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Where's Damaso Garcia when you really need him?

You may remember Garcia as a decent second baseman for the Jays throughout the first half of the 1980s -- decent glove man, first Jay to steal 50 bases in a season, first player to get 1,000 career hits in a Toronto uniform. Not many people talked about on-base percentage and OPS back then, so few noted that 1985 Jays won 99 games with a leadoff hitter whose OBP barely scrapped .300 since he never walked if it could be avoided. (Damaso's single-season high in bases on ball was 24, which is about a month's worth for Jason Giambi.)

That's neither here nor there. Along with the fact he once took Alfredo Griffin as his guest to the all-star game in lieu of a spouse or significant other -- and then Griffin ended up getting into the game as an injury replacement -- Damo will always be remembered for something else.

It's topical, in light of the Jays free-fall (outscored 20-4 in a three-game sweep by the Yankees) to recall that Damaso committed the most memorable temper tantrum in Jays history, pre-Shea Hillenbrand. On May 14, 1986, after a 9-4 loss in Oakland where a Garcia error opened the door to a five-run A's seventh inning, he went into the clubhouse bathroom, set his cap and jersey on the floor, and set it ablaze.

It was rash, it was dangerous, and in its own way, highly original. The kicker was that some people could make out the outline of the number 7 in the charred powder-blue, polyester pullover jerseys they wore back then and assumed the human torch had been Dave Stieb (who wore 37), since he had taken the loss to fall to 0-5 on the season.

MOLINA: CULTURE SHOCK?

Which is a roundabout way of saying the nicest thing you can say about the Jays of late is that no one is starting fires in the locker room after losses, although it might be wise to keep an eye of Bengie Molina. The catcher sounded off about his lack of playing time and it's possible the Jays could put him on waivers within days in order to avoid having to buy out his contract after the season.

Molina really can't be blamed for being upset over being reduced to a backup role, or not getting to DH when Gregg Zaun starts behind the plate -- a luxury the Jays can afford with three catchers on the roster. There's an argument that this is proof of John Gibbons being a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately guy -- which defenders would call going with the hot hand.

Molina hasn't been that much better defensively than Zaun, and is getting outhit by him too (.723 OPS to Zaun's .819).

You have to wonder if the problem is cultural. Molina, who's from Puerto Rico, came over from the Angels, who have a Latino owner, at least one Latino coach (the aforementioned Alfredo Griffin), and a host of Latino players -- Bartolo Colon, Vlady Guerrero, Jose Molina, Francisco Rodriguez.

The Jays, on the other hand, are pretty much on the most white-bread teams in the entire majors outside of Atlanta or Houston. With Gustavo Chacin, a Venezuelan, away on a rehab assignment, Molina's the only player on the entire team born outside the continental United States. (Right-fielder Alex Rios was born in Alabama.)

Not to stereotype, but you wonder if that's affected Molina's comfort level with the Jays, and in turn impacted his play. Then again, if the demographics of the team roster influenced a player's happiness, how do you explain a redneck like Hillenbrand blowing his top two weeks ago?

Regardless, it's important to be upbeat. It's a game, for chrissakes, and the knowledge has been there all along that this was not going to be easy, that the odds against pulling off a playoff berth was going to be tough (and that was before the Tigers came virtually out of nowhere).

It's never as bad as it seems when it's going bad, just as it's never as good as it seems when it's going well. Besides, Roy Halladay starts tonight against the White Sox. Said it before and will say it again: you're only as good as the next game's starting pitcher.

That's all there's time for. Back a little later. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.