Halladay (Sung to the tune of 'Holiday')

Roy Halladay sees his first game action today, allowing writers everywhere to unleash a torrent of medical/Western cliches in his honour. Yes, yes, yes, the Doctor is in, Doc Halladay's First Stand, the Doctor will see you now ... to the bench, the Doctor has hit you in the head so hard with a fastball that you need to see ... The Doctor.

Halladay is due for two innings of work this afternoon against Detroit. After Nate Robertson was given the day off yesterday, we will also see two of Detroit's main components - Robertson and Justin Verlander.

Also, we should be seeing most of the Jays revamped line-up. That will follow once I've screwed up the courage to brave the cold (yes, 12 C. Poor me.) and walk to the clubhouse.

10:05 - A brisk but rewarding journey - not one, but two line-ups

Today vs. Detroit
1 - Eckstein
2 - Rios
3 - Wells
4 - Thomas
5 - Rolen
6 - Stairs
7 - Overbay
8 - Hill
9 - Zaun
SP: Halladay

Much discussion amongst Assembled Media (A.M.) about whether or not this is a harbinger of the Opening Day selection. Remember the bet that manager John Gibbons with A.M. about predicting that first real action against the Yankees in a month's time.

Saturday @ Tampa Bay
1 - Johnson
2 - Shannon Stewart
3 - Rios
4 - Rolen
5 - Scutaro
6 - Barajas
7 - Russ Adams
8 - John McDonald
9 - Thigpen
SP: Dustin McGowan

Also, Jason Frasor is a scratch today because of flu. Jamie Vermilyea takes his place

As an aside, a few locker observations. Lockers in baseball are a bit like tarot cards - read correctly, they reveal something about the future.

The set-up at Knology reveals the following:
- Scott Rolen has taken the double locker just inside the door, the real estate generally occupied by an all-star vet. Last year, Frank Thomas enjoyed that spot. In previous years, it was the territory of Bengie Molina and Carlos Delgado.
- The coveted placement alongside Roy Halladay and A.J. Burnett has been taken by reedy young reliever Vermilyea. Last year, Josh Towers asked for and received that locker.
- While most of the youngsters and non-roster invitees in camp are clustered off to one side (in the pedestrian traffic zine between the door and the backrooms), top prospects Travis Snider and J.P. Arencibia are smack in the middle of the regulars, like Rios and Ryan.

Song of the day: In honour of Halladay's expected demolition of a no-name Tigers line-up, we offer up Band of Horses' The Funeral. Prime-time teen dramas almost ruined this song, but it's too quality to be beaten down for long.

Noon: One more early lockerroom observation.

Halladay has four baseball cards stuck above his cubbie - A.J. Burnett's, Shaun Marcum's, Dustin McGowan's and ... wait for it ... Jesse Litsch's.

Couldn't ask the man if this is his subtle way of declaring his choice for the fifth starter. Halladay was already wearing his pre-game scowl and ensconced in his cone of silence.

Settling in now for the start. Proving that they're big enough not to take offence at hosting the Jays B-list yesterday, the Tigers have sent a pretty respectable line-up to Dunedin:

1 - Curtis Granderson
2 - Placido Polanco
3 - Edgar Renteria
4 - Marcus Thames
5 - Jacque Jones
6 - Ryan Raburn
7 - Brandon Inge
8 - Jeff Larish
9 - Max St. Pierre

Take that together with the fact that the Globe's Jeff Blair has provided me with a pirate TV link where I can get my Wire fix in Florida and the fact that the drive home from Dunedin is always smooth as silk, and the afternoon is shaping up pretty nicely.

5 mins. to first pitch: The yearly spring Canadian anthem adventures have begun. Today's singer brought a small, but very obvious slip of paper and read/sang 'O Canada'.

"I hope the anthem doesn't blow away," quipped CP's Shi Davidi.

This, of course, cannot begin to compete with last year's lowlight. A local American Idol contestant loused Canada's national song up so badly the poor girl had to haltingly apologize to the crowd once she'd finished singing.

Halladay taking the mound now. I'll give you the blow-by-blow for the first little while.

1:07: Curtis Granderson grounds the second pitch weakly to second. 4-3 out. I think Halladay can begin spending that Cy Young bonus.

1:11: After Placido Polanco singles up the middle, Scott Rolen advances quickly on a tricky, high-hopping Edgar Renteria hit and handles it beautifully for the out. I don't see Troy Glaus making that play.

