Has anyone else noticed that Hudson is finally hitting lefties? His prior splits - .210 OBP, .221 SLG -- have turned into .301/.468 (only 111 ABs, of course) in 2004.

And stealing from Magpie's lineup post:

Lots of RH against Kazmir today.

Johnson,lf
Hudson, 2b
Wells, cf
Delgado, 1b
Menechino,3b
Gomez, dh (!!)
Rios, rf
Woodward, ss
Quiroz, c
Miller, p

Also, I guess Chacin will start on Wednesday. Thoughts?

Two-out HR by Huff gives the Rays the lead, and now it's Kazmir time. Warning: there may be some Mets-bashing this afternoon.

My guess for Chacin was to follow Doc out of the 'pen then start next weekend. Throwing him into the deep end of the pool on Wednesday isn't so different, and keeps him on close to a normal routine. They have Glynn to finish up for Doc, and Douglass if Gus succumbs to Yankee Stadium nerves. Very interesting; I can't wait.

http://www.torontobaseballguys.com
Hey Coach,

Any chance you'll be able to join us on October 1?

He hasn't shown the curve much, except to Delgado, but Kazmir got Hudson on an 89-mph "fastball" which had O-Dog way out in front. Hard to call it a change, but he took something off and threw the 3-2 down the middle. He also froze Carlos on 1-1 with a heater, but the big man came through with RBI #91 on the two-strike slider. The walk and wild pitch helped tie it up.

Jim, I'm hoping to be there. Still a bit under the weather, but improving every day.

Slugging DH Chris Gomez bloops one the opposite way to give the Jays the lead. Two-out magic.

Did Cerutti just say "I think we need a bigger sample" (with regard to drawing conclusions about Rios' ability to hit left-handed pitchers)? He's coming around.

Rios singles in Menechino. 3-1 Jays.

Rios joins the hit parade; 3-1 Jays. It all started with a patient two-out walk for Vernon.

Elsewhere, Sheffield earns a few more MVP votes by taking Pedro deep in the first game of the rubber match. 2-0 Yanks.

Lilly-Halladay-Chacin-Bush-Towers, with Batista as the closer. I never would have guessed that would be the rotation for a few days in September, but I also would never have guessed a 61-87 record...

Roster moves:

Cat from the 15 day to the 60
Aquilino Lopez DFA

To make room for League and Chacin (they're pronouncing it "CHA-SEEN" in the press box by the way.

I suppose there might be a post-Boston letdown, and obviously none of the Yankees have ever seen Chacin, so they're going to let him open the "spoiler series" on normal rest. Very exciting; I hope Gus didn't fly all the way up here today and is already in New York, trying to relax.

As far as I know, Chacin's debut tomorrow is only televised on MLB Extra Innings (channel 427 on Rogers Digital Cable). (Though I'm not familiar with Internet videocasting.)

there may be some Mets-bashing this afternoon.

Duh. Like, they're INSANE.

Kazmir struggled, but the ball just explodes out of his hand, with so much life that he has some trouble throwing it for strikes.

He's only 20, but in 228 IP in the minors he's struck out 283 guys.

Two years ago he was in high school. HIs senior year numbers:

11-2 , 0.37 ERA, 75 IP, 175 Ks, 19 hits.

Any high schooler who hit that stuff had better feel good about himself.

Chacin is starting tomorrow, Lilly gets a couple extra days rest and will work on Wednesday.

Huh. From Rule 5 draft success to non-roster player. Will Lopez ever see a Toronto uniform again?
What? He will turn 30 next April?!? I forgot about his four-years-in-one-day secret aging technique, but even so...

Thirty years old?

Leigh -- Cerutti was referring to Kazmir's numbers against lefties. Coming in, LHB were 8-for-18 against Kazmir, and Faulds asked why Delgado was the only lefty in there if they were hitting .444. Cerutti smartly said that 18 ABs is a small sample.

Miller and Quiroz are having a terrible time getting the third out...

They've now worked 4 innings together in the MLs and the other guys have scored in every one. We were talking yesterday about pitchers results with different catchers (I'll have more to report on that later) and naturally, Miller's 45.00 ERA working with Quiroz (1 IP, 5 ER) caught my eye.

