Philadelphia Phillies, Toronto Blue Jays, World Series 2 CommentsOn October 21, 1993, Curt Schilling became the first Phillies pitcher to throw a shutout in a World Series game. Schilling shut down the Blue Jays, 2-0, giving up only five hits.
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Infographic: Defensive positioning
Posted: July 14, 2016 Filed under: 20th Century | Tags: Baseball, infographics, Major League Baseball, Minnesota Twins, Toronto Blue Jays 3 CommentsWhat I like about this infographic is that it’s a great depiction of how many different looks can come out of a team that employs the defensive shift. It’s also a reflection on how much thinking and studying goes into a baseball game. At this level, especially, a team can’t just show up and play, there’s a considerable amount of pre-planning involved.
Infographic, minus the graphic
Posted: June 10, 2016 Filed under: 21st Century | Tags: Baseball, Craig Robinson, infographics, Major League Baseball, Rogers Centre, SkyDome, Toronto Blue Jays Leave a commentI’ve posted a handful of Craig Robinson infographics here, and I found this quite clever. An infographic without the graphic. It’s a few years old, but still very fun to read. And it involves quite a bit of beer.
Infographic: Baseball numbers
Posted: November 13, 2014 Filed under: 21st Century, Pop culture | Tags: Alex Rodriguez, Baseball, Boston Red Sox, C.C. Sabathia, Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Indians, infographics, Major League Baseball, MLB, movies, New York Yankees, sports, Toronto Blue Jays, World Series Leave a commentHere’s an infographic that includes an eclectic collection of numbers from 2011 surrounding the game of baseball. I particularly dig the 2 million kids playing ball in the bottom left. Gotta start ’em off right!
Samsill
This day in baseball: Royal progress
Posted: October 1, 2014 Filed under: 21st Century, This day in baseball | Tags: American League, Baseball, history, Kansas City Royals, Major League Baseball, MLB, Oakland Athletics, sports, Toronto Blue Jays 4 CommentsOn October 1, 2005, the Kansas City Royals established a dubious team record when they recorded their 105th loss for the season, losing 10-1 to the Toronto Blue Jays. It was one of three out of four seasons during this time period that the Royals lost one hundred games or more.
Nine years later, on September 30, 2014, Kansas City defeated Oakland 9-8 in twelve innings to win the AL Wild Card game, their first postseason win in almost thirty years.
How to pitch like your favorite Jay
Posted: August 20, 2014 Filed under: 21st Century, Baseball 101 | Tags: Baseball, Major League Baseball, MLB, pitchers, pitching, sports, Toronto Blue Jays 3 CommentsHere’s something fun from Sportsnet Canada, featuring some of the grips of select pitches thrown by the Toronto Blue Jays pitching staff. The lineup is a little out of date, but the mechanics and physics of throwing all the various pitches never fail to fascinate. My own half-hearted attempts at throwing a curve ball as a kid never proved fruitful, but then, I was never that committed to becoming a pitcher.
“Talkin’ Baseball” (Toronto Blue Jays version), by Terry Cashman
Posted: January 23, 2014 Filed under: Pop culture | Tags: Baseball, Major League Baseball, MLB, music, sports, Talkin' Baseball, Terry Cashman, Toronto Blue Jays Leave a commentTo continue our journey through Terry Cashman’s “Talkin’ Baseball” variations, here is the version that celebrates today’s only Canadian team, the Toronto Blue Jays.
To get all “Talkin’ Baseball” videos posted on this blog thus far, click here.
