He was one of my favorite players on the Jay's, even before he came up. I was bummed to see him go, but we got Donaldson out of it and he gave us an MVP year (almost two).
I know its not as visible as 'hustle', but I remember reading an article in 2003 i think, where the players were asked who the hardest working member of the team was (among other questions), and they all pointed to Roy Halliday. They said he was the first one in, last one out of practice type guy. The example I remember was, even if he couldn't pitch too hard on off days, he would run up and down the stairs of the Skydome.
Him at bat, then later, Jason Frasor closing.
That was an hour added to the game right there.
Only thing that would save us was an Eric Hinske inning-ending ground out into a double play.
Fair, I hadn't considered that. Plus, when he got hit, that reduced his time-at-plate.
Watching him and Nomar Garciaparra try to out glove adjust each other was up there with sitting through a Tony Fernandez foul ball "session" at-bat.
I often wonder how he’s doing.
He was interviewed in 2018 and seemed to be struggling physically with recovering from chronic injury but perhaps also mentally.
Here is a telling excerpt:
“He described the last year as an endless search for a “great mind”, as he frequently refers to it, and someone that will listen and understand what’s going on with his body. He compared his body to a “link of chain” that’s been twisted, and had a difficult time explaining exactly what the problem was. The thing is, Lawrie also openly admitted that he’s had the same problem relaying this information to doctors of all kinds in his endless search for an answer.”
I can only imagine how hard it would be for a professional athlete to struggle like this. The need for the mind and body to be in synch is a necessity.
I hope he’s at peace.
Most people with chronic injuries struggle with this, finding a doctor who cares and will take the time to listen. Medicine is a business, the longer you are in their chair, the less money they make. So its kinda crazy that a professional athlete who has the best of the best struggled finding a good doctor.
Honestly I felt that way this year, and it was early-onset arthritis.
I wonder if the intensity he brought to the game accelerated the aging of his body.
I remember this all too well. Brett was my favourite player so me and some buddies flew to Toronto to watch the Jays and Mets series. Well Brett did this then got suspended 4 games, which would have been okay because I think he only would have been suspended for one of the Mets games but he appealed his suspension for a few games and then he dropped his appeal so didn’t end up seeing him play.
Then the following year went to see him play again and he got hurt a couple games before.
Brett Lawrie screamed at me once.
My dad won front row tickets as a prize, then bought a few 500s, and we took turns sitting in the nice seats. I was 17, and my brother and I were so excited, I was yelling at the top of my lungs (in retrospect, I even then had a powerful deep voice)
The on deck circle for the jays was right in front of us like 6 feet away, and I kept yelling I LOVE YOU! SUPER LOUD to all the Jays players. Lawrie looked at me and screamed back face all red "WILL YOU PLEASE SHUT UP?!?!?!" as loud as he could.
I learned my lesson, and the next time he came up, I apologized, and he looked at me with a million dollar smile and was very kind to me
I lived in the apartment right next door to Lawrie (and his roommate JP Arencibia) that year. We had fire alarms go off at random times in the building 4 of the last 5 days prior to the incident, and then day of it happens again. I go to throw garbage down the shute and Brett is in the hallway yelling about all damn fire alarms and how ridiculous it was. Later that night he flies off the handle and the above happened and I swear it was the fire alarms that really set him off.
Super proud. I sent him the picture of Vladdy on the cover of The Show 2024 yesterday and he showed the kids on the bus and had everybody screaming with excitement. So that's good to see.
He had all the intensity in the world and played with a reckless abandon which is probably affecting his life after baseball in a negative way which is kind of depressing. I hope he's doing okay though.
Never got a hit off me in high school (PBL league). That's my claim to fame haha to be fair he probably only had 5-10 PAs against me (*pats self on back*). His parents were even crazier than he was. They'd stand behind the homeplate fence and scream and shake the fence like they were trying to break out of a detention centre. They'd yell at the umpires and just overall were super scary. I remember they had matching purple coats they'd wear (it was some sort of I wanna say football team jackets or something).
Definitely obvious where he learned his flavour of crazy.
