Well, the first thing I heard when I took my seat tonight was the voice of the handsome and talented Spencer Fordin. Spencer said: “Hey, Magpie, you doing the Game Report tonight?” And when I affirmed that indeed I was, he cackled that in that case, the home team didn’t have a chance.

Josh Towers (5-2, 3.76) vs Johan Santana (5-2, 3.82) - it looked pretty even at the start of the night...

OK, maybe not.

A very entertaining weekend of baseball appears to be on tap this weekend, as the Wild Card-leading Minnesotans come to town and Doc makes his return to the mound.

Johan Santana gets another crack at beating the Jays tonight, while Toronto tries to offer its own payback to Kyle Lohse and Joe Mays, both of whom stymied Blue Jay bats last week. One win would make this a fine homestand, and two wins would make it an exemplary one.

This week's Scout features an anxious outfielder, a controversial setup man and a couple of Canadians coming home. Don't miss next week's pinch-hit Advance Scout, in which the Mariners will be previewed by none other than the lovely and talented Craig Burley.

On to the Advance Scout!

When I am king
you will be first against the wall
With your opinion
which is of no consequence at all

Gosh, things really aren't going as most of us expected.

Okay, I was going to save this one for a bit because it's similar to the Aaron Hill photo that I posted a couple of days ago, but I couldn't wait any longer to share it:

Dunedin and Lansing lay a beating on their opposition, Syracuse are starved for runs, again, and New Hampshire split. Carlo Cota, Zach Jackson and Vince Perkins are your three stars.

Funny how things work. The club installs Field Turf, and we guess that the major effect will be to slow down balls in the outfield causing fewer triples. It might end up that way, but right now the Jays are 2nd in the majors in triples. Reed Johnson's leadoff triple set the tone in last night's game.

Did I mention that the Jays swept the Sox? Blew them away. Easily. It's chest-thumping time.

Hopefully, you've already figured out the purpose of this thread.

In the long history of the Great Game, just 43 men whose last or family name begins with the letter "Q" have made it to the major league level. None have been Hall of Famers; really only one even had an oustide shot at Cooperstown, and -- alphabetically anyway -- he appears last on the "Q" list. He'll be the team's closer.

This is going to be a darn sight harder than the Y and Z teams we recently put together. But let's give it a go ...

2 blowouts and a nice comeback make for a sweep of the Sox. I'll take it. Thoughts?

A bond of trust
Has been abused
Something of value
May be lost

A certain Roster member requested photos of Nick Johnson while I was down in the camera bay for Jays vs. Nationals on the weekend, so here's the first of many, conveniently desktop-sized:

Show me the way to go home
I'm tired and I want to go to bed

Ever have one of those days where you just don't feel like doing much? Welcome to today's "No Hustle" Minor League Update.

Our own Gitz warned us that Lilly would break our hearts. (He also said, with reference to 2004, that "At worst, the Jays will do what they did [in 2003]." But it's well-established that Gitz is a far better writer than he is a psychic.) Lilly certain did that in the early going, missing almost all of spring training (like last season) and then really stinking up the joint for the first few games (the joint was only slightly malodourous in the early going last season). Just when everyone was ready to write him off, he goes and figures it out, reeling off 6 innings of 5-hit, 1-run ball against the Nationals, and then 6 2/3 innings of 4-hit, 1-run ball against the Bloody Foot Garments.

I guess the lesson is "Never say never." Or maybe it's "Lilly will break your heart." Either way.

While we're waiting for the real Game Report, I have bowed to popular demand and clipped and pasted highlights from the dueling fans in Boston and Toronto.

And Jonny taught me how to do the colour coding (he inserted it himself last time). I like to practise the HTML, ya know...