Tuesday, November 09, 2010

Nice Timing By the Blue Jays

Doesn't it seem fitting that during the week that Sparky Anderson passes away, that his erstwhile phenom, Torey Lovullo got hired by a MLB team? Anderson was always touting this prospect or that one and many times, it became a laughable joke because the players ended up being terrible. Torey Lovullo was one of those. When Sparky called up Lovullo, his famous quote was: "I'll die before Lovullo comes out of the lineup." Fortunately for us, Sparky didn't die and Lovullo came out of the line up after batting .112 in over 100 at bats.

Remarkably, Lovullo did managed to eke out parts of seven years in the big leagues. He only had one year where he approached being a regular player and that was in 1993 with the Angels. Lovullo finished with a 69 lifetime OPS+.

Of course, Anderson was a pretty lousy baseball player too, but he was a great manager and Lovullo's playing career should have no impact on what he will do as a major league coach. But his hiring wasn't the only Toronto hire. They also hired former Mariner manager, Don Wakamatsu, as their bench coach. John Farrell will have an excellent side kick there (in this writer's opinion).

Another hire was Pat Hentgen, the Blue Jays former Cy Young Award winner. He will join the team as its bullpen coach. Blue Jays fans should get a great kick out of seeing Hentgen in a Blue Jays uniform again.

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