2-15 – "I learned more from going down than I would have had I stayed up and just struggled at the big-league level. It's good to have struggled. It shows a lot of character to be able to come back and show that you're still ready to play and you're going to come out and play hard every day and not let the past get you down. That's why I'm here today." – BLUE JAYS OF VERNON WELLS explaining what it took to continue working hard to realize his dream of playing in MLB.

3-12 – "I'm shocked, but that's just how it is," said GEOFF BLUM, upon being traded by the MONTREAL EXPOS to the HOUSTON ASTROS, who recognized that he has become an odd historical footnote in a wacky off-season and Spring Training. "That's what I told my wife. I knew (the Expos) were going to make a move, but I didn't know I was going to be the first to go. I don't know if that's good or bad."

3-25 – The MONTREAL EXPOS signed a working agreement with the SALTILLO SARAPE MAKERS of the MEXICAN LEAGUE. The joint agreement will include the sharing of scouting and player development information, and will cover strategies concerning players, coaches and scouts. The SALTILLO SARAPE MAKERS have teams that play in both the Mexican Winter and Summer Leagues, and their Winter team, the CULIACAN TOMATO GROWERS, won the 2002 MEXICAN WINTER LEAGUE and the 2002 CARIBBEAN WORLD SERIES Championships.

3-28 – OF CHAD MOTTOLA, who was the International League MVP when he played with the SYRACUSE SKYCHIEFS in 2000, went 4-for-5 in their 6-2 opener over the ROCHESTER RED WINGS with four hits being the most by any SYRACUSE player on Opening Day since 2B LUIS SOJO went 5-for-9 at PAWTUCKET on 8 April 1990. He was batting .478 with four multi-hit games in the first six contests this season. In 2000, Mottola batted .309 with 33 homers, 102 RBI and 30 stolen bases, becoming the first 30-30 player in franchise history and their first IL MVP since OF DEREK BELL in 1991.

3-28 – In his first six games with the PAWTUCKET RED SOX, Canadian-born 1B / DH TODD BETTS, a free agent pickup from the SEATTLE MARINERS organization, has been one of the bright spots offensively in the early going, batting .450 (9-for-20) with 1 home run and 4 RBI. He batted .308 in 135 games with the TACOMA RAINIERS of the PCL in 2001.

3-28 – The OTTAWA LYNX started out 5-2 on the young season, making this their best start in franchise history, kicking off the season with three straight wins over the SCRANTON / WILKES-BARRE RED BARONS, the second time a LYNX squad accomplished this feat in its 10-year history, having previously won three straight to start their 1993 inaugural campaign. No Ottawa squad had ever started out any previous season 4-0.

3-28 – DALE BOZEMAN never forgot that day in 1965 when FRANK ROBINSON gave him a baseball when Bozeman, then 5, and his dad went to watch the CINCINNATI REDS at old CROSLEY FIELD in Cincinnati. Robinson, in his last year with the Reds, was an acquaintane of Bozeman's dad. Yesterday, Bozeman, now 42 and with a 5-year-old son of his own, was watching the MONTREAL EXPOS and LOS ANGELES DODGERS Spring Training game at ROGER DEAN STADIUM in Jupiter, Florida, when he noticed Robinson, the manager of the EXPOS, sitting in a golf cart near one of the outlying practise fields. Bozeman, who lives in Virginia Beach, Virginia, approached Robinson and related the story from 37 years ago. Although Robinson apparently didn't remember the 1965 meeting, he got out of his cart, walked to a dugout, and gave Bozeman's son, RYAN, a ball. "It all came full circle," Bozeman said. "What a great thrill."

4-06 – 3B KOREY KOSKIE was presented with the TIP O'NEILL AWARD in a pre-game ceremony this afternoon, before his MINNESOTA TWINS played the TORONTO BLUE JAYS at SKYDOME. The CANADIAN BASEBALL HALL OF FAME presents this award annually to a Canadian-born player who has excelled, and Koskie certainly had done so in 2001. Last season, the Anola, Manitoba, native, batted .276 with 26 home runs and 103 runs batted in, along with compiling 27 stolen bases. No other AMERICAN LEAGUE third baseman has ever hit more than 25 homers, driven in more than 100 runs and stolen more than 25 bases, combined, in any previous MLB season.

