Part Two: Inside the Clubhouse

Previously: 1. Paper Blue Jay

During the time Sports Illustrated Senior Writer Tom Verducci was flying down Blue Jay Way in Spring Training, the mainstream media was essentially ignoring the games on the field -- no big deal, it was Spring Training, after all -- to focus on games being played off the field.

In their first roadtrip to the West Coast of the season the Jays debut against the Oakland A's, looking to extend their division lead.

The Jays' kindred spirits by the Bay play host to Toronto for tonight's home opener at the re-renamed McAfee Coliseum, and two subsequent games at 10 pm EDT.

Both teams will send three young (or youngish) hurlers to the hill this series. The A's have enjoyed superb pitching from everyone who has not yet won a Cy Young Award this season, but they've struggled to make contact. If the Jays' staff continues to pound the strike zone, they have a real chance at success.

The A's enter play having split their six-game road trip through Baltimore and Tampa Bay. The first-place Jays, meanwhile, kick off a nine-game road trip through Oakland, Arlington and Boston before returning home to play the Yankees. Hey, you didn't think that being a surprise team in 2005 would be easy, did you?

On to the Advance Scout!

For die-hard baseball fans, the typical 10-team, 5x5-scored fantasy league leaves much to be desired. The BBFL improves on this format by demanding knowledge of practically every player in baseball and awareness of advanced statistical categories. For interested parties and new owners, I present a brief history of the BBFL and the kind of information you’ll see every Monday during the season.

A special treat for you Bauxites this week: a new picture every day at lunchtime.

First up, from Saturday's game at the Rogers Centre, we have the lone Canuck on the 2005 Blue Jays:

In the rubber match of the Jays opening homestand Ted Lilly returned from the disabled list to face Matt Clement.

Dunedin had the most hits, but lost. The other three teams had more timely hitting, and better pitching, and won.

Part One: Paper Blue Jay

Not all that long ago, it's likely that most Toronto-based baseball fans had, at most, just a passing familiarity with the work of Tom Verducci, Senior Writer for Sports Illustrated, even though the New Jersey-born scribe has been with the venerable print magazine since 1993, when the Jays were in the midst of capturing back-to-back World Series titles.

Now, pretty much everyone in Toronto, even the most casual of baseball fans, knows Verducci, thanks to his recent in-depth feature "I Was a Toronto Blue Jay," which placed the Blue Jays on the SI cover for the first time in more than five years. According to Verducci's own online-only "exclusive interview with myelf" about the experience, he was "embedded in the Toronto Blue Jays camp for five days, wearing uniform No. 2, [and] discovered what spring training and the major-league life are like in a completely unfiltered, uncensored way."

This week, Verducci steps into Batter's Box to further discuss his career and his Blue Jay experience, which Batter's Box general manager Jordan Furlong, writing in his own recent article, Viral Marketing 101, termed "terrific free PR" for the organization.

Today's 1:05PM matchup features Blue Jay lefty Ted Lilly vs. coulda/woulda/shouldabeen Blue Jay but now a Red Sock Matt Clement.

There's room for you if you say "I do"
But don't say no or you'll have to go
We've done no wrong with our blinkers on
It's safe and calm if you sing along

Joey Wolfe one-ups Gregg Zaun, the D-Jays fire on all cylinders and the Fisher Cats got into the win column on a very satisfying 3-1 day for the farm affilliates.

I'm coming to you this afternoon from the press box, gang. It's my season opener! YAY!

Which means I'll be a little busy during the course of today's action, but I'll check in between ininngs and try to pass along any juicy inside info.

Especially anything that could cause Dr Prison Fence to call his lawyer...

The headline comes courtesy of Mick Doherty, who has a deft touch for these things. Three out of four Blue Jays farm teams came away with victories last night, including a Thresher thrashing and a sparkling debut by a 2004 first-round draft choice. But the drama last night came in extra innings in central New York State.

The fighting Jays are back. A win would have been better, but there were a few things to enjoy.

I watched the game on television with Liam over at his mother's house, which is why I wasn't participating in the game thread. Which made reading it afterwards especially interesting. And of course, it's still growing as I write this. I feel like Tristram Shandy...

That's Right, It's Another Edition of ...
Baseball's Hall of Names! Woohoo!

After this week's earlier "All-Red" Hall of Names piece to welcome Boston's crimson stockings north of the border -- a Hall of Names that set all kinds of dangerous precedents, by the way, in focusing solely on nicknames, which are usually against the rules -- it's time to go to the opposite extreme.

Without getting all technical about what a "colour" is -- yes, yes, in a way, black is a lack of colour while white is just the opposite, a reflection of all colours -- we're going to build the least colourful team in the history of the game. That is, this team is going to be all black, white and gray.