Some time last week, Magpie managed to work the "immortal Jean-Luc Picard" into the lede for one of the final official Game Threads. If you don't know -- well, first, shame on you -- Picard is the captain of the starship Enterprise-D from the mid-1980's TV show Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Given that Mags posted that thread on the same day the WB network announced with finality that Enterprise, the current iteration of Star Trek, would not return next season, it got me to thinking ... could we combine the two great geek passions of my life, Baseball's Hall of Names and science fiction (specifically in this case Star Trek) to come up with an All-Trek lineup?

Even though nobody named "Picard" has ever played major leage ball, with FIVE series and something like forty-six movies in the can, we ought to be able to field a pretty, um, stellar (har!) team. Warp factor nine, Mr. Magpie. Engage!

Sometimes you just get lucky. Anybody heading to the Rogers Centre tonight gets to see what might just be a gem of a game: Halladay vs Greinke. Greinke, as Magpie has pointed out to us, suffers from an affliction entirely out of his hands: too few runs in support, or the "He Just Doesn't Know How To Win" syndrome.

We here on the Batter's Box Roster would like to experiment with a post-game analysis and discussion article we'd like to call "Instant Replays." This is your first Instant Replay article, so feel free to define it however you like by posting your thoughtful reactions to tonight's game.

Bryan Smith, formerly of Wait Til Next Year and The Hardball Times, has a fine article on the top college hitters to watch over at his new home, The Baseball Analysts.

You'd think with a headline like that I'd be posting a picture of John McDonald in the field, doing something spectacular.

Nope, here's a picture of him batting:

A 2 and 2 night on the farm, with the 3 Stars brought to you by the letter C.

Josh Towers, meet eight near-shutout innings.

Innings, meet Josh Towers. I like this arrangement.

After having an awfully tough time with the best club in the AL Central thus far, the Jays now welcome the team that's struggling more than any other club in the American League (notwithstanding what you might read in the New York Post).

The 8-23 Royals come into town without a lot of confidence, although they did gut out a victory at Camden Yards yesterday. Will the Jays get well, as they did against Tampa Bay? Or will Kansas City start to turn some of their close losses into wins?

This week's Scout features a lone bright light on offence, a very promising new reliever and a touted young starter who should sue his teammates for non-support.

On to the Advance Scout!

The Braves and Marlins continue to surge, the Mets and Nats hover just over .500 and the Phils continue to struggle.

Tyranny of One-Party Rule: Senators dominate again.
Midgets comb Beach, find treasure.
Kickers and Bashers reap rewards of violence.

If anyone needs some Photo of the Day mojo right now, it's Gregg Zaun. I didn't see the collision on TV, but it sounded pretty bad from Jerry, Warren and Mike's descriptions of it.

Get well soon, Gregg. Your pitchers need you.

The Jays lose, but overshadowing the loss is the injury to Gregg Zaun. This game report will take a brief look at his replacement, Andy Dominique, and then will touch up a couple of other players in the news yesterday.

The starting pitchers turn in five very good starts, two of them shutouts by Cameron Reimers and Shawn Marcum. Casey Janssen allows one run and gets promoted. Brandon League and Davis Romero pitch well, but don't win.

Yep, the Royals are coming to town starting tonight, and though it's not quite as obvious as the Jays vs. Rays Hall of Names teams we engaged back on April 6, all All-Royal team seems in order.

This may not be what you're expecting, though ...

Sox up 1-0 behind the 'smart ball' of hitting the ball out of the park.

A late homer was the highlight of a 1-2 day for the farm affiliates, as the offences struggled to score runs.