April 4 Opening Night Blue Jays vs. Minnesota Twins (7:17 pm, Rogers Sportsnet, Fan 590)

Transcription

1 TORONTO BLUE JAYS MEDIA NEWSLETTER Volume 2006, Issue 4 Released March 15, 2006 IN THIS ISSUE Looking Ahead: Dates You Need to Know Network News: Jays Anounce 2006 Television Schedule Spring Is In The Air And On The Air Laying the Foundation for 2006 Jays Care Events By the Numbers: What Can Spring Tell Us About Summer? A Picture Tells a Thousand Words: Frasor & Chacin Show They Can Swing As Well As Pitch A Picture Tells a Thousand Words: Let s Go To The Video Review The Minor League Report: MLBAM Hits Minor Leagues In A Major Way Notable & Quotable LOOKING AHEAD DATES YOU NEED TO KNOW APRIL April 1 Blue Jays complete Spring Training & Fly to Toronto April 2 April 3 Workout at Rogers Centre Workout at Rogers Centre April 4 Opening Night Blue Jays vs. Minnesota Twins (7:17 pm, Rogers Sportsnet, Fan 590) April 6 Welcome Back Luncheon (11:30 am, Holiday Inn on King) Presented by the Bowling Proprietors Association of Ontario IN THE NEWS NETWORK NEWS: BLUE JAYS ANNOUNCE 2006 TELEVISION SCHEDULE The Blue Jays announced recently 145 of their 162 regular season games in 2006 will be televised through their broadcast partners Rogers Sportsnet and TSN. The two networks, each in the second year of two-year broadcast contracts, will combine to produce 72 home games, all in High Definition on either Sportsnet HD or TSN HD. A selection of road games will also be televised in High Definition. Now entering his second season, Jamie Campbell will handle the play-by-play duties throughout Sportsnet s 122-game schedule. He will be joined in the booth by one of Pat Tabler, Rance Mulliniks or Darrin Fletcher. Tabler will also continue to work for TSN, joining Rod Black. TSN will produce a total of 23 games in its 23 rd season as a Jays broadcaster. >>>Blue Jays 2006 TV Schedule >>>Read the official news release

2 SPRING IS IN THE AIR AND ON THE AIR Sticking with the broadcasting theme, we turn our attention now to the world of cyberspace and radio airwaves. Of the 17 games remaining to be played on the Blue Jays spring schedule (including today s game with Cleveland), 10 will be webcast by the team of Jerry Howarth, Warren Sawkiw and Mike Wilner through MLB.com and BlueJays.com. The talented trio will handle the announcing chores on five games live on the Fan Radio Network, including four broadcasts on the Club s flagship station, the Fan 590. The webcast / radio schedule for the remainder of the spring session is as follows. Date Opponent Time Source Wednesday, March 15 vs. Cleveland 1:05 pm MLB.com Thursday, March 16 at Philadelphia 7:05 pm MLB.com / Fan Radio Network / Fan 590 Friday, March 17 vs. Cincinnati 1:05 pm MLB.com Saturday, March 18 vs. Boston 1:05 pm MLB.com / Fan Radio Network / Fan 590 Sunday, March 19 at Pittsburgh 1:05 pm MLB.com / Fan Radio Network / Fan 590 Wednesday, March 22 vs. Pittsburgh 6:05 pm MLB.com Saturday, March 25 at Boston 1:05 pm MLB.com / Fan Radio Network / Fan 590 Sunday, March 26 vs. Pittsburgh 1:05 pm MLB.com / Fan Radio Network Tuesday, March 28 vs. Minnesota 1:05 pm MLB.com Wednesday, March 29 vs. Philadelphia 1:05 pm MLB.com LAYING THE FOUNDATION FOR THE 2006 JAYS CARE EVENTS The Jays Care Foundation has set its 2006 schedule for its signature fundraising events. Welcome Back Luncheon - Fans will get to mingle with their favourite Blue Jays players and coaches on Thursday, April 6. This year s event presented by the Bowling Proprietors Association of Ontario will get underway at 11:30 am at the Holiday Inn on King (370 King Street West). Northern Diamonds Gala A gourmet dinner, silent and live auctions and live entertainment are all part of this glamourous event. While the Jays Care Foundation has not yet finalized its location, this year s gala is set for the night of Monday, June 26. Siemens once again stands as the presenting sponsor. 10 th Annual Charity Golf Tournament For a day, the Blue Jays swing sticks of a different sorts, substituting oversize drivers and balata, for bats and balls. Every group that signs up for the tournament on Thursday, August 24 will have a Blue Jays player, coach or alumnus included in their foursome. Presented by Expedite Plus, this year s event will tee off at Oakville s Glen Abbey at 9:00 am. Of course, the Jays Care Foundation has already hosted one of its key events for the year. The Jays Care Foundation Reverse Draw, held at the Liberty Grand just before the beginning of Spring Training, raised $50,000 for the Foundation s ongoing support of Rookie League Baseball. >>>More on the Jays Care Foundation & Jays in the Community >>>Schedule of 2006 Jays Care Foundation Events

