Yeah, yeah, no one likes to see guys strike out. But there are worse things a hitter can do. Much, much worse.

When the Yankees scored in the first inning, on a Rodriguez walk and a Giambi double, one was able to absorb the blow. The Yankees lineup these days is extremely scary through the first five spots in the order: Jeter, Rodriguez, Giambi, Sheffield, and Matsui. I was thinking that if Bush could hold that crew to a single run each time through the order, he'd have a good chance to stay in the game.

Ooh, this is a good team. How good? Well, the greatest pitcher who ever lived is in the bullpen. Fearsome Dave "The Cobra" Parker is fifth among the squad's starting lineup in career home runs (and sixth overall on the team). That's good.

In the interest of not wasting time, queue up "Let's Get it Started" and meet -- I live in Texas, there's really no other name for them -- "The Black-Eyed P's."

Have you noticed that just about anything can be EXTREME these days? As a younger person, I am certainly motivated to purchase a specific brand of soap because it is extreme. In that spirit, here's our first ever EXTREME CAPTION CONTEST:

I should have known right then it was too good to last
God, it's such a drag when you're livin' in the past

Baby, even the losers get lucky sometimes
Even the losers keep a little bit of pride

The Doubledays fell last night to the Staten Island Yankees by a 3-2 score. The Yankees won the NYPL title, sweeping the best-of-three series. Nonetheless, Auburn had a fine season.

No kidding, I thought this team would be better. But there are a lot of .240 to .260 type hitters in our starting lineup, and except at the hot corner, it's an average-to-awful defense; well, at least we have more than 1200 wins from our five-man starting rotation!

Oh, and we have those knucklehead Niekro boys in the fifth starter/swing and long relief roles, so they can be ready to go a couple of times a week each if necessary.

Now, let's meet ...

Anyone who followed the Red Sox - Blue Jays series will know who I mean:

I think that headline makes sense. If it doesn't, blame computers. As you can tell (or not), the Auburn Doubledays lost game one of their NY-Penn League final to the Staten Island Yankees.

Everybody and his brother has an opinion on what Eric Hinske's deal is. It seems pretty clear that the promise he showed as a rookie is never going to develop into the star we all hoped the Jays were signing after his great 2002. (Incidentally, it also looks as though Wells might never develop into the superstar we thought he'd be after 2003 — but you'll recall that we on Batter's Box (and just about everybody else, actually) thought the Wells and Hinske long-term signings were good deals. Anyone who starts saying J.P. is an idiot for signing Hinske can be pointed to the past to say "What were you saying then?" That is the dual blessing and curse of the Internet.)

I do not aim to determine whether Hinske will ever be a good player. He is certainly a useful player, even now — except in June, of course. Instead, I want to figure out just when he becomes useful, and maybe a bit of why too.

That David Ortiz fella is pretty good.

Here's Russ Adams, delivering quite the swing:

Our next Pinch-Hit Game Report belongs to regular Bauxite Four Seamer, who ran the gauntlet of Bay Street lawyers and their billable hour targets to bring you this account of last night's Blue Jays win. Take it away, FS!

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Owing to the twin demands of career and new fatherhood, I’m almost ashamed to admit that it has been several weeks since I was last able to sit down and enjoy a ballgame from start to finish.

While we await a pinch-hit Game Report from distinguished Bauxite Four Seamer, we once more amuse ourselves in the traditional way after a defeat of the Red Sox.

You know what that means...

That's what I call quite good.