I have never been to Las Vegas but I hear people walk the strip to see the sights.  On Saturday there was a lot of walking off the strip, Las Vegas hitters walked ten times.  They walked three times in the first, and scored three runs, and they won the game in the tenth with the always exciting four walk inning.  The other three affiliates took the "L".  Mark Rzepczynski pitched OK but not good enough.  BJ Ryan took the loss in Dunedin and Tim Collins gave up some runs.  Lansing were never in it although Kenny Wilson stayed hot.

Second in a six-part series ...

Last week, we examined the "hometown" AL East in terms of who among active players is headed to enshrinement in the Hall of Fame. Now, while staying in the junior circuit, we switch to the left coast to examine the same likelihoods for players on the four teams in MLB's smallest division.

Once again ...

A circumstance beyond our control
The phone, the TV, the News of the World

A good night for Alex Rodriguez and Kobe Bryant? That's how I spell frustrating.

The top two farm teams combined for 32 runs and two wins. 'Nuff said. Oh, and can you remember a time when three separate Jays farm hands had five hits a piece in one night?

Nah.

But Dom DiMaggio, who died early today at the age of 92, was an awfully good player anyway.

Las Vegas lost despite a good start from Brad Mills but the other three affiliates won.  Al Quintana hit a grand slam for the Fisher Cats, Tim Collins got the win for the D-Jays to outshine Casey Janssen and BJ Ryan, and Henderson Alvarez pitched a complete game to lead the Lugnuts.  Darin Mastroianni got things started and finished for Dunedin.

This game was over two batters in as the Jays crushed the Angels 13-1 Wednesday night in Anaheim to improve to 20-10 on the season.  There was really no need for the rally monkey to show up for this one after being let go from a previous gig.

The Los Angeles Times is reporting that Manny Ramirez has tested positive for a banned substance and will be suspended for 50 games.

All but five MLB teams have played at least a full one-sixth (27 games) of its schedule. And the casual fan might need a fifth to make sense of what's happening.

Toronto is in first place? Okay, you knew that. But Kansas City and Texas are leading the other two divisions? And Boston is just barely holding off Seattle for the Wild Card lead? Cleveland is in last place? The Yankees, Rays and Angels are all under .500?

The National League is making more sense, with the Phillies, Cardinals, Dodgers and Brewers all holding way-too-early-to-celebrate playoff spots right now. There are no stunning "losers" just yet, though the Mets surely expected to be better than 13-13.

What team has surprised you the most to this point?

Of all the reasons why the AAA club's move to Las Vegas was bad for the organization, the most egregious is the fact that 10:05 start times really impact the writing of a minor league recap.  I don't know if the Jays considered these ramifications, but I'd like to think they'll right this wrong as soon as possible.

Oh, right:  the games.  The affiliates went 2-3.

Adam Lind had the big poke in a seven-run seventh to lift the Jays to a 10-6 win in Brett Cecil`s major league debut Tuesday afternoon at Rogers Centre.

The three affiliates in action all had early leads and they blew them.  Only one of them managed to get in the win column.  Still, there was one great start turned in and a number of fine offensive performances.

Every year, we have a discussion/debate/brawl regarding who among active players is headed to enshrinement in the Hall of Fame. This year, we'll break that down into six separate discussions/debates/brawls, divided (logically enough) by division. We'll start with the home of the home nine, the A.L. East.

To be clear -- this is not a prediction or a projection, but just an off-the-top starting point. To that end, each team's Hall possibilities are broken down into five categories ...

An 0-2 changeup.... meh.

Today's game isn't on regular TV, but you can pick it up on the Rogers preview channel (399 in Toronto.)

The affiliates went 2-2 on the evening, in what I believe to be the most successful Monday Minor League Update so far this year.