I went to the game last night because I wanted to see A.J. Burnett pitch. I got my wish.

The Nationals, apparently, couldn't see no reason to put up a fight. A.J. Burnett looks like a 55 million dollar pitcher in razing Washington.

The affliates went 3-1 with two rainouts.

It's that time of year, folks, when I offer you a shot at fame and fortune! Or at least fame. Read on after the photograph for details.

Today's photo honors Aaron Hill's strong showing against the Nationals last night. Of course, he delivered with the bat and so I'm giving you a picture of him firing a ball over to first base:

It's almost July, which means it's almost time to complain and moan about who gets selected to go to the All-Star Game.

The all-time champ, as every single one of you knew, is Henry Aaron. (Although, once again, if Lou Gehrig didn't get sick...)

Tales of wonder and woe as the BBFL enters its second half.

Two wins, Two losses, Two did not play.

It finally struck me -- every time I saw Brian Tallet pitch I hear the word "groovy", and I couldn't figure out why.  But he's tall, skinny, has wicked sideburns and a crazy handlebar mustache, and his hat sits up high on his head.

He looks like one of the people who live in Pepperland.

Here's Brian Tallet delivering a pitch:

Today on ESPN.com, that question is asked at length by Enrique Rojas, a reporter and columnist for ESPNdeportes.com and ESPN.com.

Oddly, Rojas seems to bookend the story with an additional "And who is this Vernon Wells character, besides?" theme. It's a story, essentially, about how Toronto ballplayers don't get noticed by the American baseball fan public.

Rios, to his credit, professes not to care. So the question to you is ... can (or should) anything be done in this regard?

Cory Patton had ten RBI's as Dunedin ran up the score on Fort Myers.  David Purcey pitched well in a Fisher Cat win, Davis Romero did not as the Chiefs lost.  Anthony Hatch and Brian Bormaster led the Lugnuts to victory and Casey McKenzie pitched Auburn to a win.  A Jays starting pitcher notched up twelve K's, and it is not a flame thrower.  A Pulaski rainout leaves the affiliates with a 4-1 record on the day.

Pop quiz, who leads the Fisher Cats in OBP?

The Jays have a chance to win a series against a good team and Josh Towers gets the start.

Troy Glaus getting out of the way of a pitch on Saturday led to a very amusing (and confusing, for those of us in the stands) series of events.  Today's photograph isn't from Saturday, but it is Glaus getting out of the way of a pitch:

I promised to look into the frequency of wild pitches and passed balls depending on whether Molina or Zaun was behind the plate.

Prepare to be astonished.

These days, we don't think much about Cuba as a provider of major league baseball talent; other than the rare exception of a Hernandez brother or a Contreras, there simply aren't many natives of our neighboring island to the south who make the big leagues any more.

But that's all about politics. And the truth of the matter is, a lot of very fine players throughout big league history have been born in Cuba; no less than 150, in fact, still the fifth most of any country in the world outside the USA, and half again more than the larger and friendlier Mexico, the most recent country visited for Baseball's Hall of Names.

But Cuba? Sure, how would you like a team that looks like this? ...