On the road with ... the Tigers

Rooooaaad trip. First commute of the season across I-4 to Lakeland's gorgeous Joker Marchant Stadium. Owing to my great love of Florida drivers - possibly the worst on earth, excepting Quebeckers (in fact, most Florida drivers probably are Quebeckers) - I left the piloting up to the National Post's Jeremy Sandler. Left, Sandler! LEFT!

It's only ten o'clock, but the parking lot is a lot more crowded than I remember from last year. That may have something to do with Mssrs. Cabrera and Willis. And Rob MacLeod from the Globe is already fretting about the traffic heading home. He's not the only one.

The Jays bus should be pulling up momentarily. A few interesting things on tap from the understrength squad they're sending today (Aside: Here's a little puzzle for the initiated: Find the league mandated four starters in today's Jays line-up. After you get past one, disqualify yourself for cheating).

How will Jesse Litsch look in his first game setting? And how will Gustavo Chacin, who's fallen at least three spots in the pecking order since last spring, do following him? Will Ben Coats, a long-shot to crack the 25-man as a utility player, impress? Personally, I'll be watching Travis Snider with curiousity. His elbow's been bugging him this spring, but he'll get a chance to show us that big swing as today's starting DH.

Snider is an absolute tank of a kid - 5-foot-11, 245 pounds - the proverbial fire hydrant. He was talking about size and how so many of the kids his age in camp are trying to put on weight.

"They're saying 'I'm 185 and I can't gain a pound no matter how much I eat'. I tell them, 'Dude, I was 185 when I was 13," he laughed.

For all the talk in the scouting reports about how Snider will have to watch his weight, there isn't any jiggle on that frame right now. He's a very solid 245, which is downright scary.

Cathal Kelly

P.S. Sandler has been peppering John Gibbons with his 'word of the day'. Yesterday: somnambulant. Today: well, apparently he doesn't know yet. "It's a very organic thing," Sandler insists. "Gibby has to ask me." Good Lord, Sandler. You should be concentrating on the ride home. It's only seven or so hours away.

Not being very good with words (obviously), I'm going with a song of the day. I like to start a game with some rally music on the old Bose headphones. Today, in order to kick things off on a pulsing electro beat, 'Genesis' by Justice. Call it my homage to Cadillac. And France.

P.P.S. Sandler has decided on his word of the day - obsequious. Gibbons apparently now wants the word emailed to him, rather than read out. Sandler, I think he's brushing you off, man. Vocabulary building is too important a subject to be trusted to the Internet. That's for sports.

End of the Second Inning - Jesse Litsch has given up four hits and four runs, including a two-run shot to Curtis Granderson. Considering this is the nearly full-strength Tigers line-up, two runs per inning seems fairly reasonable. MacLeod is still going on about the traffic. I've pointed him to our traffic link (above).

Top of the Third - Travis Snider's very first at-bat as a Toronto Blue Jay - a five-pitch walk. Detroit's Matt Mantel didn't throw anywhere near him. This kid is 20 years old and they're already scared of him.

Game over - Detroit 4 Toronto 1. Jesse Litsch rocked. Gustavo Chacin and David Purcey solid. Toronto's replacement killers line-up supplied only four hits. But tomorrow, Detroit's B-Team should be on hand at Dunedin ready to be taken advantage of by Roy Halladay.

However, the poor traffic outlook should have Sandler on his A-Game.

Blue Jays mail bag

Baseball columnist Richard Griffin answers your Blue Jays questions from spring training. Click here to submit a question.

Q: Does the signing of Shannon Stewart solidify Reed Johnson’s exit from the Blue Jays in 2008? This pre-season the team seems more interested in Matt Stairs and it’s obvious that Lind will be a fixture in left field in '09. They also supplanted Johnson at the leadoff spot. I can see the platoon scenario going out the window and Stewart coming off the bench to spell Stairs when he is fatigued and J.P. dumping Johnson while he has trade value. This way Stewart can regain some value for next year’s market, Stairs can provide a strong bat and Lind will still get a whole season in Syracuse to develop and can be the starter spelled by Stairs in ‘09. Is this a likely scenario or is it jumping the gun?

Danny B., Ottawa

A: Reed Johnson’s tenure with the Jays has seemed like it is winding down ever since his too-early return to health last summer. The dedicated Johnson is a terrific defensive outfielder, but his offensive contributions in the second half of '07 diminished as he tried to come back earlier than he should have from back issues.

If Stairs does start the majority of games against righthanded pitching, and with Frank Thomas the everyday DH, that makes Johnson and Stewart, both righthanded hitters, pretty much the same player. In the wings as a fifth outfielder are Buck Coats, who can back up at all three positions, and super-sub Marco Scutaro, expected to add the two corner outfield spots to his repertoire. Where does that leave Reed?

