Jesse Barfield turns 66 today.
Jesse Barfield was one of my favourite players.
He was a 9th-round pick in the 1977 amateur draft, the first year the Blue Jays (and the Mariners) participated. MLB gave them
the last two choices of each round (the big-hearted folks they are).
Jesse made it up to the majors in 1981 and spent nine years with the Jays. He’s near the top of the franchise leaderboards in several categories:
- 4th in bWAR among position players, 29.5
- 2nd in defensive WAR, 9.5 (behind Tony Fernandez)
- 11th in slugging average, .483
- 11th in games played, 1032
- 8th in home runs, 179 (Vlad passed him this year)
- 10th in RBI, 527 (Vlad passed him this year)
He had a great bat and was a terrific defensive player with a strong, accurate arm in right field and terrific range. He could have been a great center fielder. There are many great little stories about Jesse’s arm, such as how he could stand at the plate and throw the ball over the center-field wall. I remember seeing him catch a line drive on a bounce, throw to first, and get the batter out. Barfield led the A.L. in assists three years in a row (1985 to 87), which was more memorable because teams didn’t run on Barfield’s arm. He also had eight outfield double plays in 1985 (and 21 from 1985-1987), better than most teams would get in a season.
Jesse, Lloyd Moseby, and George Bell played together for several seasons and were easily the best outfield we’ve ever had. Jesse won two Gold Gloves and one Silver Slugger and made the All-Star team once as a Blue Jay.
There are many people to whom I owe a debt for my baseball fandom. The outfield of Bell, Moseby, and Barfield is up high on the list. Watching them become the best outfield in baseball helped me get deeper into baseball. I compared them to other ‘great’ outfields of the past. Not the best of all time (the Tigers had Ty Cobb, Sam Crawford, and Bobby Veach, who were, most likely, the best of all time), but I think that Bell, Moseby, and Barfield would rank in the top 10 outfields of all time.
The Jays traded Barfield to the Yankees in 1989 for Al Leiter. It was one of those heartbreaking trades that left us miserably disappointed.
I got a signed ball from him in Cooperstown when we were there for Roy Halladay’s induction. He looked the same as he did when he played.
Jesse has been pretty active on Twitter (or whatever it is called): @JesseBarfield29
Happy birthday, Jesse. I hope it is a good one.
R.A. Dickey turns 51.
As I’m sure you remember, R.A. Dickey was picked up in trade, along with catchers Mike Nickeas and Josh Thole, from the Mets for Wuilmer Becerra, John Buck, Travis d’Arnaud, and Noah Syndergaard.
Alex wanted an Ace to lead us to the playoffs. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out how he had hoped. He was a Blue Jay for four seasons, going 49-52 with a 4.03 in 131 games and 130 starts.
He was a slow starter during his time with the Jays. In 2013, he had a 4.80 ERA in the first half and a 3.57 ERA in the second half. In 2014, he had a 3.82 ERA in the first half and 3.57 in the second half. In 2016, he was 5.28 in the first half and 3.56 in the second. 2015 was the outlier, with 3.11 in the first half and 4.83 in the second.
We did make it to the playoffs in 2015 and 2016. R.A. made a couple of playoff starts in 2015. One was good, 4.2 innings with just 1 run allowed when Gibby pulled him for David Price. And one was bad, going just 1.2 innings and allowing 5 runs in a loss against the Royals.
He appears on our franchise pitching lists. He’s:
- Tied for 14th in wins (Jose Berrios passed him this year)
- 12th in innings pitched.
- 18th in strikeouts (Berrios passed him this year)
- 12th in starts.
The Jays’ fanbase didn’t love him, mainly because they oversold him. He won the Cy Young in his last season with the Mets, and we thought we were getting the guy who would lead us to the World Series. It wasn’t his fault we had overly high hopes for him.
R.A. seemed like a great guy. He seemed to enjoy his time with the Jays, at least publicly. He wasn’t your average baseball player. He had fun interviewing the media, enjoying confusing them with big words and keeping them guessing. For us nerds, it was fun seeing a nerd on our team.
Dickey pitched for the Braves in 2017, going 10-10 with a 4.26 ERA in 31 starts.
He played 15 seasons and had a 120-118 record with a 4.04 ERA in 300 starts and 100 relief appearances. His best season was in 2012 when he went 20-6 with a 2.73 ERA.
Happy birthday, R.A. I hope it is a good one.
It’s also Dana Eveland’s 42nd birthday today. In 2010, Dana made 9 starts for us, posting a 6.45 ERA.
He played in 11 MLB seasons, starting 61 games and playing 187 games. He had a 20-28 record and a 5.46 ERA.
Happy birthday to you, Dana
