Our Toronto Blue Jays have fired manager John Gibbons, coaches Marty Pevey, Ernie Whitt and Gary Denbo. Cito Gaston has returned as the manager for the remainder of the season. Nick Leyva will coach at third base and Gene Tenace returns as the hitting coach. It's 1993 all over again.

Something had to give, and I'm glad to see Cito back. He coached this team from 1989 through 1997 finishing with a .518 winning percentage guiding us to the post season four times and winning the World Series twice. Every Jays fan loved Cito, and I was happy to adopt his name when I became manager of my slo-pitch team.

That's right, I'm known as Cito when I manage both my comp team and my rec team. When I send the team emails, I sign them as Cito. The spirit of Cito has been alive twice a week for me the past two summers and now it's more than a feeling. It's 1993, baby, and all we're missing is Robbie, Devo, Joe, Dave, Molly and Johnny O.

For reasons I don't quite understand, we've given JP Ricciardi an extraordinary amount of time to field a playoff contender. Note, I didn't say World Series champion, nor did I say pennant or wild card winner, we really just want to be playing meaningful baseball in September.

Ricciardi was hired on November 14, 2001. That's an eternity when it comes to unsuccessful general managers. Today, our Blue Jays have the second least number of homers in the majors and simply can't score runs. With such an impotent offense, Ricciardi was asked about acquiring Adam Dunn, the Cincinnati Red who has hit 40 or more home runs each of the past four years. Ricciardi responded by claiming Dunn "doesn't have a passion to play the game that much."

Needless to say, there's another free agent who won't be coming here. I still remember Ricciardi's claims that BJ Ryan had a bad back last spring. That "bad back" was actually a severe elbow injury that required season ending Tommy John surgery, but as JP said, “They're not lies if we know the truth".

The clock has run out on this clown. He's taking a franchise drenched in integrity and soiling it and, even worse, he's given us a team that's fading fast in the American League. Enough is enough.

Willie Upshaw was part of our string of dominance at first base. Not only did his name sound great coming out of Murray Eldon's mouth but he's the answer to a great Blue Jays trivia question. Name the first Blue Jay to record 100 RBIs in a season...

The answer, of course, is Willie Upshaw with 104 RBIs in 1983. Upshaw tailed off near the end of his career, just in time for Fred McGriff to take over, but he was a key part of our first competitive teams. I'll never forget that 1984 June night I saw him hit a grand slam at Exhibition Stadium. That same night, Dave Winfield hit two grand salamis. It wasn't a good night for pitchers ERAs.

Although yesterday afternoon's game began with the roof open and the sun spilling in, the forecast turned sour and they closed the dome. I've been in the dome several times when they've closed it, usually for rain but once to get rid of a bunch of bugs, so I've seen it close before, but it never ceases to amaze me. In about 20 minutes the dome goes from an outdoor stadium to an indoor facility.

Here's a play-by-play review of the roof closure as told through my camera yesterday.

Naturally, this question got me thinking about the strongest position in the history of the Toronto Blue Jays. I believe it's first base, and commenter Magpie agrees. From 1977 through 2007, here's how our first basemen stacked up against the league average for OPS.

Willie Upshaw, Fred McGriff, John Olerud and Carlos Delgado made for a nice run at 1B. We've been blessed.

Earlier today, while browsing the referral log, I saw a visitor dropping by after Googling Tom Henke. Tom Henke, beloved Blue Jay and dominant closer for so many wonderful years. I wondered where I ranked when people Google Tom Henke.

I'm currently ranked #3, just behind Wikipedia and baseball-reference.com, a couple of major league heavyweights.

If you had told me twenty years ago I'd one day rank third when people search for Tom Henke... I'd wonder what the hell you were talking about.

Fred McGriff was a fantastic first basemen for the Jays who led the American League in homers back in 1989, but he's best known around here as a key part of The Trade.

The Trade, the trade that eventually resulted in two World Series championships, had McGriff and Tony Fernandez shipped off to San Diego Padres in exchange for Roberto Alomar and Joe Carter.

Here's an interesting Fred McGriff tid bit from the 88 Topps Card blog.

From 1988 to 2002, which two players have the most seasons with at least 22 homers? Of course Fred McGriff is one, or else I wouldn't be citing the stat. Barry Bonds is the other.

We already know Rance Mulliniks was the first person to hit an inside the park homer at SkyDome, but who was the first person to clear the fence at SkyDome? It was Fred McGriff, The Crime Dog.

Since we're doin' it right, it's time for another Blue Jays song. This is "Doin' It Right (On the Jays Side Of Town)" by Brother Jake Edwards and the Q-107 Q-Jays.

If Brother Jake sounds familiar, it's because he was The Champ. Go Jays Go!

Other awesome Blue Jays audio:

• Tom Cheek's Greatest Hits
• OK Blue Jays (Let’s Play Ball!)
• Home Run - We Got The Blue Jays (R.B.I. Single Version)
• Help Us Mookie
• The Blue Jays Rap
• The Ballad of Tom Henke
• Sunny Jays
• Jays To The Top

Last week, I wrote about Toronto-born Joe Votto and called him "the best Toronto-born ballplayer since Rob Ducey". Right on cue, here's Robert Thomas Ducey.