There are NL teams that have former Jays personnel in their front office - like the Phillies, Cubs and Brewers - that all know what Johnson can do as a fourth outfielder, although at $3.275 million, that’s a fairly expensive bench player. By finding another home for Johnson and keeping Stewart for a season, the Jays would save about $2 million and if they kept Coats, they would have the late-inning defensive replacement they need. As you point out, Lind has ML experience, with Travis Snider on the fast track for '09.

Big Hurt, Big Swing

DAVID COOPER/TORONTO STAR

Frank Thomas - The Big Hurt - will be 40 on May 27th. It would be cool if he matched his age with homers this year. Wouldn't hurt.

Bosom chums on the left side

Another quick thought on Scott Rolen and David Eckstein who, for obvious reasons, have been bunched together as a pair here at spring training.

I asked Rolen if he and Eckstein as close off the field as they seem to be on the diamond.

"We have great mutual respect," Rolen said. Then he paused. "Well, I can’t say mutual cause I don’t know if he respects me (laughing) Ideally, great mutual respect as players and as teammates. We’ve taken good care of each other along the way."

Eckstein, who's constant ear-to-ear grin makes the perennially chipper Aaron Hill seem dour, easily confirmed the 'mutual' part of that.

"He's class on and off-the-field," Eckstein said of the big man.

But they are clearly thick as thieves in the clubhouse. Yesterday, St. Louis beat writer Joe Strauss was in camp interviewing the pair. Later, he lamented to John Gibbons how the corner in the Cardinal lockerroom where Rolen and Eckstein once held court was going to be a sadly quiet place this year.

Cathal Kelly

Thoughts. Many of which aren't about baseball.

Moving day, and a good day for it. It's unseasonably chilly in the Tampa/Clearwater area this morning, hovering somewhere in the range of 7 or 8 degrees. A massive rain storm blew through last night, leaving me giddy at the prospect of surviving my first hurricane (hey, I don't have to pay to repair the roof).

My hopes were bumped when I heard the staff at a local Borders planning their evacuation routes. (By the way, the first four episodes of the first season of Friday Night Lights are pretty swish. Even if you have to watch them on an MacBook)

Sadly, no hurricane. But enough gale force to blow the dust out of my rental apartment. Cleaning averted again!

The team will stretch out beginning around 9:30 and then arrange their afternoon golf game. Remember to wear tearaway pants.

If you've arrived here in search of actual baseball info, here are the pitching starters for the first five grapefruit league games

2/28 (@ Detroit) Jesse Litsch
2/29 (vs. Detroit) Roy Halladay
3/1 (@ Tampa Bay) Dustin McGowan
3/2 (vs. Cincinnati) A.J. Burnett
3/3 (vs. Cleveland) Shaun Marcum

And here's the travelling line-up for the first game in Lakeland. If the formatting is balky, blame the Globe's Rob MacLeod. I stole it off his blog (hey, I'm a hell of a writer, but one lousy typist (that's what my mother tells me). I take those sorts of shortcuts where I can - with McEll's permission of course):

Pitchers: Josh Banks, Shaun Camp, Lance Carter, Gustavo Chacin, Mike Gosling, Litsch, Jean Machi, David Purcey and James Vermilyea.

Catchers: Rod Barajas, Curtis Thigpen, John Schneider.

Infielders: Russ Adams, Chip Cannon, Joe Inglett, Pedro Lopez, John McDonald, Sergio Santos, Marco Scutaro and John Tolisano.

Outfielders: Buck Coats, Reed Johnson, Adam Lind, Wayne Lydon, Ryan Patterson, Travis Snider, Matthew Watson and Eric Nielson.

PROVISIONAL LINE-UP:

1 - Reed Johnson - LF

2 - John MacDonald - SS

3 - Marco Scutaro - 2B

4 - Rod Barajas - C

5 - Adam Lind - RF

6 - Buck Coats - RF

7 - Chip Cannon - 1B

8 - Joe Inglett - 3B

9 - Travis Sinder - DH

*****

Another in the many signs that I am now in Florida. The pick-up idling in front of me had a faded bumper sticker on the back panel. It was emblazoned with a hammer and sickle and read: "Seat Belt laws. Helmet laws. What's next, Comrade?"

Didn't get ahead of the guy quickly enough to see if he was suffering the after-effects of severe head trauma.

Cathal Kelly

Sal's takeout

Should one ever wonder about the love this Jays team has for Sal Fasano, there was the sight of Aaron Hill fetching him lunch before today's intrasquad game.

Minutes before the game started, Hill busted out of the clubhouse carrying a takeout tray. When MLB.com's Jordan Bastian gave Hill the 'What the hell are you doing?' shoulder shrug, Hill shouted back, "It's for Sal."

