Ortiz hits his 30th of the season, which is a franchise record for HRs before the All-Star break. Also just heard that Travis Hafner of Cleveland set the record for grand slams before the All-Star break, with his fifth tonight. And speaking of grand slams. . .

Dontrelle Willis has the first grand slam by a pitcher since 2002.

Yanks win a nail-biter.

This is pretty fun so far. (Of course, I can say that b/c I'm not in Kansas City.)

I see that both Manny and Pedro were again forced to withdraw from the All-Star Game due to their annual, mid-season debilitating injuries. As usual, both will seek the best medical care possible - in the Dominican.

Some things never change.......:D

Hey, if you could afford an annual trip to the Caribbean for some "rehab", wouldn't you go, too?

Factoid
 

Tiger rookies have pitched 28.6 % of the total innings for the team.
The rookies cumulative record is 19-6 and their cumulative ERA is around 2.77.
Next year they get some Tarheel kid, ... if they pay enough money.

Futball...I don't know.

Basketball referee...I don't know.

But biesbol...biesbol been beddy, beddy gud to me.

- Chico Esquela

Hey DJ, what was up with Ichiro last night? Looked like he was doing an imitation of a statue at home plate there. Then later, when the plate actually called a foul tip, Hargrove went nuts and got tossed. Hee-hee!!

(Think the ump saved that one on purpose? Oh, you want me to call a foul tip, here you go. Oh, by the way, that one's strike 3! :D )

BTW, this is post # 8,000 for me!!

Italy win the Cup! Italy's first half goal was a beaut, but the only really interesting story is Zidane, of course. Gets a PK from a dive, then gets a red card in the 110th minute!! What could the Italian have said to him to make him do that? That was just an unbelievably stupid thing to do in such an important game.

Anyway, now we can get back to all baseball, all the time. (Unless Tony has any more hotties up his sleeves.)

Man, there's more diving and faking injuries in <i>futbol</i> than Manny in the week before the All-Star game every year. Almost....

My prediction went out the window early. I had both Italy and France surrendering before the game started.:D

PS.....they gotta be awful small hotties if they can hide inside Tony's sleeve.

[Cosell imitation] Down goes Prior!! Down goes Prior!! [/Cosell imitation]

Nah, I had the whops all the way. When the frogs surrender, they open a bottle of Bordeaux & ask the Germans when they would like dinner served. When the guineas surrender they take to the hills, open a bottle of Chianti & continue the fight. That's what my grandfather told me, who spent most of WW1 & WW2 fighting Germans in the hills of northern Italy.

To answer Chuck's question, I bet what the Italian said rhymed with "Ba Fangul". But he got his moneys worth, that was quite a headbutt.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1i_l0OeeMc

But only for a while.....maybe......until the next time.

Of course Kerry Wood is now officially done for the year. Right on schedule. Well, maybe a shade late. And it looks like the Rev. Johnny B. is gonna take the hit for all this too, during the All-Star break if the rumors are correct. I can't believe that the G.M. that put this club together is gonna skate though.

Yo, M&M, if it's any consolation, we're laughing <b>at</b> you, not with you.:D

19 innings for the Sox and Sox yesterday. Trot Nixon went oh-fer-NINE!! First time anybody's done that since '91 -- Rafael Palmiero did it back then. And the reason it went extras is that Papelbon finally coughed one up. (It's actually his second blown save, but the first one was an impossible sitch.) Oh well, it's bound to happen once or twice.

On the plus side, I think Putz picked up the save for the M's yesterday. (Gratuitous "Putz" reference, just to make JR smile.)

Ah yes, the immortal J.J. Putz. Just a great <i>beisbol</i> name, and the kid is a magician to boot. He made Eddie (the Toad) Guardado disappear in Seattle.

Speaking of great baseball names, I was saddened to hear that Minny sent Boof Bonser back to the minors.

Hey, they've won 3 in a row, and that's a season high! Good thing the All-Star break comes up to cool 'em off.

Hell, even <B>I'm</B> laughing at me.

HE CALLED ME A TERRORIST!!! So I....headbutt him in the chest....in public...in front of 2 billion viewrs...but I'm not a terrorist...I'm just sensitive. BTW, did we win??

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article...263995,00.html