Some of the sample sizes are, naturally, too small to take notice of (like Miller with Quiroz), but there are some interesting things. Next inning...

Quiroz is struggling with every phase of his game. Wells, at last, isn't.

The BBFL Walrus will gladly take that "double" by Carlos as we cling to a narrow lead in the last day of the semi-finals. Better lucky than good.

What happened there? I had to turn down the radio to answer the phone, and suddenly the Jays have tied it.

A Wells HR, then...?

Why did I ask a question I could answer myself in 30 seconds? Back-to-back doubles.

Anyway, why is it a "double" by Carlos, Coach? Did Crawford misplay it or did it bounce over his head? And Menechino's double was a normal double, I guess?

Delgado hit a soft bloop in front of Lugo. It took a turf hop over his head, and Crawford was snoozing, so Carlos took second. Menechino flied out to Cruz, except Jose lost it in the sun and it bounced into the bullpen for a ground-rule double. Just like you draw it up in spring training. :)

Ah, thanks. I guess they were back-to-back "doubles", then.

I sure didn't expect Kazmir to get yanked in the third...

Very odd, the Tampa pitching coach walks out to make pitching changes. Usually this is the domain of the manager.

I'd be more worried about Justin Miller's problems with lefties than with whom his catcher is at any moment...

Man, Gaudin has some vicious stuff. That two-seamer moves like a screwball. He may not be getting results this year (hung a breaking pitch to Woody) but he's not much older than Kazmir and he's a keeper.

Woo-hoo! GQ finally gets a big hit; that will help his confidence. 8-5 for the good guys.

Kazmir deserved a little better fate today - two very cheap doubles when Huff came in too short on the chopper and Cruz lost the ball in the sun. The boys will take it.

OK, starting pitchers with different catchers.Did some slogging through the game logs, and this is what I found:

Roy Halladay
w/ Cash: 4-4, 4.02, 69.1 IP
w/ Zaun: 3-3, 4.81, 48.2 IP

Miguel Batista
w/ Cash: 1-5, 6.59, 55 IP
w/ Zaun: 8-7, 4.39, 125 IP
w/ Myers: 0-0, 2.57, 7 IP
w/ Quiroz: 0-1, 24.00, 3 IP

Ted Lilly
w/ Cash: 1-5, 5.79, 51.1 IP
w/ Zaun: 9-4, 3.25, 122 IP
w/ Myers: 1-1, 2.84, 12.2 IP

Josh Towers
w/ Cash: 1-1, 3.94, 16 IP
w/ Zaun: 8-5, 5.06, 80 IP
w/ Myers: 0-0, 6.75, 4 IP

Dave Bush
w/ Cash: 1-0, 1.69, 21.1 IP
w/ Zaun: 2-4, 4.84, 57.2 IP
w/ Quiroz: 1-0, 1.50, 6 IP

Justin Miller
w/ Cash: 1-1, 5.13, 26.1 IP
w/ Zaun: 2-1, 4.95, 43.2 IP
w/ Quiroz: 0-1, 45.00, 1 IP
w/ Estalella: 0-1, 5.40, 5 IP

Roy Halladay and Justin Miller have been basically the same with both Cash and Zaun. Dave Bush has been better with the young catchers, but the samples are awfully small. Josh Towers has worked 80 of his 100 IP with Zaun, so there's almost nothing to talk about.

But Batista and Lilly...

We knew Kevin Cash was bewildered by Batista, and SF had some good stuff from Zaun the other day about the difficulties involved in catching Batista. Batista is certainly an intelligent man - he and Delgado are two of the brightest people you'll find in the game. But Delgado is also baseball-smart, and I don't know that Batista is.

We might have expected Cash and Batista to have trouble, but it turns out that the most radical split involves Ted Lilly. Lilly clearly has clicked with Zaun, and Lilly came here with a reputation as a pitcher who needs his catcher to take charge of him. Zaun appears to have done it for him.

Thanks, Magpie. Zaun has done so much for this team that has gone virtually unnoticed. I knew he was a tough out, especially from the left side, but he's been better with the bat than I expected. I had an image of him as a competent defender, but his arm has been outstanding and his fearlessness blocking the plate is an inspiration to his teammates. Although pitch-calling and game management are very hard to measure, he's impressed me in those areas as well.

