... and unfortunately that brings out the worst in some writers.

If you believe this study, your answer is yes.

Once more, we assess the work of This Year's Crew, and as always we salute the great Dave Till who used to provide this very service on a monthly basis. Monthly!

I know I am not worthy to... dust his keyboard?

That's my prediction. And in truth it is not altogether obvious to me that Bautista deserves the MVP award this season.

On Saturday the Blue Jays handed out the 2011 R Howard Webster Awards.  In addition the Jays presented several other awards to their on-field and off-field staff.

I was at the Jay's game on Saturday and I have some pictures of the winners to share.

I've officially determined that Brett Lawrie is the most exciting Blue Jays rookie I have ever seen (and I've pretty much seen them all).

Like I would know. I just thought I'd mess around and have some fun.

The Toronto Farm continues its impressive ways, still holding opportunities for championships in the Northwest League, the Midwest League and the Eastern League.  Without speaking too soon, I have heard some say “nearly a coast to coast domination of Minor League baseball!”

Congratulations to the Pohnpei Papayas, Tools Of Ignorance and Ballpark Frank for winning the regular season crown in their respective BBFL divisions.

Something I've been wondering about....

How important is .500, versus other things?

How have the Jays been vs the league at each position and are things improving? This is a big question for 2012 and beyond. Is JPA's 98 OPS+ enough for a catcher? What about Encarnacion's 113 OPS+ at DH?

Dating at least to "Casey at the Bat," baseball has, more than any other North American sporting event, inspired a fair amount of poetry. (You could say this is the art form of going fron "bat" to "verse.")

Today, sample the work of veteran Bauxite Rusty Priske, whose poem "Thrill Of" is part of his online collection, and who knows?, maybe part of his next book. (His first book, Rusty Priske: Trapeze Artist is available for preview on the site linked above.)

So in this thread, Bauxites -- consider it the "Arts & Letters" section of the site -- give shout-out feedback to Bauxite Poet Laureate Rusty ... name your own favorite baseball-themed poens -- and if you have heard from the muse of baseball yourownsellf, let us know right here!

The ballot is now ready:

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

Thanks for participating!

What are the Blue Jays up to?

Mike Lavery at TheBaseballPage.com has an interesting take on what's up in The Mind of Anthopolous and even previews the 2012 Jay lineup. Give it a read and weigh in ... whatchathink, Bauxites?