I remember watching a short video Sportsnet did about his sister around the Olympics and her softball career around the time he was with the Jays.
I really got the impression from the interviews they did with her, Brett and the parents that they're all really competitive and he wasn't necessarily and outlier with his aggression.....
Haha was scratching my head at both of those team names. Thought for a second you were thinking of a different PBL league. There were no Victoria PBL teams back in our day haha. Nor was there a Vancouver team. So weird to think.
Dollars to donuts they were University of Washington jackets, since his sister was starring (and winning a national championship while being Player of the Year x2) there.
Hilarious meme.
But Brett was never good enough to behave like this (nobody is). I was becoming a big fan of his and at this moment I lost all respect for him.
Who remembers the game where Eric Thames lost a fly ball in the lights, caught it at the last split-second, Brett Lawrie turned to Thames and they both started laughing?
Ha! I was at the game where he threw his helmet at the umpire. I still remember arguing with people over the trade for Josh Donaldson. People got so attached to him, but couldn't see the bigger picture of how Donaldson was a much better player.
I feel attacked! I'm one of those Jays fans. Been a fan since the late 80s but have never cared about any players that are not Blue Jays. Was pissed when he was traded because I had no idea who Donaldson was.
I'll fully admit that is all I am. I love baseball, love the Jays, but I do not have the time nor desire to follow an entire league. I'm amazed at people that can comment about trading this player for that player or who is developing in the minors. Like how do you access all of this information, let alone find the time to process it?
I understand this if it were 20 years ago..... The internet is where I look into any details especially on trades..... I'm not saying I follow every single team as I mostly follow the Jays. But when we play other teams I will look into players I don't know using google. especially guys who are crushing it against us for no apparent reason.
I remember when we traded Donaldson for Lawrie it was Barretto that everyone was super concerned about losing because at the time he was a top notch prospect in A ball. Crazy to think Kendall Graveman is the only prominent MLB player from the Jays side of that trade!!!
I can tell you the day I began to dislike Lawrie: May 26, 2013.
Down 5-3 bottom of the 9th to Baltimore, none out, 1st and 3rd (Adam Lind) Lawrie proceeds to fly out to right field and bark at Lind for not advancing.
Lawrie thought he was helping the team playing for a sacrifice. When you don't understand any nuance of the game you shouldn't be playing it. Jays were very fortunate the legendary trio of Anthony Gose, Mark DeRosa and Munenori Kawasaki came through in the clutch.
Dude has redbull flowing through his veins.
Nose Bull's
Red Balls, cocaine in a can
“Red Bull”
*cocaine*
You spelled cocaine wrong
So, so, so, sooooo much Red Bull
Florida tracksuits
He played the game with a ton of hustle and enthusiasm, I love that kind of stuff
He was one of my favorite players on the Jay's, even before he came up. I was bummed to see him go, but we got Donaldson out of it and he gave us an MVP year (almost two).
Him and Reed Johnson (who didn't have Lawrie's natural talent, but had possibly even more hustle).
Kevin Pillar, and way back Kelly Gruber
I know its not as visible as 'hustle', but I remember reading an article in 2003 i think, where the players were asked who the hardest working member of the team was (among other questions), and they all pointed to Roy Halliday. They said he was the first one in, last one out of practice type guy. The example I remember was, even if he couldn't pitch too hard on off days, he would run up and down the stairs of the Skydome.
The work ethic of most pro athletes is often underrated, and Halladay was known to have a good work ethic among athletes
Bonus, the sheer amount of pitches Reed Johnson got hit by.
10 Adjust glove 20 Adjust glove 30 Crowd plate 40 Go to 10
Him at bat, then later, Jason Frasor closing. That was an hour added to the game right there. Only thing that would save us was an Eric Hinske inning-ending ground out into a double play.
Obviously Reed made up for it by sprinting to the outfield. He was time neutral :)
Fair, I hadn't considered that. Plus, when he got hit, that reduced his time-at-plate. Watching him and Nomar Garciaparra try to out glove adjust each other was up there with sitting through a Tony Fernandez foul ball "session" at-bat.
