I've always thought the Toronto Blue Jays were down an ass or two - and that was even before they dispatched Josh Towers. Now, I'm not talking about somebody who's lousy with the media. That's an irrelevancy, because by and large the media's not all that important to stuff like clubhouse life, team bonding etc., etc. Frankly, we're the only people who care about ourself. No, I mean somebody who plays with an edge on the field. Somebody who'll call out his teammates and the manager. Somebody who'll piss people off.
Which brings me to Orlando Cabrera, who was such a nice young man when he started out with the Montreal Expos. Um, actually, that's not true. O.C. is burdened by acute over-intelligence and an inability to not say what he thinks. He's a bit Manny Lite in that way, although he probably wouldn't pick on the little people the way Manny does. He has always played with a chip on his shoulder and that goes back to the time when his father was a scout for the Florida Marlins and was told by the team he could only pick one player from Colombia because of visa requirements. Jolbert Cabrera, Sr., chose Edgar Renteria. Don't know if you saw the way he and the Rays Grant Balfour were going at each other in Game 1 of the ALDS Thursday, but it was vintage Cabrera - pissing off an opposing pitcher by kicking dirt toward the mound. Balfour struck out Cabrera and pointed and chirped at him all the way into the dugout. Cabrera stood at home plate and just stared at him.
Cabrera is a free-agent at the end of the year, after finishing off a four-year, $32-million contract with the White Sox. He's a good defender - particularly on turf - and he and his wife loved living in Canada. He has a clothing business and had an opening at a downtown store in Toronto a couple of years ago. He can lead off or hit second and he has a post-season pedigree. He isn't young, but you'd do, say, a two-year deal and a vesting option. Besides, given the Blue Jays inability to find a shortstop this decade, it might be time to go for a sure thing. Here's an article on Cabrera, by the way, written by Ivan Orozcvo for the Los Angeles Daily News in 2007 .
Had to go through the usual security nonsense this afternoon at Wrigley Field. Open your bag. Show all the computer stuff. Geezus god ... although as my friend Jeff Horrigan, ex of the Boston Herald, remarked last year as we waited in line before a World Series game:
"They've really got this security stuff figured out. Since they started searching our bags, there hasn't been one instance of a sportswriter blowing up a stadium."
Cubs manager Lou Piniella's doing his pre-game newser while eating a slice of pizza. Nice.