3 BY THE NUMBERS WHAT CAN SPRING TELL US ABOUT SUMMER? With the Blue Jays now midway through their Grapefruit League schedule, it s worth examining the numbers to see if there is any real correlation between success or failure in the spring session and the regular season that follows. Unfortunately, there doesn t seem to be a defining trend in either team or individual success (.679) The Blue Jays win-loss record in the spring of 1985, which stands, in terms of winning percentage, as the Club s best mark in Grapefruit League play. The spring of 1985 seemed to provide hints of what was to follow in the season that followed as the team went on to capture its first AL East division title (.393) - The combined win-loss record posted by the Blue Jays in the springs of 1992 and The Club posted losing spring records of and in their respective World Series-winning seasons 8 The Club record for home runs in Grapefruit League play set in 2001 by Carlos Delgado and matched last spring by Gabe Gross. Delgado went on to hit 39 home runs in the 2001 season. Gross meanwhile has hit just four home runs in 84 regular season games at the Major League level, half his total from the 25 games he appeared in during the 2005 Grapefruit League schedule >>>Toronto Blue Jays 2006 Spring Schedule >>>Knology Park Information Page A PICTURE TELLS A THOUSAND WORDS FRASOR & CHACIN SHOW THEY CAN SWING AS WELL AS PITCH A pair of Jays hurlers Jason Frasor and Gustavo Chacin headlined this year s edition of Jays Swing Into Spring. The daylong fan festival at Toronto s Eaton Centre, held this year on February 25 th, celebrates the launch of single game sales. >>>Photo Gallery: Jays Swing Into Spring >>>Jason Frasor s Player Page >>>Gustavo Chacin s Player Page LET S GO TO THE VIDEO REVIEW Blue Jays great Lloyd Moseby recently visited Toronto and signed autographs at four Rogers Video locations. His visit was intended to celebrate the expanded relationship between the Blue Jays and Rogers Video with tickets now on sale in 80 store locations in and around the GTA. >>>Photo Gallery: Lloyd Moseby Visits Toronto Blue Jays >>>List of Rogers Video store locations selling Blue Jays tickets THE MINOR LEAGUE REPORT MLBAM HITS MINOR LEAGUES IN A MAJOR WAY

