Only 4.5 games separate the Jays from the postseason, but seemingly the whole league blocks their path. They must surpass Boston, New York and Baltimore to win the East, or they must vanquish Oakland, Minnesota, and several others to gain a wildcard berth. Today, they play unwilling host to the West-leading Los Angeles Angels (of Anaheim). LA has the third-best record in baseball and a daunting 29-18 road record. LA features an unexceptional but aggressive and entertaining offense, a solid rotation, and an outstanding bullpen. Taking two of three from them would be quite an accomplishment.

Let the scouting commence!

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Yesterday, Justin Speier kicked his leg up really high; today, Scott Schoeneweis growls at a batter:

As a pitcher, I like to be — I don't want to say perfect, but I want to know what the ball is going to do.
- Mariano Rivera

Let's hope better days are ahead for the farm system, as wins have been hard to come by. 1-5 was yesterday's mark.

But the years went by and the rock just died
Suzie went and left us for some foreign guy
Long nights crying by the record machine
dreaming of my Chevy and my old blue jeans

That's right, kids, photo of the day this week is going to be all-bullpen. Today features Justin Speier's giant leg kick. Any requests for tomorrow? If they pitched against Tampa Bay last weekend, I have 'em.

I had many years that I was not so successful as a ballplayer, as it is a game of skill. And then I was no doubt discharged by baseball in which I had to go back to the minor leagues as a manager, and after being in the minor leagues as a manager, I became a major league manager in several cities and was discharged, we call it "discharged," because there is no question I had to leave.
- Casey Stengel, testifying before the U.S. Senate Anti-Trust and Monopoly Subcommittee Hearing

I’d like to thank The_Game, who provided the comment in today’s Replay Thread that I have appropriated for the title of this piece.

Two wins and four losses. Pulaski's Jesse Litsch was outstanding, retiring 22 in a row while conceding only two hits over eight innings, Lansing held on for the win despite being outhit 15-7. Guillermo Quiroz is back in AAA and had a couple of hits, including a home run.

The Toledo Blade, my one-time hometown newspaper and advocate of the Tigers' AAA Mud Hens club, is reporting:

The IL's days in Ottawa may be numbered. The city of Allentown, Pa., is pushing for state funding for a new baseball park, and it's probable that the tenant for that new park will be the Ottawa Lynx.

Ottawa has averaged roughly 2,300 fans per game this season, almost half as many fans as the next-lowest IL team. The average attendance for the rest of the league is roughly 6,800 fans per contest.

The Ottawa Sun reported that Lynx owner Ray Pecor said he loses between $700,000 to $1 million per year on the club.

The prospective deal would have Pecor sell the Lynx to a group headed by Craig Stein and Joseph Finley, who would move the team to the ballpark near Allentown in time for the 2008 season.

Moves like this have been rumoured on and off for some time and should come as no surprise; but the obvious question for Batter's Box Interactive Magazine readers is clear ... What does this mean to "Baseball From a Canadian Perspective"?

The Jays fall to .500 in a game that featured Ted Lilly, Microcosm: perfect through 3 2/3, he then gives up 4 runs.

Give me a White Sox fan any day... Do you hear them whining endlessly about how God wants them to suffer?
- Luke Appling

Tired of always ending up on the losing end, the farm affiliates won late in the game and late in the evening twice yesterday to finish at 3-3.

We were at the beach
Everybody had matching towels
Somebody went under a dock
And there they saw a rock