Some pitchers are poker players.  Their faces tell you nothing, or a message that they want you to receive.  Jimmy Key might have been a boiling cauldron of emotion on the mound, but you would never know it by looking at him.  Dave Stewart's death glare was dishonest but quite effective in producing somewhat intimidated hitters. Other pitchers show anger, frustration and other lively feelings more  readily on the mound.  Yesterday's game in Toronto featured high anxiety from Josh Towers.

Initially Speaking, That Is

More than two years ago, we started a special "series" of Hall of Names features that sought to answer the apparently-not-so-burning question, "who are the best double-initial players for each of the ... letters of the English alphabet?" We kicked off in August of '05 by looking at teams of players with the initials AA, BB and CC. Then things ... slowed down a bit.

A couple of Gonzalez's produced star-worthy performances on Saturday as the affiliates went 4-1.  Reidier Gonzalez pitched a complete game shutout for Lansing.  Jesus Gonzalez went 4-5 as Dunedin won easily.  Joel Collins hit two home runs to power the GCL Jays's offense.  Brett Cecil got back on track as Auburn won in extras.  New Hampshire took the lone loss as Syracuse were flood victims.

Thanks to AWeb for this idea ... I'm embarrassed I didn't think of it myself. With the relase of the latest Harry Potter movie and the last Harry Potter book this summer, let's forget about quidditch for a bit and see if these wizards and muggles can't play a bit of baseball. So, as AWeb wrote, this is "in tribute to the Potter-release day ... [though] I'm not sure if there are enough 'normal' names to make up a team" ...

And while it's true we won't find a big leaguer named "Hermione" or "Severus" we will take this opportunity to pull out the Hall of Names Sorting Hat to meet ...

Jason Phillips has been released and Curtis Thigpen has been called up to take his place. 

"We want to give Thigpen a little look here and see what we got. That's basically it," Jays manager John Gibbons said after a 4-2 loss to the Seattle Mariners. "He's going to play, he'll at least get a couple of games a week."

The GCL Blue Jays had their game suspended by rain while New Hampshire made up for a rainout by splitting a doubleheader. Auburn lost convincingly and Syracuse was dominated by Sowers. However, the bright and noteworthy occurred in full-season A-ball, where Lansing pitchers put on a dazzling display and Dunedin staged a late-inning comeback.

I admit it, I can get pretty narcissistic here on Batter's Box when my birthday rolls around. So before this year's rendition completely rolls into the history books, what can we do to, um, "celebrate" this year? In years past, we've already seen the All-July 20 team and the All-Mick(ey) squad, even putting together one HoN entry that featured two teams, All-"Doc" and All-MD ... then last year, upon reaching a milestone (or is that millstone?), we met the All-Age-40 team, followed later (without actually waiting for, y'know, today) by the All-Age-41 squad. So are we totally out of ideas?

Not on your (okay, my) life ...

Of course, it became apparent to me very quickly that they had no extraordinary talent at all. They have fought their way out of a number of tight corners by a simple combination of sheer luck and J.J. Putz. They are mediocre to the last degree, though as obnoxious and self-satisfied as were the White Sox before them. The Jays will do their utmost to have them thrown out of the pennant race, where I believe they scarcely belong...

Some say that the White Sox' decline this year was entirely predictable.  Was it?

Much of the blame for the Sox season to date falls on the offence.  The Sox are scoring runs at the poorest rate in the American League. How about a look back at the Marcel, Chone and ZIPS projections, courtesy of Fangraphs, for the Sox regulars to see how they have fared compared with the projections?

It is a hitter's summary week. The farm affiliates went 3-2.

Five affiliates left 26 runners on (total) and scored 28 runs and went 4-1. The sixth, New Hampshire, did leave 12 runners on, but scored 9 runs.

The Jays didn't get a win in the minors yesterday until going all the way down to the GCL.

A big night by Kevin Barker helps Syracuse beat their closest rivals, Auburn gets a split in Red Sox Country and a high '07 draft pick swings a big stick in the Sunshine State but the affiliates only manage to win 2 out of 6.

Today is July 17, meaning we are now exactly two weeks from the supposed "trading deadline" of July 31. Of course, trades and waiver acquisitions will happen well beyond that "deadline," but for now, at least we are seeing the first stirrings of a potential trade market flurry. The Cubs have acquired former All-Star catcher Jason Kendall from the A's for a couple of warm bodies, a catcher they had already placed on waivers and a minor-league relief pitcher.

So the questions before you are these ...

The Yankees reclaimed second place in the AL East over the weekend by taking three of four from the Devil Rays. They'll try to make up some more ground on the Red Sox this week by throwing their Japanese import, their struggling ace, the 44-year-old guy they signed in midseason and their sinker master at the Jays.