The big stories tonight are Jeter and Griffey's return and that MLB is investigating the Florida Marlins for hiring McKean. Jeter and Griffey's returns are great for baseball and for them as they both went down hard with similar injuries. We all feared the worst, but it's great that we didn't get the worst.

The Florida Marlins story is part of life, folks. Get used to it. I totally agree that baseball needs to do all it can to make sure all people have access and chances for leadership positions in baseball. I have no argument there, especially if the managerial or front office decisions are being made in the off-season. But when you are in a mid-season situation and you need a quick fix or shot in the arm, shouldn't a team have the ability to choose someone they had in mind from the start? Now what happens to that quick fix? The quick fix gets thrown in limbo as controversy surrounds the move. It's a shame we are not yet quite as enlightened as we will be.

I still think that moving Nick Johnson to the bottom of the lineup with the return of Jeter is a big mistake. I think it changes the threat of having people on base in front of the big guys. My thought is that you would keep Johnson up in the second spot, you bat Jeter sixth and mollify him for now that he is working his way back to shape. Once Jeter is firing again on regular gas, then move him to third. I believe that Matsui is struggling and should move down in the order and Mondesi moves up. My Yankee lineup looks like this: Soriana, Johnson, Williams, Giambi, Posada, Jeter, Ventura, Mondesi, Matsui. Hmm...looking over my creation. Yes. I like it. Right, left, switch, left, switch, right, left, right, left. Perfect. How do I know the current idea is wrong? On their first game with the new lineup, they are no hit for six innings.

In the Cincinnati/St. Louis game tonight, Pujols, Kearns and Dunn have homers. Are those three of the brightest young stars in the league right now? They are at least up there with the brightest. Speaking of bright, Hank Blalock is batting .380 and hit a homerun tonight. What a great story. And Teixeira is up to .238. Texas is going to be a force if they ever find some pitching.

The Rockies are falling like a rock. What a landslide as they have lost eight of their last ten. They have the worst road record in baseball (yes, even worse than the Tigers). The Rockies are 11-4 at home and 6-16 on the road. They will never be contenders until they figure out how to play down the difference of home versus the road.

The White Sox look comatose too. Can you blame Frank Thomas? I think you can. The guy always seems to stir a bunch of emotions. David Wells was dead wrong a couple of years ago for mouthing off about Thomas not playing. Thomas was later learned to have a serious arm injury. But the point never made at the time was that those kinds of comments don't start if the whispers hadn't already been there. Reports are that Thomas' bat speed has slowed tremendously. The White Sox should have cut their losses and let him walk at the end of the last season.

I have to be honest here. I wrote off the Reds for dead a couple of weeks ago. They are certainly alive and have have won seven of ten to pull to .500 baseball. They are only two and a half games behind the Cubbies.

Wasn't that a great story the other night when Steve Avery pitched a scoreless inning for the Tigers the other night? It was his first MLB appearance since 1999. That's hard work and the refusal to lie down and die. Good for him!