So I'm watching tonight's game, and they decide to have a poll on the most memorable moment of the exercise in frustration that has been the Blue Jays 2007 season. And I went... HUH?

John Lott in the National Post today reports that Mickey Brantley has been told by the Jays that he will not be back.  Lott and Brantley point out that if the Jays say that injuries are the reason for their shortfall this year then how can they hold him accountable.

The reality is probably that the players need a new voice to listen to.  It will be interesting to see if the replacement coach is a potential replacement manager.

The divisional races aren't all wrapped up yet, but we have a pretty good idea of who's headed to the post-season.

Sports Illustrated is reporting that Troy Glaus received shipments of steroids in 2003 and 2004.  The story notes that Glaus was recovering from shoulder surgery at that time.  This is the latest name to emerge from various investigations of clinics and pharmacies in the US.  It is unclear what the repercussions could be for Glaus.

I hear many voices saying: "What in the name of Ruth is he talking about?".  And that's fine with me.  The sooner the Gleeman-Green bet is forgotten, the happier I will be.

One of da Box's founding fathers, Jordan Furlong, sends us a pinch-hit on the end of baseball in Ottawa. Thanks for everything, Jordan, and take it away.

I was curious, so I spent a couple of hours this evening looking up this year's stats for the Jays' regular hitters, and comparing their numbers with their 2006 and career totals.

Last night's loss to Kelvim Escobar was more than a reminder about the pitcher that management let leave Toronto while the team pursued and eventually signed Miguel Batista. Batista signed for $2 million a year less than Escobar; money which, in hindsight at least, would have been far better spent keeping Escobar in Toronto. Last night's loss also saw Escobar and Francisco Rodriguez not allow a double to Blue Jays batters. Toronto had doubled in the team's previous 32 games, which set a new franchise record. Now that it’s over, let’s take a closer look at a streak which provided some excitement and intrigue for Jays fans during the dog days of an August spent on the outskirts of the playoff race.

Congratulations to the Austin Senators and the Trembling WIlburys on being the first BBFL teams of the year to clinch playoff spots.

Intrepid correspondent Robert Romano has provided this excellent Pinch Hit about the care and feeding of the polyester baseball cap. You can't get this kind of information just anywhere.

With the trading deadline coming up, I thought that I would take a closer look at the most lopsided trades of my lifetime. Not all of them occurred at or near the deadline, but they did share a common theme of "present for future", at least from the perception of the trade partners. I am interested not in the how deals ended up, as the facts are pretty well known in all five cases. Rather, I am interested in how the deals looked objectively at the time that they were made.

Some say that the White Sox' decline this year was entirely predictable.  Was it?

Much of the blame for the Sox season to date falls on the offence.  The Sox are scoring runs at the poorest rate in the American League. How about a look back at the Marcel, Chone and ZIPS projections, courtesy of Fangraphs, for the Sox regulars to see how they have fared compared with the projections?

So, I sifted through the results of the past five Home Run Derbies in order to determine if there were any trends...

OK, this doesn't really have much to do with baseball. Any possible connection is welcome!

But it was on this day fifty years ago (fifty? fifty?) when John Lennon first met Paul McCartney, at Woolton Village fete. Lennon and his Quarryman were playing; McCartney was on hand to check them out.

Presented here, without (much) comment, are the would-be All Star rosters as contructed using 2007 Win Probability Added.