Now that the Jays have stopped losing to Kansas City and we have all emerged, trembling, from under our bedcovers, here's my $.02 on the Jays' first half. As usual, all opinions are exclusively my own, but I'm happy to share if you like.

Since our last update at the end of May, the Lugnuts have completed the first half of the season by qualifying for the playoffs in second place just behind West Michigan. There have been a number of personnel changes on the club, particularly to the pitching staff.

The Blue Jay farm chalks up 3 wins against 2 losses.

As of Monday afternoon Dunedin sat tied for first place in the West Division of the Florida State League with the Tampa Yankees. They also finished the first-half in a tie for first place with Minnesota’s affiliate, the Fort Myers Miracle. Dunedin lost their last three games of the year to finish at 38-32. Fort Myers also last their last game, blowing a chance to win the West Division, as Dunedin won the tiebreaker.

Screeching metal guitar and giant flames leaping up the scoreboards at the All-Star Game!  That's right, Bo Junior is an All-Star, and he's the fifth and last Jays All-Star to be honored by Photo of the Day.

Here's B.J. Ryan about to deliver the goods:

The Doubledays sit at 8-11, 5th place in the Pinckney Division, but just 3 games back of the Muckdogs of Batavia.

Not the best 2-2 series split in recent memory. Let's just leave it at that and move on.

Instead, I will channel David Letterman for a moment here:

In honor of the All-Star festivities and our beloved Jays going to the game, Photo of the Day presents day four of All-All-Stars, featuring Vernon Wells in a conveniently desktop-sized image:

Initially Speaking, That Is  (Part 3: G-J)

Back in August of '05, we started what we then termed "an interesting twist on the Hall of Names (initially speaking) ... who are the best double-initial players for each of the first 23 letters of the English alphabet?"

Unfortunately, after the first two installments, AA through CC and DD through FF, we just sort of ... stopped. But we're back, moving on from Barry Bonds and Frankie Frisch to the likes of Gary Gaetti, Harry Heilmann and Joe Jackson. Yes, we're skipping the vowel, and changing the above declared goal to read ...

How bad were the Jays going into last night's game? Well, someone on the Royals -- the Royals -- said they expect to win. If I may steal a line from Deadspin (and speak on behalf of Jays fans everywhere):

Suddenly, we can taste food again.

It was a rough night for the farm affiliates, who went 2-5, but a young kid gave us a sweet taste of what is to come.

The farm affiliates split 6 games, but some fine individual performances gave hope to the faithful.

Every now and then, I get it right.

Ty Taubenheim struggled last night. The resurgent Royals' bats boomed, while Jays fans performed unspeakable rituals in the hopes of resurrecting the bats of their heroes. But, there is good news...