There are certain dead giveaways that a once-successful creative venture is running out of ideas. There'll be an episode featuring a seance, or two characters stuck in an elevator. Or maybe there'll be a very special guest appearance by Dick Van Dyke. Or they'll add a cool new kid named Roy. Or Ted McGinley will show up. Or, in the case of the minor-league update, they start adding trivia questions on a 2-2 night for the farm teams.

Sometimes all you need is a timeout. Instead of going out there again and again, and screwing up again and again - just stop. Take a walk. Clear your mind. Change your routine.

Way back on January 10, Batter's Box asked the leading question, what is it with baseball and lawyers? After input from the esteemed Jamey Newberg and the seven or eight dozen shysters who frequent these here parts of the Web, the matter was largely dropped.

Then more recently -- just last week, in fact -- in a standard "Baseball's Hall of Names" feature, we examined the posibilities presented by an "All-Doc" (or alternatively, an "All-M.D.) team.

And if you've been to college, you know the pre-law guys don't want the pre-med guys to have anything they don't get (and vice versa), so we feel obliged to offer an "All-Legal" team here on Batter's Box. However, we'll take a bit of a different tack than we did with our medical squad -- and be sure to watch for the wacky Chief Justice Showdown at the end of the show!

NEW! Sidebar comments with a complete "All-J.D." team and Craig Burley's special complete team of all actual lawyers!

Lilly! Wells! Hill!

So what did you think?

Interleague play begins early this year, with a visit from the ex-Expos. Gone are the days, alas, when the Expos and Jays used to play before large and loudly bipartisan crowds at the Dome; the slow death of the Expos turned this matchup into a non-event some years ago. There's talk of now making Philadelphia the "natural rival" for interleague purposes, starting next year.

But there are still two series to play this year, and Frank Robinson's Nats are playing inspired ball of late, parlaying quality starts, a tough bullpen and a solid middle of the order into victories despite a slew of injuries (most notably to Jose Vidro). The good news for the Jays is that John Patterson's achy back means the Jays get an unrested pitcher today, and likely an untested pitcher on Sunday. In between, the Doctor is in on Saturday.

This week's Scout features a resurgent corner infield, an anomalous outfielder and a closer putting it all together.

On to the Advance Scout!

For most of the last decade, the AL Central has featured one good-but-unspectacular squad and four teams ranging from average to poor. So far in 2005, the AL West is trying hard to usurp that hollow crown.

I keep getting more and more e-mail about how I don't put up enough pictures of Eric Hinske. Well, I'm nothing if not a slave to requests sent to me by e-mail, so here's more of Eric. This time he's hitting a ball real hard:

There's one reason, and one reason only, to ever check out the New York Post. The Post has headlines, both on the front page and the dedicated-to-sports back page, down to an absolute science.

And that's the basis for our latest contest!

Welcome to Toronto, Aaron Hill. Syracuse's loss is our gain. Speaking of which, Syracuse and Dunedin lost games late yesterday, while the Fisher Cats behind Shaun Marcum cruised to victory.

Who is heading to the Rogers Centre this long weekend?

Very rarely, there's a baseball game that I just can't get excited about. Sadly, the finale against the Twins was one of those.

OK, not really Hall of Names. Mick holds proprietary rights there, and I've been doing enough poaching in other people's fields, surely. This is more like the Lobby of Numbers.

The CNW has reported that Aaron Hill will be called up from AAA Syracuse to replace Corey Koskie who heads to the DL after breaking a finger in today's 4-0 loss to the Twins.

An early one today, and sadly with no Toronto-area television available. Joe Mays is on the hill for the Twins, against the mighty Gus Chacin for the Jays.

The Twins win 4-0, and the thread is open.

In honor of Gregg Zaun's imminent return, here are the guys waiting for him at home plate as he rounds the bases after hitting his grand slam.

Remember to vote Zaun when filling in your All-Star ballots.