Is the Blue Jays potential being stiffled by their mismanagment? Um, yeah.

Whats up in the MLB? The Blue Jays are behind in the standings. Get it? ------------->

If passive managing was the fashion required to produce champions in baseball, one would rightly assume bench managers wouldn't exist. The fact that they do, in spite of Toronto Blue Jays Manager John Gibbons reluctance to assume the role, makes one question his value as he appears to be a well-paid spectator, interested merely in the full-access to the clubhouse spread. In contrast to his conduct, the finest illustration of his importance lies in the teams mediocrity under his passive reign.

Managing is about pushing the right buttons at the right time. Simple but vital are coordinating the tangible fundamentals like batting order, fielding position; technical maneuvering in the form of controlling base runners and utilizing a pinch hitter and the bullpen moves. These are things that John Gibbons has (tragically) only recently adopted and integrated into his managerial collection d'armes. Lacking however, is a consistent effort to control the intangible side of the game by nurturing his players' psyche.

On countless occasions I've espoused the montra: team identity is essential to success. It's here where Gibbys glowing mismanagement affects the Blue Jays the most. His lack of psychological influence on this squad makes them the best team in the MLB at finding a ways to lose. They've stranded more men than Mary Rose, have their right-fielder playing center (and vice-versa), and continue to flounder in the standings as a result.

Insisting that the bats will come around won't make it so; having a definitive batting order and a set role for every guy on the team will. Instead, the Gibbons pencils in his lineup card much the same way children enjoy their Lite Brite – pull a colour out of the pile and toss it in to make something special. But, unlike the spectrum of coloured pegs in the aforementioned kids game, all Gibbons has to choose from is grey – arguably by his own error.

Gibbons shuffles his players so frequently they have all melded themselves into jack-of-all-trade types, ostensibly mastering none. Indistinguishable from one another the Jays diffuse the responsibilities fulfilled by winning teams. In this, the irony of their battle with .500 during Gibbys tenure is brilliantly personified. Without a role, the player lacks a specified purpose, and the team lacks a distinct identity. On Gibbons squad, guys don't hit for power or average, they just hit. They approach every at-bat with the blind ambition of a little leaguer swinging for the fences in desperation, unlike winning clubs whose approach to the plate is calcuated and meticulous.

Granted the players have contributed their share of failures, leaving only a fool blaming John Gibbons exclusively. However, his shortcomings seem to account for a great deal of the issues with the Toronto Blue Jays and their lack of mental focus and clutch execution. Gibbons needs to stick his neck out and establish a role for every player according to a winning philosophy. Place the responsibility squarely on the shoulders of those most fit to carry the load, and ride that wave of newly-minted identity as far as the bastard will carry you.

Understanding Ozzie: Madness Meets Motivation

That another rant has gotten Oswaldo José Guillén Barrios in the Sports pages surprises no one. The shock comes with the subject matter of his rant: no, he didn't call Jay Mariotti a fag again, but he did indirectly call out just about everyone in the organization. Indeed, the principals of a more 'personal' approach that has begun to prevail in organizational circles, while Ozzie Guillen continues to demonstrate his preference for irate verbal slurs and condemnations.

Despite these and Ozzies' numerous other unorthodox moral-building techniques, the results seem to support his idiosyncrasies. The Chicago White Sox are currently riding atop the AL Central (Twins 1-game back) and have won a World Series under Ozzies' guidance (2005, the same year he was awarded Manager of the Year). Irrespective of his track record and history of odd behavior, the media continually drops the ball when opining on the man who knows no filter.

Like players, managers can be cast in a variety of molds: some are cerebral and calculated, other intuitive and spontaneous. Whatever their demeanor, it can nearly be guaranteed that their behavior and temperament are reflected in the way they communicate with the media (and I don't need to tell you the category in which Ozzie falls).

So when a guy with a history like Guillen shoots off, we shouldn't treat it the same way we would if Mike Scioscia or Joe Torre called one of their players 'a fat boy from Venezuela'. Unlike Ozzie, the latter men are methodical and calculated when using the media to manipulate the psychology of their players, if and when they deem the tactic appropriate. The result is something subtly formulated which intentionally requires translation or (media) interpretation.

