One you were probably aware of since September, the other was just scheduled recently.

Sunday saw three wins in four tries for the affiliates highlighted by a strong start by a top prospect and the professional debut of another.

Yup, there's your "Breaking News" ... Roy "Doc" Halladay is a pretty decent pitcher. It's April, and he throws a complete-game seven-hitter against the (admittedly struggling) Astros to win the Battle of the Roys with Astro righty Oswalt. Doc has now allowed just one earned run in 16 innings for the Phillies.

Yeah, he's pretty good. Can't imagine the Phillies (or anyone) actually ever trading him ...

The man wearing Russ Adams' old number eight came through at the plate and behind it by helping the man wearing Justin Speier's former digits to a 3-0 win in Baltimore Saturday night.

The Dunedin hitters had really been struggling over their first two games but on Saturday they faced Brad Lidge who was making a rehab appearance.  They tagged him for four runs and went on to win the game.  New Hampshire won their game too with solid pitching from Zach Stewart and the bullpen and a home run by Brad Emaus.  Tim Collins recorded five outs, all by strikeout.  Las Vegas didn't play well but Brett Wallace hit a home run, while the Lugnuts lost again despite three hits by Bradley Glenn.

Day two of the minor league season looked a lot like day one.  Las Vegas again rode good pitching to beat Salt Lake.  The Dunedin hitters still haven't found their bats and took another bad loss.  Lansing again went to extra innings and again lost.  New Hampshire did not get the chance to do it again as they were rained out.

Stars of the night were JP ARencibia, Rey Gonzalez and Kenny Wilson.

You don't feel taken and you don't feel abused.

Oh, who the hell am I kidding? PLAYOFFS!

New Hampshire got off to a hot start when Darin Mastroianni led off the season with a home run and before Kyle Drabek reached the mound he had a four run lead.  On the other hand Clearwater threw a perfect game against Dunedin for six innings.  New Hampshire went on to win while Dunedin were well beaten.

Lansing had four RBI's from Ryan Schimpf and home runs from 2009 draftees Schimpf and Ryan Goins but lost in extra innings.   Las Vegas won with a shutout, Brad Mills and the bullpen held Salt Lake to three hits.

Bullpens were generally strong on Thursday, the Fisher Cats got four innings of perfect relief from Luis Perez and Danny Farquhar.  The Lugnuts also got four innings of perfect relief from Nestor Molina and Dustin Antolin but they lost the game in the sixth inning of relief.  Las Vegas got three innings of shutout relief to cement their win.

Kyle Drabek made his Blue Jay debut last night in a Fisher Cat win.  Today Drabek is featured in the POTD as well as in the VOTD, video of the day. 

The minor leagues get going tonight with all four teams on the field.  The relevant local media have been introducing the new teams to their readers.

Vernon Wells has earned his salary so far this season.

I've always hated the day off after Opening Day.  It's like someone saying, "hey, here's that steak you've been waiting for," and then swiping it away after your first bite.

Last week in the "notes from minor league camp" we discussed the body size of Brett Wallace.  Wallace was a third baseman prior to the Jays acquiring him but the Jays decided to immediately switch him to first base.  Most scouts had thought this was an inevitable move due to Wallace's size.  Today we review the photo evidence.

The rules are simple: 20 Bauxites enter, 1 leaves. Wait, no, that was the BBUFC tournament I hosted that nobody came to.

Monday Night Update: get your entries in by midnight Tuesday! I'm bumping this thread to the top because it's gotten buried.

It's common knowledge that the Yankees do not use Mariano Rivera in the same way that the Athletics used Rollie Fingers back in the day. Just how different are the ways that closers have been used through the years?