...bring May Doubleheaders!

Last year was the year of the Marlins. This year, could it be the year of the Marlon? Ten members of the Batter's Box roster have cast their first monthly ballots in tracking progress for the eventual presentation of the 2004 Andujar Award. While 29 players received mention -- exactly half of the 58 who were "nominated" in various pre-season discussions on Da Box -- only one player was on all 10 ballots.

Ladies and gentlemen, meet your May 1 Andujar Leader ... Marlon Anderson. While the 10 first-place votes were split among six players, with nobody receiving more than two, Anderson nabbed 83 of a possible 100 points in this first in-season survey.

The details of where the '04 Andujars stand ...

For a change the Jays top tier teams were victorious, while "THE ALLEY CATS LOSE". Did we ever think we would see this day?

Woher die Schulden kamen
War wohl jedermann bekannt
Er war ein Mann der Frauen
Frauen liebten seinen Punk

The Jays have lost three straight games. Tonight they send Doc to break the losing streak. That's part of the reason why he's getting paid the big bucks.

Halladay (2-3, 3.53 ERA) vs. Buerhle (1-1, 5.93 ERA)

It's time the Jays started another streak, after winning three and then losing three in their last six games. Roy Halladay is always a pleasure to watch and once again he's matched up against a quality pitcher. Mark Buehrle falls into the "crafy lefthander" category. These days any lefty seems to spell trouble for the Jays.

Someone once told me that Buehrle and Mark Hendrickson have basically the same stuff. I agree. It's what you do with your stuff that counts.

Please welcome Batter's Box reader Dyl as he suggests a new 5x5 format for fantasy ball.

Detroit Tigers (and Toledo Mud Hens) hurler Fernando Rodney is scheduled to have season-ending elbow surgery tomorrow. What does that have to do with anything on Da Box? Well ... nothing, really. Except ... that's right, kids, it's time for another exciting installment of Baseball's Hall of Names! Woohoo!

It's simple, really ... what's the best possible team of players who had two first names? No, not of the John Henry Johnson ilk. Rather, those players like Frank Thomas -- and Fernando Rodney -- whose last name is also a first name.

The Florida State League is one of the toughest circuits for hitters in the minor-league chain. So it makes complete sense that Toronto’s FSL affiliate scored a dozen runs last night while their colleagues elsewhere in the system struggled to plate 4 in 3 games, right? Read on to find out why everything’s dandy in Dunedin.

I'd sure look like a fool dead in a ditch somewhere
With a mind full of chemicals
Like some cheese-eating high school boy

Esteban Loaiza will be a tough nut to crack tonight. Pat Hentgen has been throwing the ball better of late, but will have to locate his pitches exceptionally well to keep the White Sox in check.

It's off to the Windy City for the Jays and their shell-shocked bullpen. After falling victim to some late-inning heroics in Minneapolis, Toronto now faces an opponent for whom come-from-behind rallies have become standard operating procedure. Despite trailing 8-2 in the sixth and 8-4 in the ninth last night, Ozzie Guillen's ChiSox still managed to pull out a 9-8 victory over Cleveland.

The Pale Hose can go yard with anybody, and with Juan Uribe swinging a hot bat, the heart of the order has become that much more dangerous. On the pitching side of the ledger, the starting staff has been vulnerable, while the bullpen has been steadier (though not failsafe by any means.) This week's Scout includes a rookie manager, a struggling slugger and some brewing bad blood between the Sox and their richer National League neighbours on the North Side.

Hopefully, some of our Chicago-area Bauxites like Mathesond and Dr. Zarco can give us some first-hand accounts from the four-game set. Judging from their comments over the last few days, Chicago will indeed be the Windy City -- and very possibly the Rainy City as well this weekend.

On to the Advance Scout!

The 2004 MLB First Year Player Draft on June 7th is rich in college pitching. It’s expected that Jered Weaver of Long Beach State and Justin Verlander of Old Dominion will go to San Diego and Detroit with the top 2 picks of the draft. The rest of the first round is expected to be dominated by pitching as well.

YOUR Toronto Blue Jays have the 16th selection in the first round. With an exceptionally weak hitting class it’d be no surprise to see the Jays look toward selecting a pitcher or two at the top of the draft.

In addition to their normal picks the Jays also picked up 2 additional draft choices for Escobar signing with the Angels. One is a sandwich pick between round 1 and 2, and the 2nd pick is the Angels' 3rd round pick.

So deeply involved in
The very existence
I planned on avoiding?

Will Dustin McGowan ever start another game in Double-A?
Will the Charleston Alley Cats ever lose again?

The answer to both of those questions could be, "NO"!