Mom and Dad follow every last word
All that hollering makes me wonder
Does a whispered prayer get heard?

Gomez drove in Hinske twice, and Halladay, Chulk, and Frasor made it hold up as Toronto re-gifted a shutout back to Montreal.

The All-Star Game rosters have been announced and, in what is surely a surprise to me, Ted Lilly will be the lone Blue Jays representative on the American League team.

Apparently, being the reigning AL Cy Young award winner doesn't mean much to AL skip Joe Torre.

Halfway through the minor-league season, it's looking like a good-news bad-news year for the Jays' organization. Some prospects have been derailed by injuries and others by poor performance, while others have broken out and some are charging headlong up the organizational ladder. Here's the latest look at the Toronto farm system.

...Will be there by the fire
We’ll sit and talk about Hollywood
And the good things there for hire
Like the Astrodome and the first tepee
Marlon Brando, Pocahontas and me

A bittersweet evening for the Jays, who were shut out by the Expos but offered a glimpse of a promising future as 24-year-old David Bush excelled in his Major League debut.

Due to technical problems, we cannot show the remainder of Bambi. Instead, we've got Roy Halladay and the Toronto Blue Jays facing off with Tony Armas Jr. and the Montreal Expos. There's no score after 2 innings. So put another packet of popcorn in the microwave and enjoy the game.

There was some confusion about what was going on with the Jays recent roster moves, but it seems to be cleared up. One of my favourite websites, Rotoworld, has announced that "Blue Jays sent outfielder Simon Pond outright to Triple-A Syracuse. Pond, removed from the 40-man roster to make room for David Bush, was able to make it through waivers."

In total we had the following moves:

1. David Bush added to both the 25 and 40 man rosters
   
2. Mike Nakamura taken off of the 25 but not the 40 man roster
   
3. Simon Pond taken off of the 40 man roster (he was not on the 25 man)
   

The Jays are coming off a 20-hit performance (tellingly, none of them homeruns) as they play their Canadian cousins in .... San Juan, of course.

Question of the day: Where would the Jays offence be right now if not for recent acquisitions Gregg (Going, Going) Zaun and Frank (Mighty Mouse) Menechino?

Second question of the day: How many national anthems will be played before tonight's game?

Find no interest in the racks and shelves
Just a thousand reflections of my own sweet self, self, self...

Here's my June report card for the Blue Jays. As usual, players are graded from A+ (yow!) all the way down to F (ow!). Gradings are extremely non-scientific.

In geometric order
An insulated border
In between the bright lights
And the far unlit unknown

Mike Wilner of the Fan 590 has reported that 2002 Jays 2nd round pick David Bush has been called up to the big team. To make room on both the 25 and 40-man rosters it appears that Michael Nakamura will be taken off, leaving his future with the Blue Jays organization in doubt. None of this appears to be 100% official yet. Thanks to Rob (who isn't named Ryan) for the heads up.

UPDATE: 7:50PM. An AP story reports that "The Blue Jays optioned reliever Mike Nakamura to Syracuse after Thursday's 14-0 win at Tampa Bay [...] Toronto will make an additional move Friday to open a spot on the 40-man roster for Bush."

After today I won't have to hear that blowhard in the front row for awhile. He's Exhibit A for what you get when you combine lots of money and atrocious manners. If I were sitting a few rows behind, I'd be surreptitiously throwing peanut shells and popcorn at him. I can't imagine the other patrons are enjoying the game very much.

Some twisted selection
That tangles me
To keep me alive

Thank you for watching Welcome Back: A Very Special Sweathogs Reunion, starring Gabe Kaplan and John Travolta. Because the preceding program ran longer than expected, we now join our regularly scheduled program, already in progress. No score, bottom of the first in Tampa Bay, Josh Towers versus Dewon Brazelton.

Like most Jays fans, I'm eagerly looking forward to reading Chasing Steinbrenner: Pursuing the Pennant in Boston and Toronto by Rob Bradford. Just in case you haven't heard, it's an account of the 2003 season, from the perspectives of Theo Epstein and J.P. Ricciardi. We've already published an excerpt, and an interview with the author. You'll also want to check out Craig Burley's review. Now we're delighted to announce a very special event for next Saturday, July 10.

Please join us at Tom Cheek's favourite establishment, Alice Fazooli's (294 Adelaide St. W. near John St.) for lunch at 1:30, followed by a Q & A and book signing with Rob. Then, it's off to the Dome for the Jays-Angels game at 4:00, which just might feature Kelvim Escobar on the mound. We have a large block of tickets reserved up in Cheer Club country, but we need to confirm numbers in advance with Group Sales and the restaurant, so RSVP ASAP.