It is the St. Louis Cardinals’ turn to visit the Toronto Blue Jays; they’ll play a two-game series on Tuesday and Wednesday without three players, including 
two future Hall-of-Famers. . . . 1B Paul Goldschmidt and 3B Nolan Arenado aren’t vaccinated so can’t cross into Canada due to coronavirus-related travel restrictions. Of course, the rules are the same going the other way — all of the Blue Jays are vaccinated — but there are Americans who blame all of this on Canadian rules whenever it’s revealed that players can’t get into the country. . . . You may recall that the Kansas City Royals showed up without 10 of the players on their 26-man roster when they played in Toronto prior to the All-Star break. . . . The Cardinals also will be without C Austin Romine. Yes, he is unvaccinated, too. . . . All three will be placed on MLB’s restricted list so won’t be paid. According to ESPN, Arenado will lose $384,416, Goldschmidt $241,758 and Romine $10,989. . . .
Jeff Jones, who covers the Cardinals for the Belleville, Ill., News-Democrat, tweeted that St. Louis GM John Mozeliak said “he had a conversation with Arenado in which Arenado expressed a desire to start a family soon, which informed some of his hesitance.” . . . Jones added that “COVID-19 vaccines do not cause infertility.” . . .
Goldschmidt explained his decision this way: “It was not an easy decision, but over this year-plus that this has happened, I’ve tried to talk to as many doctors and professionals as I could, figured out as much as I could, and I decided the potential risks outweighed the potential benefits of doing it. It stinks that I can’t play in Toronto and can’t play these next couple of games — I hate that part of it, but that’s unfortunately the consequence.” . . .
The Cardinals are in the National League wild-card race and are in danger of missing the playoffs — despite Goldschmidt being the favourite at this point to be named the NL’s MVP — so these two games, especially if they were to lose both of them, could turn out to be rather important.
Of course, both players said on Sunday that they would reconsider their decisions if the Cardinals make the playoffs, especially if they got in and made a run to the World Series.
Arenado: “I would probably consider (it), especially if it’s a chance to play in the World Series. That’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing.”
BTW, after the Cardinals leave Toronto, the Detroit Tigers are to come in for a four-game set. Yes, it’ll be deja vu all over again.
Scott Ostler, in the San Francisco Chronicle: “Lucky for MLB that the All-Star Game wasn’t scheduled for Toronto, where un-vaccinated players would have been shut out. Recently, 10 Royals missed a four-game series in Toronto because they were un-vaxxed. As they say in baseball, We’ll shoot any random stuff into our bodies, as long as it’s not something that will help stop a worldwide killer pandemic.”
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Ostler again: “SI.com writer Stephanie Apstein called athletes’ vax resistance ‘a uniquely American breed of stupidity.’ To which Novak Djokovic said, ‘Hey, what about me?’ ”
Casey Close, a player agent, is suing American national sports-radio host Doug Gottlieb over a tweet claiming he and Excel Sports Management didn’t show the Atlanta Braves’ final offer to Freddie Freeman, who eventually signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers. . . . As Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel wrote: “Hey, if we start suing hosts for being inaccurate, then the entire talk-radio industry will crumble like sand castles at high tide.”
It turns out that QB Cody Fajardo was one of the 13 players with the Saskatchewan Roughriders who tested positive for COVID-19 last week. As a result, he wasn’t able to even dress for Sunday’s 31-21 over the visiting Toronto Argos. . . . BTW, Mason Fine, Saskatchewan’s backup QB, also was in COVID-19 protocol, but he was well enough to backup on Sunday. That left freshman QB Jake Dolegala, normally third on the depth chart, to start the game.
THINKING OUT LOUD: In the 1982-83 season, F Pat LaFontaine of the QMJHL’s Verdun Juniors put up 274 points, including 118 goals, in 89 games, including playoffs and the Memorial Cup. Think about that for a moment or two. . . . Kurleigh Gittens Jr. is a wide receiver with the CFL’s Toronto Argonauts, who had 152 yards and a touchdown in a 31-21 victory over the host Saskatchewan Roughriders on Sunday. If his nickname isn’t Jake, they’re doing it wrong. . . . Yes, I know that the Jack Nicholson character in Chinatown was Jake Gittes, but, hey, it’s close enough. . . . With 4:23 left in Sunday’s game, TSN analyst Glen Suitor made reference to the game being played before a “packed house.” Suitor must have had an obstructed-view seat because attendance in the 33,350-seat Mosaic Stadium was announced at 27,134 and TSN cameras showed that there were fewer than that in the house.
One more sign that the apocalypse is upon us . . .
Back in the day, Marie-Antoinette, the queen of France, upon being told that the peasants didn’t have any bread, may or may not have said: “Let them eat cake.” . . . Rob Manfred, the MLB commissioner, proved that he is a student of French history when, after being asked about the salaries (?) being paid to minor-league players, he responded: “I reject the premise that (minor-leaguers) are not paid even a living wage.”
Headline from the Los Angeles Times: The University of California Irvine on Monday will require all students and staff to wear masks while inside campus buildings, following the lead of other colleges that have chosen to strengthen safety measures as COVID-19 cases continue to rise.
You may be aware that Dan Russell, the well-known former host of the Vancouver-based radio show Sportstalk, has written a book — Pleasant Good Evening: My 30 Wild and Turbulent Years of Sportstalk. . . . If you are thinking about writing your own book, you may want to check out this interview right here because Russell does a good job of explaining all that he went through in order to get his book from start to finish. . . . And if you haven’t read the book, you should. It’s a solid no-holds-barred look at the man, his life and his career. (Disclaimer: Yes, I helped him in the editing process.)
Former Sportstalk Radio host Dan Russell is making headlines with his new memoir
A track-and-field quiz from Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times:
Noah Lyles won the 200 meters in 19.31 seconds at the world championships in Eugene, Ore., breaking the U.S. record held by:
- Michael Johnson
- Forrest Gump
- Josh Hawley
Ken Brown, a goaltender who played with the Moose Jaw Canucks in the first two seasons (1966-68) of what now is the WHL, has died in Austin, Texas, at the age of 73. . . . He was the Canadian Major Junior Hockey League’s goaltender of the year for 1966-67 when he put up a 3.22 GAA in 54 games. . . . In 1967-68, he was a second-team all-star in the Western Canada Junior Hockey League with a 5.07 GAA in 58 games. . . . A native of Port Arthur, Ont., Brown spent four seasons (1968-72) with the Dallas Black Hawks, the Central Hockey League affiliate of the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks. He got into one game with Chicago in 1970-71, giving up one goal on 14 shots in 18 minutes. Of course, Chicago had Tony Esposito and Gerry Desjardins ahead of him. . . . He later spent two seasons (1972-73, 1974-75) with the WHA’s Alberta/Edmonton Oilers.
If you are interested in being a living kidney donor, more information is available here:
Living Kidney Donor Program
St. Paul’s Hospital
6A Providence Building
1081 Burrard Street
Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6
Tel: 604-806-9027
Toll free: 1-877-922-9822
Fax: 604-806-9873
Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca
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Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney
Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre
Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street
Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9
604-875-5182 or 1-855-875-5182
kidneydonornurse@vch.ca
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Or, for more information, visit right here.
TAKING NOTE 