It’s been nearly ten years since broadcaster Joe Siddall felt this type of electric atmosphere in the Rogers Centre. “The Toronto Blue Jays are in first place and that makes things a lot of fun,” said Siddall, the Windsor, Ont. native who has handled colour analyst work this season along with studio duties. “I think part of it is because of the expectations going into the season. I kind of had a feeling the Red Sox were going to rebound, the Yankees were going to be the Yankees, and then you never know about those Rays and Orioles. But this has exceeded everyone’s expectations.” The Blue Jays finished the month of August with the best record in the American League (AL) East, three games ahead of the Yankees. They are just a half-game behind the Detroit Tigers for top spot overall in the AL. That is putting some people from his hometown in a tough spot as to who to cheer for down the stretch. “With what the Blue Jays are doing, everybody is kind of not necessarily coming out of the woodwork a little bit,” said Siddall. “Being from Windsor, I have a lot of family and friends and they’re mostly Tiger fans, so they’re kind of like slowly following the Blue Jays a little bit more. That’s a lot of fun too and it’s been fun for an entire country. A lot of these players here, they certainly feel it.” Siddall has been thrust into a much larger role on television this season with Buck Martinez dealing with health issues for most of the season. Siddall returned to his regular role in the studio alongside Jamie Campbell on Monday, as Martinez was healthy enough to return for the series against the Reds in Cincinnati. “It’s been a lot of fun and I love doing the booth and I love working the game,” said Siddall. “I have always said working the booth and doing the in-game analysis, it just feels like you’re back and part of the game again. I almost feel like I’m catching them back behind the plate again because you’re following the game pitch by pitch. I am grateful to have Buck back. He’ll be back for the stretch run and hopefully a lot of October.” He believes to succeed in October, they will continue to need all 14 hitters to continue to exceed expectations. He says not many Blue Jays fans were expecting them to be in first place right now, and everyone around the club is “relishing it right now.” He thinks to get to where they want to go, they need to do everything they can to win the division and get the bye. “Dodge the Wild Card Series all together, and then you’re starting a division series,” said Siddall. “You set your pitching up and you’re fresh and good to go against the team that just came off a series that had to use 2 or 3 starting pitchers.” The Jays have sold out 22 consecutive home games, with more than 40,000 fans cheering on their club. It’s something Siddall hasn’t seen since the playoffs in 2015 and 2016. “I go back to the Jose Bautista bat flip (in 2015),” said Siddall. “That was a long, long time ago. I remember vividly being in the radio booth with Jerry Howarth for that one. This place was electric and this country was electric. I don’t doubt one bit that when the Blue Jays get to October baseball, it’s going to be the same all over again.”
