2004 was a forgettable year for the Toronto Blue Jays and their fans, as the club floundered its way to 94 losses and the AL East cellar, a locale not visited by this club since 1997. With it all said and done, who were the culprits responsible for the mess? Who on the club turned in an individual performance not deserving of a Last Place label? The Batter’s Box roster has handed out grades for all of the good, the bad, and the ugly 2004 Jays, and over the next 3 days we’ll present these assessments.

Okay, just for the record: we know there's a big election going on in the U.S. today. But as per ongoing informal Batter's Box policy, we do not invite political commentary here unless it's the politics of signing Carlos Delgado. If you want to talk about Kerry or Bush, please keep it Jays-related or at least baseball-relevant.

Further point of clarification: we are not discouraging you from having or sharing an opinion; we just want to point out that this ain't the place for it. There are many, many Election Blogs out there, and we encourage you to visit one or more of them to vent or question or seek updates or even counsel.

Any politically-motivated posts to any thread today will be responded to with a link to this thread and genuine encouragement that you take your political commentary to a more appropriate arena.

If you really must -- you're seriously just about to burst -- post something on Da Box that is related to the U.S. Presidency, please consider contributing, on topic, of course, to yesterday's Baseball Hall of Names entry.

You might spoil your face
If you walk in the crowd
You won't leave any trace
It's always the same

How do you assess the chances of a catcher who has the worst patch of his career by far at age 30-31 and immediately follows it up with the best 2 year patch of his career by far? Will the real Javy Lopez please stand up?

The Jays have announced that Vernon Wells has won a Gold Glove for 2004!

It may have been the unbelievable A-Rod robbery that cinched it for V-Dub, and I showed up late to Yankee Stadium that night. It's reason #2,424,391 that baseball should take priority over real life.

On behalf of the Batter's Box community, a hearty congratulation to Vernon Wells!

Over at The Hardball Times, "Studes" (Dave to the rest of us) has a look at batted ball types and other such goodies. He also has a sneak preview of the 2004 Hardball Times Baseball Annual, our forthcoming book which will be released next week.

The Annual will be packed chock-full of stats stuff you can't find elsewhere, of which this is a small sneak preview. It'll be a lot of fun.

Unless we find out what’s to blame
What a shame
And we won’t be together much longer
Unless we realize that we are the same

We're not gonna make it, no no
We're not gonna make it
'Cuz we don't have the talent
And we don't have the time"
- "We're Not Going to Make It
by The Presidents of the United States of America

Okay, unless you've been -- well, let's not say "in a cave somewhere," even that has political undertones these days -- unaware, tomorrow the United States will begin the pre-recount, pre-lawsuit process of electing a new president. (Either way, presuming the popular vote matches the electoral result, it will be the first time elected for the victor.) And that brings us to the inevitable "Baseball Hall of Names" All-Presidential-Names team.

From (Claudell) Washington to (Guy) Bush, it's an interesting challenge; and if you ever wondered why U.S. presidents throw out the first pitch on Opening Day, keep an eye on the pitching staff that develops throughout this process. As for defense policy and (offensive) production jobs, this team might fall a little short. But there will be plenty of campaign promises of success in those areas.

To be broken
Feelings are intense
Words are trivial
Pleasures remain
So does the pain
Words are meaningless
And forgettable

The Internet Baseball Writers Association, of which several Batter's Box authors are members, have announced their first annual IBWA Awards. A bunch of us were involved in the voting. Details are posted over at all-baseball.com. Thanks to the IBWA's Christian Ruzich for handling the voting.

The Awards:

Players of the Year - Barry Bonds and Vladimir Guerrero
Pitchers of the Year - Randy Johnson and Johan Santana
Debuts of the Year - Khalil Greene and Bobby Crosby
Managers of the Year - Bobby Cox and Buck Showalter
Executives of the Year - Walt Jocketty and Theo Epstein

Here is a place for all things AFL. Here's yesterday's Saguaro boxscore to get things rolling. It's a very pleasant sight to see Hill, Hattig and Big Vito in the heart of the batting order and doing so well. Rob tells us that the Saguaros' games on November 2 and 4 will be on internet radio courtesy of mlb.com.

Jorge Posada, Hall of Fame? I can see noses crinkling and eyebrows elevating across web-land. The short version of events is that after hitting .272/.400/.481 in 2004, he has compiled a little more than half a Hall of Fame career at age 32. One might think that time was liable to run out on him, but as he has caught only 955 games, he is basically where you want to be at his age.

The series continues with Mike Piazza. This year he had his second straight off-season hitting .262/.366/.442, while splitting his time between catching and playing first base. Still, at age 35, he has an impressive resume.

On the radio at the local bar
In the hot traffic
By the red tail lights

For now, I'll just say that. There is no such thing as a curse. It means nothing.

Congratulations to the Boston Red Sox, 2004 World Series Champions.