I'm not going to tell J.P. how to spend his resources, but I'd be thrilled if he locks up Zaun for the next couple of years.

Boy, Delgado's 3-3 now. Angelos is sure going to love this guy.;)

Miller's "inability" to get the third out is a mystery. That's actually the fifth straight inning, going back to his last start, where he looked pretty good against the first two hitters before the wheels came off.

Fortunately, File came to the rescue with one good pitch.

I'd like to see Zaun back (he needs what, 60 days toget in 10 years for his pension?) - he plays hard, chips in with the bat, and Cash and Quiroz both have some work to do. They need a mentor, and alas, Crash looks done.

Besides, Zaun real strengths are defensive which is where the young guys can use a mentor. Crash was OK behind the plate, but best with the stick in his hand.

Baserunning brain cramp by O-Dog; he made a move toward second then didn't hustle back to first. Rios, already among the leaders in MLB, should have had another OF assist but Quiroz couldn't come up with the short hop. This isn't exactly a classic.

Gomez is now 31 for 59 in career steal attempts.

I echo those sentiments about Zaun. I think bringing him back for another year would be an excellent move. His bat has impressed me as I never thought he was much of a hitter, and his defence, especially the blokcing of the plate, has been much better than advertised. He really looks like a complete player out there, and while it's not a mark of a good team to have him batting 5th or 6th, he wouldn't look out of place as the starter on a contender the way he's played this year. Quiroz is still the future, but Zaun would be an excellent teacher.

I'm gonna spend 15 minutes on the phone to the STATS office when this is over explaining what happened....

"What's this 4-6 fielder's choice and the 2-3 out advancing? What was going on there today?"

"That was a double? No a single and advance on the error?"

Sigh.

Not one for the time capsule.

Can't you just score that a routine 4-6-2-3 double play? :)

Superb play by Hudson. If you can catch J-Zone this week, it's worth seeing (and listening to) Orlando introduce the "Gloved" segment, which features his best five Web Gems of the season. How they narrowed it down, I don't know, and he keeps adding to the list.

Do you think we'll see Batista again? :

Out of town, the Yankees are routing the Red Sox, and Johan Santana continues to kick ass; though, he's locked in a pitcher's duel with Bruce Chen. Damn, where did Chen come from? Baseball is a strange game.

For the second consecutive at bat, Woodward should have struck out into a double play. I'm thinking Chris Woodward isn't the batter to be doing hit-and-runs with.

the Tampa pitching coach walks out to make pitching changes.

Lou's 61 years old, he can't be bothered.

He does get out there to check on the health of his pitcher - Kazmir in the 3rd, and Harper just now.

I'm thinking Chris Woodward isn't the batter to be doing hit-and-runs with.

Not today, anyway. Usually, Woody's able to foul off close ones and put the bat on strikes; I recall one 14-pitch AB and many more where he saw nine or ten pitches.

I don't think they should use Batista for the third time in less than 72 hours. Frasor's got the eighth and Speier the ninth.

Can't you just score that a routine 4-6-2-3 double play? :)

Nah, the SS would end up with an assist and who knows who gets the first putout... gotta be two separate plays 46 and 23....

Speier getting ready for the 9th

For such a crappy game in just about every sense I've sure been impressed with Tino Marinez today. He's played well and hard all afternoon.

Not Miggy?

Maybe they don't want him throwing every single day yet. And he did start only a couple of days ago, as well.

Not Miggy?

75 pitches Thursday night and 17 Saturday afternoon. Now he's ready to go twice in New York.

Great job by Frasor (again) and Speier (again) -- even Vinny Chulk was effective.

Ouch -- 11-1 for the Yanks. Poor, poor Red Sox fans.

Wow, check out Santana:

8.0 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 14 K, 103 pitches.

Rivas even hit a homer. I thought Gardy finally figured out that he sucked. Now the homer will make him play Rivas more. Gleeman won't like that...

A key game in the NL wildcard race between the Padres and Giants is tied 2-2 in the 8th. Scott Linebrink needs to work himself out of a jam created in part by a Ramon Hernandez throwing error.

