With a full slate of games, MLB tonight continued to confound us in one of the tipsy topsiest seasons I can ever remember. The Twins and White Sox lost...AGAIN. The Cardinals lost AGAIN as the Dodgers actually scored six runs tonight. Pujols went 0-5 in that game and has dropped thirty points on his average in the last week and a half. Meanwhile, the Cubbies finally won a game as Sammy Sosa hit another homer with three RBI.

To continue the madness, the Blue Jays, who a few weeks ago looked unbeatable, blew another lead. This time they were up 7-3 late in the game and lost 8-7. The Cincinnati Reds, who a few weeks ago looked ready to contend with the other three teams in their division continued a really poor losing streak and were down 6-0 before three outs in the first inning were recorded.

I will resume my call for Bob Boone's job in Cincinnati. I really believe that team could use a spark much like the spark that the Florida Marlins have received with their managerial change. It's time to try something different in Cincy. The only bright spot for Cincy was that Griffey hit a homer.


Well, the Fan is back from Florida after an eighteen day vacation. I miss the palm trees and the Atlantic Ocean, but I don't miss the constant smell of exhaust fumes and the moisture in the air. We arrived back in Maine today and it was a breezy 73 degrees with no humidity and fresh clean air. It's good to be home. I did a fair job of keeping the blog going while I was gone though I did miss about three days. Things will be more stable now.


I was very glad to see Geoff Jenkins get voted into the AllStar game. He really deserves it after working hard from a very ugly injury to play the way he is playing.

I saw an amazing stat tonight stating that Ichiro has had seven consecutive multi-hit games. That's a hot hitter! I was watching the highlight show and saw him jack a leadoff pitch for a very long homerun. He is so quick that he could probably do that forty times a year if he wanted to. His only weakness is a 95 MPH fastball up and in. But then again, he has plenty of company there.

Speaking of a fastball, I had a rare chance to watch Eric Gagne tonight and he is amazing. He dispatched of the hot Jim Edmonds and a dangerous, but slumping Albert Pujols. There are only a few relievers who can dominate the way he can: Rivera and Smoltz. That's it. Those three are in a class by themselves. You might think Billy Wagner belongs in there but he is a step down from the top three because his mighty fastball is pretty much straight without a lot of movement and he can be beat.