They can really mess up your season, as everyone who lived through the Blue Jays 2005 campaign will tell you. Over and Over again.

Thought experiment:

You are the GM of the All-Time All-Star team and get to pick your own personal five-man rotation for the Eternal Season. Consider mitigating factors -- type of pitcher, righty/lefty -- but don't worry about "salary" or "contract status." Important tie-breaker: all else being equal, pick your favorites. Only Major League pitchers are eligible for this team, so if you want Satchel, you get the wily vet, not the fireballing youngster. Oh, your bullpen consists of a variety of league-average clones, so get the guys who can go deep into games!

As they say in the TV commercial, who's in your five?

As we approach the 1/3 mark of the season the BBFL leagues are as close as ever.  Whilst Billie's Bashers, Schroedinger's Bat and the London Tigers lead the way, no fewer than 17 teams are within ten games of the top spot in their respective leagues.

New York State was kind to the affiliates last night but the state of Michigan?  Not so much.  Still, the affiliates overcame less than stellar starting pitching to win 2 out of 3 on Memorial Day south of the border.

A few players to keep an eye on draft day (June 7-8).

The Jays look to create some separation from the Yanks in the ongoing battle for second place. This series features two matchups of young, unproven righties bookending a Pettitte-Marcum showdown on Tuesday night.

Let's play another round of Batter's Box Trivia. The usual rules -- (1) no looking up answers online or in books; (2) right answers can be confirmed by any roster member or by a link to the page containing that correct answer; (2a) make sure your link to the answer comes AFTER you provide the answer so rule #2 doesn't contradict rule #1; (3) be the first to provide a correct answer to a question and "win" the right to ask the next question (and maybe a cuttlefish, too). Let's get started with a hard one ...

No less than 15 American colleges/universities have sent enough pitchers to the big leagues that their alumni list surpasses a total of 500 career MLB victories. (Sorry, Wake Forest at 499, you don't make the cut until Dave Bush wins his next decision.) Bucknell is probably the biggest surprise at 563, but then Christy Mathewson had 373 of those by hisownself.

However, just three schools have alumni who have combined for at least 1,000 wins ... and in recent years, all three have been better known as college football hotbeds. Name these three schools.

As it stands, the American League doesn't even look very interesting in 2007.

A generally good day on the farm.  Michael MacDonald and Kyle Yates pitched very well, and both were supported by the offense.  Dunedin's bullpen lost a game for the second day in a row.  Lansing won easily and Josh Bell homered for both Lansing and Great Lakes.

The Jays top two relievers coughed up the lead last night, not Janssen and Accardo but Daryl Harang and Seth Overbey, both of whom lost their zero ERA's.  Syracuse had a nice "come back from the dead" win as Russ Adams had four hits and Lansing had an easy win as Yuber Rodriguez stayed red-hot.

Over the past two days, we've met Hall of Names squads made of birthday boys from May 24 and May 25 -- and frankly, neither team was all that impressive. Neither roster boasted a single player in the Hall of Fame for his exploits in the majors (the 5/25 squad did have Negro League legend Martin Dihigo) and Box Hall pundit Mike Green projected that, if placed in the 2007 AL East, the two day-teams would combine for 111 wins.

So an All-May 26 team (today's) can't be any worse than that, right? Right? Um ...

Okay, first, let's start with a little brain-teasing Hall of Names challenge ...

It's not the pitching. Which you knew already, no doubt.

It was a bleak Friday on the farm. Every affiliate lost and collectively they were outscored 39-17. There were few noteworthy performances and it was a night best forgotten, especially for a couple of Toronto starters.

The Jays dodge their opposition's ace for the third consecutive series...

While most organizations will take the 'best player available' in the draft, it can't hurt to see what are the positions of need down the line.