The weather has not been kind to my baseball schedules this week. Monday I was supposed to go to Jamestown for a Jammers game, but it was rained out. Today I was going to make the trip to Syracuse for the Bisons game, but it was rained out. Hopefully next week will be a bit better weather wise. The Herd is home Monday through Thursday and then we are off to Scranton for the games there Friday through Sunday.

Blue Jays Report: What the heck is happening in Toronto? The team is losing, Hinske was traded to Boston, the team they were trying to catch. Vernon Wells says he is going to leave when his contract is up, and JP Ricciardi called him an "idiot". First off, the only "idiots" are JP Ricciardi and John Gibbions. If the Jays want to win, it is time to fire these two. You are not going to get players to sign when you got a manager who is picking fights with his players, and an GM who is calling well respected players "idiots". These two are a long ways from Cito Gaston and Pat Gilliack in terms of class and winning. Please Mr. Rogers, fire these two clowns and bring some respect back to the organization.

Bisons Report: That fat lady that was singing a couple weeks ago, well her throat is sore, and she may not be able to sing again till after the Bricktown Showdown September 19. The Bisons are red hot, winning games all kinds of different ways. Taking leads and holding on, blowing teams out, making comebacks. I wish they would have figured things out before August, but I guess late is better then never, right? They still do trial Rochester by three for the wild card, because Rochester managed to win one today, but that is still better then the seven they trailed going into last Fridays game. So what has sparked the Bisons turn around? My first guess would be Andy Marte going to the big leagues. We now have Kevin Kouzmanoff up from double a. But he actually can field the ball, he hits home runs, and don’t get picked off the bases every other time he is on them. What a breath of fresh air from the former third basemen of the team. Next up for the Herd is three up North in Ottawa, and then they head down to Syracuse for two. I will be at Saturdays game in Syracuse to root the team on.

Blue Jays Report: Oh the Blue Jay pen. Doc went a strong seven, and did get the win tonight, but I must say the pen had me worried in the 8th inning. Once Brandon League got the final out of the inning the pressure was off, because I knew the next Jays pitcher I would see on the mound would be number 52, and that usually means the game is over. Probably the Jays won’t make the playoffs, but it has still been fun. Right now I am still hold out hope for the playoffs, or at the very least, catch Boston. I would love to see Red Sox fans reaction to coming in behind Toronto.

I have not had much of a chance to get on here in the last week, but I have had an awful week. Actually the week was not bad, and I saw lots of baseball, but I got some bad news on Monday about a close friend and it had me worried the whole week, so I was pretty much as basket case. But I saw Bisons games Monday and Tuesday at home. Tuesday night the Bisons were down 9-5 in the ninth inning with two outs and a full count. A double, scored two. Then a home run tied the game. Then a walk, and error and a walk off home run by Jason Dubois won it. I don’t know if the Bisons pulled victory from the jaws of defeat or Ottawa pulled defeat from the jaws of victory.

Wednesday it was up to Toronto for the afternoon Jays game. Doc was great and the Jays won 4-3. Thursday and Friday it was down to Rochester to see the Bisons.  A lose 6-5 on Thursday, but it seemed better seeing the Bisons were down 6-0 early. Friday the Bisons got a 2-1 win. Today it was back to the ballpark for a 6-2 win over the Rochester Red Wings at home. Tomorrow is in Buffalo and then my buddy Tommy and I might make a trip to Jamestown for a game Monday night.

But thank god for baseball. When you get bad news, even thought I expected it, it still hurt. To be able to keep my mind off the issue for a few hours each night and just enjoy a game is great.

Just a total side note that has nothing to do with anything, but I am wearing a Beloit Snappers hat as I type this. You see, early in the season a foul ball came up, and I ended up on the ground with my hands over my head, trying to miss the ball when it went by, but also when it hits the wall behind me and comes back through. Well, my cell phone started ringing before I was up with people making jokes. So my friends Jessie and Tommy started calling me the "Turtle" because of my actions that day. So Jessie found the Beloit Snappers site one night and that of me and bought me that hat. Well, Thursday night in Rochester I had a chance for a foul ball, and ended up getting out of the way again, and the radio announcers for the Bisons mentioned it on the air I did not catch the ball. So when Jessie game me that hat, she was really laughing about it. So I just wet the hat down so it can form to my head.

What heartbreak for my little buddy Brian yesterday. His baseball team was down 2-0 heading into the seventh and final inning of the championship game. The worst part is they were getting no hit. The other team put in a new pitcher, got two outs but walked the bases loaded. Brian was up, and I was a nervous wreck. On a full count pitch Brian hit a slow roller to third which the pitcher fielded, and threw high to first. Brian would have beat out the throw, but the error allowed him to move to second and the second run to score to tie the game. With the no hitter over, the next batter doubled to put Brian’s team up 4-2. Heading into the bottom of the inning with a 4-2 lead, they got the first two outs but loaded the bases. Then a kid hit a walk off three run triple to win the game, and take the championship. What heart break it is, being one strike away from losing the championship, and then one strike from winning it, only to lose it. Brian was upset they lost, but he and the team played a heck of a game, and should be proud of themselves.