Otsuka comes into pitch, Bonds in to hit and he is walked intentionally.

JT Snow now has the bases loaded with one out.

Snow continues his fantastic year with a ground-rule double, which may effectively end San Diego's wild-card hopes.

Thank God for the internet. Just watched Shawn Green hit a game-winning 2-run homer with two outs in the 9th on an 0-2 count. Then flipped over to see Snow's double.

Green's been pretty good since the break, batting .287 with 17 homers, .550 slugging percentage. Not quite Delgado-good but the Dodgers will take it.

The Giants broadcast had a pair of buffoons who wouldn't stop blabbering about nonsense, while the Dodgers had Vin Scully doing the game by himself. Man, he's good.

On the Blue Jays This Week so far (not exact quotes by any means):

Batista: "I never had 8 or 10 pitches - it's just four. Just because I throw a pitch 5 mph slower once or twice doesn't make it a new pitch. If you use that logic, Pedro Martinez has about 25 pitches."

Ligtenberg: "It's been really frustrating. I know JP and Gibby and the fans aren't happy. My hip won't need surgery...I have what is probably early onset arthritis."

Jose Cruz up next with Wilner.

**

RE: Batista.
Where did everyone get the eight pitches from? Cash thought it was 8. I did. Most everyone else did. So what's going on?

OT:

I see a lot of people got eliminated in our Survival Football this week with their picks of Green Bay over the Bears. I'm still alive with my Dallas pick.

From the Jays preview, Cash thought that Batista's pitches were: "two-seam and four-seam fastball, cutter, sinker, curveball, slider, split and change."

From Batista's "if I throw a pitch 5 mph slower" comment, I'd guess that he'd put his 4 + 2 seam fastballs, cutter, sinker, split into the same pitch category, leaving him with fastball (various speeds / movements), curve, change, slider. Either that, or Cash didn't know what he was talking about.

My pick of the Bengals keeps my "Menechino for QB" team alive, of course :p

I love the Packers, but I honestly didn't trust them. One of the reasons that they've been "so good" recently is the fact that they play in a terrible division.

While that wasn't a great game, it was fun to be at (and heckle Lugo).

For those of you like me who like to wear jerseys, there are a couple of great sales on in the bullpen store. First of all, they still have Phelps jerseys behind the cash for 2/3 off: $60 instead of $180. I watched a guy buy the last Hentgen for the same price.

But check this out: you know those grey away jerseys that they have in the wrong colour? The real ones are light grey, but at the launch for the new jerseys last year they showed the same design but in dark grey, the same colour as the home hat. Well, they have a pile of those at the bullpen store, and they're the same quality as the $120 jerseys, but for $30. Plus, if you want it in child's size, they're $20. And so now I have a matched set of jerseys for me and my soon-to-be kid.

All kinds of new logo sweatshirts, t-shirts and jackets are half-price, too.

I despise the Packers.

Brett Favre is the Football equivelant of Derek Jeter, to me.

I'm still alive with my Dallas pick.

As am I with the Jets. Are you Bleeding Headwounds or Tuna Fish? (Or, to use Yahoo! names, "mister_jackass2002" or "reichel_is_1"?)

Brett Favre is the Football equivelant of Derek Jeter, to me.

Oh, come on. Favre is nowhere near the media god Jeter is. Favre also plays in freakin' Green Bay, where even the forest fires don't go through. Jeter is in NY, as we all know too well.

I also don't see Derek Jeter making moderately funny cameos in Ben Stiller movies. So there! ;)

NFH, I purchased a black jersey there, and would have gotten one of the discounted grey ones, but they sold out of XL 20 minutes before I got there. However, that alternating brown suede and white Jays hat is pretty slick looking. Too bad I don't wear hats.

Has anyone signed up for one of the new navy Jays hats? They were advertising them a couple of weeks ago in Skydome, and from what I heard, they might go with royal blue lettering and piping on the white jerseys next year, with a blue hat. Looked pretty sharp, IMO.

P.S. My little old hometown actually got mentioned today on the broadcast! Someone was the V-tech potential winner, and right after that a group of people had signs from Thunder Bay, 2 hours east, which got Faulds and Cerutti into a discussion of where the hell Atikokan was. Near Sioux Lookout, which is even smaller and 4 hours more north, was their answer.

