Over at BTF, there was a little disagreement, at which point the author of the linked piece said: You love the DIPS, the PECOTA, the whatever. I don't. I am concerned with wins, losses, what guys hit with RISP, and the amount of times guys strike out with men on third and less than two out.

2 for 2 night on the farm, with the Skychiefs issuing some payback.

Magpie's Game Report is going to be slightly delayed, so in the meantime here's an early peek at the photo of the day -- Frank Catalanotto, pre-beard:

It looks like Chris Carpenter had a point to make tonight.

Point taken, Chris.

First, rest assured, the headline does NOT commit us to slogging through the careers of Danny Ainge, Mark Hendrickson, Dave DeBusschere and Ron Reed, though the latter two will get further mention for reasons unrelated to what you might expect.

Many regular Bauxites may not be aware, since legitimate NBA basketball comes to Toronto so infrequently, but there's a little series going on in Texas and Michigan right now called "The NBA Finals." In honour of that annual reminder that good defense almost always really does beat good offense, at least in hoops, we examine the possibilities of a Baseball Hall of Names paying homage to the greatest players of The Association.

But how to do this? Originally, I thought to compare the list of men in the baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY with the list of those enshrined in the Hoop Hall in Springfield, Mass., but there are 258 men in the former and, coincidentally enough, 258 men (and women) in the latter, and that seemed an onerously large number of names for very little return -- the occasional David and Brooks/Jackie/Frank Robinson, the intermittent Magic and Walter/Judy/(eventually Randy) Johnson.

So what to do?

That roadtrip was a rough one on poor old me, but the sight of this last night at the Rogers Centre made me feel all better:

This is Jonny's Minor League Update.

Jonny's not here, man. But we have the news anyway.

I know, you're all thinking, "Aw, it's a Rob Game Report again. I'm getting sick of these Game Score Charts. What else is on the Internet?"

Not so fast. It's another Pinch-Hit Game Report.

That's right, we're slackers. Though perhaps nobody is a bigger slacker than the man behind today's Game Report...

What road trip?

The high-flying St. Louis Cardinals come to town for their first regular-season visit to the T-Dot. Doc Halladay gets a chance to play the badly needed role of stopper tonight, against the Cardinals' #5 starter Jeff Suppan (although Suppan's no slouch).

St. Louis presents a formidable foe: an aggressive club with power and good defence, and a strike-throwing rotation supported by a great bullpen. Even without Scott Rolen, the Cards' middle of the order is fearsome. How did Boston make them look so bad last year?

This week's Scout features some scrappy little guys, a change in draft philosophy and the Rogers Centre's first Molina! sighting of 2005.

On to the Advance Scout!

Glyndwyr loses ground against Baird Brain.
#1 and #2 fight to a draw in Barfield.
Team Balla joins Carter Division race.

They're never too far
away from men who made the grade
out in a world of their own
They'll never come down
until the battle's lost or made

Here's the hitting coach. Let's not speak of mojo right now.

"This was the worst [expletive] road trip I have ever been on.". - Josh Towers

Lots of runs scored on a hot Sunday. The hitters are featured today, Gross, Cosby, Arnold, Cannon and Thigpen are featured. Plus bonus coverage, conversations with David Bush and Brandon League.