J.P. and company threw us a few curves yesterday, especially with the selections of Curtis Thigpen, Adam Lind and Donnie Hill with their 2nd and 3rd round picks. All three were relatively unheralded by both scouts and the statistically inclined.

Most of the players chosen in day two will not be signed. The clubs will take highschoolers who will end up going to a 4-year college program(me) or to junior college as possible draft-and-follows, or college prospects who will return for their senior year in the hopes of improving their draft position.

I see another hurdle approaching.
Say we can, say we will,
Not just another drop in the ocean.

This is just a thread to discuss Cheer Club plans for the LA and Arizona homestand. Unfortunately, I won't be able to make any games this series, but someone will surely step up to lead this little group of wilful men.

I lie in wait with open eyes
I carry on thru' stormy skies

Thanks to my front-running Toronto Walrus coming abruptly back to the pack the last couple of weeks, there are now eight teams within 10 games of first place in the BBFL Alomar division. Actually, my Delgado-less, Wagner-less club wasn't so bad this week; Scott's Austin Senators were simply better. The 8-2 final could have been worse — it was 11-1 for a while — so I'm grateful for "halving" two categories.

AGF, after trailing the SABR Magicians most of the week, pulled out a 6-6 tie on Sunday and is now looming large in my rear-view mirror, a mere two games back. The Eastern Shore Birds are third, only 4.5 games off the lead, after defeating the Thunderbirds 7-5. With a 12-0 whitewash of the melting-down Springfield Isotopes, the Moscow Rats made by far the biggest move of the week, from ninth to fourth. Red Mosquitos beat hannibal's cannibals 7-2 and are now tied for fifth with Mebion Glyndwr, who won a 7-5 decision over gashouse gorillas. Six more teams are within just four games of the final spot in the championship playoff bracket.

No thank you or please no regard for the time
We never cry we never retreat
We have no conception of love or defeat

Tim Hudson threw a complete game against the Jays patchwork lineup yesterday afternoon in the Jays 4-0 loss to Oakland.

I won't attempt to make any pithy comments since I'm running short of time. Toronto tries to beat finesse lefty Mark Redman to salvage a split in Oakland.

Eric Hinske's home run was the beginning of the end for the A's. Jays win 6-1.

The A's send the senior representative of their starting rotation against arguably Toronto's weakest starter.

Question of the day: How many homeruns will the Athletics hit off Pat Hentgen today?

This is the May edition of my minor league starting pitchers review. I have been tracking start by start statistics for all minor league starting pitchers. I have been adding this information to our prospect pages, such as this one for David Bush, scroll down to the bottom of the page. My April pitcher report is here. Many of the numbers in this page are based on game scores as developed by Bill James. The methodology is described in the April story.

When was the last time the Jays faced a Canadian starting pitcher? Unless I'm very much mistaken, it was Chris Mears on September 7th, 2003.

Toronto beat Harden in his first and only start against them 8-5 on August 15th of last year.

Last weekend, this Associated Press article referred to some Jays of whom I had never heard. Apparently, the previous evening’s game turned on a home run by slugger Carlos Deluged. The lead generated by Deluged was protected by reliever Jason Friseur. Rookie outfielder Alexis Rio and recent acquisition Frank Mention were there too.

This weekend is a great weekend for baseball every year as the NCAA Tournament's Regionals get going. 64 teams go into the double-elimination tournaments, and only 16 come out; some teams will play five games between tonight and Sunday evening.

NCAASports.com has a live scoreboard where you can follow the action. The afternoon's action is already seeing a mild upset : Central Florida, the #3 seed in Tallahassee, is beating up on #2 seed Oklahoma State. It's 7-0 as we speak in the eighth inning. But the real shocker is going on in South Bend, IN where the fourth (and bottom) seed Kent State Golden Flashes are hanging on to a 1-0 lead over host team and top seed Notre Dame.