Mike Green, an original Batter's Box roster member and still a regular Bauxite visitor to Canada's best baseball site, is a wonderful writer. So when he asks if he can contribute a "Pinch Hit" feature to the site every now and again, the only concern we have is that readers will want to know why there aren't more frequent Green missives.

Recently Mike and his lovely bride Ellen took a trip to Boston to visit Fenway Park. (Yes, yes, insert your own "Green Monster" pun {here}.) Let's talk a stroll down Yawkey Way and into the Fens with the Greens ...

Brian Dopirak had a big day at the plate for Las Vegas and Aaron Mathews had a couple of key hits as Las Vegas squeaked by Salt Lake. New Britain dropped both games of a doubleheader. There were also victories by Dunedin, Lansing and the GCL Blue Jays, as Auburn lost again.

Sure the big-league club stunk it up last night and the club lost a Gold Glove third baseman at the trade deadline, but Halladay is still here and the triple-A affiliate had a big night with the bats... So, baseball life goes on.

After waiving his no-trade clause, Scott Rolen was dealt to the Reds for Edwin Encarnacion and minor league pitchers Josh Roenicke and Zach Stewart.

The deadline approacheth, and there are  trades to report.

The Red Sox deal for Victor Martinez seems to be final - Cleveland is apparently to receive Justin Masterson, Nick Hagadone, and Brian Price. (this is via tweets from SI's Jon Heyman, who also says the Red Sox will send Adam LaRoche back to Atlanta to clear a spot for Martinez.)

The Jays affiliates split their six games last night, winning at Triple-A and their two games in the low minors. David Purcey pitched a strong game and Travis Snider had a strong night at the plate. New Hampshire had a poor game at the plate and a costly error hurt in a one-run loss. Auburn and the GCL Jays escaped with victories despite adventures on the field in both games.

Okay, not "Notes from Nowhere" but rather "Notes from Northwest Ohio via Dallas/Fort Worth ..."

Excerpted from an e-mail from my mother this morning: "We are off again on one of our adventures. This weekend (beginning tomorrow) we will drive to Windsor and take the train to Toronto. We hope to see the CN Tower, the Eaton Centre, the Cathedral in Toronto, the Edwards Gardens, possibly a museum as well, perhaps a play also, and an Irish pub or two during our stay there. We will be staying for two days at the Hilton Toronto Hotel (145 Richmond Street W.) We will be home again on Sunday night. It will be a celebration of our 51st Anniversary."

So, help a Bauxite (and his family) out ... what's can't-miss in TO these days? Top quality, surprisingly inexpensive restaturants? Off-the-beaten-path kewl stuff? Be nice, I am sending the URL for this thread to my whole family! ...

As a Batter's Box Official Minor League Guy or something, that is an extremely un-PC thing to say. But Vegas, New Hampshire and Dunedin all won, while the rest of the affiliates lost. I'm allowed to be a fair-weather minor league updater, right? No? Okay, fine, here are all 6 recaps.

I apologize for the lateness of today's report.  I was in Wisconsin over the weekend for a Coldplay concert and speaking of cold play (see what I did there?), I managed to catch a Brewers game on the way back where Jeff Suppan got whacked by the Nationals, or more specifically Josh Willingham, 14-6.  With family in the Cheesehead State, I've been a fairly regular visitor to Milwaukee but Milwaukee has certainly had its share of visitors.  The French missionaries and explorers began visiting there in the late 16th century.  In fact, Milwaukee is an Indian name.  It's pronounced "Meel-wah-kay" which is Algonquin for "the good land".

Anyways, it was a busy day for the affiliates as they posted a 5-and-3 mark.  The teams that don't rhyme with Jays had a very good night while the ones that do didn't, save for one game.  Make sense?  Good!  Read on and rock on, my peeps!

Great question recently from Bauxite Ron: "This just in, Ichiro is a good hitter. On a 0-2 count, he was able to hit a ball out of the strike zone to win the game. Despite being 35, I wouldn't rule out Ichiro getting 3000 hits Stateside. Has he done enough to be a Hall Of Famer?"

My initial reaction was "Oh my God, yes, of course! Why even ask the question?" But on closer look, there is an argument to be made ...

"The only constant factor to be found in my thinking over the years has been opposition to accepted opinions."
  -  Pierre Trudeau

Bill James, who hasn't had much to say about the subject over the years, offered up some provocative thoughts about how the Steroid Era will look down the road.

Fabio Castro had a fantastic outing, and there were great individual offensive performances on each team (edit: except Dunedin. Yuck.), despite some lousy team performances.

What's the difference between these two teams anyway?

Everybody's got an opinion. I, however, have the Truth.

Another ugly day on the farm included just one win, all the way down in Low-A ball while two pitchers, including a rehabbing righty, left their starts early.  Happy Monday!

Portland played New Hampshire a few weeks ago so they thought they knew how to run on Darin Mastroianni's arm.  After Mastroianni threw a runner out at the plate the third base coach/manager might have reconsidered.  After the second out at the plate they might have stopped running.  The third assist for Mastroianni was at third base so that one could be blamed on the runner.  But the fourth Mastroianni assist, at home, should have caused the Portland manager to reconsider his opinion.

The GCL Jays beat up the two Indian reality show winners.  Scott Richmond pitched well in his final rehab start.  Overall the affiliates went 4-2 with the top two teams losing.