Quote:
Originally Posted by BirdWatcher
I met Dave Collins a number of years ago when he was a coach for the Rockies and I waited on him at the bookstore I was then working at. I remembered him from his playing days (mostly as a guy who stole a lot of bases) but what I noticed most when I met him was that he still looked very athletic for a middle-aged guy (realizing now that he would have been about the age I am now at that point) but that he was basically the same size as me. Which was comforting to me somehow because I am a very average-sized man.
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Collins had arguably his best offensive season for us in 1984. He tied for the AL lead in triples with teammate Lloyd Moseby (15), and stole 60 bases (6 back of the great Rickey Henderson, who led the AL). It was near the beginning of a nice 11 season run for the Blue Jays (1983-1993) that has never come close to being duplicated. Winning baseball was so new to this town, and the excitement was absolutely palpable in that dilapidated craphole of a stadium down on Lake Ontario. It was absolutely frigid in April/May, and September/October, but somehow the place was home for us long before the SkyDome/Rogers Centre was around.
Wish I could've seen Fidrych (your avatar) in 1976, but I was only 6 going on 7, and the Blue Jays hadn't woken me up from my hockey dreams yet so I missed that incredible season. Must've been amazing. I've seen old footage, and it looks like it was an electric atmosphere for every one of his starts down at Michigan and Trumbull.
Also enjoyed the Tiger/Blue Jay rivalry, which was the greatest rivalry that this team has ever had. I miss it, and wish the two teams were back in the same division again. I hope/believe that the inevitable eventual addition of two teams and the re-alignment that will be necessary to accomodate them will rightly place the Blue Jays, Tigers, Indians, and maybe the Expos (? as a canuck I certainly hope so) in the same division because it would be nice to see the Toronto/Detroit rivalry heat up again. It would also be nice to get away from the Yankees and the Red Sox of course, but having Tigers/Blue Jays back would be awesome.