The Blue Jays have a new favourite and (just kidding) it's Joe Biagini
Over the winter, Toronto baseball fans mourned the departure of Munenori Kawasaki.
Well, hello Joe Biagini.
The Blue Jays reliever picked up his first win Tuesday night -- and the torch left behind by Kawasaki, whose marginal on-field contributions were eclipsed by his contributions off it interacting with fans, clowning in the dugout and in postgame media scrums.
Getting stuck out in the bullpen means the first two items may be hard to come by for Biagini but off the evidence of his postgamer Tuesday, he has the kind of playful wit to get us through the dog days of summer and into the fall.
“I just wish the Raptors weren’t playing so we could have all the attention - but no, I’m kidding.”
There were four of those “just kidding” assurances in his standup Tuesday, which combined deadpan cluelessness and leave-em-hanging:
Reporter: Who was the first person who called or texted after the win?
Biagini: Uh, I had an incident with the team in the bathroom, it was kind of a celebratory tradition -- so I haven’t really been able to tell anybody. They don’t like to watch so I have to text them individually … I’m just kidding. No, I haven’t had a chance to yet.
Reporter: How tough is it to pitch in different spots?
Joe Biagini: "It helps you develop a routine. I do my pre-game finger-painting"— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) May 4, 2016
Finger-painting, smelling the baseball, it’s all here (and for more on that bathroom incident, John Lott asked), and in the deadly atmo of the postgame clubhouse interview ritual, with its same questions coming in and answers going out, a little character goes a long way. Kawasaki did it with enthusiasm; Biagini brings an understated, apologetic bemusement at the fact he’s here at all (“Sorry. Am I supposed to have a speech? I dunno”). The reality behind the joke is that he’s spent 20 years waiting for this moment, worked toward it, and had to jump over and outperform hundreds of others chasing the same dream.
As a Rule 5 pickup, the Jays have to keep him on the big league roster all season long. Provided the grind doesn’t bleach his bones, Jays fans have a new favourite to root for, during and beyond the game.
