Given the economic situation I thought I'd keep an eye on the Jays attendance this year.  We'd all like the payroll to go back up next year, and I figure this years attendance will be a factor in that decision.

In four short years
I've gone from rags to riches

That's my boy!  Scott "Big and" Richmond went seven solid innings as the Jays trumped the Royals 8-1 Tuesday night at Kauffman Stadium.  Mad props and big ups to the former Edmonton Cracker-Cat as he improves to 3-0 on the season!

Las Vegas and New Hampshire couldn't buy a key hit but Dunedin and Lansing had no such problems in a .500 night on the farm.

My original intent was to get March out of the way early. Somehow it didn't quite work out that way.

And now April's almost gone. I wonder when I'll get the next one of these done? Sorry 'bout that.

Two new Blue Jays made their Toronto debuts in the weekend series against the Chicago White Sox.  Not only do Bryan Bullington and Brian Burres have the same first name (though spelled differently) and the same initials, their surnames have the same first two letters, they're also pitchers and they're both 28 years old.   Their arrivals give Toronto three pitchers named Brian, joining Brian Tallet.  No truth to the rumour he'll change his name from Tallet to Bullet.  Now that would be cool.  Brian Bullet!  Kinda like this guy.

This is just more of the hard-hitting analysis you've come to expect here and we're proud to pass on the savings to you in these challenging economic times.

Seems like the only way you can get a win out of the Jays' affiliates these days is to have a major leaguer making a rehab start...

It hasn't been much fun recapping the affiliates on Sundays so far.  On this particular day, the four teams managed to go 0-5.  Read on, if you dare.

Sometimes you're the ball.  Guess which one the Jays were Saturday night at U.S. Cellular Field?   As our John Northey put it in yesterday's TDIB thread, "Sometimes you are the monster and sometimes the monster eats you."

New Hampshire, the only minor league affiliate with a winning record, were the only winners on Saturday.  Fabio Castro and David Cooper led the team to victory.  Dunedin were shutout and Las Vegas lost a 9-8 game.  Lansing was rained out.

It was a senseless slaughter at the Cell as the Jays socked the Pale Hose by two touchdowns Friday night.  No wonder Chicago traded for Jay Cutler!!

Taking a cue from the big-league club, the affiliates had a solid night with two wins and two losses (although New Hampshire battled until the 13th before taking the loss). Las Vegas led the way with a 12-run attack - and the pitchers finally showed some signs of life by allowing just three runs.

Some of the minor leaguers decided to emulate their favourite big leaguers yesterday and there were impressions of Roy Halladay and BJ Ryan on the farm. Predictably, that means the couple of Doc-like pitching performances led to a victory and a BJ Ryan scenario ended with a final inning loss. Dunedin had an off day and Lansing played a double-header as the affiliates won one and lost three.

I was watching the game last night and Campbell or Mulliniks seemed extremely impressed about something. I'm not sure exactly what - I wasn't giving them my undivided attention. But I thought they said something to the effect that Kevin Millwood has an exceptionally good record in games where he throws more than 100 pitches.

UPDATED! Woo-hoo!

The Jays placed Ricky Romero on the 15-Day DL with a strained oblique.  The move is retroactive to April 20th.  Yikes.

Yesterday, my dear ol' dad -- from whom, as I have openly admitted previously, I stole the whole "Hall of Names" concept -- sent me this one-line e-mail:

At the moment, the Athletics' pitcher, Outman, is pitching to the Yankees' Swisher.

Now, from a Hall of Names perspective, that's clearly Advantage: Defense. The batter is a swish-waiting-to-happen while the hurler is named "out, man!" Yikes!

What hitter/pitcher matchups can you imagine that might trump even that one? Note: they don't have to be contemporaries who actually faced each other. In fact there are no rules -- first names, last names, nicknames -- go to it! Spelling is an optional luxury; it's all about the pronunciation. For instance, you could have '90s pitcher Reynoso facing old-time infielder Granny for a fierce Armando/Hamner (Arm & Hammer) matchup. Or possibly the greatest matchup ever in the history of the universe ...