Everything's a little upside down
As a matter of fact
The wheels have stopped

(Anders needs a pinch-hitter? Here I come, to save the day.)

Anyway, I was watching a House re-run last night (Hugh Laurie is a Living God, and has been ever since Fry and Laurie) - and what happens at the end of the episode? Why, Dr Wilson curls up on his couch with either the 1987 or 1988 edition of the Bill James Baseball Abstract. Cool!

Lansing was the only club that could pull out a win on Thursday. The day was also marked by a number of promotions.

Syracuse won in a game with 31 hits between both teams, New Hampshire won a game that had 28 hits.  Dunedin won a game in which starting pitcher Kenny Rodriguez faced one hitter over the minimum in seven innings.  Lansing won a game in which Dayton didn't have a hit after the third inning.  Curtis Thigpen, Russ Adams and Adam Lind each homered in the Chiefs win.

The Jays win their third straight beating the Twins 6 - 5.

For college hitters there's depth at 1B & 3B this year, particularly right around where the Jays will select in round 1 on June 5th.

Brad Mills is a rarity among professional baseball players, he has a degree in civil engineering.  Many pro baseball players are drafted from high school or after their junior year of college and most don't have a degree.  As Mills notes below many of those players who stay in school to complete their fourth year take a less challenging degree to compensate for the demands and the travel required for playing in a top flight baseball program.  Mills has made a very good start to his pro career and is among the Blue Jays top 30 prospects.  Mills has a 3.79 ERA in seven starts for Lansing, he has allowed fewer hits than innings pitched and has more strikeouts than innings pitched, both positive signs. 

Sorry about the title. Oh well, sue me. Unless your name is Arthur C. Clarke.

The road was a kind place to the parent club and its top affiliate last night.  However, the home cooking didn't help the other affiliates as they looked lost.

Next up are the surprise leaders of the AL Central. Minnesota has a -1 run differential on the year but finds itself 1.5 games ahead of Cleveland, despite the fact that Adam Everett is tied for sixth on the team in homers. The Jays' inability to hit with runners in scoring position will meet a stiff challenge this week from a couple of starters with strand rates in the 50s.

Another strong start from Kyle Ginley following his promotion to Dunedin.

Justin Jackson was a supplemental first round selection of the Blue Jays in the 2007 draft.  Jackson played in the Gulf Coast League in 2007 and is now a member of the Lansing Lugnuts.  Jackson has made a good start to the 2008 season and is playing well for a 19 year old.  Recently Batters Box talked with Jackson in Lansing.

Marcum is off to a hot start. Can he keep it up?

Clayton McCullough is the manager of the Lansing Lugnuts, a move up from managing the GCL Jays last season.  Tom Signore is the pitching coach in Lansing.  I spoke with both of them last week in Lansing.

I've noticed that esteemed Bauxite emeritus Craig Burley, will from time to time discuss field managers in terms of their bloodlines. Like horses. Which makes sense, even if they don't actually shoot managers. But as we seem to have been talking about General Managers a fair bit lately, I thought I'd carry on in a similar vein.

Quiet day on the farm as affiliates split a pair.