By request, here's a panorama view of the field at Rogers Centre from way up in section 518:

Now that we've finished up Hall of Names teams for each of the 10 most common boys' names in the United States (again, if you know of a free online Canadian equivalent, post a link here!), it's time to move on to #11 -- Christopher.

Compared to the other names we've looked at, there is a shocking dearth of players in MLB history with that designation; once you remove all the players with that middle name, along with the five men with the last/family name Christopher (as well as early '80s DET LHP Mike Chris), there are only just over 100 or so candidates to choose from. And just one Hall of Famer -- Christopher "Christy" Mathewson is a good one to have heading the rotation, though.

He's heading that rotation for a squad that bears an avian nickname like Toronto's hometown Blue Jays; the home ballpark is the Three Acre Wood, and it's time to meet ...

I know, I promised VBF a panorama of the inside of the Rogers Centre today, but I cannot let Gregg Zaun's fantastic day in Seattle yesterday go unappreciated.  Ladies and gentlemen, give up your desktops for THIS MAN:

Toronto’s Charlie Wholestaff can’t quite match Seattle’s Gil Meche and a cast of thousands.

Travis Snider had a highly successful debut in professional baseball.  What does the future hold for him?

Last time he was sneaking around the basepaths; this time Jason Phillips is smackin' the magical mud off of a baseball:

Lilly grabs his career high thirteenth win

Only three of the twelve lower-seeded teams won in the opening round of the BBFL playoffs. This week, the bye teams return to battle.

Looking back at this year's photos of the day, it appears that Frank Catalanotto is criminally under-represented.  So here's the Cat, checking his swing:

The one-man version of the two-man Advance Scout team continues this week as Alex finds himself leaving on a jet plane. Classes have started yet again for yours truly -- by the time you read this, I'll be in another one -- so this preview of two also-rans in late September is not as full of information as the preceding ones. I don't think King Felix will flirt with a no-hitter this time, but youneverknow.

On to the Advance Scout!

The modern division of labour among the various members of the pitching staff puzzles me. You know the division I am speaking of- five starters whose role it is to throw 6-7 innings, a closer who takes the ninth inning with leads of 3 runs or less, and six other relievers who fill in between the starters and closer. I suppose it is not too bad if a team has four or five starters who can fulfil the role well. The Angels and White Sox of 2005 certainly made it work, but what if a team doesn’t have those starters on hand?

At this point, it's mostly about the Fight for Second Place. Not just in the AL East, either.

And so it ends. All three playoff runs ended Sunday. Dunedin lost three straight games in the final as their pitching just wasn't good enough. Lansing had struggled in the second half and injuries in the pitching staff left them weak, they lost both games by six runs. Auburn lost both of their games by a single run, one in the eighth inning and one in the ninth. This brings an end to the 2006 minor league updates, look for our top 30 and other features in the next few weeks.

Adam Lind deserves some photo of the day respect; unfortunately, I've only photographed that one Cleveland game during his time up with the big club, and as far as I can recall he had only the one at-bat.  As a result, my coverage is pretty limited.  With that in mind, here's Lind stepping up to the plate:

"Always look on the bright side of life ... "
Monty Python's The Life of Brian

What, you thought we'd start this edition of Baseball's Hall of Names with lyrics from "Brian's Song" -- well, um, it's an instrumental, so that ain't happenin'. And frankly -- wait, wrong name there -- the name "Brian" has not been attached to a long list of big leaguers in general, much less a whole host of baseball greats (Jordan and Giles are probably "Best in Show" for this appellation).

But let's see what we can come up with as, yes, we will give this team the name you'd expect; it's time to meet ...