The Oriole's hopes of a sweep are dashed… in game 1 of 3.

So, what's going on ?

...but not so much in Syracuse & New Hampshire.

Hannibal dines on Shore Bird with fava beans and a nice chianti.
European Wannabe stakes claim on Cooney Island.

Was it bad luck to schedule the second installment of long-lasting pens with another Josh Towers' start? It sure looked that way early on, when Big Papi homered as the Sox scored 3 in the first. Towers gutted his way into the 6th inning, and the Jays' bats came to life, making a game out of what had the feel of a rout early on. This time, though, the Mighty Troy was unable to come through.

Yes, it's time to put on your G-rated thinking caps, Bauxites, and compete for the coveted Batter's Box No-Prize. You know how there are certain ballplayers, when you say their names under your breath, you feel a little bit like you're swearing?

Let's see if we can't come up with a full roster, along the lines of "25 Names You Shouldn't Say if Your Non-Baseball-Loving Nana is Around." As you might imagine, there are a few rules, not to mention some starter examples ...

Lots of baseball today, Syracuse lose both ends of a DH, New Hampshire splits, Dunedin's bats are hot, and Lansing plays 17 innings in one game.

Lansing and Dunedin won, while rains on the East Coast wiped out the double A and triple A games.

Pistol Pete...Burning Bush...St. Paul stadium talk...and a bizarre play from Friday in Oakland.

So today Roy Halladay -- that's "HLH" to you, Bauxites -- fires a gem against the Bosox and I started idly wondering if it "heralded" his return as the finest ballplayer named Harold ever to pitch in the major leagues.

Of course, Doc's real first name is "Harry," not "Harold," so the answer is "duh, no." Alas. But according to our friends at Baseball-Reference.com, no less than 133 men bore "Harold" as their given first or middle name into a major league ballgame. Most, it seems, went by "Hal" (including at least one hurler who might've kept Halladay from the aforementioned "best" label anyway) and four Hall of Famers.

But it's at Cooperstown that the line must be drawn ...

A rainout for New Hampshire and a winless night on the farm. But there is an update on Ricky Romero.

Do not mess with the Fighting Blue Jays.

Lansing provided the only victory of the night, as ex-Jay Chris Michalak earned his second victory of the year by shutting down the Syracuse bats.

Forbes magazine has come out with their annual rankings of the value of baseball teams and it is good news for the Jays and Rogers.  According to Forbes the value of the Jays increased by 34% last season to US$286 million and the Jays made an operating profit of almost US$30 million in 2005.

The Blue Jays couldn't keep it going yesterday afternoon against Mike Mussina, after knocking Randy Johnson up and down Front Street. The result is a simple two-game split, leaving both teams at the .500 mark they entered the series with, and further behind the Red Sox.

Now, while the Advance Scouts are generally some of the best work on this site (he says humbly), I was thinking the other day: do we ever look back at them after the fact? Not to point out the flaws, of course, but to see how helpful it was. The fact that I'm reviewing an Advance Scout that I didn't write is purely coincidental; I assure you I am a fan of Bruce Wrigley's writing -- I actually have a book of his from a few years ago and I endorse it heartily. So that's not the point here -- it's simply a fun exercise in hindsight.

On to the Advance Scout Review!