According to a message I received last night from SABR member Bill Hickman, Reed Johnson's MLB debut yesterday afternoon made him the 15,999th player in major league history. The next player to make his debut will be number 16,000. Let's keep an eye out for the next debutant.

Gee, who to root for? The guy who endured multiple surgeries on his arm and legs, persevered into his 30's, finally got a chance last year and was brilliant in his emergency start, or the more talented, but incredibly immature jerk? Even though I own Jeff Weaver in a couple of fantasy leagues, I don't like him; either does Mike Sweeney. The pitcher, a fan of Jerry Springer, has been a security guard on that thought-provoking TV show, and also showed his class in harrassing a woman who (doing her job) chastised him for smoking dope on the team plane. Jon Heyman of Newsday commented a couple of months ago on his (entirely expected) reaction to the subsequent lawsuit:

Jeff Weaver didn't sound too concerned that the Tigers had to pay $200,000 to the flight attendant who sued them after she was mistreated by Weaver and other Tigers. "Out of sight. Out of mind," Weaver said.

The rude, crude dude is 3-4, 5.68 against the Jays over the last three years, and he has a 5.45 home ERA since donning pinstripes. Delgado (1.431 OPS), Wells (1.333) and Hinske (1.500) have hit him extremely well -- here's hoping all those trends continue this afternoon. No TV, but it's on the FAN 590.

If you're not familiar with WhatIfSports, please read this cautionary tale called "I See Dead People" from the great ESPN.com Sports Guy, Bill Simmons.

Now, thanks to WhatIfSports, Da Box is proud to bring you the first-ever What If Jays Series, as the All-Time Jays team faces off with the All-Time Yankees team in a seven-game series. But first, we need some help in finalizing the rosters of the two teams.

Now, to be fair ...

There's my answer to "where's Woody?" -- in today's Sun, Mike Ganter's notes explain the absence of the team's starting SS -- Chris strained his left shoulder diving for a ball late in Monday's game. It does not sound too serious.

We also learn that Phelps reminded his manager he still has shin pads, and that Reed Johnson's debut will probably come Sunday against Casey Fossum, a pitcher he's familiar with. I thought we'd see Johnson in RF last night, but after Berg's sixth inning double, Tosca (wisely) kept his bat in the lineup, and despite the inherent defensive risks, Dave got another hit in the eighth and now has a .919 OPS. Why didn't Johnson and his glove come in for the ninth? Well, if the Yanks had tied it up -- a distinct possibility against El Flako -- Berg would have been the second hitter in the tenth.

If you haven't chimed in yet, Da Box is prepping for a What If? Matchup between an all-time team of Jays and an all-time team of 1977-2002 Yankees. We're in the process of debating the rosters, so join in.

Earlier today, in a thrilling Exhibition Stadium matchup, the 1998 Yankees knocked off the 1992 Blue Jays, 3-2 as Andy Pettitte outpitched Pat Hentgen, who went the distance but gave up a critical eighth-inning hit to Tino Martinez.

In Game 2 of the pre-series matchups, Bobby Mattick's 54-107 1977 Jays travel to Yankee Stadium to take on Bucky Dent's 64-97 1990 New York squad. Jerry Garvin (10-18) pitches for the expansion Birds, while Andy Hawkins (5-12) takes the mound for the Bronx Bombers.

Four teams, three losses, one rainout, and some truly ugly pitching lines for your Junior Jays yesterday.

Warning: Rant Ahead.

This one might get me thrown right out of the ZLC.

One of the better ideas Canada's new independent pro league had was to sign players to contracts before assigning them to teams. The playing field must be level when your entire regular season is against just three other teams in your division. Yesterday, the CBL announced its rosters, and all teams are still looking for free agent talent.

I'm a skeptic. I don't think the CBL will play noticeably better ball than the Intercounty League, though we'll miss Rich Butler and Gamin Teague at the Pits this year. The Sunday night TV games (shown on The Score, a poor substitute for Jon and Joe and the ESPN featured game) could help create interest. I'm not rooting for the league to fail; quite the contrary -- I'm happy for the sprinkling of Canadians who get a chance to play, and there's never too much baseball. The first year will be understandably rocky, and the CBL will require more teams to survive, but the talent pool is shallow already, and unless all the local marketing efforts are superb, the investors will need deep pockets.

