We went through the five stages of grief pretty fast, soothed somewhat by how well Justin Smoak performed in his place at first base. Somehow, it was easier to get over Edwin Encarnacion leaving. He has ingrained himself into the soul of this team, that bearded visage almost as eponymous for the Toronto Blue Jays as the bird in profile stitched into every uniform. Whatever happens in 2018, it’s hard to nestle into the idea that No. Maybe, like the Minnesota Twins, we’ll have one bad year and be right back in it the next. It’s never easy to cope with the head-pounding hangover that follows, or to settle into the realization that maybe this ball club hasn’t quite made it over that maddeningly elusive hump that separates perennial contenders from perpetual also-rans.
#Yankees edwin encarnacion full#
I – along with many others, judging by the endless rows of empty seats in the old highlight reels – wasn’t there, for the most part, to watch him become Jose Bautista.īut I, along with 47,393 others, and probably a great number more who wished they could have been, was there for the end.Īs I noted last time, this was a crummy year for the Blue Jays, the metaphorical bill coming due for two most remarkable, franchise-reinvigorating seasons full of individual moments to spark debate and storied recollection for years to come. I wasn’t there as he transformed himself from a perennial journeyman castoff and marginal bench bat into one of the most powerful, most feared, and most significant hitters in the entire sport. He crept unheralded onto the roster during my long night away from baseball and the team my father had taught me to love.
0 kommentar(er)
