Today's Birthday Team has an ultra-rare feature: A Hall of Famer on the bench. Oddly enough, neither Sunny Jim nor Dolph Camilli ever played a game in the outfield.

It's probably safe to assume that if this was a real team, Bottomley would be in LF and Tyner would be on the bench faster than you can say 'Bobblehead'.

C: Darryl Cias
1B: Dolph Camilli
2B: Sammy Meeks
3B: Chuck Harmon
SS: Emilio Bonifacio
LF: Jason Tyner
CF: Andruw Jones
RF: Bob Ganley

SP: Warren Spahn
SP: Jim Scott
SP: Harry Coveleski
SP: Elam Vangilder
SP: Carlos Silva
RP: Rheal Cormier

Manager/Backup 1B: Jim Bottomley
Designated Ivy Leaguer: Fernando Perez
Prime Minister: Lester B. Pearson

10 greatest games in Tiger Stadium history. It also turned 100 last week, y'know. (See comments section at the end where an error is pointed out to me and I respond).

Ivan Rodriguez career highlights. Personal best/worsts; greatest, most important or oddest games played in; and some career milestones as well.

60th anniversary: Hoyt Wilhelm's first homer. The HoFer homered in his first at bat -- and then never again in his 20+ year career.

Random question: is Rodriguez the guy who broke his hand when he smacked it on somebody's bat on the follow-through while throwing down to second?

Well now, isn't Elam Vangilder one of the great names? He had a nice little 3 year run for the Browns.

I was sitting next to Nick Esasky's family at the 100th anniversary of Fenway game the other day. After the game he was kind enough to sign my scoresheet for me and a baseball for my friend that I was with then let us take a picture. He was incredibly nice and friendly.

Hope he's healthy now...

He seemed fine. He wasn't using a walker or anything but I don't know how vertigo manifests itself in someone's day to day life. I said to him "I'm sorry Atlanta didn't work out for you" and he said something to the effect of "yeah, it is what it is." He didn't sound bitter or anything.

After yesterday's 5-1 loss, the Pirates have scored 2.00 runs per game and allowed 2.93.

Just down the road, the Indians have scored 5.29 runs per game and allowed 5.14.

Game of the day (yesterday): Orioles 3, Angels 2 (10). The game had a few respectable rallies early on, but the real action started with the Angels ahead 1-0 in the top of the 8th. After a groundout, the Orioles loaded the bases with three consecutive singles. JJ Hardy hit into a force at home, but with two outs, Nick Markakis singled in a pair of runs, giving Baltimore the lead. The Angels came right back with a solo homer from Howie Kendrick in the bottom of the inning, and neither team mounted a real threat in the 9th, sending the game to extras. Robert Andino led off the Baltimore half of the 10th with a walk, and moved to third on a sac bunt and a groundout. That brought Markakis to the plate again, and again he came through, singling home the go-ahead run. (Markakis amassed .734 WPA on the day, which is... impressive.) In the bottom of the 10th, Kendrys Morales hit a one-out double, and pinch runner Bobby Abreu moved to third on a flyout, but remained there when Howie Kendrick fanned to end the game.

This game narrowly edged out the other extra-inning affair of the day, Rangers 3, Tigers 2 (11). The difference was basically the size of the home team's threat in the bottom of the final inning; if the Tigers had been the team with the runner on second and 1 out, and the Angels had put a runner on first with two away, the games would switch places.

Game of the day (last year): Blue Jays 6, Rays 4 (11). Toronto rallied from three separate deficits in regulation, trailing 1-0, 2-1, and 4-2, before finally winning on a walkoff homer from John McDonald, of all people, in the bottom of the 11th. The hitting star of the day was Jose Bautista, who went 3/3 with 3 walks and came a single short of the cycle. Remarkably, he also scored all four of the Jays' runs in regulation: he doubled and scored on an Adam Lind single in the first to tie the game, tripled and scored on a Lind double in the fourth to tie it again, homered in the 5th to trim Tampa's lead to one in the fifth, and walked and scored on an Edwin Encarnacion double in the eighth. It seems like that has to at least tie some kind of record - one player scoring his team's first four runs of the game. Would there even be a way to search for that?

I love catching mistakes in my posts after the edit window closes. Bautista was 3/3 with 2 walks.

I'm enjoying the Game of the Day feature Eric. Thanks.

Thanks, SoSH. I enjoy putting it together, but it is nice to know that it's being read.

Rangers release Justin Miller (not that one, the 25 year old who's getting TJ).

the phillies are horrible.

even worse than the fact that the phillies are horrible is that the players who are performing the best for them are juan pierre and ty wigginton. even if the phillies tried to get younger by inserting mayberry and domonic brown into the starting lineup, to do so, they'd have to remove the lineup's two most productive players.

In the bottom of the 10th, Kendrys Morales hit a one-out double, and pinch runner Bobby Abreu

I did not enjoying seeing that happen. Using Abreu to pinch run is like putting Richard Simmons in charge of quiet time.

Still waiting for that Angel offense to turn around.

After yesterday's 5-1 loss, the Pirates have scored 2.00 runs per game and allowed 2.93.

Just down the road, the Indians have scored 5.29 runs per game and allowed 5.14.

The Indians should offer the Pirates their staff and 10 million dollars for the Pirates staff.

the phillies are horrible.

even worse than the fact that the phillies are horrible is that the players who are performing the best for them are juan pierre and ty wigginton. even if the phillies tried to get younger by inserting mayberry and domonic brown into the starting lineup, to do so, they'd have to remove the lineup's two most productive players.

The pitching will keep them hanging around all year, but man that is one putrid lineup. Polonco looks done. Rollins looks done. Galvis is useless. Pence, Victorino, and Ruiz aren't going to repeat their career years. They look like the 1985 Royals minus George Brett.

O's sign IF Bill Hall - minor league deal

Rays reportedly will sign DH Hideki Matsui

Cubs DFA Rodrigo Lopez

Rays reportedly will sign DH Hideki Matsui

What on earth for? Is Scott injured?

He'll fill the Jose Canseco/Manny Ramirez/Tino Martinez/Cliff Floyd "formerly excellent hitter who's past his prime, who nobody will remember as a Ray" roster spot. Jose Bautista just missed filling that role a few years back - they picked him up on the wrong side of his stardom.

BTW, looking at the Rays' all-time roster is wild. Ben Grieve is in their Career Hits top 20...Miguel Cairo is #15! I know the Devil Rays were horrible for a long time, but they've been really good for enough years that I figured those guys would be off the charts by now.

He'll fill the Jose Canseco/Manny Ramirez/Tino Martinez/Cliff Floyd "formerly excellent hitter who's past his prime, who nobody will remember as a Ray" roster spot.

yeah, there's a lot of those. Also Wade Boggs, Fred McGriff, Julio Franco, Vinny Castilla, and Greg Vaughn.

Nothing gets a team out of a slump better than playing the Royals.

The Blue Jays get their first ever (4-game) series sweep in KC in franchise history.

James Paxton, BA's #52 prospect in baseball, has a discouraging game log trend going in AA Jackson.

4/06: 5.2-2-0-0-0-10 (63% strikes)
4/11: 4.2-4-1-1-1-7 (65% strikes)
replaced by blassian doppleganger
4/16: 4.2-2-1-1-8-4 (44% strikes)
4/21: 2.1-7-7-6-5-1 (44% strikes)