DUGOUT: Blue Jays plummet back to earth

Everything was going wonderfully for the 27-14 Toronto Blue Jays.

After storming to the top of the rigidly competitive American League East, the Blue Jays didn’t lose their steam and fall back like most predicted they would. No, instead they continued plowing through their opponents with the determination of a team who felt they were being overlooked.

Who can blame them for feeling that, though? The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox have overshadowed the Blue Jays for 32 years. With a payroll of just more than $80 million, the Blue Jays have struggled to stay competitive with teams that have nearly three times the amount of money available to them.

This year was looking like a year where revenge could be had for Toronto.

With a record of 27-14, nearly the best in baseball, the Blue Jays were rising to the top of power rankings across the nation. Whether or not they developed an unneeded air of pride can’t be told, but the Blue Jays fell hard from their perch.

On May 19, Toronto marched into Boston with the perfect opportunity to strengthen its grip on its division while sending a message to the Red Sox. Three days later the Blue Jays left Boston with their tails between their legs and three more losses piled to their record.

It’s a minor setback, but Blue Jays’ fans hoped they would bounce back when they went to play the Atlanta Braves for a three-game interleague series. Three days later, the Blue Jays again left the city with three more losses to add to their record.

The road trip didn’t end there, though, as Toronto had to make another three-game swing into Baltimore before returning home.

On Wednesday, the Blue Jays played their final game with the Orioles and ended up losing in a 12-inning heartbreaker. The Orioles, continually found at the bottom of the AL East, somehow found a way to pick up their own brooms and sweep the free-falling Blue Jays.

Thursday was a much needed off day for Toronto. It will host the Red Sox for three games before two other powerful American League teams make the flight to Toronto.

Nine straight losses is the longest losing streak in 30 years for the Blue Jays. Toronto was out-scored 53-23 on the road trip and boasted a horrendous batting average of .185 with runners in scoring position.

Some have explained the losing streak as simply a collective slump that involved the entire team. Seemingly everybody struggled at the plate during one of the worst nine-day stretches in Toronto Blue Jays’ history.

During a tight game in the top of the seventh, the Boston Red Sox were in the process of adding another run to their lead over the Minnesota Twins on a sacrifice fly to right field.

The runner on third tagged and would have scored easily were it not for the incredible throw from Jason Kubel. Landing exactly where catcher Mike Redmond wanted, the ball was swung around in his mitt and touched the runner before the runner touched the plate. Or, so it seemed.

Home plate umpire Todd Tichenor called the runner safe on the play and Redmond was visibly upset. Two seconds later, he was thrown out of the game.

Not one to leave his players out to dry, Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire ambled out of the dugout for his turn in the yelling match. A few seconds later he was thrown out, as well.

Less than five minutes later, Red Sox catcher Jason Veritek was also thrown out for arguing balls and strikes. Not wanted to miss the fun, Boston manager Terry Francona marched out to get in his turn. He was thrown out, too. Four players were ejected in less than five minutes. Talk about a trigger-happy umpire.

As it turns out, Tichenor has a history of ejecting players and managers from games.

In the middle of the season last year San Diego Padres’ manager Bud Black was thrown out when he pointed two fingers upward to the mound; a motion that most know to mean a double-switch. Tichenor had other ideas, misinterpreting the gesture as sometime of a more obscene nature.

In the ninth inning of a 2008 game, Tichenor threw out Kansas City Royals’ slugger David DeJesus for arguing. The game was already over.

The Colorado Rockies have also gone through some struggles lately, but their response has been more drastic. After being swept at home by the Manny Ramirez-less Los Angeles Dodgers, the Rockies’ front office felt the need to hold someone accountable.

Manager Clint Hurdle was ultimately found responsible for the 18-28 record the Rockies had acquired so far this year. Hurdle found himself without a job last Friday, just more than a year removed from taking these Rockies to the 2007 World Series.

Heading into the month of September in that fabled 2007 run, the Rockies appeared to be on the outside looking in when it came to the race to the playoffs. A stretch where Colorado won 14 of their final 15 regular season games provided the difference, however, and the Rockies were well on their way to the Fall Classic.

Many give the credit to the hot bats of Troy Tulowitzki, Todd Helton and Matt Holliday, but Hurdle was responsible for engineering that remarkable run.

Taking over for Hurdle will be bench coach Jim Tracy.

Andrew Kneeland will be a junior at Sahuarita High School. He is an intern at the Green Valley News.