Today is Hideki Matsui's 32nd birthday. Is it just me, or does that seem awfully young for Godzilla, arguably the greatest Japan-born position player in Major League Baseball history? (You like Ichiro better? That's fine.)

But it comes down to just those two and Padre speedster Dave Roberts (born in Okinawa) and any other "best of" candidate was or is a pitcher. But Matsui and Ichiro flanking Roberts? That's a fine starting OF. Now, can we fill out a complete roster of MLB players born in Japan?

Let's see ...

Three wins in four games.  Dustin McGowan pitched well for the Chiefs and was supported by lots of runs.  Chip Cannon and David Smith drove in four runs each as the Fisher Cats won, Cannon had two dingers.  Both Dunedin and Lansing have fallen out of first place in their divisions as the first half of the season is coming close to its end.  AJ Burnett starts tonight for the Chiefs.

The draft picks have been made, and assignments to the short-season clubs are being planned. It is a good time for a prospect poll, or, in our case, two polls, one for position players and one for pitchers. We will start with the position players. 2006 draftees, including Travis Snider, are ineligible. If you'd like to check statistics, career statistics are available here, and splits can be reviewed here.

Why do I hate the Tigers so much?

Fresh from Sunday's Jays - Tigers tilt, here's a photograph of Aaron Hill diving back to second base to avoid the pickoff.

Note that his gloves are in his back pocket. I hope the Rogers Centre dirt is soft on hands.

Just another maddening start from Mr. Lilly.

Wrong kind of funk.  That's what happens when you stay at home on a Saturday night.  The farm affiliates went 1-3 for the second straight night, with only Lansing ending up on the winning end.

The farm affiliates went 1-3 on the evening.

Following a fantastic win the Blue Jays announced late last night that they signed 25 players from the 2006 amateur draft. Read on to see the list of names.

Hey, how about those Blue Jays! Just when you were all ready to give up...

It's been said that baseball is a game of numbers, which is pretty silly when you actually think about it.

A few days ago, we ran the Hall of Names All-Birthday June 6 (6/6/6) edition, appropriately entitled Aw, Hell. The only Hall of Fame player born on that day was noted Yankee backstop Bill Dickey.

Oddly, though, then starts an unlikely run of four straight days, June 7-10, on the calendar on which NO Hall of Famer has ever been born. (Someone want to calculate the odds of that?) That's right, the very best players born on those dates are, in this writer's view, Thurman Munson (June 7), Van Lingle Mungo (June 8), Dave Parker (June 9) and Ken Singleton (June 10). Fine players, all -- but not a Cooperstown denizen among them.

Which leads us to this reader's challenge ...

Last time we checked in with Dunedin they had a 16-14 record and sat in third place of the West Division of the Florida State League. In May they raised their team OPS from .724 to .812, a nice rise of 88 points. Meanwhile, they held opposing batters to a .676 OPS, a drop of 70 points from April’s .746. It’s more important to the Blue Jays that their prospects seemed to be having better months in April, but it’s still nice to see the team’s record jump to 34-25 and for Dunedin to have moved into a tie for first place with Fort Myers.

The farm teams allowed a combined total of six runs in five matches, which included an AA doubleheader. The farm system offences only scored 2.66 runs a game last night, but on a night where the pitching allows only 1.2, it was good enough for a 4-1 record. If you’re a fan of fine pitching, last night would have been a great time to watch any one of Toronto’s affiliates.

As promised, a second photograph of Gregg Zaun for your viewing pleasure, this time smackin' a baseball: