A thriller in Syracuse, Romero and Cannon star for New Hampshire, Dunedin hits but loses, an almost-familiar face is at the center of things in West Michigan and the Doubledays show they can pitch.

My holidays are winding down, but I'm still on them.  And yet I am still delivering Photo of the Day!

Here's Troy Glaus' magnificent swing:

As noted here previously, in building the historical Baseball Hall of Names, we've cobbled together more than 200 teams, including rosters for every initial and many combinations of initials, days and months of birth, popular culture "themes," and one each for the 25 Most Common North American Surnames (family names), as well as 30+ for shared first/given names.

But that last group of teams has been somewhat less than organized until recently, as the vast majority of the 25 most common male names in the birthplace of baseball (the U.S., that is) had not been covered. We have recently covered the #1 and #2 names (John and Richard) and now move on to the third most-common given first name in America, which is "Charles." So right off, you know we have to name this team ...

It must suck to be a Red Sox fan, having been deprived of a World Series title for almost 35 months now. On a more serious note, the season is clearly over in Boston -- they are eight games behind New York after a month that Ben Affleck would like to forget, and they're slowly losing their mind. That is, their outfield.

Injuries have played a large part in this decline, as they've lost their three and four hitters, their shortstop, a corner outfielder, a couple of starters, and their No. 1 catcher. Sorry, I'm supposed to be talking about the Red Sox here. Okay, fine. But it's not going to be pretty.

On to the Advance Scout!

So near, yet so far. Jays lose in the tenth.

Dunedin was rained out, Lansing was (almost) blown out and Pulaski is done for the year. The non-Auburn teams went 1-3; the D-Days swept a doubleheader.

I'm still somewhere out in the wilds of Northern Ontario.  I'm probably sick of it by now.  But you're still getting Photo of the Day -- here's Johnny Mac, bunting:

Love him or hate him -- I admit, I tend to the latter -- Curt Schilling has been one of the truly great (and I don't use that word lightly) pitchers of this generation. He's won World Series rings with more than one team, including a legendary melodramatic contribution to the Red Sox' first title since the Last Supper was being cooked. (Incidentally, Schillng is 8-2, 2.06 in 15 post-season starts. Nice Cooperstown bullet point, that.)

Today, Schilling became the 14th pitcher in major-league history to reach 3,000 career strikeouts. So here's my question ...

When and why did this Formerly Huge Milestone become basically an oh-by-they-way No Big Deal (not even the lead story on ESPN.com!) number?

Gustavo looks a lot better than he did in his first start back from the DL, but C.C. looks like an ace and Gus has to leave with an injury.

The red hot Adam Lind can now be considered white hot after a 4-4 night including his 24th HR of the year.

Runs were aplenty last night as the affiliates went 2-3.

B.J. Ryan hurls a pitch -- and yet I am out in some desolate part of cottage country in a cabin with no electricity. How did I manage to do Photo of the Day while away from all modern technology?

The Toronto farm splits six.

The Jays were again undone by poor starting pitching and the double play.

The regular season ends this week. In the Alomar Division, the six Championship bracket teams are virtually carved in stone, whereas ten teams separated by only seven games are fighting for six Consolation bracket spots. The top-level postseason bracket in Barfield is likewise almost fully decided. The Carter Division has the most entertaining battle for the Championship bracket. Both the Alomar and Barfield Divisions have one team guaranteed relegation, one nearly certain, and two other teams struggling to avoid the last demotion spot.

I'm still on vacation, but you're still getting Photo of the Day!  Now that's what I call service.

Today's photo illustrates that funny thing A.J. Burnett does with his hand after delivering a pitch: