Welcome to the inaugural Photo of the Week. Until the season gets going I'll be recycling material from last year, some of which has not yet been seen by anyone but me.

Next year I'm hoping that we'll have enough money in the budget to send me down to Florida for Spring Training to really do this feature right, but in the meantime you're just going to have to deal with leftovers.

Spring Training has started down in Florida and Arizona, and now seems like a good time to introduce you to those who will be making their debut in 2005.

Quick, what's the first thing you think of when you hear the words "spring training"? I bet it isn't "Charles Dickens." Well, in truth it's not my first thought either, but let's pretend it is. And no, I'm not thinking about Great Expectations, but about a well-known opening line to another Dickens tale: "It was the best of times, it was the blurst of times . . . you stupid monkeys!"

Spring Training officially gets underway for the Blue Jays today, with pitchers and catchers reporting to the Bobby Mattick Training Center at Englebert Complex in Dunedin, Florida. Four starting pitchers are guaranteed to make the 25-man roster, barring injury, as are five of a possible 6 or 7 relievers.

Chipper Jones had his worst season in 2004 since his rookie campaign. His 2004 age 32 line was .248/.362/.485. A touchy hammy probably contributed mightily to his sub-par results. It did however continue a 4 year pattern of decline for Chipper, which he must reverse, if he intends to get the plaque in Cooperstown that seemed to be already inscribed for him in 2000.

Here we go, with Box 3.0's very first edition of Baseball's Hall of Names, tied once again to the excellent "Hall Watch" story by Mike Green looking at one of our All-Larry team stalwarts, Larry "Chipper" Jones (also a member, as you might expect of our earlier All-Jones team).

Wow, this one was surprisingly easy to fill out ...

Batter's Box version 3 is very different from its previous incarnation. Most noticeable is that, in order to post comments, you need an account. In this thread, I hope to answer any questions you might have about how to use this new Box.

Upgrades Ensure Continued High Quality Content

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 19, 2005

TORONTO -- You know how some big league ballplayers will kick the chalk line around to re-draw the batter's box to better fit what they want as they step to the plate? Well, it's time for Batter's Box, formerly "Batter's Box Baseball Blog," to kick the technical chalk a little bit, expand its virtual space and continue to grow into its All-Star potential.

As you might have already noticed, Da Box is silent this week. The reason? An upgrade and relaunch!

Very soon now, Batter's Box will be operating with some brand spankin' new software. As a result, there will be a number of spiffy new features and some additional bells and whistles. Amongst ourselves, we've been calling it "Batter's Box 3.0" (a name coined by Coach Kent), and we're hoping it will be the springboard to something better and more interesting -- a better-looking site with more original content and more writing that's worth reading. (It will look similar to what we have now, just better).

NEW! See the end of this message for new query contact information.

As a service to all the forgetful men out there: It's Valentine's Day today.

28 owners took part in the annual vote on rule changes and additions. Among the issues decided were creation of a third division, methodology for replacing departing owners, and roster composition.

And the winners are…

With spring training just around the corner, most teams have their rosters mostly set. There could still be a significant trade or three, and some GM might suddenly realize that the missing piece that will push his team's offence over the top is none other than free agent Brad Fullmer. But for the most part, what you see is what they've got.

While Mike Green leads an entirely different sort of Great Scott Debate in his current Hall Watch thread, it's time to take a look at what is becoming a standard sidebar to these everGreen features ... a Hall of Names roster.

The interesting conundrum in this case (hence "debate") is that of the 124 players in major league history who bore the name "Scott," a full 25 of them had that appellation as their surname (family name) rather than their given or first name, including a few key All-Stars. So which will be better? The last name "Great Scotts" or the first name, um, "Scott Land Yards"?

Let's see.

You know the drill...

If anyone made a big step toward Cooperstown in 2004, it was Scott Rolen. Always a great third baseman, he took a step forward with the bat, hitting .314/.409/.598. He was a clear MVP candidate for the first time in his career.