The latest "rolling blackout" is over. I just switched from listening to radio in the dark to enjoying the familiar hum of all the appliances, including my PC. I'll be here until the next time they turn off the juice.

It sounded like Rich Harden was a little too pumped in the first couple of innings; I'm sure he knows this is his Canadian national TV debut, at least for those of us with electricity. Every series means a great deal to the playoff-contending A's, while the Blue Jays are feeling no pressure, just trying to finish the season on a positive note.

Due to power troubles -- or, more specifically, lack of power troubles -- many of our East coast ZLCers are no doubt unable to watch tonight's tilt with the Mariners. For those of us on the West coast, we have no such issues. This did not stop the Seattle local news bozos from issuing the standard "Could this happen to the Pacific Northwest? Tune in at 11:00 to find out." But I digress.

On the other hand, maybe it's not such a bad thing Toronto is dark: last night's game was not pretty. This lovely summer evening in Seattle it's Kelvim Escobar vs. Gil Meche -- and the Blue Jays have knocked Meche from the game, with Rafael Soriano taking over in the fifth. If this is your first glimpse of Soriano, enjoy; his stuff is electric.

It's still the subject of some controversy, but most everyone agrees that Bill James's Win Shares are a bold new addition to statistical measurement of a baseball player's worth to his team. The good folks at Baseball Graphs are keeping a daily watch on 2003 Win Shares, which some purists will tell you is wrong-headed because WIn Shares are only supposed to be based on a full season. Nonetheless, it's interestiong to see the player whose name tops the American League WS charts with 24 -- and the player who's tied with him. IMO, these are your two front-runners for AL MVP this season.

Richard Griffin shows his Jekyll and Hide side in his latest article. Until the last two paragraphs he has an interersting piece on Ichiro and the way he has expended the Mariner's recognition and popularity with the local Asian community and in Japan. Being Griffin of course he can't help ruin it with a silly ending statement - " If the Jays don't make a run at [new Asian phenomenon Kazuo Matsui] this winter they are showing they are content with mediocrity and a safe bottom line." Take away the hyperbole though and there is an intriguing idea.

Edgardo Alfonzo on playing second base while Ray Durham is on the shelf:

"The manager knows I played there before and he says I have to do it. I'm not going to say I feel very good. I just feel all right. I don't really feel comfortable there. I played third base the last few years. But if I have to do it for the team, I have to do it."

Okay, I don't know how I managed to double-post the minor-league baseball thread, nor can I seem to get rid of it. So, since I can't find anything to replace it, it's open-mike day again! First topic to catch hold rules the roost.

How often is Charleston the scene of the biggest game of the night in Toronto's minor leagues? About as often as Roy Halladay loses. But the much-maligned Alley-Cats received one of the best pitching performances of the entire year from an unlikely source, complementing a night of solid pitching for the Jays' farm teams.

We haven't mentioned it specifically, but it's time we drew attention to our brand new logo. We've been thinking for awhile that Batter's Box needed a strong image, not just to make the site look better but to help establish our presence in the growing field of online baseball sources (not to mention the possibility of caps and T-shirts. Seriously. If you'd be interested in one, make an entry below and we'll see if there's enough critical mass).

Anyway, special thanks go to the designer and artist who brought us our new logo: Tony Delitala of Mississauga, Ontario, and Stephen MacEachern of Toronto. These two very talented individuals bring their skills to my magazine every issue (readers of National see Steve's work in Doug Mah's back-page column, and Tony's work throughout the publication), and they gave us their time and talents entirely free of charge. In turn, I'd like to recommend their work to anyone who needs excellent graphic design or illustrations; write me for contact info and recommendations. Sincere gratitude from all of us at Da Box!

Nobody really expected Corey Thurman to throw six shutout innings in his first start of the year. Few anticipated that in his next outing, he would give up three homers to the first seven batters and fail to get out of the first inning. The safest prediction tonight is that he'll be in the middle of those extremes. I believe Corey has to pitch "backwards" to be effective. Forget about get-ahead fastballs, like the ones Teixeira and Nix put into orbit. Start guys off with the changeup, mix in the slider, then when they're leaning forward, looking for more off-speed stuff, sneak the heater by them, or get them to foul it off. He can go back to his best weapon -- that devastating change -- for an out pitch.

