Rain out

Photo by Matt Stone

So tonight's game against the Braves has been called due to rain- I guess it's rained all day in Boston. That means they'll be playing another double-header tomorrow. Phew.

This gives me a chance to celebrate the heroics of the man pictured above, Eric Hinske. He's spent most of the season on the bench, but was Rookie of the Year for the Jays back in '02. Yesterday, he came off the bench and proved key in both games - but particularly in the second half of the double header. He started in right - and had a hard time fielding some of the earlier hits. But in the fifth he made what Remy called "the catch of the year:" he chased down a fly ball to his left, almost to the wall, and made a spectacular diving catch. He ended up doing a face plant in the warning track "dirt" - and lay there for a minute stunned. By the time he got up and ran to the dugout, nearly the whole team was waiting to greet him - even Schill.

But he wasn't finished. In the bottom of the seventh, he came to bat with Tek on base, and crushed a pitch to right field. The wind had played havoc all night with fly balls, but this one was hit so hard, it managed to sail into the RS bullpen. The homer made the score 4-2, the winning margin.

And Hinske became a part of RS lore. Just look at that grin! He has made a difference in several games - he scored the winning run in the Mother's Day comeback against the Orioles. After that game, he talked about how great it was to be on the winning side of one of those RS comebacks, having walked off the field several times on the losing end.

I know he'd like to be more than a bench player, but it just shows how our role players are so vital to our success. When you can call on a Hinske or a Cora to come into the game - and make a real difference -- it could mean all the difference in September.