Number 9, number 9, number 9, number 9, number 9, number 9
Industrial output ... Financial imbalance
Thrusting it between his shoulder blades

• from Revolution Number Nine by the Beatles

Ted Williams. Reggie Jackson. Minnie Minoso. Enos Slaughter. Bill Mazeroski. Roger Maris. What do these men all have in common? (No, this isn't a trivia thread, sorry.) Simply -- they are the only men in baseball history to have had the uniform #9 retired by a big league ballclub.

Now, "9" is a magic number in baseball. Nine innings in a game. Nine players on the field defensively -- and nine in the lineup, pre-DH. You get the idea. So in a reverse twist on Dan McIlroy's excellent "Lobby of Numbers" series, let's see what kind of roster we can build strictly of players who wore the uniform #9. (I'm going to need some help here!) ...

Got to thinking - what should we expect in the Jays rotation and bullpen in 2009?  We have been assuming Cito will go with a 7 man bullpen but will he push for a 6 man?

Almost three and a half years ago, when Baseball's Hall of Names was just starting to grow, we examined teams for the most common family names in North America; sitting at #9 on that list was A Pretty Good Squad, Moore or Less. (Alas, there never has been a player named Les Moore, so there is no all-contradictary names team on the horizon.)

But what about that other sense of Mo(o)re and Les(s)? Can we build a squad of players bearing names like More, Most and Very? Staying away from nicknames, this might be more than we can handle, at the very most!

But let's see ...

According to a Sports Illustrated report, Alex Rodriguez tested positive for steroids in 2003.

Update (Monday): In an interview with Peter Gammons, A-Rod admitted to using steroids from 2001-2003.

The Jays have avoided arbitration with right-handed reliever Shawn Camp.  The 33 year-old will be paid three-quarters of a million bucks for 2009.

Second base hasn't exactly been a black hole for the Jays recently, but with Orlando Hudson walking the free agent streets these days and Russ Adams designated for assignment, we can step back for a moment -- pivot, as it were -- and look at a couple of guys who once played the position in Toronto, each of whom will (should?) get some Hall of Fame talk going upcoming.

On next year's HOF ballot, ex-Jay (and ex-Met and ex-Indian and others) Roberto Alomar will appear for the first time, In five years, thanks to his recent retirement (just last month), ex-Jay (and ex-Met and ex-Indian and others) Jeff Kent will appear on the ballot for the first time.

So the question put forth to you is simple ...

 

Every year as spring training approaches, we take a look at some of the statistical milestones that are likely (or in some cases, unlikely) to be broached in the coming season.

After what I admit is just a cursory scan of the active leaderboards on the greatness that is BaseballReference.com, focusing solely on round numbers (that is, numbers like "500" rather than the famous-but-uneven like "755" and "5714"), I found about 40 such numbers. I undoubtedly missed some, so speak up ... take a look at the table after the link and chime in ...

A report from the New York Post says former Marlin, Red Sock and Oriole Kevin Millar is on the verge of signing a minor league deal with Toronto.  If this gets done, the Blue Jays clubhouse will never be the same again!

Today, future Hall of Fame (class of 2034) mortal lock Travis Snider turns 21 years old. Happy Birthday, young man, now go resurrect this franchise, y'hear?

Now for the rest of you, today's only-tangentially-related-to-baseball Question of the Day ... how did you spend your 21st birthday? (For the youngsters out there on the Interwebs, then, how do you hope to spend it, kid?)

Keep it clean, folks. And if you can, do relate it to The Great Game somehow!

Intrepid correspondent Brent Steinacker takes on the thorny task of ranking general managers. Help him out!

I remembered this book being a lot worse than it really is.

(And I did get this done in January! Eat your words, Doherty! Take this ketchup and eat them!)

The Blue Jays signed a pair of players to minor-league contracts today, agreeing to terms with outfielder Jason Lane and infielder Brandon Fahey. Both will receive invites to spring training, but will probably spend the majority of the year in Las Vegas. However, Lane provides some cover if Snider demonstrates he isn’t ready for the big leagues and Fahey is a better option than Jorge Velandia as the team’s top middle infielder at Triple-A.

The astute greatness of longtime Bauxite Mike Green recently wrote in another thread, "Somewhere between Rob Deer and Adam Dunn lies Jack Cust (as a hitter). Is it a coincidence that all have four-letter last names? I think not."

This, of course, set me thinking -- is it really unusual for great players to have four-letter last names? Immediately, I thought Babe, Ty, Willie, Whitey and Nolan would protest. But as it turns out, only 19 of the more than 250 players inducted currently in Baseball's Hall of Fame -- yes, that's including the coming class of '09 -- have/had a last/family name of exactly four letters.

Still, if we twist and turn a little, make a projection and an exception, we can fill out a pretty fine All-Hall-of-Famer roster we can only dub ...

The Jays signed Brandon League for $640k (minimum is $400k), Jeremy Accardo for $900k, Jason Frasor for $1.45 million, Jose Bautista for $2.4 million.  Arbitration figures are being passed along, and a batch of Jays are going to the Classic along with a Canadian team.

The top offensive prospect in the Texas Rangers minor league system -- I guess you'd call him a "hot" prospect -- is 1B Justin Smoak. Okay, okay, get it overwith -- yes, the power-hitting youngster can really "Smoak" the ball. He's "Smoak"-ing hot. But the Hall of Names question arises -- is it true that where there's Smoak, there's Fire?

Coming up with a team of players with heat-related names -- one that could "Smoak" the opposition -- might prove a hot proposition, as the owner of the one name we've punned on forty-six times already, young Smoak, hasn't even reached the major leagues yet. So anyway ...