Ryan Franklin makes his first start ever against the Jays, but he's been horrible in five relief appearances, with a 13.06 ERA in 10.1 IP. He's coming off a shellacking by the Yankees, though only three of the eight runs he allowed were earned. I like the Toronto lineup, except for the absence of Josh Phelps. Greg Myers is the DH, with Kevin Cash, who knows Thurman well, behind the plate. Cash was overanxious the other night; he needs to relax and take a pitch once in a while. Reed Johnson leads off in RF, Cat's hitting seventh in left, which means Bobby Kielty, slumping from the left side, is available as a pinch-hitter. SS Mike Bordick, in the 6-hole, tries to extend his hit streak to 20 games.

After almost a two week absence from the Star, Richard Griffin has returned with the surprising "news" that Carlos Tosca hasn't given up on making the playoffs.

"I haven't come to that conclusion yet," Tosca said, wryly. "We're still in that little box (in the newspaper) that says 'wild-card' and we've been playing about as bad as a team can play for six or seven weeks and we're still in that box.

"I know that we have another run (of victories) in us. We're up against it, but stranger things have happened in this game."

Not many, says Griffin, who points out that if either the A's or Red Sox play .500 the rest of the way, the Jays would have to go 32-12 to beat them.

One of the things I enjoy most about baseball is that it can be played well by a variety of different people, and in a variety of different ways. Every baseball player has his own set of strengths and weaknesses, and his own approach to getting the job done. Also, some players develop a unique on-field relationship with the fans who pay to watch them.

You've seen him on TV, heard him on the radio, and watched him transform the Toronto Blue Jays into one of the most exciting young ballclubs in the American League. Now, here's your chance to ask him about the team.

That's right -- Blue Jays General Manager J.P. Ricciardi will give an exclusive interview to Batter's Box next week. And we're only going to ask him the questions that you -- our readers and contributors -- suggest. Post your question in this thread, and we'll automatically include it for consideration when we're choosing the final slate of queries for the interview. Make sure you attach your name to your post -- when we publish the interview transcript, we'll be giving credit to every reader who suggests a selected question.

I admit it's a pet peeve. I'm not just whining about the obvious (and gutless) terrible calls at critical times that have cost the Jays games in St. Louis, Boston and Tampa this year; the quality of umpiring in the majors is atrocious.

In a Houston Chronicle column, John P. Lopez blames MLB, and Astros GM Gerry Hunsicker agrees:

"...Major League Baseball has not made a commitment to a recruiting program and a development program for the umpires. Consequently, we continue to have umpires promoted to the major-league level that in many instances aren't qualified and aren't prepared."

MLB's "solution" -- the controversial QuesTec system -- may actually be responsible for increasing the umps' collective incompetence and arrogance. Hunsicker says it "...leads to heightened emotion and potential conflicts between managers and umpires, players and umpires." The recent incident in Houston with an overmatched subsititute ump is referred to as the "Kent-Williams mix-up." Hey, don't blame me!

To attach any importance to this game for the Blue Jays in the standings, you have to be concerned with things like staying above .500, or holding off those pesky Orioles for third place in the division. However, it's always a big event when Roy Halladay starts, and if there's as much entertainment tonight as there was last night, I suggest you stay awake.

Doc could become the first 17-game winner in the majors, and an .850 win percentage, while it may not prove his superiority to Loiaza, Mulder and Hudson, would keep his Cy Young candidacy very much alive in the minds of the voters, not to mention the hearts of Jays fans. He's 2-2 against Seattle in his career with a 3.25 ERA; even better (1-1, 2.16) at Safeco, where the Mariners have hit .191 against him. Five days ago, he got stronger as the game progressed, going the distance against the D-Rays.

Freddy Garcia isn't having much fun this year, with that 9-12 record and 5.45 ERA, and is just 4-3, 5.68 in his career against the Blue Jays, who have hit him at a .285 clip over the years. He's 0-4, with a ridiculous 11.39 ERA, since the break, and the whole league has hit him like Ted Williams (.388) during that stretch. His latest wasn't quite that bad, as he lost 3-0 to Cleveland, giving up six hits in 6.1 innings. He and the Mariners will be feeling more pressure than the Jays, who have nothing to lose.

The Star reports that Naming rights for the Skydome are up for sale again.

In 1999 the price was apparently $5 million (US) now it is $3.9 million (currency not specified - lets guess at US again). This still seems wildly excessive given that Air Canada 'only' pay $2 million (CAD) for rights to the ACC and that " the general populous will likely continue to call it the SkyDome".

Maybe Sportsco haven't heard about the dot.bomb phenomenon and think there's still some VC money burning holes in some pockets.