I've been impressed all year by Cory Lidle's stuff. He throws harder, and has better command, than I thought. His April wasn't great as a whole, but he now has three wins and a no-decision in his last four starts, and put everything together in his latest masterpiece: a solo shot by Salmon, singles by the Kingfish and GA, one walk and five strikeouts -- a tidy 103-pitch complete game. That's how Cory was pitching last August, and it's all you could ask from a #2. Not only did he use all his pitches, he kept the hitters off-balance. Lidle shook off Wilson constantly, and like the catcher, I rarely guessed what he wanted to throw or even the location. Neither did the Angels.

Today's assignment is more difficult against this great lineup. Hank Blalock is really impressive; he looks strong at 3B and his bat has lightning in it. A-Rod settled the Gold Glove thing once and for all -- I'm sure Mike Bordick was as amazed as the rest of us at the clinic Alex put on last night. Juan Gonzalez is the laziest player imaginable; it's as if he thinks playing the outfield or running the bases is an imposition. But he's a very tough out right now. So's Everett, whose catch off Hinske last night was sensational. Mea Kulpa's blown calls, on the appeal (Eric stumbled, missed the bag with both toes, but obviously got it with his heel) and on 3-2 to Cat, decided that game. He was awful, and Hollowell, behind the plate today, also owes one to the Jays; I expect better umpiring in our high school league.

It's a 2:05 start, a rare game I won't see or hear for at least a few innings. I'll be back here about 7:00 to find out what I missed. I hope Raffy can wait one more day for #499, and I wish Ryan Drese and/or Todd Van Poppel lotsa luck.

The Toronto Star has fantastic coverage of the Pastime today. The best standings and box scores page, legible weekly stats, and a front-page Mark Zwolinski preview of the CBL; the new independent league "hopes it can mirror the unexpected success of several independent U.S. hockey leagues, which have entrenched themselves in local communities with aggressive marketing and consistent rosters." I hope the Sunday night TV games on The Score create stars and they sell lots of jerseys.

Allan Ryan's Off The Wall is full of the useless information that fascinates many of us. In Geoff Baker's game report, he quotes Tosca on Delgado's "new swing" -- it's obvious to me that in addition to the mechanical changes he's made, big Carlos has a new philosophy. More great stuff (the renowned Player Index and Baseball Watch) is available only on waymoresports.com, but your 50 cents will be well spent on the paper.

Earlier on BB, Coach started a discussion of Michael Lewis and his book Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game. With the White Sox coming to Oakland this week, Sox GM Kenny Williams has said he wants to speak to A's GM Billy Beane. It will be interesting to see who else wants to speak with Beane when the book is released later this month. Baseball Primer had a thread related to this discussion; here's BB's chance.

Most Texas hitters have had success against Tanyon Sturtze. Last week at home, trying not to walk anyone, he gave up 11 hits in 3.1 innings; it's hard to imagine him dominating the Rangers. The Blue Jays have never seen Joaquin Benoit, but the Indians got to him in the fifth and knocked him out in the sixth in his other 2003 start. The 25-year-old Dominican righty began the year in AAA Oklahoma City, where he was 2-1, 4.03 in five starts, totalling 29 innings. His 2002 record in the AL (59/58 K/BB, 5.32 ERA) suggests another shootout tonight, and maybe the bullpens will decide this one.

According to the Yahoo preview, Frank Catalanotto is back in his customary #2 spot and playing RF; Werth had a good game last night, but it's a relief to see Cat's OK. Wilson's behind the plate; the catchers continue to share the workload evenly.

From today's typically excellent ATMREPORTS e-mail newsletter by Lee Sinins, this nugget of information goes to prove that Ben Johnson ain't the only Canuck On Wheels (ooh, unfortunate acronym there) ...

"Rockies RF Larry Walker ... tied the record for most career SB by a player born in Canada, tying the mark set by Terry Puhl." Note: Corey Koskie may be in the Top 5 by the end of this season.

Warning: if you dislike Richard Griffin-bashing, you'd best move on to another thread.

In today's Star, happy-go-lucky Griff examines the plethora of ex-Jays who are setting the major leagues on fire, contrasting them with the sorry lot of current Blue Jays who have been so putrid thus far. The implication, as always, is that it's only ever been about dumping salary, cutting loose valued veterans for little in return. If he has a point beyond that, it's difficult to tell, since the column simply tapers off at the end.

Fine as far as it goes, in theory: JP isn't immune from criticism for his player moves, in these or other parts. But Griff, as usual, doesn't seem interested in telling the whole story: he fails to characterize unusually hot starts as exactly what they are, and doesn't provide enough context to the impugned transactions. These are the former Blue Jays identified by Griffin as thriving cast-offs: Jose Cruz Jr., Raul Mondesi, Tony Batista, Brad Fullmer, Alex Gonzalez, Esteban Loiaza, Brandon Lyon, Dan Plesac, Billy Koch, Paul Quantrill and David Wells. Let's take a closer look at each of these ex-Jays.

Peter Gammons's latest column has a few Blue Jays references:

- Buck Showalter has nothing but good things to say about Toronto's young position players, particularly Josh Phelps and Vernon Wells. Wells is compared to a right-handed Jim Edmonds, which is interesting. Edmonds didn't walk more than 60 times a season for his first six years in Anaheim; he hasn't walked fewer than 85 times a season in his three years in St. Louis. Patience is learnable.

