Koskie critical of Jays

The Toronto Blue Jays, on the NFL jerseys other hand, haven't been to the post-season party for 16 years. Koskie played for the Jays in 2005 and wasn't surprised at last week's firing of general manager J.P. Ricciardi.

"It was just a matter of time," said Koskie. "It was a tough fit when J.P. brought me to Toronto. In Minnesota we preached pitching and defence, but with the Jays it was all about getting on base and hoping somebody would hit a home run."
Strategy aside, however, Koskie believes it was a difference in attitude that truly separated the two organizations.
"We (the Twins) were really aggressive on the base paths to force the issue and cause the other team to make errors," he said. "But how can you teach that philosophy (in Toronto) when your big guns don't run out balls hard?" With the Twins, there's not one guy who's bigger than the team. That's been a problem with the other organizations I played for (Toronto and Milwaukee). A lot of times, the best players got treated as if they were bigger than the organization and even bigger than baseball."

Koskie is too classy to name any ex-Toronto mates who might fall into that category, but he was quick in pointing to an old Minnesota buddy who does things the right way; a fellow-Canadian named Justin Morneau.
In July of 2006, Corey Koskie was playing third base for the Milwaukee Brewers when he attempted to track down a shallow pop-up in the outfield. While diving for the ball, however, Koskie's head hit the turf and caused a concussion that effectively ended his career.
Fortunately, after almost three years of suffering, Koskie has finally recovered and the native of Anola, Manitoba makes his home in Minnesota where he spent the first seven years of his Major League career with the Twins. After a nail-biting win in Tuesday's tiebreaker against Detroit, Minnesota has now qualified for the playoffs in five of the last six seasons.
"You've got an American League MVP running hard to make a double out of a single," marveled Koskie. "Morneau always does what it takes to be successful and in Toronto, we just didn't do the little things to win ball games."

Unfortunately, Morneau is out for the season with a back injury but the Twins still found a way to go 17-6 down the stretch in nailing down yet another play-off spot.

"I had surgery on my thumb the winter before I signed with Toronto. But there was a problem with the operation and I had a wire sticking out of my thumb for most of the season. I don't want to make excuses, but it's kind of tough to hit with a wire sticking out of your thumb."

And when it comes to Toronto, Koskie and Bad Karma seem to go hand-in-hand.

With his concussion troubled cleared up, Koskie attempted a comeback by suiting up for Team Canada at the World Baseball Classic in Toronto last March. The Canucks, though, ended up getting knocked out in the first round and Koskie didn't get a single at-bat.
"You look at the Twins line-up and wonder how these guys even made it to the tiebreaker against the Tigers," said Koskie. "But Morneau goes down and the Twins operate just like a factory. Kubel, Cuddyer, Mauer; There's always someone to pick up the torch and that's because the least amongst the players in Minnesota are treated exactly the same as the best players on the ball club."

Obviously, Koskie doesn't exactly have the best memories when it comes to his time in Toronto. After signing as a free agent in '05, the veteran slugger was expected to provide some punch to the Jays offence and ended up hitting just .249 with 11 home runs and 36 RBI. But Koskie says his biggest mistake was trying to play through an injury.
"It was very, very frustrating," he admitted. "I came out of camp hitting every ball on the screws. I have no idea what happened, but I've got to try and bite my lip."
But three years ago, Koskie's concussion made his head hurt so badly that it was difficult to roll around on the floor and play-wrestle with his three young sons.
"During my comeback, I spent a couple of weeks training at the Twins facility by myself," recalled Koskie. "I really missed my family and I realized that I'd rather play with my kids than play in the Majors."
Still, don't be surprised if Koskie sneaks a peak at his old pals from Minnesota as they attempt to slay the big bad Yankees in the first round of the playoffs.
And Koskie's former team in Toronto?
If they're smart, they'll be keeping a close eye on the Twins, too.
Despite the bad taste from his WBC experience, Koskie continued his comeback by signing a minor league deal with the Chicago Cubs last summer. However, after just a few weeks, he decided it was time to call it quits at the age of 36. It wasn't easy, as Koskie definitely misses the camaraderie of the clubhouse. This is a guy, after all, who pulled off one of the best practical jokes in baseball history by placing peanut butter in the underwear of an unsuspecting David Ortiz, Koskie's former Twins teammate who moved on to become Boston's "Big Papi".