Five (count 'em) rookies get the start for the Blue Jays today against the Devil Rays -- and it would be six greenhorns if Alex Rios weren't grabbing some bench. Russ Adams (SS), Gabe Gross (LF), Guillermo Quiroz (C) and Eric Crozier (DH) are in the lineup, while Dave Bush toes the rubber. Barring trades (and that's a risky thing to bar, with this club a miserable 27 games under .500), Bush, Adams and Gross are locks to start next year with the big club, while Quiroz looks like he could use another half-season in the minors, and Crozier's jury is still out. Don't expect this many rookies to debut with Toronto in one season for a long time; we'll look back years from now on 2004 as the renewal of the big-league club. Todd Ritchie, the walking incarnation of Kenny Williams' buyer's remorse, gets the start for Tampa. Have the D-Rays improved on their 2003 campaign? They could go 1-16 from this point onwards and still beat last year's 63-99 record.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20040918025244999