March 16th, 1989

The Jays fell behind the Rangers early and couldn't catch up. They lost 6-3.

Rickey Henderson homered for Toronto.

WP - Dan Lewis (2-1)
LP - Shane Simmons (0-2)

Spring Record - 7-10

March 17th, 1989

A two run single by Ryne Sandberg in the 14th inning finally sent this game to a conclusion as the Jays beat the A's 6-4.

WP - Jim Acker (1-0)
LP - Shawn Hillegas (0-1)

Spring Record - 8-10

March 18th, 1989

The Blue Jays were unable to score until Cleveland walked in a run in the 9th. The Indians won 5-1.

Rickey Henderson left the game with a sore knee. Obviously that is concerning for someone with his skillset. We are giving him most of the week off to let it recover.

WP - Jim Deshaies (1-0)
Save - Norm Charlton (4)
LP - Orel Hershiser (1-3)

Spring Record - 8-11

March 19th, 1988

Spike Owen hit a huge Grand Slam but the Jays still lost, falling 5-4 in walk-off style to the Yankees.

WP - John Franco (1-0)
LP - Yasushi Taguchi (0-1)

Spring Record - 8-12

Second round of Spring Cuts

Sent to Minor League Camp

Art Powell
Jorge Ortiz
Alfonso Dominguez
Jim Kane (!)
Don McKinley
Ricky Jordan


TRADE

To ANGELS

David Green
Rafael Vazquez
Dan Roberts

To BLUE JAYS

Michael Klinger
Steve Crawford
Mark Irwin
Gabe Alexander
Ray Brooks

Klinger joins the big league camp.

A couple of notes: Kane just doesn't seem the same since his troubles in the post-sason last year. Hopefully a stint in the minors can turn things around for him.

As for Green, yes we just signed him but that was in case Ricky Jordan wasn't ready. Which he isn't. BUT, Mike Marshall has been really effective as a Rule 5 pick-up. So it seemed smart to convert Green into a patch for another area of the team, hence the return of Klinger.

March 20th, 1989

The Toronto bullpen was quite off today, giving up an 8-3 win to the Twins.

WP - Terry Leach (1-1)
Save - Valentin Flores (1)
LP - Yasushi Taguchi (0-2)

Spring Record - 8-13

March 21st, 1989

Robinson Lopez pitched five shutout innings. The bullpen was less effective but a 10th inning homer by Mike Marshall gave the Blue Jays a 5-3 win over the Orioles.

Juan Romano also homered for Toronto.

Paul Molitor left the game with a strained muscle. It is expected that he will take games off for the next week.

WP - Anthony Peterson (1-0)
Save - Rafael Perez (1)
LP - Jose Medine (0-2)

Spring Record - 9-13

Jose Rico is brought up from the minor league complex to fill in while Molitor is out.

March 22nd, 1989

The only run of the game was scored in the 9th, but that was all it took for the Brewers to beat the Blue Jays 1-0.

WP - Oliver Trent (1-1)
Save - Juan Lemus (1)
LP - Greg Cadaret (0-1)

Spring Record - 9-14

March 23rd, 1989

For the second straight day the Blue Jays were she tout, but instead o fight, tense game like yesterday, today the Royals demolished them 12-0.

WP - Santiago Orozco (1-0)
Save - Tom Fisher (1)
LP - Shane Simmons (0-3)

Spring Record - 9-15

March 25th, 1989

Not only did the Blue Jays get thumped 9-1 by the White Sox, but Ramiro Garcia left the game after a collision on the bases. He was being counted on to be the primary utility man for the Toronto infield so that would be a big loss if it is serious.

WP - Teddy Higuera (2-2)
LP - Nolan Ryan (0-1)

Spring Record - 9-16

Ramiro Garcia has a hamstring strain. He will miss the start of the season, but not too much of it.

Fred Turner has been called up from the minor league camp.

March 26th, 1989

Orel Hershiser pitched well but it took a late push by the Jays to overcome the Red Sox, beating them 6-3.

WP - Greg Cadaret (1-1)
LP - Roger McDowell (1-1)

Spring Record - 10-16

March 27th, 1989

Jim Acker pitched five PERFECT innings in relief until Junior Felix got the walk-off, RBI single in the 10th to give the Jays a 3-2 win over the Mariners.

Mike Marshall hit his 4th spring homer.

WP - Jim Acker (2-0)
LP - Duane Ward (0-2)

Spring Record - 11-16

March 28th, 1989

Another terrible day in what has been a pretty awful spring training for the Blue Jays. Today they lost 9-0 to the Tigers.

WP - Mario Cantu (3-1)
Save - Chris Jones (2)
LP - Robinson Lopez (1-1)

Spring Record - 11-17

March 29th, 1989

When Spring Training started, Howard Richmond was not in consideration for a rotation spot, but now he has pitched 15 scoreless innings, allowing only two hits. He is a lock.

Today the Blue Jays beat the Angels 6-0.

Juan Romano and Paul Molitor homered for Toronto.

WP - Howard Richmond (1-0)
LP - Rod Nichols (0-2)

Spring Record - 12-17

March 30th, 1989

In competition for the final rotation spot, Shane Simmons may have put himself back in contention, leading the Blue Jays to a 5-3 win over the Rangers in their final spring outing,

Paul Molitor homered for Toronto.

WP - Shane Simmons (1-3)
Save - Laurent Dupuis (1)
LP - Troy Hughes (2-2)

FINAL SPRING RECORD - 13-17

FINAL SPRING CUTS

Sent to minor league camp:

Jim Acker
Rick Nelson
Yasushi Taguchi
Laurent Dupuis
Marvin Wagner
Jose Rico
Cameron Washington
Ramiro Gonzalez

Designated for Assignment:

Robinson Lopez, Don McKinley

Barry Jones, Greg Cadaret and Fred Turner are added to the 40-man

Ron Hassey and Chris Shawver signed minor league contracts.

The owner wants us to play .500 ball. My goals are somewhat higher than that.

The experts have us winning the AL East with a 91-71 record, 5 games ahead of the Yankees.

The other division winners are predicted to be the Angels, Cardinals, and Braves.

Top AL Hitter: Darryl Strawberry, Royals (Paul Molitor is 8th)
Top AL Pitcher: Mark Langston, Royals (Nolan Ryan is 8th)

Top NL Hitter: Barry Bonds, Cardinals
Top NL Pitcher: Bret Saberhagen, Astros

The Top 100 Prospects list was published and the Blue Jays have nobody on it.

They are 25th out of 26 Minor League systems.