- The trade value of Shannon Stewart, Cory Lidle and Kelvim Escobar is discussed -- nothing new there, except that Escobar is touted as a setup guy, circa Octavio Dotel or the old Felix Rodriguez. That's actually quite intriguing to think about, but there's a problem: Kelvim lifetime with the bases empty: 1.80 ERA. Kelvim with runners aboard: 8.16 ERA.

- Jason Arnold's pitching lights-out. But we already knew that.

Uh-oh. Catalanotto's sitting this one out with a sore back. Hinske bats second. Hudson's seventh, RF Jayson Werth eighth. Doc will surrender a few hits and runs, but he should get plenty of support.

Sammy Sosa. Barry Bonds. Soon, Raffy Palmeiro and maybe Fred McGriff.

And now, Da Box.

I don't have anything to say here, I just wanted to be the one to post the 500th entry.

Here's the next 500 ...

Jordan's article on closers got me thinking about one of my favorite topics, a proper World Cup of Baseball where MLB players would compete. In particular, his "2006 dream staff" caught my eye.

A hearty thanks is in order for John Gizzi, who came through with an Advance Scout pinch-hitting appearance that would have made even Rance Mulliniks proud. Since Gitz ratted me out, I might as well admit to being in Las Vegas for the entire Jays winning streak. For many, many reasons, as much as I support "taking one for the team," I should let you know now that I would not be amenable to suggestions that I head back to Sin City until the Jays lose. On the bright side, our entire party did manage to avoid ill-advised marriages.

So the Jays have turned things around with pitching and defence. It should be all too fresh in the Jay hurlers' minds, though, that the Rangers lineup can put up a lot of crooked numbers (sometimes, sadly, even with a straight number preceding it). The formula for beating Texas has been simple: Keep the ball in the park, and be patient with their pitching. It's just a matter of executing the formula against A-Rod, Palmeiro, Blalock, and the rejuvenated Gonzalez and Everett.

At least the Jays snapped their multi-year, 10-game losing streak against Texas last Thursday. The most notable memory from the Metroplex for Jays fans, I think, is Nolan Ryan's last no-hitter on a muggy night at Arlington Stadium. I think Joe Carter's "TOROTNO" jersey might also have been infamously donned in Texas.

Doc has his work cut out for him as he tries to cut back his gopher balls. Blow in, sweet winds of Texas. Blow in.

On to the Advance Scout!

Every morning I wake up, read my e-mail ("Should I pick up Mark Ellis?"; "What is wrong with Tejada?"; "Dude, u r an idiut"), then check if Mark Texeira has been sent down to AAA, where at least he won't have to beat out Ruben Sierra. Someone please explain to me why Sierra is playing over Texeira? Or Mench? Or Gizzi? Or Scott Lucas, who asks the same questions in his ESPN column?

So who's the best closer in the majors? According to the good readers of SLAM! Sports, it's John Smoltz, whom they chose in an online survey. What amuses me most about this poll is that 14% of the respondents took the time to click on "I don't care." Now, really. If you don't care, why are you reading the poll, let alone taking it?

Anyway, "best closer" is a nebulous term at best -- this year's top closer is often next year's setup guy, waiver claim or elbow surgery. "Best reliever" would be a more interesting choice, which for my money is a tossup between Octavio Dotel and Johan Santana. Anyway, Smoltz is a fine choice so far this year: 16 IP, 15 H, 4 BB, 20 K, 12 saves, just one BS. But a better choice would be this guy:

16 IP, 7 H, 4 BB, 28 K, 10 Saves, 0 Blown Saves

Any guesses?

Moments after venting about too many lefty relievers and not enough Aquilino, I learned the Jays made a roster move. Jason Kershner has been sent to Syracuse, and according to the AP, Brian Bowles will be recalled tomorrow. The 6' 5" RH had one terrible AAA outing April 20, walking 4 in less than an inning, but his ERA is a stingy 1.06 and he's been much better since, notching his eighth save yesterday. I wonder if they will use Bowles in late-inning "hold" situations right away. Whatever Brian's role, this is not exactly a ringing endorsement for Jeff Tam, who's reduced to mopping up.

Four teams within 1.5 games of the lead, ten teams bunched within seven games. Percentage points (or a Yahoo tiebreaker; I didn't do the math) separate the Walrus from the Gorillas for the league lead, after my Sunday comeback from a 7-4 deficit to a 6-5 win over Snellville. Thanks to Carlos Delgado, Matt Morris and my bullpen; Wagner and Baez pulled out the SV category. I've already traded a couple, but I still find myself with three closers, so I'd listen to offers for Baez or Cliff Politte.

A few teams made big gains -- Mike H.'s Springfield Isotopes closed three games on the leaders with an 8-3 win, Jonny's K-Town Mashers moved up three positions in the standings with a 9-3 romp, and Jason's Garces_not_on_roids squad went from 18th place (15 games out) to 14th (11 games out) with a 9-2 win. A couple of teams went the other way, most notably Red Mosquitos -- I think Spicol was distracted by managing the all-time Jays -- who lost three games to the leaders and fell from 7th to 12th overall.