If you're as starved for box scores as I am, you can follow the exhibition series in Japan, where Eric Hinske is the lone Blue Jay on the MLB all-star roster.

Hinske, in the familiar role of backing up Eric Chavez, might not play a lot, but sharing a dugout (and the entire experience) with the likes of Barry Bonds and Robbie Alomar is a great opportunity. Not that he lacks confidence or maturity at this stage of his career, but this can only help Eric's development.

The MLB team left a few decent pitchers at home (Johnson, Schilling, Martinez, Zito...) and the series matters more to the Japanese all-stars, so it's not like the outcome of these games is significant. Last year's Olympic hockey tournament was more compelling than any NHL series, so I would welcome a "real" World Cup of baseball. Team Canada, if everyone participated, would need a superb effort to finish in the top six, with the U.S. and Dominican Republic fielding star-studded teams, and Japan, Venezuela and Cuba among the more serious contenders for a medal. By the time (if?) young Canadian prospects like Adam Loewen, Jeff Francis and Justin Morneau are ready to compete at such a level, "our" superstar, Larry Walker, will be reduced to coaching and/or pinch-hitting.

An open tourney would keep baseball in the Olympics, and it's fun to speculate on the rosters if MLB extended its all-star break every four years, allowing the world's best to represent their countries.