The last week of spring training is always like this - everybody can't wait for it to end and get on with the real stuff. Pitchers and catchers reported six weeks ago. They are ready, ready, ready.

And so are we, by the way.

The Jays and Reds face off at 6:05 p.m. It's available on internet radio, for those with Gameday audio.

It is time for a new Minor League Update thread.

Minor League rosters are expected to be finalized over the weekend, club officials are still making decisions on the last few spots on each team. But as a means of getting there the Jays have made some more player releases.

The Phillies and Blue Jays played to a 9-9 tie yesterday, and will spend the remainder of the pre-season working on extra point conversions. But, the real news was the final roster changes, the subject of much discussion here at the Box.

Test your prognostication skills in the 2005 Batter's Box Predictions Contest!

In 2004, Simon held off 78 other contestestants to win the 2004 Contest. In 2003, I somehow won. Will this be your lucky year?

The prize for winning this year's contest may or may not include one of the following:

• Buster Olney's two-volume set Productive Outs: Theory and Practice and Fun With Scattergrams.
  
• A copy of Quiet Dignity: The Ozzie Guillen Story.
  
• A genuinely terrifying 24x36 picture of Jose Canseco, suitable for framing.

On to the Contest!

What can we tell you about the 2005 Blue Jays squad that you, loyal Box reader, don't already know?

This is an interactive Hall of Names -- something we did once before with the controversial attempt to build an All-Top-40-Hits team -- which means your contributions are required.

We're looking to build a team full of players with the goofiest names in baseball history. That could mean a lot of things .. .

The final cuts have been made and the roster for your Opening Day 2005 Blue Jays is set. The big decisions for the last day were: Greg Myers is the second catcher; Kerry Ligtenberg is cut; and Justin Miller will be sent to AAA if he clears waivers.

A few slip-shod briefs from around the majors.

Why did I think yesterday's game was the final tilt of the season against the Phillies? Obviously, I wasn't reading the schedule carefully, because here we are again.

Today there are no radio, TV or internet broadcasts from either side, so we'll be hitting refresh on the Yahoo box score over and over again if we want to know what's going on. In the meantime, let's talk about Beer Club!

No late-season charge
Lost reliable pitchers
But then, Carlos came

With their new superstar slugger, can the Marlins reclaim their mojo that led to their improbable Series triumph in 2003? One of the final previews here at the Box features the National League entry from Florida. As always, additional senryus from Box readers are most welcome.

One year ago, Blue Jays fans were coming off a season filled with highs, looking forward to the imminent return of the 2003 Cy Young award winner and the 2003 MVP runner-up at first base.

Well, we all know how that turned out.

The college baseball season is a couple months old, so as many students prepare to take midterm exams we'll take a look at how the top baseball prospects are grading out on the field so far.

The following story will appear in the April 1 and April 15 editions of American Way magazine, the award-winning inflight magazine of American Airlines. It is republished here in full with permission of the author.

Last summer, Mrs. Hank and I went on a neat little road trip, first out to New Brunswick for a friend's wedding, and then down to Boston to visit some relatives. Mrs. Hank's uncle is a Boston tennis pro, and so when he put out the word that his niece and her hubby were coming out to visit, some pretty fantastic Red Sox tickets were offered to him.

Here's the view from 'em: