When Batter's Box first issued what Craig Burley has taken to calling the "Hall of Place Names" challenge, to be honest, I expected a bunch of U.S. states (some are upcoming, incidentally) and some major cities (we've already seen Brooklyn, Mobile and San Francisco, with more on the way) to dominate the submissions. Barring that, perhaps a series of foreign countries similar to the All-Canadian team that started it all.

Wouldn't you know, the very first two teams received (from Bauxites Matthew Elmslie and Greg Williams, in that order, respectively) were for the same non-North American city? And if you think hard enough, you can probably guess that it's ... well, let's turn that description over to Elmslie:

On Friday afternoon, we were discussing major league transaction rules and puzzling over exactly what was meant by "option years."

To make a long story short... Paul D was right, I was wrong.

Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa

One of the greatest baseball cities of them all, St. Louis has produced a little bit of playing talent along the way. Does your city need a catcher? How about a broadcaster? Plenty to spare here...

Hey, what's this? A photo of the week?

Don't get too excited -- the thing I was up in my ears to has now progressed so that it envelopes my whole head, and I'm not really off of my photo of the week hiatus yet. But it does mean that I need some Bauxite assistance (and if you can help me out, there's actual money involved!), so read on...

Apologies to the home of the Athletics, and Oakland has produced a number of fine diamond men, but today faithful Bauxite Anders Whist brings us this Hall of Names team composed entirely of San Francisco natives.

How good is this team? Here's a hint: Joe DiMaggio didn't make the roster. Let's see what that's all about as we meet a team that, even without Jim or Sam Rice, could only be called ...

The 2006 Hall of Fame ballot has been announced. We will take a look at three of the starting pitching candidates- Tommy John, Bert Blyleven and Jack Morris.

If you ask a casual baseball fan under the age of 25 about Tommy John, you're likely to get a 2 word answer: "elbow surgery". If you ask someone over the age of 25 about him, you will probably hear about his eminently hittable stuff and his unimposing stature. How many will say "always good and sometimes great"?

At last, at long last, the Lobby of Numbers is back. We're changing leagues, we're changing coasts. Yes, it's time for the NL West. That means we have a couple of quick, light appetizers to get us back up to speed.

The Jays have a full 25 man roster, a payroll of about $70 million and a budget of about $75 million.

So following a year when the World Championship finally came to the Windy City, though much to Cub fans' dismay, across the city for the team Bill Veeck once dressed in shorts, it's a Hall of Names Second City display based primarily on work submitted by Bauxite Chuck Barkman, That's right, it's time to meet ...

The Blue Jays have ended weeks of speculation by trading Corey Koskie to the Milwaukee Brewers for a minor league pitcher.

136 wins, 116 losses. 1,230 runs scored, 1,056 runs allowed, representing a 144-108 pythagorean record. A win in the All Star Game. A four game sweep in the World Series. That is how the American League dominated the National League in 2005. What about 2006?

The Jays and Twins have had some trade talks regarding Corey Koskie, but it doesn't look like anything is going to happen soon.

In a continuing effort to assemble the perfect All-City baseball team (after Bauxites were challenged to try all-state, all-province or all-country ... the showoff!), longtime Batter's Box contributor Craig Burley realized his recent Mobile Homeboys, even with five Hall of Famers, might struggle in the Mean Streets of Flatbush.

You may recall, we recently started up a new chapter in the Hall of Names team-building business, as In All Thy Sons Command delineated a team made up entirely of native Canadians. That was followed by a bit of a challenge:

Now, here's the test ... Visit the BaseballReference.com page that breaks down major league player birth by U.S. state and/or nationality and build yourself your own Hall of Names team, one that's better'n this here Canadian one. Then send it [in] and we'll publish it here at Batter's Box.

Much to absolutely nobody's surprise, longtime Batter's Box contributor Craig Burley was the first to answer the challenge (okay, he was actually first through third, but the other two teams will wait until later this week) ... so it's time to see what sort of Hall of Names squad he was able to, uh, "Mobile-ize" ...

TSN reports that the Jays have signed catcher-first baseman Jason Phillips to a minor league contract.