4-06 – OF LARRY WALKER, 35, a native of Maple Ridge, British Columbia, became the career leader amongst Canadian players in games played, at Dodger Stadium today, when he appeared in his 1,532nd game (TERRY PUHL had played in 1,531). Walker either holds or will hold most significant offensive records for Canadian-born players by the time he finishes his superlative career. He shared the TIP O'NEILL AWARD last year with MINNESOTA TWINS 3B KOREY KOSKIE. Walker won the NATIONAL LEAGUE batting title in 2001, hitting at a .350 clip, and was presented the award at SKYDOME on June 8, in a pregame ceremony honouring his eighth selection as winner of this trophy.

4-08 – The DETROIT TIGERS, baseball's lone winless team, fired manager PHIL GARNER and general manager RANDY SMITH, naming coach LUIS PUJOLS to take over as interim manager. Pujols had served as bench coach for FELIPE ALOU when he was managing the MONTREAL EXPOS, but was fired on 21 July 2000, along with the pitching coach BOBBY CUELLAR, in what Alou referred to as "the worst offense to happen to me in my time in this game." Pujols, like Alou, a native of the Dominican Republic, is the fifth major-league manager to have been a bench coach for Alou, joining JERRY MANUAL of the CHICAGO WHITE SOX, JIM TRACY of the LOS ANGELES DODGERS, TIM JOHNSON, KEVIN KENNEDY and former star pitching coach JOE KERRIGAN, fired as manager of the BOSTON RED SOX earlier in the 2002 spring training. (See 4-12).

4-10 – INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS (IL) OF ISRAEL ALCANTARA belted a pair of home runs to lead his team to a 6-1 victory over the CHARLOTTE KNIGHTS. His first came on the tail end of back-to-back-to-back blasts with SS BILL HALL and OF MIDRE CUMMINGS, in the first inning for a 4-0 lead. The 28-year-old drilled his second solo shot of the game in the third, giving him a team high five homers and 11 RBI in the first seven games, with a .800 slugging percentage.

4-10 – BREVARD COUNTY MANATEES (FSL) RHP JOSH KARP threw seven strong innings in a 7-0 victory over the VERO BEACH DODGERS. Karp, the sixth overall selection of the EXPOS in the 2001 draft, out of UCLA, yielded 3 hits, a walk and struck out 3 for the win. The 22-year-old set down 13 of the first 14 batters he faced before surrendering a double with one out in the fifth. Last Friday he had won his first professional game with seven strikeouts over five innings of one-run ball, improving to 2-0, with an 0.00 ERA, 10 Ks, in his first 12 innings of the season.

4-10 – BOWIE BAYSOX (EL) 1B DOUG GREDVIG went 3-for-5 with two home runs and four RBI in a 10-2 victory over the AKRON AEROS. Capping a five-run first inning, with a two-run blast, singled home a run in the second and belted a one-out solo shot in the sixth. LHP ERIK BEDARD allowed only two runs, two hits, three walks, striking out seven over five innings for the win. The 23-year-old Canadian-born hurler had retired the first 10 batters in order, including six of seven by strikeout between the second and fourth inning, and 15 of 20 overall.

4-11 – HARRISBURG SENATORS (EL) 3B SCOTT HODGES smacked a pair of home runs, collecting four RBI in their 6-5 victory over the ERIE SEAWOLVES. Hodges singled to left in the 1st inning and drilled a two-run shot with two outs in the fifth. The 23-year-old, selected in the first round of the 1997 draft, belted his second longball of the game leading off the seventh and laced an RBI single through the right side of the infield in the top of the 10th to give his SENATORS the 6-5 win.

