Results tagged ‘ George Bell ’
The best Toronto outfield ever
A couple entries ago, I wrote about buying a huge lot of 100 assorted Blue Jays cards on eBay. The same day I won that auction, I won a separate auction for 100 other Jays cards; most of them from the 1980s which was a real trip down memory lane.
Three of the cards I received made me think back to Toronto’s outfield in the mid-late 1980s, which has yet to be surpassed by any other outfield in team history. Sure, the Jays have seen their share of great outfielders — Vernon Wells, Devon White and even Shannon Stewart for a stretch — but no trio can top the awesome connection of George Bell in left, Lloyd Moseby in centre and Jesse Barfield in right.
It’s impressive to look at some of the key years this trio had together. Which do you think was best?
1986:
Bell: .309 / 198 hits / 38 doubles / 31 HR / 108 RBI (Silver Slugger, 4th in AL MVP voting)
Moseby: .253 / 179 hits / 21 HR / 86 RBI / 32 SB (All-Star)
Barfield: .289 / 170 hits / 35 doubles / 40 HR / 108 RBI (All-Star, Silver Slugger, Gold Glove)
1987:
Bell: .308 / 188 hits / 47 HR / 134 RBI / .957 OPS (AL MVP, All-Star, Silver Slugger)
Moseby: .282 / 167 hits / 26 HR / 96 RBI / 39 SB / .831 OPS
Barfield: .263 / 155 hits / 28 HR / 84 RBI (Gold Glove)
Ridiculous, no? It’s important to remember things that aren’t simply summed up by numbers. Moseby and Barfield were exceptional fielders who rarely made errors, and Moseby’s arm was an absolute cannon. Barfield, meanwhile, finished his career with 162 assists from the outfield.
I’d be all for seeing a future Toronto outfield top this one, but while this trio certainly is the best in Jays’ history, a real case can be made for its spot in the all-time American League ranks.
Opening Day 2010
Less than four hours from now, the 2010 edition of the Toronto Blue Jays will take to the field behind Shaun Marcum to kick off the season in Texas. We’ll get into predictions for 2010 later on, but in honour of today, let’s look back at two of the best performances in Blue Jays Opening Day history.
The first came on the team’s first Opening Day, way back in 1977. At old, snowy Exhibition Stadium, against the Chicago White Sox, players waited, waited, and waited some more during a lengthy snow delay.
When things finally got underway, the hero was Doug Ault, an unheralded 1B/DH the team had acquired during its expansion draft. Ault hit just 17 career home runs in the Big Leagues, but launched two blasts on Opening Day to endear himself to frozen Jays fans and give the team a 9-5 win. Even more impressive was the fact that his two homers came in his first two at-bats; the first, a solo shot in the first inning, and the second, a two-run shot in the third. Ault retired from playing following the 1980 season, but managed for several years at various levels of the Blue Jays farm system.
I had the opportunity to meet Ault and get his autograph early in the 2001 season. I had tickets for a game that spring that was cancelled shortly before the gates were to open after a panel of the SkyDome roof fell onto the field. As I waited in line for a ticket refund with several thousand other annoyed fans, the Jays sent out Ault to sign autographs and smooth things over. (It sort of makes you wonder if the Jays were keeping Ault somewhere in the ballpark in case they needed to do crowd control. It was a case of, “We’re sorry that you won’t see the Jays in action tonight … but here’s Doug Ault!” Very odd.) Anyway, I got two autographs from him and shook his hand. Very cool.
But Ault’s 1977 Opening Day wasn’t the best in team history. Slugger George Bell topped Ault’s feat during the first game of the 1988 season against Kansas City. With Royals ace Bret Saberhagen on the mound, Bell launched three jacks to become the first player in MLB history with a trio of home runs on Opening Day.
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