Before last night's game I asked a few people around the press box the following question: "If you had known that Josh Towers would lead this rotation in wins, innings, quality starts, and ERA, what do you think Toronto's Won-Loss Record would be?" As I recollect, I don't think anyone anticipated even 70 wins...

Hey, who knew?

You know what? The kids are all ri-i-i-ght, the kids are all ri-i-i-ght, the kids are alright! (John-Ford Griffin with 4 RBIs in his first ML start. Hey...)

And Josh Towers finishes his fine season with 208.2 innings and a 3.71 ERA.

Alas, this will be the only October baseball played at the Rogers Centre. And after seven pulsating games in Boston and the Bronx, the meaningfulness of the games played by the Jays couldn't take any more dramatic of a turn than to welcome the Kansas City Royals to town. That doesn't mean there's nothing to play for; a sweep will bring the Jays back to .500 -- a mark that most honest observers of the club would admit the team deserves, at a minimum.

As this is the final series of the season, so too is it the final Advance Scout. It'll be back next year, so please feel free to offer comments and criticism about how to make it better. I'm always open to suggestions!

This week's Scout features some young arms, a no-hitter (interrupted) and a bonus baby signed by a team that has had some rotten luck with bonus babies.

On to the Advance Scout!

There have been forty-seven (47) major league ballplayers to bear the last/family name of "Moore," which is #9 -- a good baseball number, that -- on the list of "Most Common North American Surnames." Obviously, that total does not include the two men -- including Toronto's own Russ Moore Adams -- who have had it as a middle name.

Although no Moore has yet been inducted to the Hall of Fame, this Hall of Names squad may feature up to five former All-Stars. There have been two Moores to manage in the big leagues, both of whom might also make the squad as players.

We're going to uproot this franchise and move the whole happy bunch to Smith County, Texas, where they will be known as ...

Here it is, the season's final photo of the day. For the winter it'll revert back to once a week.

Ernie and the troops on the mound await a certain inspiring bullpen guy:

I posted my thoughts at BTF on how to deter behaviours that MLB and the union deem inappropriate (i.e., steroids). Here they are, in a somewhat orderly fashhion. You can skip to my solution at the end, if you are pressed for time.

We have a winner, ladies and gentlemen! The 2005 San Diego Padres! And if they win one just one game this weekend from the reeling Dodgers, they will not be taking a losing record into the post-season.

Which is an enormous relief to everyone, I'm sure.

Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz laid waste to the recently lights-out bullpen. But, hey, they're in a pennant race, and there's no shame in losing this way.

Big Papi does the clutch thing again, as the Bosox ensure that it will be an interesting final weekend. Your thoughts?

Once again, the baseball deities have conspired to remind me of the advice David Letterman offers whenever the "Stupid Pet Tricks" segment begins:

"No wagering!"

I was wrong, and Leigh was right, about Cleveland's prospects of success this season. And with the team suffering from last-week jitters, I thought I'd offer them a boost by posting my "public contrition thread" tonight.

Bonus Thursday! Your intrepid minor-league crew is back with even more cool features on the Blue Jays farm system.

Jonny German has assembled a nifty Organizational Depth Chart, which gives an early glimpse of the expected rosters for the Jays’ four full-season farm teams. Meanwhile, the whole crew collaborated on a list we call “Rising and Falling”: players who aren’t on the Top 30 List, but who are either rising towards it or falling away from it. Gerry McDonald wrote the summaries for the rising stars, while yours truly penned the tales of the less fortunate.

It was two of these that did in Cat's chances for the cycle last night:

The Jays are probably getting themselves a reputation around Beantown. I was discussing the AL East/Wildcard race with a co-worker, and we came to the conclusion that, no matter what happens, if you're a Jays fan cheering against the Yankees (sorry Mick), the outcome of these four Jays-Red Sox games is bad no matter what it is.

Well, I guess if you're going to help the Yankees, you should at least do it in style, and that's what the Jays did last night — thank God. Frankie Cat came this close to becoming only the third Jay to ever hit for the cycle (quick trivia question: who were the other two?), Eric Hinske hit a 2-run drive Mike Wilner described as "prodigious," and the Jays absolutely hammered Bronson Arroyo.

But, as is my wont, this game stops being analyzed here, and I go onto other, somewhat different topics.

Sorry, no gloating over SoSH here. Too tired. Perhaps Magpie will have the transcript for us by 3:45 am...

Anyway, I missed the whole game. What was good about tonight's win over Boston?

The headline, of course, is a reference to Hall of Famers Chick Hafey and the incomparable Babe Ruth, with (one supposes) a shout-out to one or the other of the two Dolly Grays, neither of whom posted Hall-of-Fame numbers. But the Hall of Names ... as you know by now, that is a very different story, indeed.

That's right, this installment of Baseball's Hall of Names takes its cue from the old Johnny (no relation to Norm or Dave) Cash song, "A Boy Named Sue" and focuses on major league ballplayers who, well, there's really no other way to say this, had girly names. Specifically, traditionally female first (given) names. You know, Chase Utley. Blondie Purcell. Jamie Moyer. You get the idea.

So who qualifies for this team? Okay, here's the rules ....