Off Daze: The Week Ahead and More

Welcome to the first chapter of what I hope will be a regular Drunk Jays Fans feature to help break up the monotony of Monday off-days and ease Justin's suicidal tendencies. Let's take a look at the week ahead.

First, get used to seeing Adam Lind patrolling right field for the Jays, because we're hearing preliminary reports that Reed Johnson will be sidelined for two months with back surgery. That gives the hitting-machine Lind plenty of time to steal Dougie's job outright. All that's left is for us to think of a nickname for him that's more clever than the Chris Hamm-esque Adam "Bellybutton" Lind. Burn!

If you're like me and you hesitate to refer to any April game as "crucial", now might be the time to rethink your position, as the Jays close out their home stand this week with three games against the Boston Red Sox, followed by a road trip that takes them to Baltimore, Boston and then to the Bronx Zoo. If they still have their heads above water by the end of this month, it'll make for a hell of a season. If not, they'll be in the familiar position of having to play catch-up to two very strong sides.

Speaking of zoos, expect one down at the Rogers Centre for Tuesday's game. Not only is it a $2 Tuesday against the Red Sox, but Daisuke Matsuzaka is scheduled to pitch-- we think. It's possible that he'll be pushed back a day because of the Sox' Sunday rain out against the Anaheim Angels of Anaheim, which, of course, would setup the ultimate Japanese grudge match between Dice-K and Tomo Ohka (which, when translated to English means "Jamie Moyer").

It's a two-start week for Gustavo "the slowest pitcher" Chacin "all year" (Tuesday vs. Boston, Sunday @ Baltimore), which is a bit scary until you consider the fact that it means Halladay will pitch once at Fenway and once in the Bronx the following week. Assuming everything works out, that is.

You'll notice that we've added a section in the right column of this page, titled Drunk Jays Fans Guides. Any time we post a handy guide, we'll keep it there so that you don't have to go searching for it in the archive. So far we've got the guide to Being a Man at the Ballgame, and the Guide to Sneaking Down to the Good Seats. Stay tuned for more, such as the Drunk Jays Fans Guide to Positive Reinforcement, the Drunk Jays Fans Guide to Sitting in First Row of the Corner Outfield Seats, and the Drunk Jays Guide to Drunk Broads at the Jays Game.

And finally, a special note to my fellow Drunk Jays Fans. Once the playoffs begin, I might totally have to bail on some Jays games to watch the Raptors. Considering that I probably watched 100 Raptors games over the three abysmal years previous to this one, I owe it to myself. They are fucking incredible.