Brett Lawrie Further Ignites Passion of Blue Jays Fans with First Grand Slam

If there was anyone among Toronto Blue Jays fans who wasn't excited about top prospect Brett Lawrie getting called up, they have likely been converted after Wednesday's game against Oakland.

When Lawrie was brought up on the road against Baltimore, fans were incredibly excited to see the debut of a Canadian prospect who was making waves even in spring training.  After going 5-for-11 with a home run and two RBI, fans were chomping at the bit to see him make his home debut.

The crowd at the Rogers Centre for the opener against the Oakland Athletics saw a decent boost in attendance, but a massive spike in energy.  

Lawrie received a warm ovation for his first major league at-bat in his home country, but went on to go 0-for-3 on the day with two strikeouts.  

If the nerves were getting to him in his first home game, they certainly seemed to vanish in the second game of the series.  

The Blue Jays loaded the bases in the first inning, taking advantage of early wildness from Gio Gonzalez, but were unable to capitalize, cashing in for only one run in the inning.

But then when Gonzalez was struggling again in the sixth, the Jays drove him out of the game and managed to load the bases once again.  J.P. Arencibia had the chance to do some damage but fell to a strikeout, which would bring Lawrie to the plate.

In only his fifth game with the Blue Jays, Lawrie took a pitch from reliever Craig Breslow and sent it arching into the Jays bullpen for his first Major League grand slam.

The 21-year-old third baseman certainly knows how to make an impression.

Lawrie's excitement was so evident running the bases that he almost passed Aaron Hill running in front of him and his high-fives through the dugout ran the risk of sending his teammates to the DL with broken hands.  

What was most evident though is just how pumped and excited Lawrie was to accomplish this feat, and what it meant for the team—not only in terms of putting them ahead in the ball game, but how it seemed to rejuvenate them and the fans (and cause perhaps a little good-hearted laughter). 

Jose Bautista has been able to do this in Toronto: get fans on their feet and draw deserved ovations for his performances over the past two years.  But he is also just one man against the tide of mediocrity that has swamped Toronto baseball (and several other sports teams) in the last several years.

But the tide slowly seems to be changing, in large part due to the efforts of Jose Bautista, but also from the work of GM Alex Anthopoulos who has remade the Blue Jays and brought in a steady stream of young talent.  

But perhaps what could turn into his masterstroke is acquiring a Canadian infielder from the Milwaukee Brewers for starter Shaun Marcum.

It isn't only that Brett Lawrie is Canadian, which certainly helps to inspire a fanbase built from an entire county.  It also doesn't hurt to have the kind of numbers Lawrie put up in the minors and what he has done already in the majors.

But what could be the most important part, whether Lawrie lights it up or struggles and gets sent down again, is simply his energy.  

He plays the game with an intensity and joy that a hockey-obsessed country can understand the passion.  

Lawrie wants to be a difference maker on the Toronto Blue Jays, but he could become more than that—he could inspire a nation to once again fall in love with baseball.