Here's what everyone remembers about the 1988 Blue Jays.

They remember that the Jays lost the last seven games of the 1987 season, allowing the Tigers to win the division. They remember that the team tried to shift McGriff and Fielder to first, George Bell to DH and Moseby to left field, so that Silvestre Campusano could take over in centerfield. They remember that Bell didn't like it, that it caused dissension on the team, and that this would contribute to Jimy Williams's firing a year later. They might remember that Bell hit three home runs against the Royals on opening day. They certainly remember that the Jays didn't win the division that year, but were somewhere vaguely near the top of the standings, and they certainly remember that Dave Stieb pitched two one-hitters in his last two starts of the season, with both hits coming with two outs in the ninth.

And if that's all they remember, they don't remember the best part.

It was reported earlier this afternoon that Matt Stairs signed a 2-year, $3.5 million contract with the Blue Jays. Time to deal with some of the questions arising from this news.

It's that time of year again ... time to select candidates for the 2008 recipient of the Ford C. Frick Award, presented annually to a baseball broadcaster for major contributions to the game.

As the online ballot explains, "Three of the 10 names on the final Frick Award ballot will be chosen by fans throughout the month of November. Select up to three (3) candidates from the ballot ... You may vote once each day during the month of November. The final 10-name ballot, featuring the three fan selections, will be announced on December 5, 2007. Click a name to see a brief biography of [each] broadcaster."

Yes, Jerry Howarth is on the ballot. So are some other names you'll recgonize. You can cast up to 30 votes, people ... don't waste this opportunity! Vote now!

Which way you going, Slappy?

Yeah, yeah, the Red Sox are world champs (yawwwwwwn) ... but it's the Yankees continuing to dominate the headlines, first with the whole A-Rod thing and now, apparently, ex-Bomber backstop Joe Girardi has been offered the manager's (hot)seat. Apparently runner-up Don Mattingly will not be offered, nor would he accept, a position on Joe G's coaching staff.

Forget the whole A-Rod deal for a moment -- is Girardi a good choice for pinstriped nation?

Painful as this is to write, it looks like the Red Sox are likely to be World Series champs -- maybe as early as tonight -- for the second in four years. So much for the idea of a "curse" ... though to be fair, if any team knows the frailty of a 3-0 post-season series lead, it's the Sox (and Yankees, of course).

Still, with all due respect to Josh Beckett and even Daisuke Matsuzaka, the guy the Sox have ridden this far (emotionally anyway) is the old war horse himself, Curt Schilling. A likely future Hall of Famer, Schill is also probably the greatest "Curt" (or even "Kurt") to play in the major leagues ... or is he? Let's find out in this latest installment of Baseball's Hall of Names ...

The Jays picked up a couple players off of waivers from the Reds according to a press release on TSN. In a related move the Jays outright DeJong, Gronkiewicz, and Vermiliyea to Syracuse.

Thanks to Brian W for the heads up.

Baseball America has published several Jays related articles recently.

Um, okay ... the Rockies' hot streak is now officially over. Red Sox win, 13-1. 

So here are today's questions and comments ...

Okay, even with the World Series yet to get underway, the off-season Hot Stove League has opened in Toronto early again, continuing a streak of more than a decade that all Jays fans would like to see broken in 2008.

But let's all "play GM" for a moment and see if we can't dream up some trades that would help the Jays break that streak next season. (J.P., are you ready for some uninformed suggestions?)  Just a couple of ground rules ...

At this writing, our two polls (see left side of this page) show Bauxites believe the Red Sox will win the World Series, but they are heavily rooting for the Rockies -- early on, even "Don't care either way" is outpacing the Sox vote.

Write whatever Series thoughts you have here, but let's start with a "fun" question/prediction. Who will win the 2007 World Series MVP? Will it be a big name like Beckett, Ramirez, Holliday or Helton? Or some lesser light, in the line of past winners like Bucky Dent, Steve Yeager and David Eckstein?

The first correct prediction will win a retro Batter's Box NO-PRIZE. Serve it up!

Joe Torre, the eighth-winningest manager in major league baseball history, is now, as they say, a free agent. In a twist on the expected "will they bring Joe back?" storyline, it was Torre's decision to leave the Bronx Zoo.

Although it would have been a pay cut, the Yankee offer he turned down was for a $5 million, one-year contract that still would have made him the highest-paid manager in baseball.

Whatchathink, Bauxites?

TSN.ca is reporting that that Tony LaCava has been promoted to Assistant General Manager.  LaCava's name has surfaced several times as a candidate for other general manager jobs.  With most GM jobs filled for next year the Jays have moved to promote LaCava.  The promotion would not likely stop LaCava from pursuing other GM opportunities.

It is not clear how this will change LaCava's day-to-day responsibilities.  Those details will likely come out by tomorrow.

In which I present my Grand Summing Up of the work of the Blue Jays starters this past season, complete with Game Scores and pretty pictures.

With the surprising Colorado Rockies looking to take a 3-0 advantage in the NLCS today, I found myself wondering what an All-Rocky team would look like; no, not a Helton-Holliday squad, but rather a Colavito-Bridges sort of Hall of Names collection.

Unfortunately ...