Before anyone jokes about the Royales outdrawing the local NL club, it ain't gonna happen. The barnstorming Montreal CBL team, like Los Expos, is playing its "home" games all over the place -- Sherbrooke, and a bunch of TBAs. I don't understand why they're not based at Parc Jarry.

Since the inimitable John Gizzi has seen fit to crib his own material by introducing "Notes from Nowhere" -- long a staple to close his ESPN.com column -- I'll follow suit with this first edition of "Elliptical Information," which used to close my own efforts for the Worldwide Leader.

So read on for an Andujar update, a Jose Cruz Jr. sighting, the wisdom of Mike Hargrove and other random thoughts and jumbled jottings ...

According to Forbes magazine, the Los Angeles Dodgers were the biggest financial losers last season with an operating deficit of $25 million. The Rangers were next at $24.5 million, followed by the Blue Jays ($23.9 million), Diamondbacks ($22.2 million) and Marlins ($14 million). Followup question ...

Alex Salkever looks at the new age of sports technology in a Business Week special report. Scouts have laptops. Coaches are viewing digital replays on DVD. Some nameless writer from Baseball Prospectus apparently got a job in the Toronto front office. It's a revolution, no question. But there's surprising resistance -- according to Michael Lewis, whose soon-to-be-published Moneyball is eagerly anticipated, "in the top ranks of baseball, many old salts continue to chafe at the scientific study of their beloved game."

The teams that really "get it" are still in the minority, though there's a trend among several other front offices toward gradually integrating new ideas with established methods. As someone on the older and saltier side of the ZLC spectrum, I feel compelled to point out that raw data, processing power and high-tech gadgets don't mean a thing, unless they are in the hands of someone who really knows the game. GIGO is the first thing I learned about computers, and it will always apply.

Star pitching prospects David Bush and Brandon League posted excellent performances, while yet another Jays catching prospect continued to impress with his bat. And how many bases on balls do you think Tyrell Godwin has drawn this season? Read on to find out.

Carlos Tosca started Mike Bordick at SS last night; it was a hunch that made sense, as Chris Woodward was 0-for-5 lifetime against Mussina and hadn't been playing great defence. Tonight, the skipper goes with Bordick again, hardly a ringing endorsement for the supposed #1. Granted, Woody is also 0-for-5 in his brief career against Boomer, and has not fared well against lefties (so far) while Bordick has hit .271 in 56 AB against the not-quite-perfect one. Perhaps Chris isn't 100%, or maybe this benching is intended as a wakeup call. No surprise in RF, where Dave Berg takes Cat's place, batting second. Still no Reed Johnson sighting. The Jays need Cory Lidle to be sharp, but it's hard to be optimistic the way the Yankees are playing.

The Yankees have paid a $75,000 settlement (which is not officially being called a fine) to avoid possible penalties under the U.S. Trading With The Enemy Act. Apparently the incident involved negotiations with Cuban players, negotiations in which the Cuban government was involved and presumably was to get a cut. I am desperately trying to hold my tongue on three separate issues: (1) the continuing U.S. economic embargo of Cuba and the means the U.S. uses in its embargoes; (2) the fact that corporate criminals like the Yankees can settle these disputes almost entirely in secret (the documents released by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control were redacted down so much that you could only make out the name); and (3) whether Castro and Steinbrenner really sound so much alike or if it's just George Costanza's imagination.

Just a quick note of gratitude to all of our readers. Without you, there wouldn't be a Batter's Box. From all of us in the ZLC, thank you -- come again.

Here's a quick rundown of highlights from last night's Jays' minor-league games, something I hope will be a semi-regular feature over the course of the season (or as often as I can manage, anyway). I'll also aim to supply a weekly update on the state of each squad and their key performers.