On my horse.
He's called....T-t-t-t-t-trigger
Of course.

The Blue Jays' best everyday player - Vernon Wells - has been placed on the disabled list. Mike Wilner stated that he's never seen anything the like of this injury plague (for me, it's similar in nature to what the Raptors suffered through during most of 2002-2003).

Still, it'll be great to see the O-Dog back on the field and I also look forward to seeing more of Alex Rios. The young man has played better of late, and playing at his natural position (centrefield) might relax him a little bit more.

For the Jays to win tonight, Pat Hentgen will have to have excellent command and the Jays batters will have to be super patient with soft tosser Kirk Rueter.

All kinds of Blue Jays news has come down the pipe this afternoon, none of which appears to be 100% official at this time.

UPDATE: J.P. Ricciardi will be on The FAN 590 with Mike Wilner for an hour starting at 8:30PM EST and I'm sure they'll be covering some of these issues. They'll be taking your calls at 416-870-0590 or 1-888-666-0590. Thanks to Mr. Wilner for the info.

Batter's Box recently received this press release. Sorry about the formatting; I wanted to get this up as soon as possible.

The Blue Jays have played in Oakland many times, but this will be their first ever visit to San Francisco proper for a baseball game.

With both Miguel Batista and Jason Schmidt pitching well, this figures to be a fairly low-scoring affair. As with any visiting manager, it will be interesting to see what approach Carlos Tosca takes with Barry Bonds.

Don't be fooled by her kind
There's a wind in my sails
Will protect and prevail

Wipe away the teardrop from your eye
You're lying safe in bed
It was all a bad dream

An early and abbreviated report this week, as I am about to take my B.C.-bound son to the airport, then there's work to be done. I was surprised this morning to find my slumping Toronto Walrus still in first place, by the narrowest of margins, despite losing 6-5 to Mebion Glyndwr. AGF defeated Horse Field Hammers 6-4 to move within a mere half-game of top spot, and the Moscow Rats, after thumping the Thunderbirds 9-3, are just two games out. Baird Brain made a big move into fourth with a 9-2 rout of the Eastern Shore Birds, who remain in sixth. A dozen teams are over .500 and bunched within 13 games, as we approach the halfway point of the regular season.

The Blue Jays Minor League Cheer Club, unbeknownst to the entire Cheer Club administration, is looking into the possibility of a day trip on Sunday, August 1 to see the Syracuse SkyChiefs take on the Rochester Red Wings.

Of all the games not to be televised, this is probably the worst choice. Arizona lefthander and perfect-game hurler Randy Johnson, a first-ballot Hall of Famer and very arguably the greatest southpaw pitcher of all time, makes what will surely be his final visit to the Skydome today, in a matchup against another red-hot portsider, Ted Lilly. Get to the game or get to your radio and be part of this one. Carlos Tosca has sat every one of his lefty hitters, including the surging Eric Hinske, for this game. The Jays will be in tough, but they can at least say they battled one of the all-time very best on this day. Enjoy.

Halladay returns from the DL leading the Jays to a 15-4 victory over Arizona.

Man, I'm glad I wasn't following this game last night. The bullpen gave up 3 runs in the 9th as the Jays lost to the Snakes 3-2.

I haven’t seen any papers yet today (it’s 5:30am as I begin to write) but after witnessing Jason Frasor’s performance last night, a pitching outing marred more by bad luck than outright failure, I’ve no doubt that some Toronto writer is going to whine about this Blue Jays squad not having a true closer. The reality is, though, that closers are made, not born, and the few men fortunate enough to have this title for a major league team have all been made from different kinds of material.

Okay, that's a stretch. Today's Diamondbacks-Blue Jays features young Arizona starter Andrew Good versus Toronto ace Roy Halladay; if the bats can come awake again, the Jays should be able to end their brief two-game losing skid fairly easily. There may not be a more underrated double-play combo in baseball right now than middle-infield Snakes Scott Hairston and Alex Cintron. The former is hot and the latter is slumping, but they're emblematic of an Arizona team that is reinventing itself from the inside, faster than many thought they could. Howie Clark is at first base and batting second for the Gray Jays; Alex Rios is batting ninth and is overdue to break out.