Electric Atmosphere Fuels Jays Opening Day Win

Well what more could we have possibly asked for out of opening day in Toronto; the mighty Red Sox were taken down a peg in Texas, the Rays fell at home to the Orioles and 47 thousand plus looked on as the Blue Jays pounded out twelve hits and embarrassed the Twins in their season opener.  The Jays are officially tied for first place in the AL East with the Yankees, October baseball here we come!  Ok, so I'm getting a little ahead of myself here, but if yesterday's game is any indication of what's to come then Jays fans have reason to be excited. 

The atmosphere inside and around the Rogers Centre was electric last night and the Jays didn't disappoint.  The crowd was deafening at points during the game and a sea of white could be seen all throughout the Rogers centre as fans passionately pumped their rally towels.  I realize it was opening day and this won't be an everyday occurrence (at least not unless were in a pennant race in September), but I had shades of the early 90's last night as a young talented group of Blue Jays treated a sold out Rogers Centre to a great night of baseball.

The Jays almost immediately squashed any notion that the offseason losses of Vernon Wells, John Buck and Lyle Overbay would create a power shortage in their lineup.  The blue birds lit up Twins starting pitcher Carl Pavano and ended up with four homers and thirteen runs when it was all said and done.  JP Arencibia belted two of those four homeruns, while Jose Bautista and Adam Lind went back-to-back in the 5th inning for the other two.  The power was nice to see, but maybe a bigger story was manager John Farrell's aggressive style of baseball shining through.  The Jays have preached throughout spring training that they don't want to rely solely on the long ball this year.  Well, mission accomplished so far.  Making his Blue Jays debut, starting center fielder and leadoff hitter Rajai Davis made an immediate impact by beating out an infield single and then leading a double steal after Yunel Escobar had singled to follow Davis.  That kicked off a four run first and the Jays were well on their way to an easy 13 - 3 opening day victory. 

Farrell has made it clear that he wants to see a more aggressive approach on the base paths this year to try and put more pressure on defenses and give the opposing pitchers something extra to think about.  A big part of that approach will center on Davis and Escobar at the top of the order as their expected to be the primary table setters for the likes of Bautista, Lind and Aaron Hill.  But it wasn't just the two speedsters at the top of the order following through on their managers promise to be more aggressive as young catcher JP Arencibia legged out a triple to go along with his two long bombs.  This sort of style of play should significantly help the Jays get to the next level as we have seen the Tampa Bay Rays wreak havoc on the base paths the last few years and give opposing teams fits.

Arencibia made a huge splash in his first game with the Blue Jays last year going 4 for 5 with two home runs against the Tampa Bay Rays.  Well, his first opening day wasn't much different.  Arencibia went 3 for 4 and drove in five runs as the young catcher showed why the Jays felt they were able to let John Buck go after last season.  Arencibia's handling of opening day starter Ricky Romero was also worth noting as there were concerns about whether he would be able to handle this young Jays rotation for an entire season.  The influence and veteran presence of Jose Molina will definitely further Arencibia's progress, but you have to like what you see so far from the twenty-five year old backstop.

With one game in the books (well 2 now that the Jays have just completed a 6 - 1 victory today) optimism and hope can continue to run rampant throughout Toronto as the Blue Jays have given us some early signs that they may be the real deal this year.  It's clearly too early to start planning any parades or printing the World Series t-shirts, but I love the makeup of this team from top to bottom, and if they can continue to produce like they did last night I believe we are all in for a special year of baseball in Toronto.  All in all I'd have to say that day one was a success, now let's hope we can have another 161 of them just like it!