He never broke stride.

Er.

A pool reporter approached Fasano later to confirm delivery. Cheeseburger with all the fixins'. It's been verified.

You can splice through Fasano's plate statistics all the livelong day. There is no good way to quantify how much he means to this team. It goes beyond numbers.

Cathal Kelly

Fireside chat with Rolen

Five minutes with most ballplayers is about what you need to figure out most of what makes them tick. At least for the purposes of a baseball writer. Five minutes of shoptalk does it for most people, when you get to thinking about it.

But five minutes with Scott Rolen leaves you thinking you could spend a good long time talking to this guy and only scratch the surface. Rolen is razor-sharp - no backing him into any conversational corners - but softens any easy scores with an open and laidback way.

I asked him today about his oft-operated on left shoulder and he winced just slightly as he sipped his morning coffee. "Shoulder's no problem at all. Probably not even a topic of conversation at this point," he said with a significant look.

Until I see him screaming in pain and reaching up to his shoulder and screaming "My &%$# shoulder!", I will not be asking Scott Rolen about his shoulder again.

The easy back-and-forth of Rolen's banter is probably the result of being the son of a pair of teachers and his fondness for reading - something that writers in Philadelphia and St. Louis have hooked onto and used to define him. I'm not sure if your passtimes declare who you are, but in this case I think it might be fair to say reading - and by extension, learning and self-exploration - give you a great insight into Rolen.

Right now, he's making his way through Upton Sinclair's ode to the working-class, 'The Jungle'. "I don't know why that one escaped me up till now?" Rolen said of the book. "It's one of the ones everybody reads in high school."

I nodded politely, having never read it (but felt pathetically proud of myself for at least knowing it was Sinclair who wrote it when he mentioned the title).

Watching Rolen play yesterday in the intra-squad, it's pretty clear the fans are going to love this guy. He plays the sandlot like it's the World Series. Having my first one-on-one with him today makes it clear he's going to be a treat for reporters to talk to all year long. But I'll spend the moments before our next encounter dusting off my Dostoyevski and Garcia-Marquez references.

Cathal Kelly

Give him a hand

DAVID COOPER/TORONTO STAR

Alex Rios feels the - ahem - glove at spring training.

Armed. With teeth.

It's Florida alright. Winding up 19 toward the Bobby Mattick Training Center, the first ad that pops on 102.5 The Bone is for the Tampa Gun Show.

"A wide selection of handguns from all major manufacturers for self-defence! Classes for concealed weapons permits held all week long!"

Remind me not to cut anyone off.

The weather is suitably swampy and upon exiting the rental in the miniscule parking lot, one is greeted by the the crack of the bat from the nearby cages. That's a nice summery sound.

This is only my second spring here, but the mood seems noticeably looser in camp. Even B.J. Ryan is smiling - and it's not that 'you're-not-going-to-try-to-talk-to-me-are-you' sort of smile.

Speaking of Ryan, watched him throw a bullpen to start the day. Inauspicious to begin with, as Ryan spewed curses after the first few efforts. But he settled in nicely. Frank Thomas wandered by, angled himself perfectly behind the fence and judged Ryan's effort a "little better." Not sure if that was from one pitch to the next or one bullpen to the next.

Afterward, Ryan was still smiling. Well. Grinning. No. Check that. Upturning his lips slightly.

“It’s getting better … Last bullpen felt good, just kind of a crummy outcome, and today was better,” Ryan said. “It started coming together there near the end as I got going.”

Ryan’s issue is trying to find that comfortable three-quarter arm slot.

“I’m still searching for it a little bit,” Ryan said. “It’s still early on in the spring. It’s something I’ve fought with every year. So I found it today. It felt good. Now I just have to remember it.”

Dr. Tim Kremchek, the surgeon who performed his operation, will examine Ryan in the coming days. Assuming all is well, he’ll throw a live batting practice on Thursday. Then he’s due to throw in at least one minor league game before joining the Jays for Grapefruit League action.

Those looking for bigger grins were being pointed in the direction of Roy Halladay.

“Roy Halladay came up to me and was smiling,” returning hero Shannon Stewart said yesterday, sounding mildly alarmed at the facial contortions of his old teammate. “I’ve never seen Roy like that. He scared me.

"I’m used to Roy being serious and going out there and being stone cold. Stone cold. That’s what I called him. He had a lot of joy in his face. It seemed like he’s really happy with himself.”

Or maybe he's excited about the gun show. Proabably not. Halladay's more of a fishing afficianado.

Cathal Kelly