JP is on the Fan for the first couple of innings.

I really want to see what league has to offer.

I really want to see that 99 MPH sinker.

Adams caught looking on a pitch 6 inches outside. Hudson caught looking on a pitch 12 inches outside. The strike zone is a wide one tonight. Should make for a low-scoring game.

Delgado ends the first getting caught looking on a pitch 12 inches outside. Hope Halladay has been paying attention and that he gets the same strike zone.

Oh man. Carlos had two pitches to smash. He was ahead of one, pulling it foul...then he missed the other one and fouled it back. Too bad, cause then he got called out on a pitch 3 inches off the plate.

Ryan, let's split the difference and call it 7.5 inches.

Hahaha, fair enough.

Oh how I missed that curve.

Vernon. Rocks. My. World.

what an unbelievable catch!

CATCH OF THE YEAR!

Unbelievable catch, but I'm not sure it was worth my hearing...

Vernon Wells has been watching some Torii Hunter tapes lately. OUTSTANDING CATCH!

I am speechless. I am literally without speech.

Holy crap. That was just...

holy crap. When I saw Vernon going up, I thought "Don't waste your effort, Vernon..." WOW

...Damn it Sheff.

What a catch. If he keeps that up, Torii Hunter will have to start watching Vernon Wells tapes. :-)

Jeter would have caught that.

Vernon Wells couldn't catch that one. Sheffield destroys a hanger from Halladay.

Roy is rusty.

"cortisone" shot, my ass. ;)

You want a cortisone shot where??? *wink*

Kevin Cash? Who's he?

Here comes League into the game!!

On that note.... in comes League!! Let's see him bring it!

and here he comes

Welcome to the Show!!!!

Steiner's probably got nothing on Black and Tabler when it comes to the Derek Jeter Fan Club.

"You don't need to look at the stats"

Yeah, who cares about facts when you have blatant homerism?

"Captain Clutch" sure wasn't there yesterday.

Here comes League! Rod Black suggests he be called "Major." That's not a bad idea.

Anyone got any ideas for Cheer Club signs for Brandon League? Please, no references to bad Geena Davis movies.

AMERICAN, NATIONAL, BRANDON is the best I can think of at the moment.

League's gotta be great, the man has goggles!

Is Mr. League the first Hawaiian on the Jays major league team?

Wicked stuff. Sheffield looked bewildered there.

Steiner acts like some kind of royalty.

"I call the Yankees, therefore I must be special!"

As for Black, his kind of boosterism is typical of someone who knows more about sports personalities than the game itself.

I always felt Brian Williams was dull in the same way too.

This is one reason I don't like watching Baseball on CDN networks... they don't have the Radar gun poping up after every pitch like most American broadcasts do.

Steiner is giving us information (e.g. the current perception of Jeter by his peers). It may not be statistical, but he's well worth hearing.

Let's not make up quotes.

http://www.torontobaseballguys.com
Did anyone happen to catch Steiner's call of the Wells uber-catch. I imagine it went something like so:

"...there's a BLAST by ARod, DRIVEN DEEP TO CENTRE FIELD, WAY BACK AND... caught... Sheffield comes into tonight batting .297..."

Unfortunately, Brandon only has one of the four "Good Relief Pitcher Attributes":
Goggles, crazy hair, high socks, funky windup.

Well, Brandon has its Wheat Kings, so how about WHIFF KING or BRANDON WHIFF KING? Is that too obscure?

Brandon Heat King?

League is K-Rod's brother from a different mother!

I'm surprised there hasn't been any discussion about the O-Zone factor yet, the new stat on MLB.com that "has shown to reflect a team's overall success at an astounding 73 percent". Wow, there's so much wrong with that sentence that I don't even know where to begin. It looks like a junk stat to me, but I'm both biased against mainstream media's pet stats and unqualified to make such a judgement. I can't wait for someone with the qualifications to do an actual study, though.

League is throwing pretty good, any contact that has been made is hit very very softly - minus the Giambi ball.

"Something about those Yankee pinstripes..."

Rod Black, meet Ed Whitson.

Alex's Brandon Heat King is pretty good.

Agreed about Black...

I've never heard an announcer drool over the opposing team before. Simply astounding.

The worst part was how he was talking about how players "elevate their games" once they join the Yankees. He used Sturtze and Heredia as examples of this. WTF?

Rod Black about the Yankees-Red Sox matchup last weekend: "I think everyone blew their wads then." Uh.....

Rodrigo Lopez and Schilling are hooked up in a dandy at Fenway. No score through 7. Bigbie singled to lead off the 8th and stole second.

Schilling then struck out the side. 14 Ks on the night.

Out of Down...Tampa Bay has a 4-2 lead, and Boston is locked into a 0-0 duel with the O's.

You should have Watched the CBC during the Stanley Cup Finals Ryan.

-Greg Millen and Co. Absolutely salavating over the Canucks in the first round.

-Glen Healy in then 2nd round giving the reach around on Detroit.

-Bob Cole and Harry Neale in the Stanley Cup Finals getting off on Vinnie and Richards all series long.

Canadian Networks cheering blatently for the American counterparts just made me sick.

Oh, and correction earlier. Tampa Bay is LOSING 4-2, not winning.

"I think everyone blew their wads then."

Are you series???

That is close to what Black said, if not exactly. He was referring to the low attendance for Monday's game.

Trust me I know there were a lot of Knuckleheads who thought that, but most I talked to felt that Millen was clearly favoring the Nucks.

