J.P. joined Tom Cheek in the radio booth. He likes the logo, and thinks the players like it, too. Called Monday Doc's best performance of the year. He also looked at a lot of minor leaguers recently, and called his young pitchers "strike machines."

"Next year we should have McGowan, Bush and Arnold in AAA. The pitching is coming -- not as fast as you'd like, but it's coming."

Ricciardi thinks this up-and-down season is typical of young players, and that the experienced gained this year will enable "another step forward."

"We played well against Seattle and Oakland," said the GM. "We think that in a couple of years we'll be a team not too many people want to play."

J.P. joined Tom Cheek in the radio booth.

Whereas I am currently listening to Rob Faulds interview Fran Drescher (modelling the new uniform). Excuse me while I turn off my sound.

Yanks take the lead 1-0 on a sharp Boone double to left and a Garcia single off a pretty good pitch.

Outstanding play by Orlando Husdon to end the third, ranging almost to the foul line, spinning and making a perfect throw. Credit Escobar for hustling over to complete the 4-1 putout on what looked like a sure single. Nick Johnson's "speed" is making a lot of Toronto defenders look good.

One bit of recent Jays lore no one has mentioned yet: who are the fans who sit in the left field second deck and put up a different banner every night? Tonight's banner just says "KELVIM".

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Coach: It's been a week (and a bit) since the J.P. interview was first published. How much were the Batter's Box site stats up from a typical week?

I just noticed the Batter's Box was in my Top 10 referrers last week due to me linking one of my articles in the comments of that interview. BBox hasn't been in the Top 100 since I first published "Baseball Players and Opportunity Costs".

Terrific play by Hudson.. I didn't think they'd have a chance at getting Johnson.

Cheers,

Mike

Rob Faulds needs a new home run call. I'm sick of "What do you think about that?" (I get lousy radio reception in my apartment, so Tom and Jerry isn't really an option - I can pick up the feed from mlb.com, but it's delayed too long to be useful.)

Josh Phelps doesn't need a new anything. He's doing fine just the way he is.

What a great, great at bat by Joshua.

I've already turned off the HD sound because of the announcers. Tonight I'm listening to the Yankees radio on the Internet (20 seconds behind the video; I've gotten used to the delay this year). The Yankee announcers still haven't figured out the whistles in the stands (a university frosh week outing I assume).

The HD pictures from the dome look nicer at night (with the roof open) than in Monday's daylight (though it looks like they're closing the roof now). Maybe this should have been obvious, but I find I don't notice much improvement in the picture when I watch from across the room, but if I stand up close to the monitor, the picture quality is quite impressive. But there's still that trail on the ball when it moves.

I thought the Jays were going to wear their new uniforms tonight, but there was just a pre-game ceremony.

What a great, great at bat by Joshua.

Hear, hear. He fouled off a series of nasty borderline 3-2 pitches then obliterated a fastball. The 2-run shot got the Jays back in it; they had fallen behind 3-0 on homers by Giambi and Posada.

How much were the Batter's Box site stats up from a typical week?

Quite a bit. On the day the interview was posted (August 26) we got approximately 2,100 hits, eclipsing the old record by more than 500. The boost in traffic continued until the long weekend, when things are typically very quiet. From 9:15 Tuesday to 9:15 Tuesday the counter clicked more than 11,000 times; the busiest previous week was about 7,500. At this rate we'll reach 200,000 before the end of our first season. Welcome to the new visitors.

Before the game, Jody Vance said it was against the league's rules for the Jays to wear their new uniforms tonight.

I don't think this was the first clash the Jays have had with the league this year regarding their uniforms. The team had planned to make their Saturday alternate their primary home uniform this season and change the font for the names and numerals. Since no official explanation was given, I assumed the league nixed that idea as well since they require quite a bit of lead time before any uniform change is made.