4-11 – SYRACUSE SKYCHIEFS (IL) OF CHAD MOTTOLA went 3-for-4 with a double, a home run and four RBI, in the 10-5 win over the PAWTUCKET RED SOX. Mottola, who is now 14-for-27 with a .519 batting average, cracked a two-run homer in the fourth inning, singled home a run in the fifth and lined an RBI double in the seventh.

4-11 – BLUE JAYS flamethrower FRANKLIN ROSARIO turned in his second straight dominant performance for the CHARLESTON ALLEY CATS (SAL). Capable of hitting 97+ MPH, he tossed seven shutout innings, striking out eight while allowing just two hits and a walk which gave him 18 Ks and one walk in his first eleven innings.

4-12 – FELIPE ALOU, 66, the first Dominican Republic-born manager in MLB history, accepted an offer to become the bench coach for the DETROIT TIGERS. He accepted a deal to spend one year as bench coach with LUIS PUJOLS, who was appointed as manager of the Tigers on April 8. Alou spent the past 27 years with the MONTREAL EXPOS organization, managing the major league team from 1992 until last season, and was removed nine victories short of reaching the 700-win plateau. "I'm proud of Luis and I'd like to be there with him, because in a lot of ways he's the least experienced of those guys, other than JOE (KERRIGAN)," said Alou, the day before deciding to accept the coaching offer from the Tigers, speaking about the fact that Pujols had been one of the five bench coaches for him while in Montreal and that the others, JERRY MANUEL, CHICAGO WHITE SOX manager, JIM TRACY, now managing the LOS ANGELES DODGERS, TIM JOHNSON and KEVIN KENNEDY, all had more potential managerial experience. (See 4-08)

4-13 – SS BRANDON PHILLIPS, of the Double-A HARRISBURG SENATORS, hit homers in four consecutive games, April 10-13. But he is a real newcomer to this department. At age 20 he had never hit more than 11 homers in one year and came into the 2002 season with 23 home runs in 295 games. He had five homers and 10 RBI in his first nine games.

4-14 – IOWA CUBS (PCL) C ADAM MELHUSE went 4-for-5 and drove in five runs to help his team defeat the CALGARY CANNONS by a 12-4 score, in hitting a double and scoring in both the third and fifth innings, then belted a grand slam to complete a five-run seventh and doubled home a run in the eighth. The 30-year-old has started the season batting .400 (10-for-25) with 2 homers and 8 RBI in his first seven games.

4-14 – OTTAWA LYNX (IL) 1B LUIS ORTIZ went 4-for-5 with a double, a home run, and 4 RBI in their 14-7 win at the SYRACUSE SKYCHIEFS. He singled home a run in the first inning, connected on a three-run homer in the seventh, and doubled and scored during a five-run top of the ninth. OF ENDY CHAVEZ and 3B HOWARD BATTLE added three RBI apiece for the LYNX, while C JOSH PHELPS finished with three hits, including two doubles with 4 RBI and a run scored for his SKY CHIEFS.

4-15 – C MICHAEL BARRETT, who had batted .467 with 2 home runs and a National League leading 13 RBI over his team's past six games, was named as the NL Co-Player of the Week for the period 8-14 April. RHP BRIAN LAWRENCE, of the SAN DIEGO PADRES, who went 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA over two starts and 16 innings during the same period, shared the weekly award. Over five games, Barrett had seven hits in 15 at-bats, with 2 doubles and a pair of homers, good for a slugging percentage of 1.000, and an on-base % of .471 and on 8 and 9 April, against the Marlins, went a combined 5-for-9 with 2 home runs and 11 RBI, with the latter figure setting a MONTREAL EXPOS team record, previously held by GARY CARTER with 10 RBI in two consecutive games in 1981. Barrett received a specially engraved watch in recognition of being selected for this award, from www.gamestimeshop.com. Amongst those also nominated were, OF LARRY WALKER, who hit .308, with 3 home runs and 7 RBI. Lawrence threw a complete game shutout on 8 April in an 8-0 victory over the World Series defending champion ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS and threw seven more scoreless innings against the LOS ANGELES DODGERS in a 1-0 win on 14 April, allowing only eight hits and two walks with 6 strikeouts. This was the first Player of the Week award for both of these players.

