LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Scratch just about any veteran Blue Jay these days and you’ll find a guy who is willing to become a team leader.
Aaron Hill has signed up as has Vernon Wells among position players. On the pitching front, Brian Tallet and Shaun Marcum have volunteered.
Who knows, by the end of spring training, maybe all 25 players will have taken the pledge.
Leadership in baseball, however, is somewhat of a tricky proposition.
Players who are too rah-rah are viewed suspiciously and given the hairy eyeball. And it’s not like leadership in physical sports where a player can often carry a team, literally, on his back.
“It’s just doing the right thing,” Hill offered when asked what leadership in baseball means. “There’s a certain way the game should be played. It should be played hard. You should have fun. It’s just having guys doing the right thing. This clubhouse is good because I think for the most part guys are going to police themselves.
“The older guys, the guys that have some years and put in some time, if they play the game hard it’s only going to affect how the younger guys do it. If I’m a younger guy and I see the guys ahead of me are sprinting down the line, doing things the right way, I’m going to do the same thing.”
The Jays clubhouse this year is decidedly different than the ones under the latter years of J.P. Ricciardi.
Absent is the sight of a veterans. There is no Frank Thomas, no Troy Glaus, B.J. Ryan or Scott Rolen.
The veterans brought in to fill a few gaps are low-profile such as shortstop Alex Gonzalez and backup catcher Jose Molina.
That fact allows some of the younger Jays to perhaps feel less intimidated and be more vocal in the clubhouse.
“Maybe it’s just a sign of a different direction,” Hill offers. “With Alex (Anthopoulos, the new GM), everyone loves what he’s doing. Everyone loves the fact that he’s up-front and honest with them. Everybody knows their role.
“We don’t have as many veterans as we’ve had but it’s kind of a good thing because with a young team there’s a lot of enthusiasm.”
No player comes to the ball park each day as enthused as Hill.
His enthusiasm was fuelled by a 2009 season that was simply off the charts.
Hill exceeded all expectations by belting 36 home runs and driving in 108 runs and started at second for the American League at the all-star game. At the end of the season he was voted the AL’s comeback player of the year and also earned a Silver Slugger award.
He wants to build on all that.
“I want to keep my aggressiveness that I had last year because I think that was a big part of my success,” he said of his approach at the plate. “But it also got me in trouble a little bit too. So if I can find something in between where I’m a little bit more selective ... I felt so good at times that I chased outside the zone. You feel like you can get at everything and you get in trouble. So if I can somehow cut the strike zone down and stay more consistent in the zone, it will help getting on base and help everything else.”
Still, it’s going to be tough for Hill to put up the same kind of numbers.
Looking back, in his wildest dreams did he ever think he could come back after missing two-thirds of the previous season due to post-concussion syndrome and accomplish what he did?
“No,” he replied without hesitation. “I never say I can’t do anything but I don’t think I would have bet on it.”