Now it's Fozzy's turn for a phone! Has anyone here ever won one?

Rob, I am the Bleeding Headwounds.

Oh, come on. Favre is nowhere near the media god Jeter is.

I would debate that. Maybe he's not quite at the same lofty height, but he's sure close. When I watch a football game involving the Packers, I must always mute the television, because the announcers will just go on and on about Favre. Same thing with Tim McCarver and Derek Jeter.

I would be the tuna fish. That is all.

Favre can be overhyped, especially because of his consecutive games streak, but I've always thought that he was the most entertaining QB in the NFL. Every game, he throws around 5 insane passes that no-one else is crazy enough to make.

The game was fun to be at, up until the middle of the 3rd inning. I was sitting down the third baseline, and during the Jays' half of the 3rd, the sun disappeared, and the section was totally shady. It wasn't a warm day to begin with, and it became positively cold. Still, it was fun to see Kazmir rocked by a lineup that included Menechino at third, Woodward at short, and Gomez as DH. He still is having problems with walks, but his defense let him down.

Speaking of defense, apparently that heckling of Lugo paid off. My sister claimed that before the inning that he made the error, Lugo totally missed a ball tossed to him by Huff during the warmups.

I'm going to the final game of the season, so I'll look for some discount merchandise. Outside, the dark gray hats were going for 1/2 price, but I'm definately waiting for the new ones to come out.

Actually, I'm not one to judge Favre's god-ness, since I became an NFL fan because of him. So I really like him, obviously. And I think he's really good.

This must be what all the Jeter-lovers are thinking and it makes sense, really. If you like a player, and everyone keeps saying he's great, why would you think otherwise? Like with Sparky. Now I love him. Don't get me wrong. But look at the stats; you realize he doesn't hit for enough power to play a corner OF spot every day. There are better options. (Actually, I like the "Rank Johnsonotto" LF idea for next year, much like "Grom Myson" in 2003.)

And I won't believe differently about Favre until there are some really useful statistics. QB rating is stupid, completion % is misleading -- if there's a perfect pass dropped, shouldn't the WR get an 0 for 1 instead? -- and passing yards are also misleading. If Favre throws it ten yards, then Ferguson takes it 68 for a major, did Favre really throw for a 78-yard touchdown?

Continuing the "Rank Johnsonotto" theme...

Your 2005 Platoon Blue Jays:
C: Guillegg Zuiroz
SS: Chruss Godams
3B: Freric Hinschino
LF: Rank Johnsonotto
RF: Gabexis Grios

Brings back memories of Gance Mullinorg...

Has anyone signed up for one of the new navy Jays hats? They were advertising them a couple of weeks ago in Skydome, and from what I heard, they might go with royal blue lettering and piping on the white jerseys next year, with a blue hat. Looked pretty sharp, IMO.

I never saw the ad -- is it still around?

I really like the blue on the new hats and jerseys, so if it's that blue it could look really sharp.

The game was fun to be at, up until the middle of the 3rd inning. I was sitting down the third baseline, and during the Jays' half of the 3rd, the sun disappeared, and the section was totally shady. It wasn't a warm day to begin with, and it became positively cold.

Ha! Eat your heart out! I was on the first base line, and I was toasty warm all game. The only thing I was worried about was sunburn.

It was a good game - I kept expecting bad things to happen (long home runs by Tampa Bay players, bullpen failure, etc.), and none of them transpired. Let the race for fourth place begin!

http://www.baseball-reference.com/z/zaungr01.shtml
I'm not going to tell J.P. how to spend his resources, but I'd be thrilled if he locks up Zaun for the next couple of years.

I won't be happy if Zaun is locked up for the next couple years.

Let's not let this year influence us too much. Zaun's a journeyman catcher that was picked up off the scrapheap as nothing more than insurance for Myers.

Zaun will be 34 next year.

He's a career .246/.332/.371 hitter (coming into this year), an OPS+ of 82.

This year he's hitting .272/.373/.391 in 100 games. It's only the second time in his career that he's played 100+ games (and ther other time was 101). It's his career year (2000 is close).

