The Munenori Kawasaki All Star Write-In Campaign Video: Jhonny Peralta

The fine folks over at Bluebird Banter have launched a campaign to get Munenori Kawasaki, the Toronto Blue Jays own personal GIF generator, written in as shortstop for the 2013 All Star Game.

Every good campaign needs a good attack ad, which is where this comes in:

Absolute Nonsense: Both Gregg Zaun's Air Pressure Claims and this Video

As proven yesterday, Gregg Zaun was almost certainly ill informed when he suggested the removal of Windows' windows led to an increase in Rogers' Centre home runs. 

That, combined with yet another disappointing Jays game today, left me in a strange head-space today. 

And I started thinking about what really could be behind the large number of homers. 

And much like Zaun, I made wild, ill-informed assumptions, based on the first things that popped in my head. 

Unlike Zaun, the first thing that popped in my head wasn't piss-poor science.  

It was real science. 

And baseball memorabilia. 

And Gregg Zaun himself.

And also Kraftwerk. 

Does No More Windows = Lots More Home Runs?

There were a lot of home runs in the first 6 ball games played at Rogers Centre since Windows restaurant was converted to an open air patio. 23 to be exact.

That's an average of 3.83 per game,  ranking the dome first in the majors for overall home runs (second in dingers per game to Arlington, but only 3 games have been played there).

Rogers Centre has always been considered a relatively hitter-friendly park, but this apparent spike raised a few eyebrows over the weekend. In particular, Gregg Zaun mentioned during the Jays broadcast that removing the windows may have a positive effect on a batter's ability to hit one out of the park.

I reached out to a good friend of mine - a respected mechanical engineer with extensive experience with the effects of air pressure on enclosed environments (he designs mines) - to see what effect he would expect opening windows to the concourse would have.

The non-scientific document I sent my friend to explain the renovations. Fortunately, he knows how to use the internet and found actual realistic pictures.

Below is his response:

In my professional opinion there is no evidence to suggest that the recent renovations to the Rogers Centre, including the conversion of the Windows restaurant to an open air venue, would possibly effect the physical dynamics of the game at play. In order for 1 mile per hour of air flow to be produced through the open air space (which would have a negligible effect on a baseball in the proximity of the opening) approximately 100,000 cfm of air would have to be exhausted within the restaurant. An exhaust fan this size would be no less than 5 feet in diameter and require a 150 horsepower motor to operate.  

So if it's not physics increasing the number of home runs, then what is it?
Does the patio provide something easier for batters to aim at?
Is there some intangible I'm not aware of?
Is it just the result of an incredibly small sample size? 
Any thoughts? 

Let's Boo John Farrell

Last night was one of the best Jays games I've ever been to.
The crowd (with the exception of a few more douchey bros than usual) was great.
The game itself was fun.
And people booed the living hell out of John Farrell. I mean booed to the point that he must have DREADED coming out of the dugout. I would place money on the fact that after the below video, he sat down and turned to face Brian Butterfield who wiped a single tear away from his eye.
Yeah the Red Sox won, but with a vibe this good, who cares?

Super Baseball Toronto GM Ninja Battle

A few weeks ago, I was asked to contribute a video to an article on the path to the 2013 Toronto Blue Jays in Canadian Business magazine.
The article is one of the best and most thorough pieces I've read on the team. It's the perfect  way to eat up a slow Friday afternoon while stuck at work, pretending to be productive, counting down the minutes until the return of John Farrell.

The video isn't too shabby either:

Anthony Gose ran through a Wall

Anthony Gose ran through a wall and I couldn't find actual video of it for the longest time.
So I thought about what it might look like and decided on this:

I'm really tired.
I apologize in advance.