This isn't a real Game Thread, just a belated look back at the bullpen as it was 2 weeks ago. We will catch up on Friday. We won't talk about what happened this afternoon.

Well, we haven't revisited an all-letter team in our Hall of Names stroll through the alphabet since June 21, when we looked at an All-K team. We have generally accepted that the best team so far has been the All-R squad, with perhaps a challange from the various iterations of the All-M team(s).

Now, meet the Killer B's. No, not just Bagwell and Biggio -- though hey, those two just might wind up making this team, what say? -- but an all-time team made up entirely of players whose last or family name begins with the letter "B."

If only every position were as deep as C for the B's ...

If you have tears, prepare to shed them now.

The bullpen couldn't hold a 3 run lead with four outs remaining, and the home side lost three of four to Tampa Bay. But before we all forget it, Reed Johnson made as brilliant a play as you will ever see in the ninth inning. It saved three runs, and gave the team a chance in the bottom of the inning.

Managing is getting paid for home runs someone else hits.
---Casey Stengel

Headline in today's Sunday Star: "Palmeiro balls belong together". I'm all in favour of the separation of church and state, but that's as far as I go. The farm affiliates went 3-2 on Saturday, with one postponement and one suspended game due to rain.

No shortage of chances today - The bullpen stopped Tampa over the final 5, and the Jays mounted threats in the sixth, seventh, and eighth. Without ever quite getting it done.

Tomorrow, Pete Walker tries to salvage a split of the Tampa Bay series.

I looked for the same pitch my whole career, a breaking ball. All of the time. I never worried about the fastball. They couldn't throw it past me, none of them.
--- Hank Aaron

There's a lot of pressure when you play Tampa Bay. You're supposed to beat Tampa. Losing to Tampa is profoundly discouraging. So, yeah! Good game!

A mixed bag for the Blue Jays' farm teams last night, with the highlight game in the Florida State League featuring terrific performances from a talented young lefty and a solid hitting machine in the outfield.

The good guys scored early and often and they needed most of it. It took a while to get it done, but a win is a win. Gregg Zaun and Vernon Wells had three hits apiece, and Aaron Hill's hitting streak is up to 13 games.

I know, I know, I'm probably about to jinx him into an 0-for-100 slide, but as I write this, Rafael Palmeiro is sitting on 2,999 career hits.

Well, I sure would, anyways:

Baseball is almost the only orderly thing in a very unorderly world. If you get three strikes, even the best lawyer in the world can't get you off.
--- Bill Veeck

It is not enough to succeed. Others must fail.
---Gore Vidal

Long before his career as an accused in a murder trial and a rental car company ad actor, O.J. Simpson was an electrifying halfback for U.S.C. and then for the Buffalo Bills. For the Bills, he was "The Juice", and his offensive line was "The Electric Company" because they "turned on the Juice". Upstate New York needs to relocate O.J.'s offensive line to bring some consistent power to the area. The farm affiliates went 3-3 on the evening.

Okay, we're going to talk about two things today, and the first is last night's game. Last night's terrible, terrible game.

The thought of having to re-live that game, think about it a whole bunch, analyze it and then write about it, well, that just about killed me. However, I unwound by watching insurance company videos of a Jaguar X-Type crashing into a concrete barrier at 40 miles per hour. Try it -- it's very helpful.