So Roy "Doc" Halladay is set to go for the Jays tomorrow against the Indians.

A great nickname like Doc's can spur an entire Hall of Names feature all on its own, but when you add in the fact that it's also been my nickname on and off for 20 years (given my initials, M.D. and the fact that my last name is pronounced "Dockerty in some places), and toss in the additional nugget that I changed jobs this week and now am full-time in the healthcare industry, well, this seems like a natural.

There' have been plenty of major league players nicknamed "Doc." And plenty more with the initials "M.D." But when those two groups go shinguard-to-stethescope, who comes out ahead? Let's find out.

Ted Lilly and Scott Elarton? Maybe not. Ted Lilly and Jake Westbrook, ladies and gents. They crossed me up.

The Jays travel to Cleveland to face a club with a struggling offence, particularly against lefthanded pitching. It might be just the tonic for Ted Lilly.

That said, Cleveland features several hitters on the cusp of breaking out, two solid starting pitchers and a very steady bullpen. It should make for an exciting and well-matched three-game set.

This week's Scout features an antsy young catcher, a faltering postseason hero and a middle infielder who's rather candid in his self-assessment.

On to the Advance Scout!

So it's a little late, but here's a desktop-sized image of the newly refurbished Rogers Centre, as seen from behind home plate, as the team streams off the field after their victory over Kansas City on Tuesday night:

Syracuse wins in extras; Lansing lose early, and late:; and Dunedin go cruising. MacDonald, Thigpen and Griffin are your stars du jour.

And after every plan had failed
And there was nothing more to tell,
You knew that we would meet again,
If your memory served you well.

The Jays had a day off yesterday, but welcomed a new member to their bullpen, Scott Downs. And just in the nick of time for this 3rd installment of the bullpen report. If that hadn't happened, I would have resorted to the Friday the 13th Fake Game Report.

You know the one. The War of the Worlds, the Clash of Pretenders. The Las Vegas Aliens of Caesar's Palace ("Working for the Clampdown since before you were born") vs. The New York Yankees ("It's a thin line between superstar and superannuated"). Believe me, you should be thanking Scott Downs for saving you.

In honor of his brain-breaking 3000+ word Game Report, here's a picture of Magpie, hard at work. See if you can find him:

"April review!" you wonder, "but Ryan, aren't we almost halfway through May already?" Well, yes. Yes we are. Any more questions?

The only team that won last night was the only team with John Hattig. Count the ring!

This, of course, is supposed to be Joe's Game Report. I was at the ball park, doing my STATS gig, taking abuse from Fordin, and just making a few notes.

I got carried away.

In this review article we’ll use win probability to examine the performances of the Blue Jays’ bullpen. Part I looks at Brandon League, Matt Whiteside, Pete Walker and Miguel Batista. Part II will be up on Friday or the weekend and will examine Justin Speier, Jason Frasor, Vinnie Chulk and Scott Schoeneweis.

Dave Bush skips the Jays to go for the sweep in today's early start. And, uh, I've used up all the curling lingo I have.

The thread is now open! The Jays win a bit of an ugly one over KC, 12 to 9.

Who's your game MVP? What was the key play of the game?

Yeah, I have a lot of pictures of Eric Hinske. I don't really know why. (I mean, I like the guy -- but do I like him five times as much as Orlando Hudson?) We have to get through them some time, and so here's another one:

Two blow out wins and one fairly big loss for Josh Banks.