And Ode to the Blue Jays

No team in baseball has been more fun to watch this year than the Toronto Blue Jays. Which makes it even more of a mystery as to why they didn't draw better crowds at home. The team drew just under 1.5 million fans which is 12th in the AL in attendance. Those fans that didn't attend sure did miss a great show. The team led the majors in home runs and in slugging. They also came in third in doubles. Plus, they had a young rotation that really started coming into it's own including Brandon Morrow, who just might be the most exciting young pitcher in the league right now. Here is some offensive highlights of just what those fans missed by staying home:

• Jose Bautista!  54 homers, 34 doubles, 3 triples, 99 walks, 124 RBI with 109 runs scored. His batting average wasn't much to sneeze over, but his OBP was .381. What an awe inspiring year.
• Vernon Wells: Quieted some of the talk about his contract this year. 31 homers, 42 doubles, 3 triples, 87 RBI. He would have driven in more runs but Bautista didn't let him have any.
• John Buck: 20 homers and 22 doubles with 65 RBI in just 110 games. He has a slugging percentage of .498.
• Aaron Hill: Had about as bad a start at the plate of anyone in baseball, but still slugged 26 homers.
• Edwin Encarcion: Will never be touted as a good hitter, but he hit 18 homers.
• Lyle Overbay: Despite the Fan calling him Lyle Overpaid, the slugger hit 20 homers and hit 36 doubles.
• Adam Lind: Another player with a horrendous start after a big season last season. But he has contributed 22 homers and 31 doubles.
• Travis Snider: This young slugger should have played more. Hopefully a new manager will tap him for full time duty. He hit 14 homers and slugged .471 in just 81 games.

Heck, even one of their pitchers (Shawn Marcum) hit a homer in the interleague games!

In the rotation, here were the highlights:

• Shawn Marcum: 13-9 with a 3.63 ERA. He had nearly a 4 to 1 K/BB ratio. .244 batting average against.
• Ricky Romero: 13-9 with a 3.79 ERA. .244 batting average against.  Only gave up 14 homers in 202 innings.
• Brett Cecil: 15-7. Not the power pitcher like the first two, but he keeps you in the game and wins.
• Brandon Morrow: 10-7 with 178 strikeouts in 146 and a third innings! Included was a 17 strikeout, one hitter. He has "ace" written all over him. .248 batting average against.

On top of these starters, Kyle Drabek shows promised, Rzepcynski beat the Yankees and Shawn Hill even threw a few good games. The bullpen of Gregg, Camp, Downs, Frasor, Janssen and Purcey were just fine and pitched a lot of quality innings.

Yes, it was a super fun season to watch these Blue Jays. Their biggest weakness is that they didn't hit for average. Wells led the team at .274. And their pitching staff walks too many batters. But still, this team was the fourth best team in the American League this year and it was a fun ride the whole season.