Some of you may recall an odd take on the Hall of Names called Happy New Year's Eve, from this past Dec. 31 (the title should've at least suggested that) in which the lyrics to the traditional new annum carol "Auld Lang Syne" provide a place for dozens of links to "lyrical" ballplayer names at Sean Forman's standard-bearing BaseballReference.com Web site.

It's summer time in Mudville (and on Da Box) and as such, also time to try it again, only with a verse not set to music, and one every baseball fan knows from the time he or she can sit at the TV to root on the Cooneys, Barrows, Flynns and Blakes of the modern game.

That's right, it's time to hearken back to ...

As promised, the American League!

Remember when Josh Phelps was going to be a monster hitter in the middle of the Jays lineup?  These days he's doing his damage as a Mud Hen.

The affiliates were 1-2 with a couple dismal performances from the bats in NH and Syracuse.

Jays lose, to the Marlins. Bummer.

Blue Jays are cunning birds. This is not widely known, or sufficiently appreciated.

(Author's Note: due to an utterly unforeseen and totally unexpected calamity caused by Mozilla Firefox, the following is reluctantly brought to you by... Internet Explorer? Yes, the dog ate my homework.)

The farm affiliates went 2-2 on Thursday night.

Jobu speaks! You listen!

Here's the latest news!

Obviously Reed Johnson has had a good day when his stats trickle along the bottom of the ESPN ticker (as they did Thursday night during the Red Sox - Twins broadcast).  And since I'm a follower, not a leader, today's photograph is of our favourite sparkplug, Reed Johnson:

In case you missed the news, everyone's favourite former Blue Jay, Esteban Loaiza (also known as Lord Voldemort, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, et al), was arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence and for reckless driving. According to the reports, Loaiza was driving his brand-new Ferrari 130 MPH at 3:30 a.m. Wednesday. He failed the road-side sobriety test, though his blood alcohol content was not released. (In California the legal limit is .08.)

It was Tuesday night. While I waited for Roy Halladay to throw the first pitch, I dutifully pored over the Pre-Game Notes, because I am a conscientious sort of fellow. And in the fine print, I noted that the Blue Jays were slowly closing in on victory number 2300.

A little more than two hours later (Doc probably had dinner reservations somewhere), win number 2293 was in the books, and the team's overall log stood at 2293-2344.

Lots of homers and lots of of relievers is enough to beat the O's.

The first ballot results are in for our pitching prospect poll; Flora MacDonald and Joe Clark are having early discussions about their respective campaigns.  Oops, wrong first ballot.  Bauxites spoke with many voices, and here was the tally using a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 count:

1.   Ricky Romero      (171)
2.   Dustin McGowan (164)
3.   Brandon League (146)
4.   Davis Romero     (131)
5.   Shaun Marcum   (129)
6.   David Purcey       (119)
7.   Jesse Litsch        (72)
8.   Josh  Banks         (62)
9.   Jamie Vermilyea  (39)
10. Kyle Yates             (24)

Chi-Hung Cheng, Billy Carnline and Ismael Ramirez received significant support.

Could Sergio Santos keep his 20-game hitting streak alive? Could Dunedin win in front of 500 fans again? Could New Hampshire get started admist rain in Trenton? Only this Minor League Update has the answers!

Hey, they walk amongst us right now. I wonder who they are.

Note - (Slightly revised and expanded)

With all this hoopla about writing in Alex Rios on the All-Star ballot, we're neglecting another player on the Jays who is quietly putting together an even better campaign than his All-Star-worthy 2005: Shea Hillenbrand.  He hasn't been hit by all that many pitches, and yet his on base percentage is a magnificent .373, a good 23 points higher than the Dudek Noteworthy Contribution Line.

So vote Hillenbrand!  And in the meantime, here's a photograph of him jogging across the plate after hitting a home run on Sunday against the Tigers: