Blue Jays have really surprised me

I am amazed.  I am pleasantly surprised.  Frankly, I didn't see this coming.  It is hard to believe that the Toronto Blue Jays are in first place in the American League East and it's almost the end of July.  I never expected them to play this well.  I was resigned to another lost season.   I thought that they would finish fourth or fifth in their division.  As of today, however, the Blue Jays have the best record in all of Major League Baseball.  Despite yesterday's loss in Detroit, they have 63 wins and 43 losses.  

There is still a lot of baseball to be played.  Anything could happen.  Nevertheless, I am truly enjoying the moment.  This marks the first time since 1992 that the Blue Jays have held the league's best record this far into the season.  That was the year they went on to win the first of two consecutive World Series.  I have fantastic memories of those years, so forgive me if I'm being premature. Excuse me if I'm dreaming of a championship.

It seems as if the Jays are playing under a magic spell.  Almost everything appears to be going right for them.  Their rivals in the AL Least haven't been outstanding.  The Yankees haven't been playing well defensively.  Now they have lost their star slugger, Aaron Judge, to injury.  On the minus side for the Jays, however, catcher Alejandro Kirk has suffered a concussion.  He took a foul tip off his mask during Saturday's 6-1 win over the Tigers.  He has been placed on the 7-day IL.  

The Jays have been on fire.  They are the hottest team in baseball.  How long will it last?  Will the spell be broken?  Let's be realistic.  They have to cool down at some time.  They can't win every game, but they are capable of winning their division.- if things go right for them. They have to be careful of the Yankees.  The Bronx Bombers can never be counted out.  They have just acquired third baseman Ryan McMahon from the Colorado Rockies to bolster their infield defence.

I have been highly critical of Blue Jays' GM Ross Atkins and team president Mark Shapiro.  Despite the team's current success, I will never be their biggest fan.  The Jays have been winning in spite of them, not because of them.  I'm not saying they don't deserve any credit.  I'm only saying that I disagree with their strong emphasis on defence rather than on offence.  Both are necessary ingredients for a winning team.  However, in the final analysis, I think offence trumps defence.

The Jays were unable to compete in 2023 and 2024 because they traded away sluggers such as Teoscar Hernandez.  The Jays started winning this year when players such as Addison Barger and Nathan Lukes started hitting well.

The trade deadline ends on Thursday.  The team could use some bullpen help.  However, I think the number priority is to sign Bo Bichette.  He'll be asking for a great deal of money, but they would be foolish to let him go.  He has a .281 batting average.  Through 103 games, he has recorded 13 homers and 65 RBI.  Bo has stated that this year's Blue Jays are the best team he has ever played for.  He wants to stay.

The Jays begin a 4-game series in Baltimore tonight against the Orioles.at Camden Yards. Will they continue their winning ways? 

- Joanne

A Open Letter to Americans

 Dear America,

Yesterday was a bleak July 4th in the United States, as your country slips deeper and deeper into the authoritarian abyss.  Each and every day, Donald Trump chips away at fundamental democratic rights.  It's very disconcerting that over 70 million Americans voted for him.  Some Trump voters claim that they didn't get what they expected when they supported him.  The writing was certainly on the wall, but they didn't see what was coming.  Some just didn't think Trump actually meant what he said.  They soon discovered that he meant every word of it.  Some were brainwashed by Fox News and social media.  They were fed lie after lie. Despite Trump's record of bankruptcies, they thought he would handle the economy well.  Instead, he imposed tariffs that threaten to upset the economic stability of the world.  These tariffs are expected to send the economies of some countries into recession, including the United States itself.  Make no mistake, Americans are already paying the price for Trump's foolish tariff policy. 

Time and time again, spineless Republicans and corporate media have allowed Trump to get away with things that no other politician has dared to say or do.  He spews hate.  He makes racist remarks and misogynistic statements.  He is the worst bully in the world.  This man is not fit to lead the most powerful country on the planet.  He is ill, mentally and physically.  His cognitive decline is obvious.

I am writing this from Toronto, Canadas.  Like many of my fellow Canadians, I have no desire to travel to the United States.  Nor do I have any desire to buy American products.  I do not blame the American people.  I blame the Trump administration.  I have lived in Canada all my life and I have never seen an American government so hostile to my country.  I have never seen an American leader insult Canada and Canadians the way that Trump does.  I have always known that there is a difference between Canada and the United States.  It pains me to hear that our border is artificial and that Canada should be the 51st state.

On July 1st, Canadians celebrated Canada Day.  Here is what our prime minister, Mark Carney, told the crowd in Ottawa that day.  "Canada, because Canada is more than a nation.  We are, and we always will be, a confederation, a sacred set of ideals and ideas built on practical foundations.  That we know we're not always perfect, but we always strive to be good.  We do things not because they are easy, but because they're right.  That we see kindness as a virtue, not as a weakness.  Most importantly, we know that our strength lies in our resolve to work together as a country.  It relies on our unity."

Prime Minister Mark Carney

Can you imagine Trump saying anything like that?  Never!  Not in a million years.  Trump thinks that kindness is a weakness.  He hates anyone who opposes him politically.  He divides Americans in so many ways.  He continually polarizes.  He builds walls, not bridges.  He hates Democrats and Latino immigrants.  He objectifies women.  He is a malignant narcissist.  Deep inside, like every bully, he is psychologically weak.

There is an unverified quote attributed to Erma Bombeck, a popular American humourist that seems quite ironic and very relevant in 2025: "You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who pile by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness/"  

Erma passed away in 1996 at the age of 69, after a kidney transplant.  She died during the presidency of Barack Obama, so she did not live to witness the Trump era.  The beloved author and columnist would have been shocked to know that the current president did indeed preside over a military parade on June 14th of this year. in Washington.  It was his 79th birthday and he wanted to appear like the dictators he so admires - Vladimir Putin of Russia and Kim Jong Un of North Korea.  The horror is that the United States has the look and feel of Germany in the 1930s.

Emma Bombeck

Erma would have been appalled to see what has happened to America under Trump, especially during his second term in office.  She would have been distressed to see immigrants being hauled away by ICE agents behaving like Gestapo.  She would have been shocked that the president inspected a migrant detention centre in Florida dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz."  Erma would have wanted no part of the hatred that Trump engenders.  Erma made people smile and laugh, but I don't think she would have found anything funny about a president who lacks empathy and compassion, a president who can't even laugh at himself. 

Do not lose hope.  The pendulum swings and all things must pass.

Regards,

Joanne