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Quite a bit. On the day the interview was posted (August 26) we got approximately 2,100 hits, eclipsing the old record by more than 500. The boost in traffic continued until the long weekend, when things are typically very quiet. From 9:15 Tuesday to 9:15 Tuesday the counter clicked more than 11,000 times; the busiest previous week was about 7,500. At this rate we'll reach 200,000 before the end of our first season.

Wow.. that's terrific! When is the official 1st anniversary?

Since this is such a quality site, I'm sure you'll retain many of those first time visitors. I wouldn't be surprised if your numbers continue to rise during the off-season as we all debate possible free agent moves and Rule V pickups.

I hope the server costs aren't eating you alive. I'll send you a two-four of Keith's next time I'm in TO as a "membership fee".

OT: Does anyone know of any indoor batting cages in SW Ontario? The only one I know of is in the Playdium in Missa-sausage. I'll need to keep working on my swing during Christmas.

Cheers,

Mike

Mike, don't be dissing the Saug. If you find yourself in Mississauga and want to avoid the Playdium fees, there's a batting cage called, ironically, The Batting Cage. It's on the south side of Burnhamthorpe Rd., just west of Mavis Rd. (It's kind of buried behind a Harvey's in a strip mall.)

No frills, just hittin'. When I played and/or coached, it was my favourite after-work spot.

I believe there is a Frozen Ropes centre in Guelph.

Mike...there's also one in K/W but for the life of me I can't remember its name. Possibly Bronfmann's Park? Nah that can't be it. It's a big complex, with waterslides and mini-putt and a golf dome.

I also understand you can rent out the Skydome for something like $1,000 if you really want to take some serious cuts. ;)

Mike, don't be dissing the Saug. If you find yourself in Mississauga and want to avoid the Playdium fees, there's a batting cage called, ironically, The Batting Cage. It's on the south side of Burnhamthorpe Rd., just west of Mavis Rd. (It's kind of buried behind a Harvey's in a strip mall.)

No frills, just hittin'. When I played and/or coached, it was my favourite after-work spot.



Ah, the Batting Cage brings back memories of being 18 in 1988 - although i went to T.L. Kennedy, I had a group of friends that attended/had already graduated from Credit Woodlands. One of the grads worked full-time at the Cage, and we used to spend a fair amount of time there (after hours) drinking beer and listening to cheesy metal before heading over to the pool hall that was a couple doors down. Good times, good times.

(I moved away from Mississauga in 1990, on a long, twisting journey that took me to both coasts before depositing me in Chicago. Have no idea what happened to that bunch - heck, I can barely remember their first names)

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I also understand you can rent out the Skydome for something like $1,000 if you really want to take some serious cuts. ;)

How much for just the infield? That's all we need to have when I'm hitting. :)

Thanks for the tips guys! With the weather getting cooler, I don't know where I'm going to hit when I'm in Canada.

Mike D: No disrespect meant to the Saug... I just can't spell. I'll be there on Saturday, so I'll check out the place you mentioned.

Jay: I'm guessing you mean Bingheman's (or however you spell it). I didn't know it had indoor batting cages; I haven't been there since I was 11. I remember I went there with a friend of mine and he won a Red Sox pennant by guessing how hard he could throw a baseball on his 3rd try.

Cheers,

Mike

Jay, the K/W facility is Bingeman Park, on Victoria east of Hwy. 8.

A happy J.P. just stepped into the radio booth to report that New Haven beat New Britain 3-1.

On an RBI sac fly by Eric Hinske, the Jays take a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the seventh. Good ball game.

A better option than Bingeman's in Kitchener is Sportsworld, at Highway 8 & Sportsworld Drive. Not great cages, but much closer to the 401.

An intentional walk. How's that for young Joshua's confidence?

A better option than Bingeman's in Kitchener is Sportsworld, at Highway 8 & Sportsworld Drive. Not great cages, but much closer to the 401.

How much heat do they have in those cages now? Many years ago, when I lived in Waterloo, I tried batting there on a cold day. Boy, did it sting my hands. (This may be because I seldom made good contact, if indeed I made any contact at all.)

Woo! A one-run victory! (Note to Yankee baserunners: try stopping at first for a change.)

