Back in early September, the voting public of Batter's Box managed a .500 winning percentage in predicting the eventual winners of the AL and NL Rookie of the Year awards, respectively.

The actual winners, just announced, are of course Oakland RP Huston Street and Phillies 1B Ryan Howard.

The voting back when by participating Bauxites had Street just edging out Gustavo Chacin (who actually finished fifth) for the AL award, while over in the NL the click-votes (more than 63 percent of them) went primarily to Jeff Francouer, while Pirate hurler Zach Duke also finished ahead of Howard, who ended up with just 13 percent of the vote overall ...

The Olympic qualifying tournament begins November 15, and Canada and the US announced their rosters. The usual stalwarts on the Canadian club, Stubby Clapp, Lee Delfino and Ryan Radmanovich, are joined by prospects Adam Loewen, Scott Mathieson, Russ Martin and Joey Votto. Surprisingly, there are no Jay farmhands on the squad. The Americans will field their usual powerhouse with hot prospects Billy Butler and Lastings Milledge in the outfield, catchers Jarrod Saltamacchia and Jeff Mathis, and middle infielders Howie Kendrick and Brandon Wood.

I guess it's about time that I do a Hall of Names team based on my own name -- no, not "Doherty," as we'd be limited to only a couple of Johns who flashed through the AL in the mid-1970s and early 1990s, respectively. Nor will I limit this squad to a repeat of the All-Mickey team a while back.

No, here we will be looking at the literally hundreds of players who have been able to offer a positive answer to the claim in the first line of that 1973 hit single "Playground in My Mind" that Clint Holmes unleashed on the world, beginning "My name is Michael ..."

Of course, there are some rules ...

It's time to have another look at Edmonds. Here is what I thought last year.

So are the White Sox the team to imitate now?

Back in 1991, the then-still California Angels headed into Spring Training with a couple of very big bats scheduled to be in the middle of their lineup. Future Hall of Famer Dave Winfield had come over the previous season from the Yankees for Mike Witt, while former NL MVP Dave Parker had arrived in the off-season from the Brewers for Dante Bichette.

It didn't work out as planned, as Parker was released in September to hook on with eventual AL East champion Blue Jays for one last fling while the Angels finished 81-81 but still seventh and dead last in the AL West. Winfield also fled to Toronto the following year to win a World Series ring (Parker had retired by that point) while the Angels "improved" to sixth place while falling to 70-92, and the Halos as an organization were Dave-free (unless you count homerless 1B Alvin Davis who was released before the end of June).

Still, in Spring Training of '91, hopes were high and grins were wide as Parker unveiled the tee-shirt he wore under his uniform, bearing the slogan "Mama Said There'd Be Daves Like These." Indeed, two of the top three or four Davids ever to play major league baseball converged briefly that summer and like sands through the hourglass, they will undoubtedly anchor ...

Hudson, Hill and Adams. How do you fit them all in?

Backup catcher. What backup catcher?

Koskie: Bad year or albatross?

Rios: Will he ever get it together?

All this and more in Part II of the Roundtable discussion.

Vernon Wells and Orlando Hudson were awarded Gold Gloves today. For Wells it is his second Gold Glove while Orlando Hudson wins for the first time.

There's lots of speculation on what free agents will go where and for how much. Here's your chance to put what you think in writing so you can say 'I told you so'.

Hi gang! What's new?

Baseball is done for 2005. Before we shed too many tears or get too embroiled in the off-season machinations, let's get sidetracked. Yes, it's time for Hall Watch 2005.

I was planning to start with the pitchers, but the retirement of Larry Walker has forced a change of plans. How can a website which promises "baseball from a Canadian perspective" not address the question of Walker's Hall fitness and chances? Easily, I suppose, but I cannot resist.

The first installment of this three part series focuses on pitching.

Recently, after we toured a Hall of Names gallery for each of the 25 most common North American surnames, we also took a dive into the It Makes Census pool, which had a 25-man roster composed of one player each from the candidates with those 25 surnames.

Well, first things ... uh, second, as it turns out ... as we now undertake the same process with the 25 most common first/given names. But there is a bit of a twist ...

Lots of action in the offices lately.

Tim McCleary's contract which expires in December, will not be renewed, according to the Toronto Sun. Thanks to Brent S for the heads-up.