4 Evidence of a new online arrangement between Major League Baseball Advanced Media and Minor League Baseball came on March 1, in the form of an exciting new website for the Blue Jays Class AAA affiliate, the Syracuse SkyChiefs. Fans visiting the new SkyChiefs.com will now find enhanced features like sortable statistics, updated news from around Major and Minor League Baseball and audio and video clips, along with a revamped souvenir store. All 144 of the SkyChiefs regular season radio broadcasts will be streamed live through the site and supported by a brand new pitch-by-pitch gamecast. The new site was born out of a recently struck 10-year agreement making MLBAM the provider of Internet related services and other interactive media services for the Minor Leagues. Much like its exclusive arrangement with the Major Leagues, MLBAM will oversee the development and operation of the official host sites for each of the leagues in the NAPBL (National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues) and the member clubs that opt in to the new website network. Syracuse and Pulaski have both joined in, while Toronto s other affiliates in New Hampshire, Dunedin, Lansing and Auburn still maintain their own websites. >>>Visit the new-look website of the Syracuse SkyChiefs >>>Visit the new-look website of the Pulaski Blue Jays >>>Visit the official website of Minor League Baseball NOTABLE & QUOTABLE You mean after they traded to get me back? I was the first acquisition on that list, I broke the logjam... seriously I'd pick [B.J.] Ryan. Pitching wins championships. John McDonald s tongue-in-cheek response to a team-wide question from Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun, asking which of Toronto s offseason acquisitions was the most important to the team s success in For those of you keeping score at home, B.J. Ryan led the way with eight votes, while A.J. Burnett and Troy Glaus tied for second, each with four votes Toronto video stores are offering fans a convenient way to get their baseball fill and it doesn't involve renting Bull Durham, The Rookie or The Natural. Since Rogers Communications owns both the Toronto Blue Jays, a cable network, a wireless phone chain and a gaggle of video stores (not mention a healthy portion of the communications and entertainment industry in Canada), the company is combining the businesses to sell out ballpark seats. Now when fans visit Rogers Video stores in the greater Toronto Area they can purchase a couple of Blue Jays tickets while they are paying their cable bill and checking out wireless plans and new releases. We began testing out this concept four years ago with just a few stores, said Franc Rota, Director of Sales Channel Development for the Blue Jays. At the heart of the program is the word 'convergence.' The company is sharing a centralized resource and finding success. Becky Wallace, Team Marketing Report Suddenly, the Jays are hot, baseball is back and Sportsnet can't get enough of the sport. Sportsnet is billing itself as Canada's baseball channel and yesterday announced it was taking on a record 122 Jays games this season. Considering the way things went last year and the way they're expected to go this season, Sportsnet wouldn't be averse to taking on even more in Sportsnet programming head David Akande says last season's 62 per cent increase in Blue Jays ratings was part of the impetus behind the increase. "But we also want to make sure we're the destination for baseball in Canada," he

5 says. No doubt, Mr. Rogers' influence had something to do with that, too. But by carrying 122 games, Sportsnet is in a good position to hit a ratings bonanza this summer. It's conceivable the Jays could be in the pennant fight come September, putting Sportsnet's 340,000 average from last year to shame While Sportsnet is boosting its Jays content, TSN is going in the opposite direction, dropping from 42 to 23 games this season. But that has nothing to do with ratings. TSN's 412,000 average last season represented a 72 per cent increase, but by picking up extra games in 2005 it could only take 23 this year. Chris Zelkovich, Toronto Star Roy Halladay, Toronto's 2003 AL Cy Young winner, looks at all the new guys and sees depth where recent Jays teams were threadbare and worn. Vernon Wells, two-time Gold Glove winner and one-time All-Star and Silver Slugger, looks around and sees the Jays' best chance yet at catching the New York Yankees and Boston. J.P. Ricciardi, the general manager whose winter shopping spree became the talk of baseball, looks around and finally sees a talent level and atmosphere that he's been attempting to create since coming to Toronto 4½ years ago. And as they talk, their spirits soar as high as the CN Tower. The past few years, you almost had to convince yourself that you had a chance to win when you came to spring camp, Halladay says. We had a lot of plusses, but a lot of things had to go right for that to happen. This year, everyone is coming into camp knowing we have a chance to win. We're covered for injuries. We're a better team. Everyone knows that, and there's a feeling that we can go out and do something. It isn't just in the extravagant five-year, $55 million deal awarded to Burnett, or in the glitzy five-year, $47 million deal handed to the closer Ryan. It's also in the power stroke of new third baseman Troy Glaus... and in the on-base percentage and gap power of new first baseman Lyle Overbay... and in the steadiness of catcher Bengie Molina, the icing on the offseason when the free agent surprised the Jays by tumbling down into their price range. For the first time in years, the Blue Jays will not feel like the resident computer geek who took a wrong turn and wound up in the middle of the varsity locker room. For the first spring in the past several, there's a feeling they really can go out and play with the Yankees and Boston. Scott Miller, CBS Sportsline (