(Headline:  Chip from the movie Anchorman)

John Gibbons is gone as Blue Jay's Manager and I am quite pleased with the move.  We obviously had to do something and this is something.  Desparate yes, but these are desparate times.  This is what you do with a team that cannot make winning a habit.  

The move to bring back Cito Gaston will not magically make this team a winner by any means.  The team still needs a lot of work and we are constantly being challenged by younger and hungrier teams (i.e. Tampa).  Cito will bring a different perspective and mentality, I just hope that he doesn't force hitters to pull the ball again, (i.e. John Olerud).  I always thought Gene Tenace did a great job while he was here, and just maybe he can instill some WHAMMIES into the Blue Jay bats.     

The two BIG flaws that I saw with Gibbons were:

1.  His laid back attitude and questionable leadership skills.  Sure, there is something to be said for a coach that makes the clubhouse a easy place to play and coexist, but that is only a good attitude when you have the talent to back it up.  The Jays desparately need someone to come in and instill a serious winning attitude to our roster. 

2.  The use of the bullpen.  We have had some great bullpens over the Gibbons years, guys that have really been solid.  How then, do we often end up losing a lot of close games? 

What really erked me about Gibbons was the way he would rotate relivers late in close games.  Too often, he would pitch relievers inning by inning not considering letting relievers, that are pitching with great stuff, for 2 or maybe 3 innings.  It got to the point where he was just looking to find a reliever who would lose the game.  He would use Downs and he would give up no runs, same with Carlson, then Wolfe, and then Frasor or somebody would eventually blow it.  Frustrating when you look at a guy like Carlson or Downs pitching lights out and you know that Gibbons will always pull them after an inning.

In the end, however, it comes to the players performing on the field.  They are not now and likely will continue to underachieve, even under a new.  If anything, Cito will be able to point out some of the major flaws with our current and make suggestions for J.P. or whoever.  It is obvious that they need the help and Gibbons was just not doing that.     

I can't even talk about the Blue Jays right now, so I will leave them out of this entry.  For my take on the Jays, please refer to the previous entry titled "How Frustrating the Jays Are!!"  If I was to write anymore about the Jays, it would definately take that same tone. 

If anyone was wondering where the name We're talkin Homer, Blue Jays and MLB came from, then keep wondering!  Just kidding.  It is from a Simpsons episode, where Homer plays on the Mr. Burn's Nuclear Power Plant Softball Team.  Homer begins the show by playing excellent for the team, with his wonderbat, that is reminissant from the Robert Redford film The Natural.  Towards the end, Mr. Burns buys Major Leaguers (e.g. Ken Griffey, Mike Scoscia, Steve Sax, Wade Boggs) to play for the team and win the championship.  However, funny and unfortunate mishaps befall all the players just before the game, with the exception of Darly Strawberry, the guy who plays Homer's position.  I won't ruin the ending, but if you haven't seen it, keep an eye out for that rerun.  Here is link to a song from the episode, with chorus line directly relating to the title of my blog, plus my last name is Homer.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kl5Wsp8e5LA 

Another cool song, that I came across playing "MLB 2008 The Show," is called Sweep the Leg by No More Kings.  The song takes you through scenes from the Karate Kid After playing that video game religiously for the past 2 months, I finally caught on and realized that the lyrics are about the Karate Kid movie.  Here is link to the video, so you can see what I am talking about.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFlQNtL8F9s

 Check out the videos!  We're talkin Hooomer, Ozzie and the Straw.

 It felt like a classice 80's movie, with John Candy and Steve Martin, on my trip to Yankee Stadium on Tuesday.  We drove to the airport in Buffalo, took a shuttle bus to our terminal, flew from Buffalo to JFK in New York, took a bus from the airport to Grand Central Station, took the number 4 subway train to Yankees Stadium and got a cab to take us to the airport.  I have never had to rely on so much public transportation in my life, it was all worth it though, as the Blue Jays came out victorious against Joba and the Yanks on Tuesday.  Too bad about the other two games, especially Thursday, jesh!!!  What a heartbreaker. I don't want to get started on that.  Anyway, here are some pictures of me at the game.

We had some pretty good seats, with a good overview of the field.

With the Yogi plaque in Monument Park.  I think im about to say "de ja veux all over again".  Also, im carrying bonoculars, I know that looks like a purse.  The steak I had in Manhatten was amazing from Sparks Steakhouse.  They also had a huge wine list and a number of pictures of celebrities that came to the restaurant (i.e. Joe Torre, George Bush). 

I also was able to capture a good picture of Alex Rodriguez as he entered the stadium.  I have no idea what he is holding in his hand, but he is inbetween the lady with the Petitte jersey and the girl with the back pack.  It almost looks like A Rod is posing for me. 

Great pitching matchup!  Joba Chamberlain, (making his first start as a Yankee) versus Roy Halladay (God of Pitching!!!).   Never been to Yankees Stadium, but I'm making it happen before they tear it down.  Although we compete against the Yankees, and I often despise the Yankees, you have to respect the tradition of that team.  Committed to winning and committed to excellence.  Their fans, although arrogant (see picture to the right), are usually true baseball people that love the game.  I often wish Blue Jay fans were more like them.

The sellouts, the media, the arrogance, the fans, the payroll, the legends and the success make them what they are.  They are always fun to watch, and they are even more fun to watch lose to your favorite team.  Even when they are losing, the media and fan hoopla is intense, and also fun to watch. 

I'm getting pretty darn excited for the Yankees Stadium experience.  I think that I'm going to be in for a pitchers duel, which is fine by me.  When the game is tight and the runs are hard to come by, it saves the drama and makes scoring those runs that much more exciting.  Go Jays!  We're Talkin playoffs this year!  4 over .500.  Next entry will include pictures from the game.