I took an extensive look at sixth starters the other day. The point of the exercise was simply to show that five starting pitchers are never, ever enough.

Here are some random thoughts about the 2007 season from a Blue Jays fan's perspective.

Two teams this time, one of which is composed of players sharing surnames with DC Comics' stable of superheroes, and the second is similar but with Marvel heroes. I made the arbitrary rule to restrict each team to a single player/hero with a given last name, but I'm not above fudging the spelling a little bit if it gives us a cooler team.

No one ever talks about the Sixth Man.

Usually members of the Roster disappear without much fanfare. Articles with their name at the bottom simply stop appearing on Battersbox. People could get the wrong idea. So, my disappearance will be public and friendly, consistent with the truth that Battersbox is a pena, not a junta.

Courtesy of John Northey.

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I found the following information about payrolls and exchange rates:

The new hitting coach, Gary Denbo, comes from the Yankees minor leagues.  As with most hires they sound good when they happen.  We'll see if there's any noticable change next year.

I have always been fascinated by teams which are able to piece together unlike talents into a coherent whole better than the sum of its parts. The October 10 birthday boys have the potential to be one such team.

Got predictions? Observations? Questions, comments, concerns? Post all your Rockies/Diamondbacks witticisms and dissertational items right here, Bauxites!

Got predictions? Observations? Questions, comments, concerns? Post all your Red Sox/Indians witticisms and dissertational items right here, Bauxites!

Dick Scott is the Blue Jays Director of Player Development and a regular interview subject here at Batters Box.  Recently Scott answered questions from Batters Box regarding the 2007 minor league season and some of the Jays prospects.  The 2006 edition of this season-ending interview can be found here.  Batters Box would like to thank Dick Scott for giving us some of his valuable time.

Until Damon hit that home run yesterday, I thought it was all my fault. See, going into the first round of this year's playoffs, I thought there were four teams who were clearly better than their opponents in the four series at hand.

Yup, LAA was obviously the best team in the AL, just a noodge ahead of NYY. And CHC and PHI would make for a fun traditionally-loveable-losers NLCS bracket, certainly (the NL West never wins anything, after all). Then yesterday I found myself one dominating Jake Westbrook start -- that never came, of course -- from all four being swept in the first round. 

So as we just barely avoid the first "four-sweeps-and-out" first round of the Wild Card era, here's a couple of simple questions for you ...

Let's regard this as a 2007 sequel to April's enormous examination (with the Data Tables here) of Home Field Advantage.

For Batter's Box readers Of A Certain Age, it's time to feel old ... today is Alfredo Griffin's 50th birthday. AG is one of 61 men born on Oct.6 who have played in the major leagues -- and while none have yet made the Hall of Fame -- oh, who am I kidding, none are ever getting there; the best of the lot is Ruben Sierra, a Hall of Fame talent who never quite sustained a Cooperstown career. But there is a "yet" worth mentioning -- or at least, that is ...

Once again, we check in with the ancient sage!