When George Steinbrenner bought the New York Yankees in 1973 -- what seems an impossibly long, yet oh-so-short time ago (The Boss was always about internal contradictions), he pledged in one of his first statements to the media, "I won't be active in the day-to-day operation of the Yankees. I'll stick to building ships."

Yankee fans everywhere -- and truthfully, this should also be true for all baseball fans -- are grateful that King George was, well, a bit off the mark on that.projection. One of the most pwerful and inflential team owners ever in any professional sport, Steinbrenner actually did step away from active control of the Yankees eventually -- after 35 years of Reggie, Billy, Rickey, Gator, Goose, Stick, and three straight titles to close out the 20th century. Steinbrenner, who turned 80 on July 4, passed away this morning.

George Steinbrenner was a great baseball man -- in the sense of the word "great" that means "huge, massive influence." He should be -- and will be, someday soon -- inducted into the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

Ironically -- no, appropriately -- that's in New York.

It's the All-Star Break, and between now and the end of the month the Jays should be looking to obtain value on the trade market by moving certain players. John Buck is one of those players. But regardless of whether or not AA can find a deal that gives the Jays better value than they can reasonably expect from the draft pick compensation Buck may bring, I think J.P. Arencibia should be brought up as soon as possible.

A 4-1 night on the farm featured some good starting pitching, including the professional debut of a 2010 draft pick, and a standout offensive performance from yet another catcher.

One win outta four for the affiliates on Sunday but by far the most impressive performance came in a losing cause.

No, its not a law firm name, but some action shots from the 10 July Dunedin game Vs Lakeland.

Saturday night on the farm, seven games, three losses and a triple play.  Sorry about the late submission, but your humble correspondent attended the Dunedin game, stayed up late to catch the late Las Vegas game, then fell asleep and woke up just a bit ago.

Kyle Drabek folowed up his no-hitter with six shutout innings as New Hampshire won easily.  JP Arencibia hit his 23rd home run as Vegas held on for a narrow win.  Egan Smith pitched six shutout innings as Lansing shut out Great Lakes.

Dunedin and Auburn both lost in extra innings.  The GCL Jays were well beaten although Jake Marisnick had three hits.

The Texas Rangers have ... an ace lefty? Heavens to Kenny Rogers! Welcome to Arlington, Cliff Lee!

Here's the story on ESPN.com. And a few thoughts from this Ranger neighbor ...

Let's kick off the weekend and clean up shop around here at the same time.

Travis Snider's rehab looks like it should be ending soon and David Cooper hit a couple of dingers and the affiliates went 4-3 on the day thanks to some good starting pitching.

Mike Green is back with the third and final episode of his travels in the North Eastern US.

We coasted into Auburn on the scenic two lane highway from Interstate 81 in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York .  “Likes sort likes”, the line from the great Dutch film Antonia’s Line, came into my head as we passed through an obviously Republican town with accusingly well-manicured lawns, mandatory American flags in front of the houses and denizens in perfect nautical summer wear. Auburn was not one of those places.

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 affiliates went 0-5 and were outscored 38-11.

If you read the headline into a microphone, remember to pop those "P's".  Program directors at radio stations just love that!  Anyways, as you may have gathered, the bats were working just fine for the visitors in Portlands Maine and Oregon Tuesday night in a 5-3 night for the affiliates.  The number two and three stars of the night had big nights at the plate but they were overshadowed by a great pitching performance and he earned star number one.  All this and a bag of chips (except for the bag of chips part) in today's edition of the MLU!

Our own Mike Green, a former member of the roster and minor league reporter, contributes this pinch-hit.  Parts 2 and 3 to follow.....

Seeing new places is the kind of mind-altering experience that the middle aged can tolerate with equanimity.  So it was that my companion and I headed out through Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and upstate New York on a baseball trip.  First stop, Lansing, Michigan, for Saturday night and Sunday afternoon games.