Random Blue Bird Droppings

Spring Struck

As Jeff Blair wrote on Saturday in the Globe On Baseball Blog, "Major League pitchers [are] throw[ing] Major League bullpen sessions to Major League catchers." It doesn't get much better than that. Although, I suppose having Major League hitters involved somehow would be sort of cool.

Most of the team has already arrived at camp and I'm sure that if you close your eyes in the dressing room, the magic of a mediocre team assembling is almost tangible.

To mark the beginning of another Spring Training, every newspaper in Canada reported that B.J. Ryan is ahead of schedule on his rehabilitation and Alex Rios is happy to be playing for the Blue Jays.

Rios Rocks The 'Hawk

Speaking of Rios, most of the talk on the first day of camp was The Hawk on the head of Alex Rios. While that phrasing may solicit images of a sexy Andre Dawson getting to know young Alex while some jazz-funk fusion plays in the background, I'm actually talking about the style of coiffure known as The Mohawk (you dirty pervert).

Proving that John McDonald is as quick with his wit as he is with his glove, I give you this little exchange from MLBastian:

Ricciardi: "Alex, if you cut your hair, you'd be like Tom Brady. You'd have them all. What do you think Johnny Mac?"

McDonald: "The problem is that he's already had them all."

Rios: "Aw, c'mon, Johnny."

Seriously though, Rios recently proposed to his long-term girlfriend . . . he proposed a threesome with her sister. Heyo! I'll be here all week.

Illicit Photos

Speaking of illicit photos, MLBastian, the fearless Blue Jays beat reporter for MLB.com, has created a photo gallery of the Jays Spring Training. The last time I got this much pleasure from a photo gallery, I had to use a friend's computer to mitigate any evidence against me.

According to the photo gallery, it appears as though Ernie Whitt has transitioned his lip tickler into an entire goatee. Whitt has experimented with a goatee in the past, but eventually stopped when neighbours complained about the noise.

A League Of His Own

According to Jeff Blair, John Gibbons has been very impressed with Brandon League thus far. League has started his vigorous daily workout, and in only a few hours he worked out what day it was.

Tripod's Hot Rod

As you may remember, Geoff Baker started a big to-do a couple of years ago by suggesting that the Blue Jays roster was a little bit too far on the lily-white-boy side of the race spectrum.

This Spring, Reed Johnson proved that race isn't an issue and that white players can bring the bling as much as anyone else. Exhibit A is Johnson's Shelby Cobra, which is not an exciting new term for his genitalia, but rather a really nice car.

Democratic Management

Jeremy Sandler of the National Post is reporting that manager John Gibbons has implemented a friendly competition for those covering the Jays Spring Training.

Journalists have been invited to submit lineups for the first game against the New York Yankees with a $5 entry fee. The winning lineup will not only be used, but the mastermind behind it gets to have dinner with Gibbers.

My own proposed lineup against right handers:

David Eckstein, SS
Vernon Wells, CF
Alex Rios, RF
Matt Stairs, LF
Frank Thomas, DH
Scott Rolen, 3B
Lyle Overbay, 1B
Gregg Zaun, C
Aaron Hill, 2B

Pranks Are Still Alive

The Jays aren't the only team having a little bit of fun this Spring.