The Doctor Was In; 19 Days Left

During their three seasons together with the Toronto Blue Jays, Roy "Doc" Halladay taught A.J. Burnett how to harness his nasty but wild skills, how to think in the game, and how to pitch. In turn, Burnett taught Halladay that it was OK to let up a little bit between starts, OK to have some fun, and OK not to be single-minded every single day. But Doc was always the mentor and Burnett always the protege, and tonight, when they met as opponents for the first time, they reminded everyone exactly why.

Doc didn't buy into the hype of their matchup, and with an electric crowd of 43,737 fans on hand, he just focused in and methodically dissected the New York Yankees like he always does with his trademark concentration and no nonsense attitude. While the Blue Jays offence capitalized on a bout of Burnett's trademark wildness in a three-run fourth inning for a 5-1 victory.

It was a brilliant a night of baseball as Jays fans have seen in a long time, and the game lived up to every last bit of the hype. Scott Rolen hit a key 2 run double to break out of an 0 for 18 slump and Aaron Hill continued his power surge with a solo home run (his 9th on the year) as the Blue Jays won their third straight, doing it against Burnett, the pitcher who spurned them over the winter by opting out of the final two years in his US$55 million, five-year deal, eventually reaching an $82.5 million, five-year agreement with the Evil Empire. A.J. has always stated that he left because he wanted to win and the Jays just weren't good enough and that the Yankees gave him the best chance to win a title.

And the fans didn't forget, booing Burnett vehemently from the moment he took the field and greeting him in the first inning with a deafening chant of "A.J. Sucks! A.J. Sucks!." We're about one-fifth of the way through the season, it's the Blue Jays (23-12) in first place in the American League East, 6 1/2 games in front of the Yankees (15-17), and looking very legit in their first meeting with an "elite" division rival. Burnett played a very good game but the Doc was in and the master showed why he was the master and A.J. the protege.

Peace and Much Love To Ya :)