Before tonights Toronto Blue Jays game at the Rogers Centre, when the American League East leaders host last years National League pennant winners, the St. Louis Cardinals, the team will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of the opening of the SkyDome. Jays legends Jimmy Key and Ernie Whitt, members of playoff and World Series-winning teams of the past, will be on hand for the festivities to look back at what was the beginning of the Jays halcyon years. The return of these former stars comes at an apt time. For fans of the Blue Jays, its starting to feel a lot like those glory days again. Heading into Fridays game, the Jays sit at 37-24 with a five-and-a-half-game lead on the second-place Baltimore Orioles. The last team the Blue Jays held such a lead atop the division was in 1985, the year of their first-ever AL East triumph. Its easy to see why theres excitement surrounding this Jays team, but before everybody goes and books their flights to San Francisco for the World Series in October, lets step back and take a good look at these Toronto Blue Jays. Is it time to stop saying "Well, its early" and officially deem them contenders? Is the 2014 version of the Jays just the 2013 one that was expected all along, but a year late on arrival? Or will reality catch up with a team that is currently playing above its station? Friday night marks Game 62, and an even 100 games remain in the regular season. While its not exactly the halfway mark, its as good a time as any to reflect on the interesting dichotomy of the Jays season, thus far. Obviously, there have been plenty of key performances from the top of the roster on down. Mark Buehrle leads the league in wins with 10 and has a paltry 2.10 ERA. Edwin Encarnacion launched 16 jacks in May and made every at-bat a must-see event. Jose Bautista is in the midst of an MVP-calibre season. Melky Cabrera has bounced back from offseason surgery and looks headed to another All-Star Game. Jose Reyes once again looks like the catalyst he was for the New York Mets. Picked up from the Milwaukee Brewers scrap heap, Juan Francisco is one of the five Jays with double-digit home run totals. There is a lot to like right now. But before the Jays were sweeping the likes of the Detroit Tigers and Oakland Athletics and tearing the cover off the baseball with reckless abandon and going 17-4 over its last 21 games, this team was once a very average 20-20. Its bullpen is still second-last in the bigs with a 4.62 ERA, having surrendered a league-worst 97 earned runs. Now second in the AL with 19 home runs, Encarnacion couldnt buy a hit in April and had just two homers. Reyes, Adam Lind and Casey Janssen missed significant time. Brandon Morrow and Colby Rasmus are down again. There were red flags all over this team not that long ago, but those have been seemingly swept aside in a tidal wave of power-hitting and timely pitching. Has this changed your expectations for the rest of the year? With April and early May indicating that the team was headed for another year of mediocrity, the fact that the Jays are division-leaders with the third-best record in baseball in June is quite frankly shocking. But wasnt this the Toronto Blue Jays team that was promised last season after a winter of major trades and free agent acquisitions? Maybe this run that the Jays are on isnt the aberration. Perhaps, last season and the beginning of this year was the outlier. Regardless of why its happening and how long it will last, the Blue Jays are currently playing meaningful baseball and its a welcome change for fans starving for a winner. So with 100 games left in 2014, just who are these Toronto Blue Jays and what happens from here on out? As always, its Your Call!
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David Perron Jersey .com) - The Columbus Crew took another step toward the Eastern Conference playoffs as Federico Higuain netted the lone goal in the clubs 1-0 defeat of the New England Revolution on Saturday.SURREY, B.C. -- Hes won more CFL games than any other coach but the West Final remains one of Wally Buonos biggest obstacles. The B.C. Lions head coach and general manager has learned many painful lessons over the years from watching some very good teams hes coached lose their chance to advance to the Grey Cup. Those past experiences will come into play this week as Buono prepares the Lions to face the Edmonton Eskimos in Sundays West Final at BC Place Stadium. The winner will advance to the Nov. 27 Grey Cup in Vancouver. "Theres no magic formula," Buono said Monday, leaning back in the chair in his office. "The only thing I have learned from all that is be careful about magnifying the opportunity. You can put too much undo stress and pressure on people." Buono acknowledged that as a young coach this is something he may have been guilty of. The Eskimos defeated the Calgary Stampeders 33-19 in Sundays West semifinal. The Lions won three of four games against the Eskimos this season. B.C. outscored Edmonton 130-79, with one game a 36-1 blowout. "Its not relevant," shrugged Buono. "The way I am looking at it, its a new season and the first time weve played these guys. "The past is not relevant." B.C., Edmonton and Calgary all finished the season with 11-7 records. The Lions were seeded first because of their winning record against the other two teams. Edmonton linebacker Rod Davis said the memory of losing 29-20 to the Lions on Oct. 29, with first place on the line, is still fresh for the Eskimos. "This is definitely a different team," said Davis. "Since we played them last, we went through some things. We went there with first place on our minds and we took an L. "This time its all on the line again, but we learned from that situation and its going to show up next time." That kind of confidence doesnt come as a surprise to Buono. "It really doesnt matter if its the Eskimos or the Stampeders," he said. "They are always going to come here with a tremendous amount of energy. "Winning the semifinal . . . you play a big game, you win. You always come into the next game with a lot of confidence and a lot of energy." The Lions offence scored 84 more points than the Eskimos. The B.C. defence gave up the least points in the CFL. B.C. running back Andrew Harris will head into Sundays game healthy while Edmontons Jerome Messam, who rushed for over 1,000 yards this season, hurt his knee against Calgary. Lions picker Paul McCallum set a league record this season for accuracy. "When you play the West Final there are no guuarantees," said Buono.dddddddddddd "We have confidence in ourselves and our team. We are at a stage right now where we know what we have to do. The guys are ready for it." Edmonton receiver Adarius Bowman said the teams match up well. "They got just as much to lose as us this time," he said. "So best man wins." There will be a cloud of sadness hanging over the Lions this week after the 18-year-old son of veteran trainer Bill Reichelt was killed in a car crash in Langley, B.C., on Saturday night. Dylan Reichelt died at the scene when the car he was a passenger in lost control in heavy rain, rolled and hit a tree. Buono said several other CFL teams called to offer the use of their trainer. The Lions will use ask a local trainer to work with assistant trainer Benjie Lee as they prepare for the Eskimos. "When you lose a son or family member its tragic," Buono said. "The emotions affect all of us." Something Buono hopes doesnt affect the team is slotback Arland Bruce becoming involved in an incident with Vancouver police over a parking infraction Sunday morning. "There was an incident," Buono said. "We were made aware of it. Hopefully its not any more than maybe a small irritant. "At the end of it, it doesnt affect Arlands position on the football club. We are just going to move forward." A police spokesman said its unlikely there will be any further investigation into the matter or that charges will be laid. In a 22-year coaching career with B.C. and Calgary, Buono has won a CFL record 254 regular-season games. His teams have finished in first place 13 times. Buonos record in his previous 12 West Finals is 7-5. Some of the losses still hurt. "Those games are as painful in the loss column as losing a Grey Cup," said Buono, who is 3-2 in Grey Cups. "Maybe more so. "Its an opportunity lost. Youve come so close." The last time the Lions finished first in the West was 2007. They lost the final to Saskatchewan. This years Lions took a different path to the top of the standings. The Lions started the season 1-6 before winning eight consecutive matches. B.C. still needed to win its final regular season game to clinch first place. In the past Buonos teams have dominated early in the season and coasted into the playoffs. "A lot of teams that wrap up the West, they wrap it up three or four weeks prior to when the game means anything," Buono said. "You are trying to keep momentum which is hard. Sometimes youve lost that in October. "This year (for us) its been sink or swim."
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Topic: path to the top of the standings. (Read 2092 times)