Millen made no secret of his Canucks Jersey he had hidden under there.

Millen went as far as to go on VANCOUVER Radio to say that He was NOT expressing any Homerism toward the Flames.

He sure as hell didn't do that here in Calgary.

I'm a Nucks fan, and I didn't think he was clearly biased either way (though he is an idiot,) but my Dad was livid with him on a number of occasions. He thought that Millen was the biggest Flames homer in the world, and I know he wasn't alone with that thought.

So I just find it really funny when people on the other side actually say he was biased towards the Canucks. Just goes to show you that you hear what you want to hear.

Greg Millen is on TV? What a great place Canada is.

Greg Millen's 1982-83 season was a thing of pure horror.

Well if Flames Fans felt he was being homerish towards them I can promise you he would have done the rest of the Stanley Cup Finals.

The Flames were the Only Canadian team in it to have a revolving door tandem of announcers.

Millen/Cuthbert were going to be slated in for all the remaining series for the Nucks (if they ended up making it), just like Cole and Neale were going to broadcast every leafs game.

The Yankees TV announcers last night (Kaat and Singleton) said a lot of nice things about the Jays, e.g. they talked about Hudson for gold glove, they liked the Jays chances to move up in the standings (both this year and to move up fast as soon as next year), talked about how the Jays have a lot of good young players, strong arms in the outfield, etc.

Very classy, and informative too.

I actually agree with you on that, Caramon. In fact, Cuthbert and Millen have done every Canucks CBC game for the past 5 years or so. Yet, some Canuck fans (my Dad) seemed to think they were new last year, and Flames fan.

Anyway, back to baseball:

The Devil Rays have taken a 5-4 lead in KC, and Boston scored the first run of their game and are up 1-0.

Literally the worst couple things that could have happened since I last checked.

Kaat and Singleton = Good
Kay and Waldman = Evil Manifested in Human Form

Ahhahahaha! Keith Foulke got foulked up by Lopez. Beautiful.

I wouldn't mind losing this game if it somehow knocked the Red Sox out of contention.

How about Javy Lopez? 2 outs in the ninth, and he hits a 2-out shot off of Foulke! Os lead 2-1

Ok, I missed it last year... what's the deal with Superfan? Who is he and why does he get so much camera time?

(In case I'm not making sense, I mean that old guy in NY that the camera will usually go to at least once a game... I have heard him called Superfan on a number of occasions)

Thanks

Sorry, but I gotta say it one more time: SHUT THE $@&# UP ROD BLACK!

Tough luck loss for the Jays tonight: stay tuned for part three tomorrow night on YES Canada (TSN).

Great performance in his Major League debut for Brandon League.

We'll have to wait for his next appearance, however, for his first Hawaiian Punch Out.

Hawaiian Punch Out

Brilliant Wayne!

Hawaiian Punch Out

I like that one. Is that a Mike Murphy (WKXL) original?

Oh My God.

The bloody Red Sox fought back to win and so did the Devil Rays.

That's just horrible. Damn you Orioles, and damn you KC.

To be honest, I hope everyone passes them and they pick first in the draft. I know that isn't going to happen, so I'd rather pick 5th then 7th.

Why did the Orioles take Ryan out? Is Julio that great?

That reminds me of that Hentgen start at home vs. Arizona. Frasor starts the ninth, loads the bases, and Tosca calls for Adams, with predictable results.

I don't know if anyone coined Hawaiian Punch Out before ot not. If they have, I defer to them.

I had thought of it ever since Brandon League was called up. I was hoping to post it tonight, should that first Major League strikeout have occurred.

We will get lots of Hawaiian Punch Outs, from Brandon League, in the future though.

Managed to meet up with Box regular Kevin Pataky at the ballgame. He took some beautiful pictures tonight, especially of his buddy "Q" -- Guillermo Quiroz. Watch for them on Da Box in the very near future.

Considering he's a Bauxite, it's unsurprising...but Kevin's a great guy.

Here's an sign idea for the Hawaiian flame thrower

"BRANDON! GET ON THE BAG!!"

I know it doesn't really make sense, but if you are obsessed with the works of Will Ferrell like me, it's damn funny :)

Thanks so much to "Mike D" for calling me last night during the game. I was able to move from my seat behind the plate to sit with him on top of the Yankee dugout where I was able to get some good pictures. The lighting at the Stadium is poor because it was a night game, but I will clean up the better ones and post a few. I was able to meet up with Quiroz, Gross, Adams and Chacin before the game. I was even able to say "hi" to JP and take his picture. (For whatever that's worth) ;-0

I don't know if anyone coined Hawaiian Punch Out before ot not. If they have, I defer to them.

Wayne, you're my hero. I am making a HAWAIIAN PUNCH-OUT banner for the final series. Hope I get to use it.

If League were ever a starter you could hang pictures of the Hawaiian Punch guy in place of Ks.

If League were ever a starter you could hang pictures of the Hawaiian Punch guy in place of Ks.

To avoid some silly cease/desist, why not use pineapples instead?

Thanks for the kudos, NFH.

That banner sounds great, as it hangs from the friendly confines of 518.

The pineapple can be used on many occasions too.

Pineapple Power is an option, with plays on the theme.

Hand grenades are often called "pineapples",but that might not be in very good taste.

Tonight's game saw the very first Hawaiian Punch Out as Brandon League fired a Major League pineapple past the Sheff. I guess he won't be eating pineapple, or drinking any Hawaiian Punch, for awhile.

How about a fist coming out of a pineapple with the caption: Punch out!