(Or should that be "End of an E.R.A."?)

The Dodgers have designated RHSP Esteban Loaiza, Blue Jay expatriate, for assignment -- to make room for the arrival of stud rookie LHSP Clayton Kershaw.

The 36-year-old Loiaza, 2003 recipient of the inaugural Batter's Box Andujar Award (meh, we only gave it out twice), is 1-2 with a 5.63 ERA and 77 ERA+ in seven appearances (three starts) for LAD in '08.

Is this the end of the road for the man tagged Lord Voldemort ("He Who Must Not Be Named") here on Da Box?

15 days and 11 stadia later, I'm on my way home to sunny Ontario. What may await me in the world of baseball upon my return?

For New Hampshire - it's alright, they're doing fine as they contributed two wins to a 3-1 record for the affiliates last night.  Dunedin went deep four times as they reached double digits and Lansing is tied for first in their division and they didn't have to do a thing to earn it as they had the night off.  As for Syracuse, they got a taste of their own medicine.

The Jays have taken a High Schooler with their top pick two years in a row. Who might be on the radar this year?

Travis Snider continues to warm up to AA pitching.  The affiliates went 2-1 on the day.

Jays win 7-2 to complete a 4 game sweep of the Royals.

Off to the west coast, beginning with the A's. So is the hot streak a result of a bad team or the sign of good things to come?

A look at the BBFL as we enter the second third of the fantasy season.

I got forty red white and blue shoestrings
and a thousand telephones that don't ring
Do you know where I can get rid of these things?

Just some dumb lists to share before I head off to the ballpark.

Yesterday, in my e-mailbox, I found my daily Newberg Report (archived at NewbergReport.com here) from one of the deans of independent Internet baseball journalists, Dallas lawyer Jamey Newberg.

You may have encountered Jamey here on Batter's Box previously -- he is a registered member, mostly for the purpose of sharing his Ranger Expertise -- like team previews in '07 and '08 -- here for the benefit of the majority of Bauxites, living in a whole 'nother country far, far away from the Lone Star State.

The affiliates went 2-2 on Sunday but Catcher J.P. Arencibia was again the story.

A quirky day on the farm as the Chiefs and the Fisher Cats were both done in by nearly identical innings, while the D-Jays had a thing for the number '2'.  All in all, the affiliates combined to go 3-2 on Saturday.

... and on the 55th day, they passed Baltimore. Maybe for good. Maybe not.

I was originally intending to save this book for later.

A 15-hit night by Syracuse in Virginia was the highlight of the evening in the minor leagues. However, it was not the only thing to write about as the affiliates picked up three wins and Dunedin only scored one less run than the SkyChiefs. The Lugnuts couldn’t compare to either of those performances, but still scored in the first four innings of their game to deliver an early blow their opponents and never looked back.

Me, I'm still on the road
Heading for another joint

It's Bob Dylan's birthday today. He's 67 years old. I'd say this should be a global holiday, and it already is in our northern land although I believe that's supposed to be in honour of Queen Victoria, or possibly my mother, who were also born on May 24.

Somehow, I'll tie this into baseball...