Rios rips into fan after charity event

If you haven't already seen it, you absolutely must go to the following link on you tube. Alex Rios cusses out a fan after a charity event!

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

After a pathetic 0 for 5 game Thursday against the Angels, Rios attended a charity event that evening and refused to grant a kid an autograph. Then Rios started getting heckled from a fan saying "you should be happy someone wants your autograph" Rios eventually snapped, and several f-bombs were said.

This is great stuff. I like that Rios stood up for himself instead of brushing the nasty comments aside. The passion was incredible and extremely raw. I just wish Rios brought that much intensity to the baseball diamond every day.

Rios apologized for the altercation today, and responded by going 1 for 4 in the series opener against the Royals, including an RBI double.

Note: A previous posting included the link to Rios arguing with a fan. The video has since been taken down by YouTube.

Overbay fails when it matters most

Just looking at a box score of a baseball game without watching the actual contest can be entirely misleading. Case in point, Lyle Overbay's outing against the Angels on Thursday.

The Jays first basemen had a pair of hits, and drove in 3 runs. Without question, he had a pretty good game. In fact, he has a 10 game hitting streak, in which he's batted over .400. However, when the club needed him to come up big in a critical 9th inning, he floundered.

With the score tied at 5 in the ninth, and runners on 1st and 3rd with nobody out, Overbay fell asleep. The Jays turned a double play ball, but Overbay did not react quickly enough when Howie Kendrick broke for home on that play, tossing the ball too late to Rod Barajas. Kendrick scored, and the Angels went on to win the game 6-5. Then in the bottom of the 9th, with Adam Lind on 2nd, Overbay struck out, choking in the clutch.

Is Overbay good, or crappy? I really can't decide. Of all the Blue Jays, I go back and forth on whether he is a viable performer for the club. This much I know; he failed when the team needed him to come up large Thursday against the Angels.

I guess that answers my question.

Lind rules; Rios sucks

The difference between how great Adam Lind is and how pathetic Alex Rios plays is absolutely astounding. One guy is a complete clutch hitter, and the other is a lazy bum. It was never more apparent then Thursday afternoon against the Angels.

Lind had an astounding game that will be unfortunately forgotten because the Jays lost. He went 5 for 5, his first career five hit performance, where he had 3 doubles and a pair of singles. Rios, on the other hand, had 5 strikeouts. FIVE FREAKING STRIKEOUTS! Dating back to his previous game. Rios has 7 straight whiffs. Are you kidding me?

I don't ever want to hear a positive story about the clown. He's had a couple of home runs the past few games. So what? They came in a blowout loss to Boston and early in a ball game against the Angels. Do you think Rios would blast a big homer when it mattered? Of course not. There is no way anyone can legitimately say Rios is a solid 5 tool ball player. How about the 5 tool piece of crap?

Adam Lind is sensational. Alex Rios sucks. End of story.

Power outage for Bautista

Where did Jose Bautista's power stroke go? When the Jays traded for the versatile veteran midway through last season, he was supposed to bring a little pop in his bat. Bautista has just one home run this year, and he hit it in a blow out game against Chicago. What happened with him? Is there any hope he'll start getting it going at the dish?

Bautista was awful today in the series finale against the Angels. He struck out three times, including the 9th inning, when his whiff ended what would have been a phenomenal Blue Jays comeback. Yhe last three seasons he has 16, 15, and 15 long balls, so a home run really would have gone a long way in securing the comeback.

Bautista has played in 35 of the first 56 contests for the Jays this year. He is a very good depth player, and a quality guy to start a game here or there. However, if the Toronto Blue Jays are hoping to unseat the Red Sox and Yankees, they can not have Bautista starting as many games as he has.