Ducey was a utility outfielder who played in Toronto between 1987-1992 and again in 2000. He was used sparingly, never getting more than 76 at bats in any one season for the Jays, but he actually had a pretty long major league career. He played in the bigs from 1987 until 2001 and he was a designated hitter for Team Canada in the 2004 Summer Olympics.

Here's an interesting Rob Ducey tid bit from the 88 Topps Card blog.

Ducey was involved in a strange set of transactions in 2000. The Phillies traded him to Toronto on July 26 for minor-leaguer John Sneed. Then, on August 7, he was traded back to the Phillies for Mickey Morandini. Morandini himself was returning to the Phillies, who had previously traded him away to the Cubs for Doug Glanville. Weird.

Combined, Toronto's starters have given up eight earned runs in their last 66 innings and just a ratio of 0.724 WHIP. We've allowed a mere 12 runs in our last nine games, posting three shutouts over that span.

Stay calm. Carry on.

I cringe when I look at New York Mets boxscores because Carlos Delgado is ageing rapidly. He's batting .210 right now, with 3 home runs and 13 RBIs. Those aren't Delgado numbers, and I hear Mets fans boo whenever he makes an out. They sense the end is near and they're looking for blood.

Delgado was an awesome Blue Jay. His 336 homers as a Jay are 133 more than George Bell ever hit for Toronto. His 1058 RBIs are also a club record. In one of his final games as a Jay, I watched him hit one out. It was the first game my son ever attended and I made sure he knew how lucky he was to witness a Carlos Delgado bomb. He wasn't just deadly at the plate, he was also drenched in integrity. Who didn't love Carlos Delgado at first base for the Blue Jays?

Soon, we'll just be left with the memories. Thankfully, Delgado will leave us with a tonne of 'em.

Want to talk baseball with Bob--this city's sports demagogue. Do the following:

1: Refer to the thirty-seven, fifty-nine, or eighty-four third basemen brought in by Ricciardi. It doesn't matter if the real number--excluding subs--is something like three or four. The higher the number, the more Bob likes you.

2: Say something like, "This guy hasn't done/brought in anyone." Bob likes that. Don't mention Lind, Hill, Purcey, Snider, Cecil, Marcum, Litsch, Accardo, Tallet, Downs, etc. Bob doesn't know who they are.

3: Say "I mean," and "C'mon." Say them a lot. Here's a template for you to use when you're talking to the screener: "I mean, c'mon, what' this guy doing. I mean, c'mon. Who's he drafting? C'mon, I mean."

4: Tell Bob that this team "has no one" and could never "make a run." Wells, Rios, Hill, and Overbay are .260/10/70 hitters. Not much they can do over a complete season. "How are they gonna compete with Wells and Hill? They got no one there at the corners. They, I mean, they got no one. I mean, they can't make a run."

5: Ignore everything positive about this team. The fact that they're third in the AL (and 6th in MLB) in team ERA? It doesn't matter. "C'mon, I mean, Wells isn't doing anything. C'mon."

6: Banish logic from your argument. The Jays lost two one-run games to Boston, and have already played ten one-run contests. Since they lost said games, they're awful. Had they won said games (by one run) they'd be a great defensive/pitching team.

7: Pretend that slumps never happen: Say something like, "Stairs is on pace to go .300/15/40 this year."

8: Say something that shows your baseball knowledge. Something like, "My buddies and me were talking baseball. Now we know a lot about the game. We follow it. We're experts, you know. But that there Jays third basemen, that...you know...that guy...oh, I can't remember his name. But I know a lot about baseball. Now I don't like him."

Now you're on. OK. Wind him up, and watch him go.

Sometimes comments are too good to keep buried. This one deserved some front page exposure.

Joel sent me this song he recently ripped to MP3 from a single he had in his collection. It's called "We Got The Blue Jays" and this is the R.B.I. Single Version. Yes, there were other versions.

Even if you're not a Jays fan, I highly recommend clicking play below. This is a really catchy, surprisingly decent tune. It's guaranteed win night, Toronto. We Got The Blue Jays!

Other awesome Blue Jays audio:

• OK Blue Jays (Let’s Play Ball!)
• Shaker's Rap
• Help Us Mookie
• The Blue Jays Rap
• The Ballad of Tom Henke
• Sunny Jays
• Jays To The Top
• Tom Cheek's Greatest Hits

Damn right Jimmy Key was an all-star back in 1987. He posted an 17-8 record with a league-leading 2.76 ERA for crying out loud. He didn't have a blazing fastball but instead used awesome Maddox-like control to consistently win ball games.

What I liked best about Jimmy Key is how he wrapped up his career with the Jays. He made his final start for the Blue Jays in game 4 of the 1992 World Series, surrendering one run over 7 2/3 innings to earn the win and put the Jays up 3-1. Key would appear once more in the series, as a reliever in the 10th and 11th innings of the 6th and deciding game, earning the win.

Damn right Tom Henke was an all-star back in 1987. He led the league in saves that year with 34, one of only two Jays ever to accomplish that feat. He also allowed fewer hits (5.9) and recorded more strikeouts (12.3) per nine innings than any other AL pitcher.

For more about The Terminator, check out my entry about his regular card in this set. And, of course, there's The Ballad of Tom Henke.