Okay, it's not exactly "breaking news," but every once in awhile, something nice about Batter's Box is randomly discovered somewhere on the Web, and every once in a while of those aforementioned every once in a whiles, the PR guy in me can't stand not saying something.

According to the self-decsribed "general purpose search engine" FindAnISP.com, Batter's Box is the #49 Sports Web site on the Internet.

Senators pitch another shutout.
Pistol Nine shoot into lead.
Magic 9 mystify Hee Seop Choi.

Bauxite Kevin Pataky sent me an e-mail last week that said, "Enclosed is a picture for you that I think most readers of Da Box can appreciate." We certainly can, Kevin.

And after a weekend that stunk in more ways than one, Kevin has allowed us here at Batter's Box to share it with everyone else:

Vito Chiaravalloti is a favourite of Da Box since his triple crown win at Auburn in his first pro season in 2003. 2004 was an up and down season for Vito, he struggled in April and in August, but he was strong in the middle of the season and in the AFL. I sat down to talk with Vito recently recently when the Fisher Cats were in Binghamton. The first item on my agenda was to make sure I was pronouncing his name properly. Vito told me his family pronounces their last name with a "che" sound at the start, like cherry, but a "kee" sound, like Chianti, is the correct italian way.

Gabe Gross and Eric Crozier made their major league debuts in 2004 playing for the Toronto Blue Jays. "Making it" to the major leagues is the fulfillment of a dream, a dream held at one time by a large percentage of North American boys. I talked with both Gross and Crozier in Buffalo recently to reflect, with them, on the realization of their dream.

Josh Banks continues to mow down AA hitters while Adam Lind gets out, once. A 2-2 day on the farm.

Welcome to the inaugural edition of the NL East Divisional Update, one of the new additions to Batters Box 3.0. Every two weeks we'll look at what's going on in the NL East.

This hurts.

I'm plugged in and loaded
Don't forget to phone in
The self destruct is holding
I'm counting, I'm counting, but only to three

What's gone wrong with the Jays, you ask? Well, not as much as you might think: every team goes through bad stretches. (Ask the Yankees, who had to face The Boss's full-on wrath after punting a few games early in the season.) But one thing now seems clear to me: talent always trumps effort.

While the big club desperately needs a Bull Durham style artificial rainout (maybe the roof on the Skydome will develop a leak), the farm affiliates had 3 cancellations yesterday. Two games (New Hampshire's and Dunedin's) were washed away, and Lansing's tilt with West Michigan was frozen out. No toque, scarf and mitten ball in the Midwest League. Only Syracuse played, and frankly, the Sky Chiefs would have been better off if a freak hailstorm in Scranton had put the kibosh to their game.

The X-rays were penetrating
Through the latex breeze
Synthetic fibre see-thru leaves
Fell from the rayon trees

The Jays have lost 3 in a row at home - they're back at .500 - and it's been a while since a starter not named Halladay did a quality job. Dave Bush is going to change all that this afternoon, and you heard it here first.

Blown leads were the order of the day in the Blue Jays organization, as two of their minor-league affiliates copied the Toronto bullpen in coughing up one-run leads late. At least Dunedin managed to eke out a messy win afterwards -- but that was the only W anywhere in the organization last night, because the hitting was also pretty bad. Avert your eyes if you’re the sensitive type….

Imploding bullpens make us all a little crazy. You've been warned.

It has long been my secret theory that the Blue Jays have suffered karmic punishment these last twelve years. They have offended the gods of baseball, and must be made to suffer.

The crime? Running Tom Henke out of town.