(His second comparible by the way at BR through age 32 is Ernie Whitt! - COMN)

If the team re-signs Zaun for 1 year and $750k or less I'm fine with it. Anything in excess of that, in terms of money or years, is too much in my view.

Ha! Eat your heart out! I was on the first base line, and I was toasty warm all game. The only thing I was worried about was sunburn.

I was envying the warm side all game long. Towards the end of the game, my family went up onto the concourse, where it was slightly warmer, to watch the game from behind the plate. I guess this makes up for the last game I was at: I sat in the sun all game long, nearly got sunburnt, and ran out of Coke by the middle of the second. Apparently the weather is always the opposite of what I predict, so when I go on October 3rd for the final game, I'll either get a 30 degree sunny day, or 10 cm of snow.

Zaun's a journeyman catcher that was picked up off the scrapheap as nothing more than insurance for Myers.

And his stat line is still overly influenced by one hot month.

Zaun in May: .429 / .517 / .490
Zaun in June: .244 / .340 / .344
Zaun in July: .263 / .371 / .408
Zaun in August: .250 / .353 / .361
Zaun in September: .172 / .294 / .310

So most of the time, he's been his usual self, with even less slugging.

You know what though, that's a pretty decent OBP he has in each month. A good defensive catcher that can get on base at a .340 clip would be worth keeping around.

I wouldn't mind bringing Zaun back for a year (Going, Going, ZAUN! has to be worth at least $200,000). I was just trying to point out that Zaun hasn't necessarily had a career year, he's more likely had a career month. I'd certainly rather have Quiroz and Zaun than Quiroz and Cash, that's for sure.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/z/zaungr01.shtml
That's a good point. Zaun's career line before this year (COMN) was .246/.332/371

So, based on that...

May: Way above career numbers
June: Identical to career numbers
July: Above career numbers
August: Roughly the same (higher OBP, lower SLG)
September: Below career numbers

If his cold September continues, then September and July basically cancel each other out, leaving him with a ridiculous May and a June and August that are predictable of Zaun.

So, uh, this is a long way of saying that I agree with you. The guy still has a .373 OBP overall though, and even if that drops 25 points next year, it's still pretty decent of a backup catcher (I think.)

Gabexis Grios

Isn't he the newest comic-relief sidekick in the next Star Wars instalment?

Looking around the division's back-up catchers:

New York has John Flaherty, his OPS is .727
Boston has Doug Mirabelli, his OPS is .894
Baltimore has Robert Machado, OPS of .428
Tampa Bay has Brooke Fordyce, OPS of .516

Zaun's career OPS is .715, so he's on par with the rest of these guys, and better than the low-budget teams.

Looking within the team, Zaun's OPS ranks 5th among regulars, ahead of guys like Hinske, Johnson, Woodward, etc.

Zaun's OPS is 15th in the AL, and he ranks 27th overall in the MLB.

If he's willing to come back on the cheap, why not resign him for a year? Especially since the Jays could probably use a veteran catcher to work with the young pitchers. If he gets injured or plays more to his norms, it's not a big issue. If the Jays afford paying Valerio de los Santos for $850,000, then spending a bit more on Zaun can't be that bad, even if he does get injured or reverts to his usual numbers.

As for the name game, the best combination of names belongs to two righthander relievers who are looking to shake bad second halves as part of the Arson squad: Kerson (Kerosene?) Ligtor.

NFH, sorry, but I have no clue whether they're still advertising the hats; they had a table set up right after entering gate 5 trying to sign people up for them. All I can say is though is that they looked pretty damn sharp, much better than the grey ones. The closest comparison I can think of is the dark blue for Windows's default 16 colours, if that helps any; royal blue I guess.

If only JP hadn't traded away #17, The jays could have a 1B by the name of Erosh Phelzier

Errr, of course I'm implying that JP would have traded Woodward for Crozier. Yeah, that's the ticket.

