Welcome Home Blue Jays!

A brief introduction is in order. Hello to all of you PhoulBallz.com phaithful! My name is The Man With The Golden Arm, head man at 1BlueJaysWay, and I am a living, breathing, eating, sleeping baseball phan in Canada. Now I know most of you will be shocked to hear that and I'm sure you thought guys like me were mythical like unicorns.....but it's true. I'll take baseball over hockey any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

That being said, I realize that I am in the minority in my native land. And believe me, I hear about it weekly. You see, I can't turn it off. Blue Jays baseball has been and will be a major part of my life until one of two things happen:

1) I die
2) Some dick at MLB's head office moves my team

When Jay Ballz asked me for a few thoughts regarding the upcoming Blue Jays / Phillies series, I pondered it for a couple of days. This ordeal of Roy Halladay's return series being moved to Philadelphia has brought on a complete range of emotions for me. I was excited, scared, happy, sad, angry, embarrassed and everything in between depending on where we were in the process. To put it into perspective for you guys, it was 3 and a half months before I could even talk about Roy Halladay being traded. This is what I came up with.

To say that I was looking forward to seeing him pitch again is a bit of an understatement.

However, right now I'm not so sure. Seeing him with another team would be like seeing your ex girlfriend with another man. I know Doc would be well received here in Toronto, but I can honestly say this here and now: I was hoping to see the Blue Jays knock the hell out of him. You see, I have come to realize that no matter what, the team is more important than its players. Even the best players. Even the phan favorites. Trading away a future Hall of Famer kinda forces you to do just that.

Here is a quote from young lefty pitcher Ricky Romero shortly after Doc threw his perfect game for you. It pretty much sums up my current state of mind:

“There was a guy here that did it really, really well,” Romero said. “You try to learn from that.”
But instead of reminiscing about the Halladay era, Romero reminded reporters of the new reality in Toronto: Halladay wears a different uniform and could face the Jays when Toronto plays the Phillies in late June. So, while Romero had plenty of praise for Halladay, he’s also prepared to face his former teammate. “I’m sure everyone in here is happy for Doc, but we’ve got to take care of our business,” he said. “He’s our enemy now.”

In conclusion, I hope you all enjoy the extra three "home games" for your Phillies this weekend. I know it will be odd to see your team hit first and with that stupid Designated Hitter rule in your park. A fitting end to a total screw up by all parties involved. Toronto folks get the G20 and Philadelphia phans get our home games. In my eyes, we can call the whole Joe Carter walk-off home run to win the World Series thing even now. ;)

Total low blow, I know. But I'm not even gonna pretend like I'm sorry.

Stop by the site sometime and say hello won't ya? Or stay in touch via the twitter.

Diekman a Late Addition to Mesa AFL Roster

On Wednesday, Phillies lefty pitching prospect Jacob Diekman made his Arizona Fall League debut. Diekman, who was drafted in the 30th round of the 2007 amateur draft, was assigned to Mesa late, in order to increase his 2010 innings total, according to Mesa hitting coach Mark Parent, who managed Diekman in Lakewood this past season. Diekman, 23, posted a 2-0 record with 1.90 ERA in 21 games with Class A Lakewood before being promoted to High-A Clearwater on June 24th. In 24 games with the Threshers, Diekman went 0-2 with a 3.66 ERA. Combined, Diekman tossed 55 2/3 innings and held opponents to a .187 batting average against at two levels in 2010. However, after not pitching in an official game since he threw a shutout inning to wrap up the Clearwater season on September 5th, Diekman was unable to record an out as all seven batters he faced reached base, six with hits, one on an error. Diekman was charged with 5 earned runs in the outing. Diekman had spent time at instructional ball from

McGwire Stays Phony, Despite Admitting Drug Use

Mark McGwire made an effort to publicly come clean today, admitting to the world that he took performance enhancing drugs during his playing career. Steroids and human growth hormones were among the drugs that McGwire admitted to using. MLB Network featured a one on one interview with Bob Costas and McGwire on Monday evening. The broadcast was virtually garbage, thanks to McGwire. Ahead is a list of quotes from McGwire's interview. McGwire repeatedly stated his point of view that there were no dishonorable intentions involved when taking steroids, and that he was merely using them as a means to recover from varying ailments. When asked if he felt like he cheated... "As I look back now...I can see how people would say that. As far as the talent goes and the hand-eye coordination, the ability, the genetics I was given...I don't see it." "I did not take this for any strength purposes." Denial. Read on for similar B.S. He whined about the abuse he's taken at

Bubby Rossman's long awaited MLB debut

Eight years after he initially signed a professional contract with the Dodgers and a five-year stretch playing away from affiliated ball, Bubby Rossman became a major leaguer on Wednesday. Added as a substitute for pitcher Kyle Gibson, who is restricted from travel to Canada for the Phillies' series in Toronto, due to his medical inability to be vaccinated from COVID-19, Rossman took the mound for the first time in the majors. Rossman, who was a 22nd round draft selection in 2014 had pitched in 200 professional games before his one-inning outing in the Phillies' 8-2 loss to the Blue Jays. In 27 appearances with Double-A Reading this year, the 30-year-old right-hander has performed well, tallying a 2-2 record with a save, a 3.32 ERA and a .200 batting average against. The embedded video below features a media session with Rossman from prior to opening day this year, in which the California native discusses his journey through independent baseball and back to affiliated ball wi

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