This thread contains all things related to the Toronto Bauxite Baseball League.

UPDATE: May 31 from Jobu: "Ladies and Gentleman, the wait is finally over! The votes have been tabulated, a field has been chosen and most importantly, a shiny new website has been created to detail the registration process for everyone. So read on TBBL players, and get ready to play ball!"

Say the headline out loud if you don't get the pun!

Normally, Batter's Box would not devote an entire thread to the news of ESPN hiring a new senior baseball writer. Ah, but when that new guy's name is Keith Law (pictured, left) that becomes an entirely different matter indeed.

Last year's edition of this article found two players that were selected by the Jays.

The affiliates went 2-1 with a rainout on Tuesday.

Seriously, who else could it be?

Today's photograph celebrates Vernon Wells, whose bat should have those wicked flames painted up it -- you know, the kind they put on cars to make them go faster. A friend of mine bought a PT Cruiser a few years back. He got a black one and had a custom paint job done with those flames. When I saw it I laughed so hard that I had to sit down. He was more than a little offended (I believe his exact words were "Dude, you're laughing at my car"), but I managed to convince him that my laughter was in appreciation of the sheer awesomeness of his new vehicle.

I hope he doesn't read Batter's Box.

updated with a silly flame decal version -- see the comments.

Today, Bob Klapisch pens (okay, probably "keyboards") a story for ESPN.com entitled Injuries make AL East a three-team race. It's a typically good read from the solid-if-unspectacular Klapisch, sort of the Michael Young of ESPN's roster of Web writers.

As the title might suggest, his major point of discussion is captured in the final sentence of the second graf: "Considering Josh Towers is 1-8, it's a semi-miracle that Toronto has stayed close to the Red Sox and Yankees, maybe because everyone else in the East has lost important chess pieces, as well."

Now, this isn't about Towers, of course. But it does raise an interesting question ...

Bored with Sudoku?  Crosswords too easy?  Then, how about a baseball puzzle over lunch.

Actually, the bottom of the eighth went pretty much like clockwork, didn't it?  But the budget only allows for one Photo of the Day, so today we'll showcase the man who drove in the winning run, Mr. Shea Hillenbrand:

Edgardo Alfonzo's contract was purchased this afternoon. He'll cover second base until Russ Adams pushes him out. To make room on the active roster, John McDonald was placed on the 15-day DL after pulling his groin in Saturday's loss. Aaron Hill will likely move to shortstop.

You know, I don't blame you if you react like Santa Claus in the classic M&Ms ad. Yes, Advance Scouts do exist, though not recently. Forget my earlier '61 Yankees comparison; Mike Denyszyn and I are more like Catfish Hunter and Mike Wallace from the '75 team. The absence of the Scouts can be explained by my transition from full-time student to full-time cubicle monkey. However, while I said earlier that the Scout will return in full capacity by the Red Sox series starting August 31, they're making an early return for first-place Boston now.

The Bosox have won four in a row after sweeping away the Devil Rays; the Jays have won two of three and face an stretch against AL East teams for the next 10. Boston has some hurting outfielders, a short-on-good-pitchers bullpen and will send the two worst Sox pitchers out against Toronto this week. Of course, the third pitcher scheduled to start is just a little bit better...

On to the Advance Scout!

Today is Memorial Day in the U.S.A., a holiday that owes its historical legs to, among others, the backing of one General John J. Murray. Which leads us to the fact that there have been 33 men (32 players and one manager) in major league history with the first, middle or last name "Murray." It remains to be seen ...

I went to yesterday's game, and I took notes. Here they are.

49 games without a sweep doesn't sound that bad. There are 113 games left and surely the Jays will sweep someone. Last year, the Jays swept a series six times, nailing the Rays, Royals, Red Sox, Mariners, Angels and Tigers. I doubt they'll go down to zero this year.

Come on, even the 2003 Tigers swept the Orioles, White Sox (twice!) and Indians. (How would you like to be one of those teams?) The Jays are on pace to win twice as many games as those Tigers, and if you call me on that because it's too early, then it's also too early to worry about not sweeping anyone. Also, if you look at the last game of the Red Sox series (May 26, 2005) and the last game of the Mariners series (July 21)...well, that looks very much like two months to me. Nobody noticed that because it didn't happen at the beginning of the year.

But that's not the reason I'm here today. No, this Series Report is only tangentially related to the series we just watched.