Ever wonder what it's really like to throw out the first pitch at a Blue Jays home game? Ever wonder what's going through the inevitably petrified mind of those who are fortunate (?) enough to do so?

Well thanks to the blogosphere, the wonderful prose of a genuine Canadian blogger who terms herself the "Yarn Harlot," you can now know the answers to these questions and more. (Props and a shout-out to my significantly better half, Sandye Thompson, for sharing this page with me.)

This memoiric essay features phrases like "There would be no actual baseball people involved. This was the plan," the obligatory "It all seemed to be going so well" preceding the equally obligatory "and that's when it all started to go wrong" ... well, you can (and should) read it for yourself.

Our story stars not only the overwhelmed first-pitching Yarn Harlot, but also the antics of what the Harlot terms "a rather large furry Blue Jay" with a Special Guest Star role by none other than Box favorite Brian Tallet.

Seriously, go read it. And if you, your significant other or anyone else in your life is into, you know, knitting and stuff, point them to the Yarn Harlot. She may not pitch much, but she definitely rocks the blogosphere.

The Jays have traded Brett Wallace to the Astros for CF Anthony Gose.

The Jays bullpen did not have a fantastic Sunday, and defeat was snatched from the jaws of victory in the second half of a twin bill. It would have given the Jays a 3-game winning streak and put them at 7-3 to finish their road jaunt. With the Orioles coming to town the Jays could have run their streak to six games before getting the Indians, who have been playing better as of late (and have given the Jays trouble to boot all season) but still aren't very good. So maybe the Jays would have been 12-4 coming out of the All-Star break before a difficult stretch that includes 12 straight against the Beasts of the East, an Oakland/Anaheim west coast swing, and then the Sox and Yanks again. And if they could hold their own there, then have a good September, then maybe they had an outside shot at the playoffs...

Ok, so none of that seems particularly likely, and let's face it, the Jays are going to miss the playoffs for the umpteenth straight time. Despite all this though it still seems, well, like an exciting time to be a Jays fan. There's a lot happening right now.

Ok that title makes no sense, but the Rookie League and above affiliates went 2-4 and weren't particularly sharp about it. Eric Thames went 4-4 but lost the first star to a hitter who put up 10 total bases. I'll give you a hint, his name rhymes with Bludelmis Fernandez.

Mike Green is back with part two of his travelogue through the North Eastern US.  Today it's Cleveland.

Progressive Field stands a block away from Interstate 90 in Cleveland .  We rolled in to our chain hotel across the street from the stadium at about 10 p.m. on Sunday night, with plans to sight-see during the day and then catch the Jays facing the Indians at night.

The Jays reached the half way point of the season after Fridays game with a 41-40 record.  On one hand it is great to have a winning record at the half way point but unfortunately the recent trajectory has been down.  Also the fans have memories of last years fade still fresh in their minds.  Many forecastors had the Jays as a 70-75 win team, that looks like a good bet today.

The Jays had a bit of a stinker yesterday, Ricky Romero had a bad one and John McDonald showed why he is an infielder.

I had a chance to make my way down to Auburn Saturday night to see the Doubledays in action against the Indians affiliate, the Mahoning Valley Scrappers, at Leo Pinckney Field at Falcon Park.  It was a pretty sloppy game for the home team thanks to a lack of clutch hitting and defence.

As has so often been the case this year.

It is the third and final day of the draft.  Rounds 31 through 50 are today although not every team will continue to pick through round 50.  In general teams will be looking to fill short-season rosters today and maybe pick some players who they will watch between now and August 15th to see if they want to sign them.

Minor league camp for the short season teams starts this weekend with the season starting later next week so there is not much time for the teams to get organized.  With the Jays selecting so many high school players this year some may not sign, some might sign late and the Jays might follow some to see how much money they are worth.  For more on player intentions see down below.

Brad Emaus hasn't been up at Las Vegas very long, but he seems to have figured AAA out already. Meanwhile, another Brad contributed to a victory in Dunedin on a night when two of the affiliates were resting.

Good ol' Baseball Reference has just eaten up more of my time. They added WAR (Wins Above Replacement) ratings for all of the Jays era and beyond. So, who are the best Jays by this measure and do we agree with it at all?

The good people at Information is Beautiful linked to some sports-related stuff today, here. Some of it's baseball-related, but it's this one that captured my attention. It's an attempt to display, visually and intuitively, how much fan support major league baseball teams get relative to the size of their market and their won-lost record and what have you. (The formula is given.)

...who's that team bringing up the rear?

Oh.

Bauxite China Fan requested an Eveland-discussion thread, so here ya go! Discuss!

Quick now, how many AL hitters with 30+PA this year are younger than Travis Snider?

Answer: 1 - Elvis Andrus.

How many with at least 1 PA this year? Answer- still only one.

Two excellent pitching performances and some excellent hitting helped Dunedin and Lansing to wins.  New Hampshire won despite a weak start by Bobby Bell while Las Vegas were fogged out.  Henderson Alvarez gave up one run over seven innings while Ryan Tepera did better, shutting down Bowling Green over seven innings with only three hits allowed.  On the hitting side Mark Sobolewski and Tyler Pastornicky were the stars, neither of them made on out on Saturday.  Pitchers have perfect games, hitters don't but these two had perfect Saturday's.  Eric Thames, David Cooper, Tim Collins, Daniel Perales, Travis D'Arnaud and Bradley Glenn also played well.