There have been days and nights when the 2025 rendition of the Toronto Blue Jays bullpen actually got us applauding or even cheering in front of our television screens.
On the other hand, there have been too many days and nights lately when their relievers have disgusted us or made us want to scream even when there’s nobody else around.
Mark my words, it’s all part of being a faithful Jays fan during a hectic pennant race that’s heading into the home stretch. All you can do is hang in there and keep supporting your favourites.
But what if you’re John Schneider?
What if you’re that 45-year-old observing everything from the Toronto dugout, responsible for every uniformed athlete walking in from the bullpen to save the ship at any cost? What would you be feeling at that crucial moment with huge crowds looking down at you?
Back to Labour Day
Allow me to take you back a week or so, to the late evening of Labour Day.
More specifically, back to the ninth inning of a life-or-death struggle between the Jays and the hit-happy Cincinnati Reds.
After trailing by a run for most of the action, the Jays had taken a two-run lead in the top of the inning on home runs by Bo Bichette and Daulton Varsho. It looked like another of those dramatic comebacks by the Canadian team. But that’s not what happened.
In Cincinnati’s half of the inning, the Reds rebounded with three scores of their own to celebrate a 5-4 thriller. The Jays, their fans in the stands and their usual television audiences up north, were horrified. The bullpen had blown it again.
Yes, I was frustrated once again, depressed more than usual, practically shouting aloud at the big screen. I was glad my aging Shih Tzu pal Gracie was sound asleep at my feet, missing my unprofessional reaction.
There was no reason to storm off to bed, I wouldn’t have slept anyway. So I agonized alone, watched the post-game commentaries, checked the other sports networks, even caught the highlights on U.S. channels.
Keeping his cool
That’s when I concentrated on John Schneider. How was he enjoying life? How was he reacting to the sky falling once more?
Amazingly, he was keeping his cool.
No matter what reporters were throwing at him, no matter what the media were saying about the bullpen, he was acting like a grown man. Like during most of August, it was the guys in the pen who were getting shot down.
I finally retired for the night.
I’m always impressed with Schneider and his reactions to grown men fumbling those little white balls.
While others were still mourning the Labour Day mess, I heard this Schneider advice: “You’ve gotta move on to the next day.”
Above all else, the Toronto manager has the knack of keeping cool under pressure.
“The life of a reliever is tough,” he was telling someone closeby. “You’ve got to have a short memory. This is the big leagues. This is no joke.”
On another channel, I heard him say: “I’m never going to doubt my guys.”
That’s sports
On to the next game.
That was the crazy one in Cincinnati, the night after Labour Day. A pile of runs — in the Jays favour — before the end of two innings. Yes, the Jays would be winners again. In the third game of the series, Toronto took the series.
The Jays were climbing back onto their roller-coaster journey.
With Schneider having been born on Valentine’s Day, I sought a psychological source online to see if a gentle personality has anything to do with being born on Feb. 14.
In one word, no.
“Pressure on major league baseball managers,” the response came, “stems from team performance expectations, often amplified by a desire for short-term success.”
Hey, that’s sports.
Let’s simply conclude that John Schneider has a personality we’d all like to have under fire.
If he can deal with his bullpen woes, he can deal with anything baseball. Toronto’s relievers had an awful 4.76 earned run average in August, with five blown saves. Both were worst for the month.
As I filed this column last Friday, the Jays were preparing to put the New York Yankees over their knees for a three-game spanking at Yankee Stadium. What a super way to proceed at the height of an amazing pennant chase.
I just hope I was able to keep my cool.