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It was in the solitude of his long car ride home, driving his 2005 Chrysler 300 — after his first full and only great big-league season — that Adam Lind finally allowed himself to exhale and celebrate.
It was personal and without ceremony.
Lind is smiling ever so slightly in the Blue Jays clubhouse on this home-opening afternoon, quietly relating the story of his own acknowledgment of a 35-homer, 114-RBI award-winning mega-season in Toronto.
“My drive home is eight hours,” Lind said. “All I did was think about how good I was. Because it was personal time, I could be all arrogant and cocky to myself. I’m nothing like that anymore. I had my eight-hour drive. And now it’s back to: ‘Last year doesn’t matter any more.’
“I realized, as I was driving home, how hard it all was. It was not easy to do that with the competition we face against the Red Sox, Yankees and Rays. It’s really hard to do what I accomplished ... ”
That is Adam Lind, humble and humbled hitting star, the Blue Jay nicknamed Sleepy by his teammates. The Jays may not have Doc anymore but they are more than happy to have Sleepy.
For now and for the future.
He’s the kind of player who doesn’t celebrate on the town or in the media or anywhere that might get him noticed.
The kind of kid who takes stock of his Edgar Martinez-type season inside the only car he has ever known, bought with his original signing-bonus money, on the road back to Muncie, Ind., population 67,430.
Monday night was the first home opener where Lind felt like a real big leaguer. Felt at home. A year ago, he wasn’t certain. Nobody really was.
“It’s a completely different feeling inside,” said Lind, comparing last year with this one.
“This is the team I belong with now. Before, I didn’t know if this was my team, or the Syracuse SkyChiefs was my team. It feels good to know I’m a Blue Jay.”
He has signed on for the next four years and $18-million US worth, a bargain by big-league standards as a player not just committed to the Blue Jays, but committed to Toronto.
He is marrying local, with Jerry Howarth emceeing his fall wedding to Richmond Hill’s Lakyshia Bertie, and wants to grow up in the city, maybe become a Canadian citizen one day, maybe play on a Blue Jays team capable of contending.
Having been around the city more than most of his teammates, he understands the Toronto hunger for something good to happen in a sporting vein.
“This is the team that drafted me,” Lind said. “I’m right there with the fans. I’m right there rooting with them trying to get the Blue Jays back where they want to be ... I’m dying with him. I can’t imagine how much fun those guys had in the early ’90s, late ’80s here.
“And having watched how they handled the Canadian hockey team (at the Olympics) and how much passion the fans here have for a winner, I couldn’t imagine the atmosphere we’d have in the playoffs.”
Lind is right there, alongside Alex Anthopoulos, comprehending the future and direction of the Blue Jays. He wasn’t, listening to him, much of a J.P. Ricciardi fan. He didn’t understand the Ricciardi ways.
“We haven’t had a lot of highly touted prospects,” said Lind. “We drafted a lot of good seniors from college. Then, in rookie ball and A ball we’d get to the playoffs every year and we’d think our organization is really growing. But really, all our players were four or five years older than the other teams that were out there. We didn’t have very good teams (in AA and AAA).”
The rebuild of the Blue Jays is centred around Lind and Aaron Hill. They are the ready for prime-time players. The rest is up to Anthopoulos and staff. But Lind for one, looks forward to the future, looks forward to more drives home where he can be silly all by himself.
The difference this year: In the fall, he will have a new bride and a new Porsche, and a whole lot more worth celebrating.
steve.simmons@sunmedia.ca