Jays Early Season - Again

Well here we are at the end of May, and once again, the Blue Jays are "surprising". They shouldn't be, as they have a lineup that on paper should hit a ton, and the pitching was questionable due to its youth. But the pitchers have so far been pretty decent, and the hitters are actually doing what they're supposed to. I mean, Vernon Wells is having his best start in recent memory... finally.

And for all that, the Jays are in 3rd in the AL East, with a .563 record. 6 games back of the Rays, 1 back of the Yankees for 2nd, and a half game up on the Bosox.

In the AL Central, they'd be 1 game back of 1st.

In the AL west, they'd be tied for 1st.

NL East? 1 game back. NL Central? 3-way tie for 1st. NL west? 1.5 games back.

Not that anyone's talking about them. Even here in Toronto, where attendance is abysmal.

Major Leagues leader in homers? Toronto's Jose Bautista with 15. Bautista's also 4th in RBIs with 39... 3 back of 1st. Vernon Wells is in the top 10 in both categories in the AL.

Ricky Romero has 72 strikeouts for the 2nd most in the majors, only 3 back of the leader.

Alex Gonzalez and Vernon Wells are 1 and 2 for doubles in the AL (3 and 5 in the majors). With Fred Lewis putting 3 Jays in the top 10 in the AL.

Jays lead the MAJORS in slugging percentage, home runs (by 14 homers), doubles (by 10), RBIs, total bases (by 38), runs, and at bats. The pitchers are leading the league in strikeouts.

By any measure, that's a powerhouse.

Too bad their batting average and ERA stink.

Once again, the only team in Canada is playing exciting baseball to start off the season. In any other division, they're either in first or fighting for it. But in the most competitive 6th of baseball, they're already 6 games back and can't drum up interest from the fans.

So how do you keep up the team's interest in this case? "Hey, you guys are doing GREAT! Too bad it won't amount to anything against the Yankees and Rays and Sox. Or that nobody in the city gives a shit." If they can maintain this pace through the season, then they very well might get the attention of some people here. But it would suck if they have a fantastic season, only to be overshadowed by two other teams having slightly better ones.