Article content SARASOTA, Fla. – Blue Jays manager John Schneider was never a big fan of the guy who looms as his new home run threat. He didn’t like the way Anthony Santander stood in the batter’s box.
He didn’t like his mannerisms. And he especially didn’t like the way the man they call “Tony Taters” tended to clobber his team with timely hits and home runs. “You joke about it a little bit at first, but I’ve told him I used to hate when during his first (at-bat) he does that little dig in and kind of stares in the dugout and looking at the clock,” Schneider said of the former Oriole, who was in the lineup here on Tuesday night for a game against his former team.
“I wanted to punch him in the face every time he did that the last couple of years. “And now I love it.” Schneider didn’t actually want to punch Santander in the face.
But like the hockey pest you hated to play against but has now moved into your lineup, there was some distaste for a despised foe. Of course, there’s another big reason Schneider is thrilled that Santander signed a five-year, $92.5-million US deal with the Jays.
The temperature of the Jays’ rivalry with the O’s has risen over the past couple of seasons, especially as Baltimore has become a contender in their division. And in the context of the upcoming season, the Jays are now just nine days away from opening their season with a four-game homestand against Santander’s former squad. “The cool part is you’re not o.