Here's the GPAs for AL catchers with at least 150 ABs this season:

Rk	Player, Team	         GPA
1	I. Rodriguez, Det	0.303
2	J. Posada, NYY	        0.301
3	D. Mirabelli, Bos	0.297
4	J. Varitek, Bos	        0.296
5	V. Martinez, Cle	0.294
6	J. Lopez, Bal	        0.285
7	G. Zaun, Tor	        0.266
8	A. Melhuse, Oak	        0.256
9	D. Miller, Oak	        0.255
10	B. Molina, Ana	        0.250
11	B. Santiago, KC	        0.249
12	M. LeCroy, Min	        0.247
13	M. Olivo, CWS/Sea	0.242
14	R. Barajas, Tex	        0.237
15	T. Hall, TB	        0.234
16	J. Buck, KC	        0.233
17	J. Molina, Ana	        0.225
18	B. Davis, CWS/Sea	0.219
19	S. Alomar Jr., CWS	0.215
20	D. Wilson, Sea	        0.207
21	H. Blanco, Min	        0.197
22	G. Laird, Tex	        0.196
23	K. Cash, Tor	        0.191
Ave	Player 	                0.248

Wow. I'm surprised Cash has that many AB's. 180 according to ESPN.com

There was some talk earlier in this thread about some minor alterations to the new uniforms -- Adding piping, changing the hat colour, and changing the neon blue in the uniform to royal blue (please!). Can someone confirm this? How do you know about these changes?

Those would be very positive changes to the uniform. And I think a great opportunity to re-brand this team out from 2004. I hope they ditch the alternate black tops as well: navy blue tops would be cool.

Kiernan, I too am crossing my fingers for these changes. To respect the uniform of your favourite team is so important. I was watching the Devil Rays today and thinking: how could anyone fall in love with a team with such poor packaging? Those Tampa Bay uniforms are the worst. I suppose it's tough to come up with a concept for a team with four words in it's name - "Tampa Bay Devil Rays" - but these guys look dreadful in that uniform.

Uniform pet peeve: sleeveless uniform tops where the players do not uniformly wear the same undershirts. You get some long-sleeves, some spandex, some t-shirts: the Pirates and Royals can look so sloppy in those alternate uniforms. And when the Royals wear black: yuck! KC Royals once had the classiest uniform set in the Majors.

My friend and I actualy said "couldn't they just put some piping on the side?" as soon as we saw the new white uniforms this year. So I am certainly in favour of "enhancing" the whites. But from the sound of things, I'm the only one who really digs the black alternate uni's.

Don't worry Jobu, I love the black unis too, in fact, I bought one I thought they looked so snazzy.

Hey alright, so did I :>

Then of course my friend bought the same black jersey with Hentgen on the back for the same price it would cost me just to get "Johnson 37" put on the back of mine. Not fair I tell ya..... not fair.

And while we're talking about uniform improvements, aside from piping on the white jerseys, I'd like to see the angry-bird logo or a royal blue maple leaf arm patch on the sleeve, and if possible the small numbers on the left of the stomach as well. That is all.

Ahh, those blue hats that you had to sign up for are just the giveaway hats for signing up for a credit card. Six weeks ago it was sunhats with the Jays logo on 'em, now it's these blue hats. And before that it was t-shirts.

As for the blue piping etc as seen in the commercial for the video game, I think that's just a mistake. I'd bet we're going to have the same or virtually the same uniform next year.

What percentage of runners has Zaun thrown out? I don't have the numbers but based on what I've seen and his very average arm it doesn't seem like many.

Signed as a one-year backup I can understand. 2 years? Forget it. Even a somewhat raw Quiroz will bring more to the lineup, I'd rather he make the majority of starts in '05 providing he shows some comptency for the rest of the year.

Zaun's a good bargain.

In addition to those OPS stats he owns a good 6-10 outfield assists -- he makes Rios's arm flex like Mondesi's.

I'm delighted with him as a back up as long as he's just that -- a back up. Tosca already ruined Cash's shot by benching him for Zaun to help him keep his job for a few extra days. They need to let Quiroz sink or swim next year.

Zaun's allowed 60 stolen bases, has thrown out 23 runners, for 27.7% runners thrown out. That puts him fourth-last in the AL, ahead of Bengie Molina, Jason Varitek, and Victor Martinez (among catchers who play at least 1/2 their team's games)

Just by way of comparison, Cash has allowed 18 stolen bases, with 15 caught stealing, for 43.8% of potential runners thrown out. That puts him in between Pat Borders (!) and Damian Miller, near the top of the league.