Regardless of whether you’re an all-star or a no-star, it’s hard to play in front of total sensory overload. I don’t care how stalwart a veteran you think you are, when you walk out in front of a small army of performance judges, all bedecked in home town colours, bank accounts emptied to buy seats, tickets, and souvenirs with the hope you will deliver for them, you’d be lying if you said you didn’t feel a little out of your comfort zone.
The intensity the Rogers Centre held last night probably won’t be seen again until the post-season. At least by then the Jays will have a season of playing together under their belts and know how their teammates will react to it all. last night was as much breaking the seal and busting the hype as it was actual baseball.
People say players get paid millions of dollars to deal with that kind of pressure. Yeah, they do, but when it’s the first game out of the chute, it can still blindside you. Ask J.P. Arencibia. He’d spent all of spring handling Dickey, and —according to reports from the brass who most assuredly had rose coloured glasses on thanks to J.P.’s spring hitting —handling him well. But last night he missed seven balls, three of which were passed balls, contributing to the Jays’ loss.
Fumbling the baseball in front of that kind of perceived pressure has a way of all-but ensuring you’ll do it again— you know other people are thinking about it, which means you’re thinking about what they’re thinking about. Meanwhile, while you’re thinking about it, it happens again, which leads to more thinking about it… my head hurts.
Last night was the first night these new Jays could could truly feel measured and sifted as worthy of all the hyperbole and publicity. Last night was the beginning of something that could go very right, or very wrong, something all the players knew in spring training, but now feel the inexorable weight of.
And last night was also the first taste the fan base got of reality — an ingredient that’s been missing from the uber-coverage this significant season has received.
But even if you don’t buy my psychology, at least consider that the presently active Indians are still hitting .263 against Dickey. Meanwhile, the presently active Jays are only hitting .179 off Masterson. Did anyone talk about that before yesterday’s game? I don’t remember it being brought up. All I remember is the Jays were the favourites because they have the most stars on their roster and blah blah blah… WORLD SERIES, OMG!
Well, stars or not, Dickey would have had to be in mid-season form with Masterson at his worst to even the odds. If they both did what they were supposed to do, opening day, big stars, hype… it was still likely Dickey would give up a few runs and Masterson would deal.
Factor in a few nervous nellies staring down five decks of expectant fans and it gets that much harder.
It’s one thing to hear that the whole city of Toronto is keyed into your performance, it’s another to see the grandeur of it all splayed out before you, waiting for you to deliver on what most assuredly feels like a promise.
The Indians, on the other hand, knew that none of the fans in attendance were worried about them. A kind of hidden in plain sight feeling since everyone was wondering if their opponent was truly as good as claimed. A no-pressure scenario, comparatively speaking. They had a better shot of playing normalized baseball.
Tonight, however, should be a much more even encounter, one decidedly in the Jays’ favour. Morrow, since 2011, has held the Indians to a batting average of .167. Nick Swisher, the big offensive upgrade the Indians are touting, is only hitting .091 against Morrow.
Meanwhile, the Jays are hitting Ubaldo Jimenez at a .289 clip. Heck, even Mark Buehrle is hitting .500 off the guy.
I remember talking to Dickey in spring training about the great mythos he and his knuckleball had generated in the Toronto fan base. He smiled and said that they’d soon forget about that and focus on whether he was doing his job or not. He was right, and people will. The sooner it happens, the sooner everyone can focus on the task at hand instead of trying to live up to the hype.