Today is June 6, 2006.

That's right, it's 6-6-6. And presuming that's not a final sign of the Apocalypse and we are all still here to read and write on Batter's Box, it provides an opportunity to add still another wing to baseball's Hall of Names, though not of the Mark "The Bird" Fidrych variety (though we have previously given baseball the bird in a similar exercise), as well as issue a Batter's Box reader's challenge.

No, this team ...

Two months in the books, a third of the season. Let's check in on the Blue Jays rotation.

Here's a look at who may go at the top of the draft and who will be available when the Blue Jays select.

The affiliates went 5-0 on Saturday but Sunday was payback time as all affiliates came out on the wrong end.  In summary, Josh Banks took it on the chin, again, in part due to Cambridge native Scott Thorman.  New Hampshire lost their first game of the week as Izzy Ramirez had no run support.  Dunedin narrowly lost and Lansing made the score look a lot closer than it was, while Joey McLaughlin reminded fans of his father.  And from the oddity file, two of Dunedin's three runs were scored by hitters who struck out.

The weather warms up and so do the hitters. This review is mostly a positive one, so let's all erase April from our memories.

Sorry, it's about seven hours late.  I fell asleep.

Here's Troy Glaus, throwin' the ball back over to first base:

Tomorrow is draft day, a day of hope and excitement in thirty major league cities.  The truth however is that reaching the major leagues is a long shot for most players selected.  Teams expect their first round pick will make an impact in the major leagues but after that they hope that one or two, of the other 49 players picked, make it.  If three players from a draft become major league regulars that draft would be considered to be excellent.  I thought we should take a quick look back at the Jays drafts under JP Ricciardi to see what expectations we should have for tomorrow.

In the recent "All-ALF" Hall of Names piece (ALF ... on, so Long Ago), Bauxite Geoff asks the leading question, "In other news: Has Chacin yet become the most accomplished player named Gustavo?"

The short answer is "yes." The longer answer is that he is the only player in major league history to actually go by "Gustavo," and only five others have even had the name -- two as a first/given name (the best of whom was Gustavo Karim Garcia, sorry Gus Polidor), while three bore it as a middle name, the best of whom is probably Rainer Gustavo "Ray" Olmedo, who is 3-for-9 this year with the Reds between Triple-A stints.

So yes, Chacin's career (updated) 20-12 record outshines them all, including Garcia's 66 homers over 10 years. Hooray. Ah, but lest anyone accuse the Hall of Names of promulgating the "Gloomy Gus" stereotype, let's take a look ...

Who schedules a game for 7:15 on a Saturday night? Do they expect me to watch it?

The farm affiliates were all on the road and fought well, going 5-0 on the night. The Romeros, Ricky and Davis, each pitched well for a win.

Baseball has its well-known major league seasonal cycle. The ballplayers arrive in Florida and Arizona in February while the snow (now often only remembered from Februarys past) is still on the ground here. They come north  in April with the spring, bloom in summer, and depart after a wished-for blaze of colour in autumn.

Yes, the headline took longer to write than the Minor League Update itself. If only the FSL had a team in Nassau, it would make more sense at the end.

Say, which is the greater number? Runs scored by the Blue Jays off Chad Harville last night, or total runs scored by the affiliates in three games? Hint: It's a trick question.

Wonders are many and nothing is more wonderful than man, with the possible exception of the 2006 Detroit Tigers.

I apologize profusely to the shade of old Sophocles for the preceding. I feel shame.

Okay, so Edgardo Alfonso (read the headline out loud) doesn't have a hit yet. Maybe some "Hall of Names mojo," if there is such a thing, will spur him to three homers and seven RBI next time the Jays play. And when Batter's Box posted a poll earlier this week seeking a new nickname for the former All-Star, more than half of those who responded essentially voted to retain his ongoing nickname, "Fonzie."

Running a distant second at less than 17 percent of the vote was "Alf" -- hmm, maybe Bauxites, despite the success of our previous All-Star Trek team, don't care much for the idea of Alien Life Forms. But setbacks like that have never stopped the Hall of Names! In fact, did you know that if you enter "Alf" into BBRef's Player Search, you'll get more than 100 returns?

We might end up with a heck of a team here, with no less than nine All-Stars and/or Hall of Famers ...

The Lugnuts finished May with a flourish, after an 8 game winning streak put them at 33-18, a game ahead of West Michigan with less than 3 weeks left in the first half of the Midwest League season.