Ozzie knows not the means to be so coy. Instead, he uses his crude grasp of the English language to express his oft emotional concerns. The resulting commentary rarely needs interpretation – it is what it is, to paraphrase something Ozzie himself has surely uttered. So when he calls out his boss, he does so without previously assessing the unintended consequences. He says the bullpen and hitting are weak not because he wants some hack from Yahoo or ESPN to write about his sleuthy undermining of GM Kenny Williams, but because he thinks the bullpen and hitting are weak. This is the type of analysis that has alluded much of the media commentary directed towards Ozzies' comments. Sometimes the simplest explanation is most plausible (but evidently journalists prefer complexity to correctness).

We should appreciate the candor and enthusiasm that Ozzie Guillen brings to his job: if everyone else had the stones to be so frank the office-gossip would be endlessly rich. Unfortunately, those who speak their mind do so risking subsequent unemployment, a fate that at least now, it appears Ozzie won't have to deal with.

MLB: Why baseball is the best outdoor sport on Earth

I want to preface my first piece (of the season) on the MLB with the a plain declaration of my love for baseball. Unless you grew up playing the game you might not share my fervent passion. With Opening Day approaching, it follows that I thrilled expound on why I think baseball is the best outdoor game on Earth.

While the pace might dissuade some potential viewers, it is more likely their inability to grasp (or lack of exposure to) the finer details that make baseball such a amazing spectacle. It is a sport of calculated decisions coupled with the physical demands of other major sports, traits that can be overlooked by those who fail to learn or study -- and thus appreciate -- the intricacies of this superficially simple, yet often surprisingly dynamic sporting event.

A players ability to hit, run, catch and throw are merely the seeds of the prerequisite abilities; abilities that proliferate and branch manifesting a players role or value to an organization. Like no other sport baseball demands a unique skill-set that is predominately composed of: patience and mental focus, athleticism and intelligence; characteristics that must be delicately balanced according to ones specialty (in other words, their position). But, how are the former fundamental prerequisites influenced and determined by the latter physical attributes?

Patient hitters tangentially add potency to an offensive attack. By taking and/or fouling off pitches, these patient hitters run deep counts thereby exhausting the oppositions starting pitcher and forcing typically less-talented relief pitchers into the game to weather the storm. Driving up your opponents pitch-count grants a determinable advantage to those teams with patient bats. Look no further than the World Series Champion Boston Red Sox for an example of this. Remember this to avoid frustration when you see 6-7+ pitch at-bats and enjoy it! More often than not you are witnessing one of the finer one-on-one duals in sport (especially in clutch situations).

Mental Focus is paramount to the passage above. Without unwaivering concentration and mental focus not even Yoda could hit Johan Santanas' curve ball, yet alone intentionally foul it off in search of a more suitable pitch. Fielders also require intense focus in a game where every ground ball or pop-fly comes in differently. Subtle variations between ball parks, playing surfaces, and weather conditions all play tricks on the spin and trajectory of the leather-covered rubber & cork sphere. If that isn't enough to rattle your cage, the nature of scoring baseball subjects the players to the greatest level of individual scrutiny.

Athleticism is one of the most obvious and anticipated traits of pro athletes, albeit not mutually exclusive with ball players. Indeed, some players – due to their position (pitchers and DH's come to mind) -- can get away with unflattering physiques because their skills are so specialized. Oddly enough, some would argue fatter pitchers are more durable and bigger hitters generate more power effectively supporting certain players paradoxical conditioning. Aside from these quirks, reaction time, agility and kinesthetic intelligence are enormously vital to all ball players.

Intelligence is the tie that binds the above characteristics. Intelligence – as it pertains strictly to the game itself – is a trait nearly all major leagues possess. The mental dual that is every at-bat can be drawn upon as an example. Hitters who study a pitchers tendencies (and vice versa) invariably perform better over the long haul – and when you play 162-game seasons, proper scouting reports and quick analysis become a necessity. Every time you hear a broadcaster drop the phrase '(the batter) was waiting on that pitch', following a jack over the wall in left-center, think of how critical it was for that individual to anticipate and identify the pitch.

The importance of the physical attributes and cognitive characteristics documented above could be expanded upon in great length, something I'll forgo in the sake of brevity. I have also focused primarily on hitting and fielding, leaving pitching for another piece altogether. Please consider the minutia the next time your watching a ball game and I ensure you'll gleam added entertainment from always slow, but never boring sports that is the best the outdoors has to offer.

Thanks for stopping in, I hope you enjoyed the read. Cloud9 produces great content daily, so please click here to subscribe. Cheers, Derek.