A good win, one I could enjoy only in snippets whilst shopping.

I am currently listening to Rob Faulds interview Fran Drescher

The indictments for Crimes Against Humanity should be coming down shortly from The Hague.

It turned out they just closed the south panel of the roof, apparently for a mid-game laser show (see logo on white roof panel briefly). The arch panels were still open.

Sportsnet HD stayed up for the whole game tonight. As mentioned earlier, I was more impressed with it tonight. There's some truth to what they say about it being like looking through a window. I pulled up a chair and sat just a few feet from the TV a lot tonight.

They don't run the ticker at the bottom during the HD broadcast (I don't miss it). On the standard broadcast, they were still running the ticker (but maybe it was below the widescreen picture).

There's one camera angle they sometimes go to which isn't HD despite being widescreen (see fuzzy shadows around players), the one from behind home plate but not too far up (I think the camera might be attached to the screen, not sure).

Ahhh yes...Sportsworld is what I was thinking about, while getting it confused with Bingemann's. I don't believe Bingemann's has cages though. Thanks for the memory jog folks.

Ahhh yes...Sportsworld is what I was thinking about, while getting it confused with Bingemann's. I don't believe Bingemann's has cages though.

I've spent some tokens in my time. Both Sportsworld and Bingeman's in Kitchener have batting cages. So does 402 Golfland in Sarnia. So does the Chatham Golf and Fun Centre. So does East Park Golf in London. There's a Mini-Indy place in Etobicoke with cages. And while I've never been to them, rumour has it The Docks has batting cages.

I know Phelps has been on a tare as of late (just been keeping up with boxscores, Montreal TV/Radio is absorbed with Expo losing) but when did we start with the biblical references? ;-)

Mike, you're gonna have a whole lot more hits on your page between now and December because I'm a newbie Poli Sci arts student forced in to an economics course. Thanks in advance!

Mike/Mike -- I don't live in Mississauga anymore (I could tell you where the indoor cage in Ottawa is!), but I'm pretty sure that The Batting Cage has been closed for years.

The Harvey's isn't even there anymore, either, for that matter. (I think it's an Indian restaurant of some sort now?). There is a pretty cool little Irish pub in that strip mall though (Coopers) if you are in the neighbourhood!

Cage is still there; not sure about the Harvey's.

http://economics.about.com
Mike, you're gonna have a whole lot more hits on your page between now and December because I'm a newbie Poli Sci arts student forced in to an economics course. Thanks in advance!

No worries. If you have any economics related questions, e-mail me at economics.guide@about.com. Make sure you mention that your from Da Box (since I don't know your real name), so I put yours at the top of the pile.

I was a Poli Sci major as an undergrad too, tho I eventually ended up doing a double major with Econ. And now you know.. the rest of the story.

Cheers,

Mike

I realize that a "Yes it is!", "No is isn't!" argument is pointless, but when was the last time you were actually at that Batting Cage, MikeD? Harvey's has been gone a fairly long time, too...

FWIW, http://www.yellowpages.ca is a useful resource for these sort of things. According to the Yellow Pages, there are actually 18 "Baseball Batting Ranges" in Ontario

when did we start with the biblical references?

Adam, we're just following suit. For quite a while now, Jerry Howarth has been referring to Phelps as "Big Joshua."

There's a Mini-Indy place in Etobicoke with cages.

That's at Centennial Park, only in the summer. Back in April, when we were trying to prepare the high school team in bad weather, it wasn't open yet. There's nothing I know of that's year-round and TTC accessible.

I realize that a "Yes it is!", "No is isn't!" argument is pointless...

No it isn't!

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/columnists/askba.html
BA has updates on TJ surgery patients Francisco Rosario and Chris Leonard. COMN.

What's everyone else's feeling on Leonard? I really didn't hear much about him when he was drafted so what's his stuff like? HS or College?

Yep.. The Docks Does have cages.. and they rock

Would anyone know about batting cages in the Ottawa area?