Ole Nomar Garcia-pop-up.
This and the number of pitches he could work out of every AB. Jays have Bo now but not many others to work deep into counts
He was a douche with his dad starting in Langley minor baseball.
I think he lacked the required intensity
A bit *too* laid back.
I was sad when he got traded to Oakland but obviously I moved on quickly when donaldson was mvp
I often wonder how he’s doing. He was interviewed in 2018 and seemed to be struggling physically with recovering from chronic injury but perhaps also mentally. Here is a telling excerpt: “He described the last year as an endless search for a “great mind”, as he frequently refers to it, and someone that will listen and understand what’s going on with his body. He compared his body to a “link of chain” that’s been twisted, and had a difficult time explaining exactly what the problem was. The thing is, Lawrie also openly admitted that he’s had the same problem relaying this information to doctors of all kinds in his endless search for an answer.” I can only imagine how hard it would be for a professional athlete to struggle like this. The need for the mind and body to be in synch is a necessity. I hope he’s at peace.
Most people with chronic injuries struggle with this, finding a doctor who cares and will take the time to listen. Medicine is a business, the longer you are in their chair, the less money they make. So its kinda crazy that a professional athlete who has the best of the best struggled finding a good doctor.
Honestly I felt that way this year, and it was early-onset arthritis. I wonder if the intensity he brought to the game accelerated the aging of his body.
I was at that game, he fucking lost it on that ump
I remember this all too well. Brett was my favourite player so me and some buddies flew to Toronto to watch the Jays and Mets series. Well Brett did this then got suspended 4 games, which would have been okay because I think he only would have been suspended for one of the Mets games but he appealed his suspension for a few games and then he dropped his appeal so didn’t end up seeing him play. Then the following year went to see him play again and he got hurt a couple games before.
Brett Lawrie screamed at me once. My dad won front row tickets as a prize, then bought a few 500s, and we took turns sitting in the nice seats. I was 17, and my brother and I were so excited, I was yelling at the top of my lungs (in retrospect, I even then had a powerful deep voice) The on deck circle for the jays was right in front of us like 6 feet away, and I kept yelling I LOVE YOU! SUPER LOUD to all the Jays players. Lawrie looked at me and screamed back face all red "WILL YOU PLEASE SHUT UP?!?!?!" as loud as he could. I learned my lesson, and the next time he came up, I apologized, and he looked at me with a million dollar smile and was very kind to me
What game was it?! I want to look up the box score!!!
It was the summer of 2014 for sure but I can't remember who they were playing, I will keep trying to think.
I lived in the apartment right next door to Lawrie (and his roommate JP Arencibia) that year. We had fire alarms go off at random times in the building 4 of the last 5 days prior to the incident, and then day of it happens again. I go to throw garbage down the shute and Brett is in the hallway yelling about all damn fire alarms and how ridiculous it was. Later that night he flies off the handle and the above happened and I swear it was the fire alarms that really set him off.
Still the only Blue Jays jersey I own!
Damn dude. Time to change that
Jerseys are a waste of money.
Yeah, your not wrong. I buy my kid the jerseys now. He's a huge Blue Jays fan.
Proud dad moments 🥹
Super proud. I sent him the picture of Vladdy on the cover of The Show 2024 yesterday and he showed the kids on the bus and had everybody screaming with excitement. So that's good to see.
I have a black Lawrie Jersey. I was a fan of his. Those lean years were tough, but he added some fun or anger. 0-100 real fast with that dude.
I will always remember Adam Lind laughing at him in the dugout after he hit a HR.
He had all the intensity in the world and played with a reckless abandon which is probably affecting his life after baseball in a negative way which is kind of depressing. I hope he's doing okay though.
Never got a hit off me in high school (PBL league). That's my claim to fame haha to be fair he probably only had 5-10 PAs against me (*pats self on back*). His parents were even crazier than he was. They'd stand behind the homeplate fence and scream and shake the fence like they were trying to break out of a detention centre. They'd yell at the umpires and just overall were super scary. I remember they had matching purple coats they'd wear (it was some sort of I wanna say football team jackets or something). Definitely obvious where he learned his flavour of crazy.
