Report: Toronto Blue Jays are a Bunch of Babies

According to the Toronto Sun, the Toronto Blue Jays have been acting like a bunch of babies as they try to scrape out a wild card spot in the final week of the season. Toronto, along with Baltimore, holds a game and a half lead over Detroit and a two game lead over the Mariners for the two wild card spots in the American League, but have dropped their last two games and are 6-4 over their last 10. They are one of the more emotional teams in baseball, which makes for some fun dramatics—like, say, whenever Jose Bautista hits a home run—and some real childish shit—like, say, whenever anybody looks at Josh Donaldson funny.

Apparently, they've also turned this emotion on the local media throughout the season, with a series of petty interactions documented by the Sun.

Why, for example, would the leaders on the team allow someone to put up on a wall photos of two Toronto sports writers with an 'X' scratched on their face and the a message written on top reading, 'Do not grant them interviews' (or words to that effect)?

This is pretty childish, especially since, if they really wanted to ice out those reporters, they could do it much more efficiently and without making such a show about it: just send a text, guys.

There's also mention of an incident with Marcus Stroman, who flipped out on reporters after being pressed about a pitchers' meeting in the clubhouse. Stroman had to be restrained by a Jays PR guy. Things get better, though, as the Sun goes into full-on troll mode:

And it's not just those photos. There have been a number of incidents inside the Jays clubhouse recently that suggest that there may be a bit of panic setting in.

Things like: Someone cranking up the music just when the media arrives to conduct pre-game interviews. That's happened more than a couple of times. It happened again on Thursday. Again, on the surface, silly, stupid. But, again, unnecessary. The media have a job to do, just like the players. Fans almost always take the side of the players when there's an issue with the media, but teams with confidence and swagger don't need to pulls stunts like putting pictures of writers on a wall.

I love, love, love this, what appears to be the beginnings of an honest-to-goodness feud between the players and the beat reporters. "There may be a bit of panic setting in" is truly wonderful concern-trolling. Let's be clear, though: no one is going to throw a pity party for the media because they "have a job to do"—especially when they follow Roberto Osuna into the private area and "tell him off" for not talking to them—but openly questioning the teams "confidence and swagger" is a nice counter to players attempting to cut them off.

And then there's this, regarding the X'd out photos, which, for me, is the coup de grâce:

On the surface, a pretty juvenile stunt. But also unprofessional. And it's something, a couple of journalists pointed out to a Jays official, the New York Yankees would never allow in their clubhouse.

[Toronto Sun]