4-17 – INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS (IL) OF RYAN THOMPSON has homered in a minor league season-high five consecutive games, including back-to-back, multi-homer games, to lead his team to a 5-1 victory over the LOUISVILLE BATS . Thompson smacked a two-run shot in the first inning, a one-out solo shot in the second and singled in the seventh, giving him 7 longballs and 10 RBI over his last five games. OF ISRAEL ALCANTARA belted his league-tying seventh homer, following Thompson, in the first for his 17th RBI of this early season action.

4-17 – SYRACUSE SKYCHIEFS (IL) RHP MIKE SMITH threw seven strong innings to help his team shut out the PAWTUCKET RED SOX, 4-0. Smith yielded a hit and struck out six over seven scoreless inings for the win, improving to 3-0. He retired 21 of the 24 batters he faced, including 10 straight between the last of the first and the fourth innings. Smith has allowed three earned runs, 13 hits and fanned 10 over 17 innings for a 1.59 ERA with opponents hitting just .217 against him.

4-19 – HARRISBURG SENATORS (EL) OF MATT CEPICKY belted a pair of home runs and collected four RBI in their 9-2 victory over the ERIE SEAWOLVES. After leading off a three-run sixth inning with a solo shot, he then crushed a three-run blast in the seventh, in only his second multi-homer game of his four-year professional career, which began after he was drafted by the MONTREAL EXPOS in 1999.

4-21 – TULSA DRILLERS (TEXAS) OF PAUL OTTAVINIA hit a grand slam in the top of the 13th inning to lift his squad over the ARKANSAS TRAVELLERS by an 8-4 margin. With one out in the frame, two batters singled followed by an RBI double which broke the 3-3 tie. The next batter followed with a walk right before Ottavinia, who finished 3-for-6 in the contest, sent the next offering out of the ballpark for his first homer of the early season.

4-21 – INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS (IL) OF RYAN THOMPSON increased his hitting streak to 16 games in a 6-1 loss to the DURHAM BULLS. As he singled with two outs in the ninth inning to snap an 0-for-3 outing to that point, the 34-year-old veteran stands third in the International League in average, at .408, is tied for the lead in home runs, with 7, and ranks first in slugging percentage, with .761.

4-23 – DUNEDIN BLUE JAYS (FSL) RHP ESTEBAN LOAIZA yielded one hit over three innings of his second rehab start to help his BLUE JAYS down the FORT MYERS MIRACLE, 9-7. He tossed a perfect first inning, allowed a walk, a double, recorded a strikeout in the second and issued a walk in the third.

4-23 – MEMPHIS REDBIRDS (PCL) 3B MIKE COOLBAUGH hit a home run in his fourth consecutive game to help his group blank the NEW ORLEANS ZEPHYRS, 2-0. He singled to lead off the second inning and belted a solo home run in the sixth. Over the last four games the 29-year-old has gone 7-for-14 with seven hits and six RBI.

4-23 – INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS (IL) OF RYAN THOMPSON hit safely in his 17th consecutive game in his team's 4-2 loss at the TOLEDO MUD HENS, as he managed just a two-out single in the third inning, to keep his streak alive. Having multiple hits in eight of the 17 games, and now batting .400 with 30 hits, seven home runs, 14 RBI, and 14 runs over the first 18 games.

4-23 - CLINTON LUMBERKINGS (MID) SS JOHN LABANDEIRA went 3-for-4 with a double, a home run and 3 RBI in their 6-2 win at the WISCONSIN TIMBER RATTLERS. A sixth-round selection of the MONTREAL EXPOS in 2001 out of FRESNO STATE UNIVERSITY, he is batting .351 with 20 hits, including five doubles, a home run and 13 RBI in 15 games in his first full year as a professional.