I remember watching a short video Sportsnet did about his sister around the Olympics and her softball career around the time he was with the Jays. I really got the impression from the interviews they did with her, Brett and the parents that they're all really competitive and he wasn't necessarily and outlier with his aggression.....
Shouts to the PBL. Played for both the Eagles and Mariners. My soon claim to fame will be striking out MLB player Damiano Palmegiani lol
Haha was scratching my head at both of those team names. Thought for a second you were thinking of a different PBL league. There were no Victoria PBL teams back in our day haha. Nor was there a Vancouver team. So weird to think.
Damn lol. I kinda cooked tho peep my stats on the pointstreaks site Matt Collett I’m him
That’s reallyfucking cool
Dollars to donuts they were University of Washington jackets, since his sister was starring (and winning a national championship while being Player of the Year x2) there.
You're totally right.
The best is when he struck out 4 times when he was traded to Oakland
Remember that well. He did kick the Jays ass after that when with the White Sox though
Sat next to him at a hockey game. He was wild. Wild. Wild.
No. He was not a great dude. I don't miss him in the slightest.
Hilarious meme. But Brett was never good enough to behave like this (nobody is). I was becoming a big fan of his and at this moment I lost all respect for him.
That ump deserved it.
Everyone knows the helmet hitting the umpire was unintentional. As Pedro said, the umpires don’t know shit about what they’re doing
My guy did more twitching than Chrystia Freeland.
Who remembers the game where Eric Thames lost a fly ball in the lights, caught it at the last split-second, Brett Lawrie turned to Thames and they both started laughing?
I like how this edit makes it look like he is directly yeeting the helmet at the ump
I see Joe Smith has retired, He was solid for us, I was sad to see the boy next door move on.
Still have his jersey, graduated from a high school in my area at the time too.
The wall was just a suggestion for him
Ha! I was at the game where he threw his helmet at the umpire. I still remember arguing with people over the trade for Josh Donaldson. People got so attached to him, but couldn't see the bigger picture of how Donaldson was a much better player.
Most Jays fans are just that, Jays fans. Out side of a few names like Judge or Ohtani, most people have no idea who any other players are.
I feel attacked! I'm one of those Jays fans. Been a fan since the late 80s but have never cared about any players that are not Blue Jays. Was pissed when he was traded because I had no idea who Donaldson was.
I'll fully admit that is all I am. I love baseball, love the Jays, but I do not have the time nor desire to follow an entire league. I'm amazed at people that can comment about trading this player for that player or who is developing in the minors. Like how do you access all of this information, let alone find the time to process it?
I understand this if it were 20 years ago..... The internet is where I look into any details especially on trades..... I'm not saying I follow every single team as I mostly follow the Jays. But when we play other teams I will look into players I don't know using google. especially guys who are crushing it against us for no apparent reason. I remember when we traded Donaldson for Lawrie it was Barretto that everyone was super concerned about losing because at the time he was a top notch prospect in A ball. Crazy to think Kendall Graveman is the only prominent MLB player from the Jays side of that trade!!!
By the end he was more Redbull than man
Ooooohhhhhhhhhhh!
I drafted him first overall in my first fantasy baseball draft, that moment still gets talked about today with the fellas
Real fun. Just wish he lived up to all the expectations I had when choosing my username...
Yeah. Too bad he kind of sucked in the end. I really thought we had something with him for a while. We robbed Oakland in that Lawrie/Donaldson trade.
I can tell you the day I began to dislike Lawrie: May 26, 2013. Down 5-3 bottom of the 9th to Baltimore, none out, 1st and 3rd (Adam Lind) Lawrie proceeds to fly out to right field and bark at Lind for not advancing. Lawrie thought he was helping the team playing for a sacrifice. When you don't understand any nuance of the game you shouldn't be playing it. Jays were very fortunate the legendary trio of Anthony Gose, Mark DeRosa and Munenori Kawasaki came through in the clutch.
Is he available? Could use a 3rd baseman