Tommys game did not go so good either, but they had less drama. They took the lead in the top of the first 1-0, but that is all the scoring they would do, losing 6-1.

Bisons Report: That fat lady that was singing a few weeks ago, she is off the stage for the time being. The Bisons have won 12 of 16 and have pulled within 3.5 of wild card leading Rochester and 4.5 of division leading Scranton. With the Bisons having one more against the Norfolk Tides and Rochester in Charlotte for one more, the Bisons could make up more ground today. The Herd has a huge series against Rochester next week, playing Thursday and Friday in Rochester and Saturday and Sunday at Dunn Tire Park. Later in the month they have eight games in seven days against Scranton. It should be a fun last month of the season.

Blue Jays Report: That fat lady that was singing for the Bisons, has changed theaters, and is singing for the Blue Jays. I knew the seven games on the west coast would be hard, but I would have never imagined they would fall so far so fast. I don’t even know what to say about this slide. I guess TSN has it right by saying, when will it end. Agh, not much to say then please win a game. The offense has failed, the pitching has failed, the defense has failed, the manager and GM have failed. Everything is going wrong. Maybe Shea was right with his message "The ship is sinking".

No not the Buffalo Bisons, certainly not the Toronto  Blue Jays the way they have been playing, but little league. My friend Tommy has his game at 3:30 today, and his little brother has this game at 1. So I plan on attending both games, and then heading up to Dunn Tire Park to see the Bisons play the already running for the bus Norfolk Tides. When I go watch Tommy or Brian’s games, I think back to my days playing. How good it felt to win the championship, or even to just get a hit in a game. Brian has a really good coach who teaches the kids when they make a mistake, instead of just yelling at them. Tommy is older, so there is less teaching, even though they could use some on defense. Today I expect Brian’s team to win, but I don’t hold out much hope for the defense and offensive challenged team Tommy plays on. But which ever it should be fun.

It is hot out, but we all know that. But the teams I root for are anything but hot. The Jays seem to be falling out of the playoff race, and unless they can make a big turn around in New York, they will be playing the season out by the time they get home. It’s a shame, the Jays were coming off such a high beating the Yankees three out of four at home. But then came the worst thing, the west coast road trip. Even championship teams usually struggle on the other coast. But to make things worse, instead of heading home after the trip, the Jays get to go to New York.

Meanwhile the Bisons might have never been in a playoff race. They get me kinda excited, but they seem to find a way to lose games they are up. Today they had no chance from the start. Every fifth day Jake Dittler pitches, you all know a lose is coming. How he has stayed up in Buffalo, and stayed in the rotation I have no idea.The guy usually gets hammered each time out, yet they Bisons keep throwing him out there. And it is not like he is a great prospect or anything. He will probably never make the bigs. I guess it just shows that Cleveland don’t have that much dept in pitchers.

To quote a Foreigner song, the Batavia Muckdogs are "as cold as ice". They have went from leading the division to 3.5 games out and a 16-21 record. I thought they finally had a winning team in Batavia, but I guess this will not be the year that the Muckdogs make a return to the New York-Penn League playoffs.

I love the sport of baseball, but when you root for three non-playoff teams in three different leagues, it can be a downer. I should be happy that this is a bad year for the Bisons, not the usual. Next season Cleveland will probably stock them again, and they will be back in the IL playoffs. But if  the Blue Jay miss the playoffs again, it will be thirteen straight season without a playoff appearance. I would love to at the Skydome for a playoff game, going nuts when BJ Ryan comes in for the save. But it don’t look like I will be seeing it this season. So here is to a great rest of the season, lots of good games, and maybe someone I root for will make a run at the postseason.

On a side note, former Bison Joe Inglett hit is second Major League home run tonight or the Tribe.

I almost forgot, so I am editing this post to add this story. Sunday my buddy Tim (Jessie who I have mentioned a few times, her dad), Tim’s son Tommy, and another ballpark beer vendor James (Tim vends beer at Dunn Tire Park) went to Jacobs Field in Cleveland for the game. Tim saw somewhere in the ball park that the designated driver gets a free pop. He rarely drinks, and was not going to that day, so he decided to take advantage of the offer. When he gets up to the stand, they ask him "do you want a pop or a beer". Now they did take him by surprise, because usually the DD does not get beer. But the lady working the counter said that they have a choice of a big pop or a twelve ounce beer. Now maybe it is me, but why would you offer a designated driver beer? And why are not a lot more people taking advantage of this offer of a free beer? I asked him why he did not take the beer, I would have bought him a coke for the beer. He said he was so surprised he did not think of it. So I think the Bisons should start this policy. In my section, we all drive ourselves and meet at the ballpark. So we are all designated drivers, and after our free beer, we just rip off the bracelet and pay for the rest of the beers.

