It's nice to finally be invited to the dance.

It has been a great regular season.  To be able to ask the question, "was this the best Blue Jay regular season in team history?", without gales of laughter ensuing is a rare treat. So, let's do it.  With some statistics and some flights of fancy.

You may have heard some worry expressed about the Taylor Swift effect - how bad things happened to Washington, San Diego, and Houston after the 1989 tour came to town.

It's worse than that. Much, much worse. Be afraid. Be very afraid. Consider:

It is with great pride and pleasure to start a thread that has been a long time coming since Batter's Box appeared on the internet scene in 2002. Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, your 2015 American League East champions - the Toronto Blue Jays!

One of the true legends of the game is gone.

The excitement in Toronto is at a fever pitch as the Blue Jays return home for their final regular season homestand of 2015.

Help make the 13th annual survey a success by providing your opinion on  fielders.

http://www.tangotiger.net/scout/

Back in November, the Blue Jays signed themselves a big ticket free agent - catcher Russell Martin.

The Vancouver Canadians put an end to a three-game losing streak thanks to five multi-run innings against the Everett AquaSox at Nat Bailey Stadium Friday night.


Francisco Rios got through five innings to pick up the victory in his last start of the season.

This has been an amazing month (with one day to go).  Have the Jays ever been this hot?

Recent readers of the Box may be aware of my crusade against the 8-man bullpen. I have nothing against it in principle, except that until September, the active roster for major league teams is limited to 25 players. When rosters expand, if you want a 14-man bullpen, I will raise a figurative glass of ale and say, why the heck not!

I'll add another caveat. On teams with weak starting pitchers wherein several starting pitchers have difficulty reaching the 6th and 7th innings, a three-man bench is defensible as long as at least two players and/or one regular are reasonably versatile. I don't believe the current Jays are in that category.

Just was thinking about who the Jays might face in the playoffs and if being so right handed is a good or bad thing depending on opponent(s).

"Oh dear... kids, tell me when your father stops scratching himself.

...kids?"

"We'll tell you mom."

Jose Reyes & 3 minor leaguers (reported as Jeff Hoffman and  Miguel Castro and Jesus Tinoco) for Troy Tulowitzki and LaTroy Hawkins (now a reliever).

Aaron Sanchez did little to ease fan concerns about our pitching as he was wild in Buffalo. Pitching was easier to come by further down the line though. Nick Wells was pretty darn good in Bluefield. Your affiliates were 4-4 on the night.