So how’s the homestretch battle suiting you now in the American League East?
Much better, I’d say.
Kevin Gausman’s magnificent performance against the Houston Astros could very well be the stepping-stone for the Toronto Blue Jays in the three-way chase with the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.
That Thursday afternoon game alone got me reconsidering matters. Prior to that, the heading on this column was going to read, “Doesn’t anybody want to win this thing?”
Three hours watching Gausman at his best was enough to alter my thinking. That’s exactly what the Jays have needed in the final days of the pennant race. A masterful outing to prove who needs to lead the pitching corps in these anxious days ahead.
The 34-year-old future Hall of Famer is precisely the guy the Jays require in the closing days of the regular schedule.
He’s never been better.
A complete game shutout. Only two hits and a single walk. Nine impressive strikeouts. A huge standing ovation from the Toronto faithful. A delirious reaction from every teammate.
Sure the players were having a wonderful time most of the season, at least when the scoreboard said they were winning. From the best pitcher to the toughest hitter to the guy coming off the bench, they’ve been acting like a bunch of kids enjoying competitions in a schoolyard.
The way the victories were transforming into defeats, however, made everyone nervously wonder if the code was lose today, come back and try again tomorrow.
Wins mean more than that.
The batters have been batting, the pitchers have been pitching, and the fielders have been fielding. Spectators have been filling the seats and eating hotdogs in record numbers.
But the players must play to their full potential the rest of the way. That means every game. That means follow in Gausman’s footsteps. Otherwise, vacation arrives very soon.
Meantime, let’s hope serious injuries don’t decide the playoffs. Already there’s been a scare — the one in which Jays shortstop Bo Bichette got banged up pretty good in that scary collision at homeplate.
It didn’t appear to be bad when he returned after the long rain delay. But it was bad enough the following day to have Toronto’s top batter placed on the injury list for at least 10 days. His return is vital. Nobody has been hitting better than him.
This has been too interesting a season, too good a pennant chase, to have the winners and losers determined by injuries. Hopefully, Bo will return for the last games of the schedule.
His absence was his first this season. Amazingly, he played in 139 of Toronto’s first 143 games. Few players have been more important to their clubs. If I were voting for the most valuable Jay right now, my nod would go to either Bichette or aging bat magician George Springer.
Now, though, there’s something else I must address.
Remembering Ken Dryden
Ken Dryden, one of the true giants in the hockey world, one of the grand goaltenders with the Montreal Canadiens, seldom lost important games or major competitions; Sadly, he lost his life to cancer, too soon for someone of his quality.
Facts tell his story better than I can.
He won six Stanley Cup championships in just seven seasons. He won the Vezina Trophy as top netminder five times. He won 200 more games than he lost. He won the Calder Memorial Trophy as top rookie. He won the Conn Smythe Trophy as top player in the playoffs.
He was an outstanding author, producing among other publications, The Game, considered the best hockey book ever written. He was a standout lawyer. He ran for the Liberals federally and became minister of social development, a perfect choice for a man of his intelligence. He was president of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
He was awarded the Order of Canada, the country’s biggest honour. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame and many other halls of fame. He loved to learn and he loved to share what he learned. He was humble, and he had a marvelous personality.
He was the Canadiens goalie in the 1970s, when Montreal’s farm team was the Nova Scotia Voyageurs. I was sports editor of The Chronicle Herald in those years and met Ken several times. I discovered early that he was one of the finest human beings I ever met.
I will remember him.