The affiliates only won one game but there were some encouraging pitching performances.  Ismael Ramirez only allowed one earned run in seven innings for Syracuse.  Russell Savickas made his AA debut and gave up two runs in six innings.  Kristian Bell made his first start of 2007 and pitched five shutout innings and Nate Starner had one bad inning but struck out eleven in six innings.  Curtis Thigpen played second base and made an error.

Someday we'll look back on this and it will all seem funny.
--Bruce Springsteen

With nothing going right for the parent club, some Jays fans hoped maybe the minor leagues would bring some good news. If that’s the case, it’s not going to happen today, as two blowouts and one extra-inning loss means only one win on the farm. We’ll take a look at what happened, as some pitchers continued to struggle, some batters continued to hit and the low minors continued to make errors. However, nobody got hurt, and that's what's important. Seriously.

I'm here in the press box, and they just made the following announcement:

Toronto Blue Jays have placed Roy Halladay on the 15 day Disabled List. He is having surgery for acute appendicitis. It is estimated he will be out for 4-6 weeks.

Two intriguing pitching matchups and Shaun Marcum's long-overdue first start of the year highlight this weekend's series.

Ten days into May and the best day of the month so far has been Monday's off day.

Jesse Litsch was the top performer yesterday as he threw 7 hitless innings.

Might as well give this nugget a thread of its own ...

B.J. Ryan Has Tommy John Surgery

So ... erm, uhm, let's change the subject ... what's up in your life?

 

If the players who are the core of a great team are not worthy of Hall of Fame selection, then who is?
-- Bill James, Historical Baseball Abstract (first edition)

I think that's a hell of a question.

The Friday Minor League summary is on Thursday this week. If you promise to ask no questions, I'll promise to tell no lies. It works out better that way. The farm affiliates went 2-2 yesterday.

The Jazz Singer wasn't the first "talkie" but it was the first film with sound to enjoy widespread commercial success. In the first spoken line in the picture, Al Jolson says "you ain't heard nothing yet."

After not getting to Alliance Bank Stadium in our baseball travels last season, my girlfriend and I made sure we got there this season as we spent our week-end in sunny Syracuse, New York to catch a pair of Chiefs games against the Yankees new Triple-A affliate, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.  The trip was also an attempt  to take our minds off the struggling and all of a sudden, less than truthful, big club.  However, Saturday's game at the Bank didn't help matters.  Here's a rundown of what went on during the week-end along with some pictures too.

Update:  I had some earlier problems with the photos link but it appears to be fine now!!

It has been that kind of season.  When the good guys rally, they fall just short.  When the guys in the business suits, as Willie Nelson calls them, rally, they come out ahead.  The farm affiliates ended up 1-3 on the night.

With the Chambers of Horror now squarely in their rearview mirror, the Jays return to friendly pastures to take on Boston.

The Jays are in a slump right now and with yesterday being an off-day it gave me the opportunity to think about what I have seen in this team.  With apologies to all those who have done this before me, here are then things I think about the Blue Jays.