Earlier this week, we took up a Reader Challenge to find "the greatese single Franchise Position in baseball history" ... after a variety of responses, including a Magpie Chart (always a sign of worthiness!) we have found candidates for every position on the diamond (including DH!) except second base.

Let's review and answer the following questions ...

Here's a challenge ... can you name the greatese single Franchise Position in baseball history? Isn't it Left Field, Boston Red Sox?

Ted Williams and Carl Yastrzemski you know about. Before them came Duffy Lewis -- who would have made a bushel of All-Star Games had there been such a thing back then -- and after them came Jim Rice, Mike Greenwell and now Manny Ramirez, the latter who is also headed to the HOF.

Um ... wow. I don't think even NYY 1B -- Gehrig, Skowron, Chambliss, Mattingly -- comes close to that. Does anyone else come close?

I'm sure it'll come as a surprise to Ichiro but Progressive Field, previously named Jacobs Field, was rated number one in a fan survey conducted by SI.com when it comes to the overall ballpark experience.  The Rogers Centre ranked 18th.

 The Ottawa Rapidz played its first game in the independent Can-Am League and a former Blue Jay farmhand was the winning pitcher.

... the great Jim "Catfish" Hunter spun a perfect game for the Oakland A's, topping the powerful (Carew/Killebrew/Oliva) Minnesota Twins, 4-0.

So, it's story time here at Batter's Box. Have you ever seen a perfect game? Or even a no-hitter? That means, live -- not "Oh, yeah, I saw Lenny Barker's perfecto on TV" (which I did, but that don't count here!) ... 

No-hitters have always fascinated me. So tell your story of seeing one, or sometimes just as interesting, almost seeing one (Dave Stieb fans out there?) ... My own painful story of almost seeing one is a bit different ...

This was going to be the Rangers advance scout.

Thanks to the stupefying greatness of Sean Forman's BaseballReference.com. we can now view the Opening Day starting lineup for every team, every season, ever. Here are Blue Jay Opening Day lineups dating back to that Opening Opening Day back in '77. Go take a look, revel in a trip down memory lane, then come back here and answer these questions ...

Happy Wednesday, everyone. Anything going on?

QOTD: What other ballplayers can you name, Blue Jays or otherwise (past or oresent) who can be given a TV character moniker? (Yes, yes, the creepy little girl Wednesday's name was "Addams" with two d's ... what, you want extra "D" from Russ?)

And what else is happening?

It's family day in Ontario and Presidents day in the US, meanwhile almost all players should be in camp for the Blue Jays.  Spring training games will start in less than two weeks with intra-squad games coming up next Monday.

We don't often devote a whole thread here on Batter's Box to a single article published on another site, but if you have not yet read Tom Friend's From San Diego's favorite son ... to spoilsport for ESPN: The Magazine (and available free on ESPN.com), please do so.

It's long -- more than 4,500 words -- but truly a masterpiece, compellingly telling the story of one at-bat that took 15 years to set up. So read it, then come back here and tell us what you think.

This is kind of a cool idea:  You can buy a piece of a ball player for a percentage of his future major league earnings.

What kinds of starting pitchers do the Jays have? And how does it affect their handling of the left field and shortstop positions?

I'm not sure exactly when the Winter Baseball Solstice falls on the calendar, but we have to be getting pretty close. Hall of Fame voting is starting to monopolize headlines. Irrelevant signings are becoming a source of wonderment. Dreaming of the winter meetings 11 months from now feels perfectly reasonable. It's beginning to feel a lot like January...

Every year here on Batter's Box, we gather on Christmas Day to recount our blessings of the past year and to share ....

Oh hell, no we don't. We come to brag about what baseball-related gifts we found under the tree left by that irascible never-aging prospect, Kris Kringle (DH, North Pole U.) ... so, Bauxites, what did YOU get (or give) that relates the Winter Holidays to the Summer Pastime? Don't hold back! Best gift story gets, you guessed it, a Yuletide No-Prize!

• I think the "Welcome Back Kotter" theme is appropriate as the original Jays logo is back!!   Hey, the song is pretty much the same age as the franchise itself!!