Lansing were one out away from losing and falling into a tie for the division lead with two games left in their first half, but Kevin Ahrens came through in the ninth and the twelfth to help Lansing win.  New Hampshire won easily and this report features a first hand account of the game.  Syracuse were rained out and Dunedin had the day off.

The Jays have now been around for 31 years. In those 31 years they have had players who started here, ended here, and even a few who were here for their entire big league careers. Now, a good question (at least in my mind) is which of those 3 groups is the strongest? Those who began their careers here, those who ended here, or those who were Jay lifers?

I'm all out of clever, so here it is in plain, brutal honesty: The pitching stank in New Hampshire and wasn't very good in Dunedin either. The pitching was excellent in Lansing but the offence was disappointing.

Have you heard about the rookie utilityman playing with the Padres? (No, that's not a leading question.) His name is -- and this is wonderful -- Callix Crabbe. There's no doubt that such a fabulously-monikered player would eventually make one or more  Hall of Names team(s), though he's only the fifth player to make the bigs with "Crab" in his surname, so there probably isn't enough for an All-Shellfish team. (But that's good -- who wants to deal with shellfish players? Har!)

All that said, young Callix Sadeaq Crabbe -- and he's the only player in the game's history with either of those given names! -- is also just the eleventh MLB player ever to have been born in the U.S. Virgin Islands. And miraculously, with only a tiny bit of juggling, those players actually fill out, not a full roster of course, but at least a regular lineup card.

The first ...

Four losses, two starting pitchers were shelled, two pitched well.  Ricky Romero continued his spiral as he allowed seventeen baserunners in 5.2 innings.  Kyle Ginley didn't get an out in the second inning as he was hit hard.  Bill Murphy took the loss for the Chiefs in a parent club-like loss despite pitching well.  Gregg Zaun homered to account for the Chiefs only run.  Trystan Magnuson pitched well for Lansing but Chi-Hung Cheng took the loss.  Lansing is still two games ahead of two teams for the first half title with four games left.

Let me give you a preview of something I'm working on, and call for suggestions!

More like This Day in Half-Baseball. Um, I mean This Half-Day in Baseball. Hey, some of us need our beauty rest, ok? (and evidently some of us haven't woken up from it yet)

The top two teams in the system had 33 hits between them but only one of them was a winner.  A ninth-inning collapse prevented a clean sweep for the affiliates.  Meantime, a prominent Jays reliever made his season debut at Knology Park in Dunedin.

Dewey was wondering if the Blue jays lead the majors in runners left on base. No, it just seems that way.

By popular demand, a Data Table!

The Blue Jays signed 27 draftees, including top pick David Cooper.

Cooper was the first 1st rounder to sign, getting a reported $1.5MM signing bonus.

The Alomar division has quickly become a two horse race between the Magic 9 and W-A-M-C-O.  Things are more competitive in Barfield where the Garth Iorg Gremlins are being closely persued by the New jersey Stratuses. Papayas and Sexy Underpants.  The Carter division is even tougher, the dangercats lead the way, but have four teams - the Randy Wolves, Senate, Wedding Singers and Ballpark Frank right behind them. 

John Parrish continues to pitch well and is a fine candidate to start for the Jays if an injury comes up. The affiliates were 1-2 on the night.

Bases loaded with none out in the 10th. The pessimist in me expected a 1-2-3 double play, but the Mariners had to 'settle' for the 3-2-3 double play.

Gregg Zaun will be back off the DL on Wednesday. But Barajas has been hot and the Jays haven't missed him at all. I suspect they'll settle into a 50/50 role over time, but for now the Jays should ride Barajas while he's going good.

Just in time for Father's Day ...

Harvard Boys: A Father and Son's Adventures Playing Minor League Baseball Skyhorse Publishing, 2007 As another Father's Day approaches in the U.S and Canada -- that's right, if you haven't thought about it, it's June 15, which is next Sunday! -- it's time to reflect for a moment on the fact that for many families, inportant parts of baseball are all about fathers and sons. Now, we're not just referring here to Griffeys and Boones and Bells, but instead on the bond (not "Bonds") the game can help grow between any father and son, be they fans or, as in the case of a fortunate few, players.

Again, we focus here not on the major league bloodlines that dot the Great Game's historical tapestry. Instead, we examine the story of a father and son who each played pro ball -- more than virtually everyone who visits this site can claim -- but neither of whom developed as a pro to the level we casually call "big leaguer." Meet Rick and John Wolff, father and son ...

Ken Griffey Jr has just become the sixth man in major league history to hit 600 career homers.