It’s my Parting Shot for some Weekend Short Shots…..

So, the Blue Jays hit Tinseltown for the weekend and, for the first time in 10 years, Toronto’s Major League team is the talk of the baseball world. It helped that, going into a three-game weekend series against Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, etcetera, that the Jays got a massive confidence boost with a franchise record=setting explosion of offence in sweeping three games in the thin air of Denver over Colorado! The Dodgers will be a litmus test for the American League East Division leaders!

Back on July 28th, Monday musings to be exact, I said, quote, I’d really like to see them, them being Toronto, sign Bo Bichette to a multi-year deal before Friday, which was the trade deadline, then make the necessary “all-in” trades to be a contender for their first World Series title since 1993!! Of course, Mark Shapiro and Ross Atkins didn’t listen to me. You know, those two don’t get a pass from me just yet with the Blue Jays doing as well as they are. They need to do two things – win it all this year and re-sign their all-star shortstop to a matching length of contract that they gave Vladimir Guerrero Junior prior to this season. Bichette leads the Major Leagues in hits, with 145, is second to Kansas City shortstop Bobby Witt in doubles, with 34, and is sixth in the American League with his .301 batting average. He used the Coors Field launching pad to go 7-for-17 at the plate with three home runs and 10 runs batted in! Is it too late for the procrastinating Shapiro and Atkins to prevent the 27-year-old from becoming a free agent at the end of this year?! Blue Jays fans can only hope that isn’t the case!

It’s been over a decade since I last traveled around with the Saskatoon Hilltops and called their games on the radio. But, my favourite bus trip with them was the yearly excursion made to my home town of Winnipeg to face the Rifles, which is how they open the 2025 regular-season on Sunday. The trip involves leaving by 8 a.m. on Saturday, a stop in Moosomin for a practice and a bite to eat and continue on to rest up before a hard-fought win! Most of the group call it their worst trip, but I beg to differ! In fact, the traveling party this year should hustle after practice, before the bus leaves, and get to the refurbished Red Barn for their eats. The father of former Saskatoon Blades’ defenceman Dawson Davidson – Dan Davidson – has a winner of a place there!!

That’s my Parting Shot. I’m Les Lazaruk…and it turned out nice again!