JAMIE CAMPBELL DOTH PROTEST TOO MUCH

Every now and again, Rogers Sportsnet's Jamie Campbell reminds you that (a) he's a second-year play-by-play guy and (b) his employer and the Blue Jays' employers are one in the same.

This isn't a knock on Campbell, whom Blue Jays fans and Toronto media seem to love to pile on, since they pile on anyone who's brave/foolish enough to take over a TV mic that was once manned by the superb Dan Shulman, not to mention compete with the long shadow cast by the late, great Tom Cheek. Good god, people, he's not terrible. Doesn't anyone remember when Br-rrrr-i-an Wil-li-ams tried to do baseball play-by-play?

(For a random example, check out the maiden post from Newfoundland blogger Quadruple Overtime, who listed "why I dislike Rogers Sportsnet baseball announcer Jamie Campbell" among the things he would be commenting on. Alas, he hasn't gotten around to it in the two months since.)

Still, it was hilarious to hear Campbell yesterday, after B.J. Ryan blew a save by giving up a ninth-inning homer to Seattle's No. 9 hitter, Yuniesky Betancourt, in the Jays' eventual 4-3 extra-inning win over the Mariners. Sounding like he was on a continuous loop, Campbell went to great lengths to point out how Ryan had been "automatic" all season, how it was only his second blown save all year, ad infinitum.

OK, Jamie, Jays fans have seen enough baseball to realize that every closer (except for Éric Gagné in 2003) is going to cough up a lead once and for all. I'm adult enough to go from screaming, "On a two-strike pitch to their f---ing number nine hitter?!" one second to realizing that Ryan is human. He's still a very good 24-for-26 in save opportunities this season, and the Jays have actually won both of the games where he lost the lead.

Still, Campbell went so far in defending Ryan that it seemed a little too close to a trip to Shrill Boosterism Country. Nowhere near what regularly spews forth from the president-for-life of Shrill Boosterism Country, Leafs radio voice Joe Bowen, but enough to offend Jays fans, whose level of critical thinking and sophistication -- insofar as those terms can be applied to sportsfans -- surpass that of the collective 95 percent of Leafs fans by, oh, a factor of about 100.

Regardless, in time Campbell will learn that the time to really stick up for a hometown player when he's been playing lousy for a couple weeks and the fans are starting to get on his case. In this instance, Ryan made one little mistake that was completely understandable, since he'd worked two innings the day before. Fans are forgiving enough that you don't need to launch into an impassioned defence every time something goes wrong.

To err is human, to forgive is a southern Ontario sports fan.

As for the Jays, it was only a series win over the sub-.500 Mariners, with both wins in extra innings to boot. The wins this weekend can only raise a temporary glow, what with Troy Glaus likely having to sit the next couple games out with tendinitis and the Texas Rangers and the Evil Empire visiting this week.

OTHER BUSINESS

• Back on my old blog, I announced a goal (inspired by Neal Pollack) of reading 50 books in 2006. Well, with the year half over, I have completed 27, so I'm on pace. Thing is, I have lost count of what all I've read, but recent reads include David Maraniss' Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball's Last Hero, Tim Findley's Spadework and the manuscript of a biography of a Canadian sports icon that hasn't actually been published yet. (That's about all I'm at liberty to say.)
• This is actually four years old, but Off Wing Opinion has a manifesto for sports fans.
• Hometown Breakdown note: Best wishes to Kingston's Jenna Lambert, a 15-year-old with cerebral palsy who today will attempt to become the first disabled woman to swim across Lake Ontario.

That's all for now. Send your trips to neatesager@yahoo.ca.