Another doubleheader today:

4:00PM - Marquis vs. Oswalt - Cardinals Lead Series 2-1
8:00PM - Hernandez vs. Lowe - Yankees Lead Series 3-0

I like watchin' the puddles gather rain
And all I can do is just pour some tea for two
and speak my point of view
But it's not sane, It's not sane

A couple of games today:

Cardinals vs. Astros - Suppan vs. Clemens - 4:05 PM EST
Yankees vs. Red Sox - Brown vs. Arroyo - 7:35PM EST

Cards and Yanks each up 2-0.

Let's face it ... none of us are MLB GMs, and there's a reason for that. As fans, we spot a young player who is absolutely, positively bound for stardom, the Hall of Fame, even, and for some reason, he ends up spending more time in Syracuse or Toledo than Cooperstown.

Come to think of it, that happens to the pros, too. Sparky Anderson once proclaimed Kirk Gibson was "the next Mickey Mantle" and while KG was pretty good, he was no #7. The Main Spark also once famously guaranteed stardom for a third baseman named Chris Pittaro, who managed to hit .221 in 95 big league at-bats, spending more time with the Twins than Sparky's Tigers after not being able to hold off the immortal Tom Brookens for the starting third base slot on the defending champion 1985 Tigers.

Some dirt on the 2004 draft class...

As Scott pointed out on one of yesterday's threads, Baseball America is reporting that the Tigers have decided to end their pursuit of #2 overall pick Justin Verlander.

Loaded the guns then you run off home for your tea
Left me standing, like a naughty schoolboy.

Boston you're my home. It's raining in Beantown, and the Red Sox might be planning a Bull Durham sprinkler scene if it wasn't. Game 3 goes tonight at 8 p.m., weather permitting, with Bronson Arroyo facing Kevin Brown.

Ppd.-rain, the weather did not in fact permit.

You said to call you up if I was feeling moody
Hey little Donna, still wanna
You said to ring you up if I was in Toronto

Carlos Beltran is good.

Time for a quick update on the Arizona Fall League and the Peoria Saguaros, managed by AAA Syracuse skipper Marty Pevey and home to six Jays prospects of varying degrees of interest. The Saguaros sit last in the three-team American Divison with a 2-4 record; they beat previously undefeated Phoenix 14-7 yesterday, a memorable game for Jays hitters -- for the pitchers, meeeh, not so much.

But never see the stars
And sleep all day
On a chainlink bed of nails

Thanks to everyone who commented on my latest article at The Hardball Times, "The Importance of Strike One (Part One)". I finished Part Two this morning - there is some very interesting data indeed - and it should be up next week.

Since we've been way late with these lately, I thought I'd post this really early for a change.

Two games today, both at 8:00PM

Pedro Martinez vs. Jon Lieber in Game 2 of the ALCS
Brandon Backe vs. Woody Williams in Game 1 of the ALCS

Until then read Spencer Fordin's article about the six Jays players who were taken off the 40 man roster.

Be sure to catch the pre-game show with Mike Wilner starting at 7PM on The Fan 590. Tonight's guest is Orlando Hudson.

Not too many positives come out of a season where you end up with 90+ losses. However, one of these positives is a high draft pick in the following year's draft.

The Syracuse Skychiefs are the Blue Jays top farm team, the closest team to the big leagues and the source of many of the call-ups the Blue Jays needed in 2004. Not counting the September call-ups, there are nineteen players who played in both Syracuse and Toronto this season. The injury bug that hit the Jays put a strain on the Chiefs from which they could not recover.