Blue Jays Report: Things got a lot better for the Blue Jays yesterday. Not only did they get a win, with just off the DL Alex Rios leading the way. They got another good outing from Shaun Marcum, granted it was a bit short because of the power outage in Oakland that halted the game. BJ Ryan got the two inning save, working himself in trouble in the eight inning but getting the double play ball to end the inning. And even more good news, Gustavo Chacin will be making a rehab start in Syracuse on Sunday, which means he should be back soon. Also the Red Sox lost, so the Jays picked a game on them.

So the trade deadline is Monday, and it will be interesting to see what, if anything, the Jays do. Do they pick up a starting pitcher with Chacin coming back. Do they pick up a short stop to take over for light hitting John McDonald? Do they try to pick up some help for the pen. I expect maybe the pen is where the Jays might make a move. I would to surprised if they did anything big, but maybe a small deal to try to help out that pen.

Bisons Report: The Bisons got a split of the double header yesterday, losing the first game 6-3, but coming up with a 2-1 win over the Louisville Bats  in the night cap. Also in the IL North Rochester lost, which lets Scranton catch them for first pace, with Ottawa four games behind, and Buffalo four and a half.

Andy Marte got the call to the big leagues, going 0-3 in the Tribe’s 1-0 win (more on that in a second). Really he did not deserve a callup, only hitting in the .270′s and very bad play at third. But seeing he is the Tribe’s top prospect in Buffalo, we knew the call up was coming. Also in that game, Jeremy Sowers pitched his second straight complete game shutout. The first Indians rookie to do that in 35 years. It kinda makes you wonder why Sowers was not up in Cleveland sooner in the season. Tomorrow I will be in Cleveland at the game. The Jake is one of my favorite ballparks, so with the Herd out of town and the Jays on the road, it seemed like a good time to go to Cleveland for a game.

New York-Penn League Report: The Batavia Muckdogs returned home to get a 9-4 win over the Mahoning Valley Scrappers in a game that had almost a 2 hour rain delay. 1,058 fans were in the stands in Batavia to see game. The first place Jamestown Jammers lost to the Williamsport Crosscutters in front of 1,799 fans in the PA city.

Bisons Report: I hurry from work down to the ballpark, which takes about forty-five minutes. I noticed it was cloudy, but I thought nothing of it. So I work my way through the crowds out front, grab a cheese steak when I get in the stadium and head for the club level. I knew Sharon was going to be late, so I went in the press box to grab the Ks, and what did I notice on the field? The tarp. So we had an hour of light rain, and then about 2pm the sun came out and we were ready for baseball. Louisville put two up in the top of the first, but the Bisons tied it up on a Lou Merloni home run and then added another in the bottom of the inning. Both teams when scoreless in the second, but Louisville scored three times in the top of the third to take a 5-3. The Bats still had no outs in the top of the third with the bases loaded when it started pouring. The players were called off the field and the tarp went back on. Even my buddy Jessie had to help pull the tarp on the field this time. But then it stopped raining and I dried the seats off one more time, the tarp was pulled again, and the field groomed. But before play could take place, it started raining again and the tarp went back on. Then Jessie’s dad Tim showed up, and asked if I could take Jessie home if the game was called because he has to leave. So a few minutes later they started putting the 1988 Bisons highlight video on the big board (1988 was the year the then Pilot Field, now Dunn Tire Park opened). But a minute into the video, the power went out in most of the stadium. Power was restored a little while latter, but then Jessie called to say she had went home with her dad when the power went out. Finally at 5pm, they called the game. So I got to see the tarp removed and put on more the baseball. The game will be picked up tomorrow in the top of the third. That game will be followed by a seven inning game. And seeing the way double headers have went this season for the Bisons, one of the games will go fourteen innings.

While I am waiting for the Jays game tonight, I am watching the Kansas City Royals vs the Baltimore Orioles. Why you may be asking? Because sometimes it is nice to just watch a baseball game and not be rooting for someone. Whenever I watch a Jays game I am rooting for them, not just enjoying the game. And when I watch the Yankees, Red Sox, or White Sox I am rooting against them because of the playoff race. I will probably rooting against the Twins now too because they are in that wild card race too. But I don’t care about the O’s or Royals, they are both going no where, so I can just watch it for the beauty of the game.

Blue Jays Report: What a way to end a series with the Yankees and a great way to bounce back after a tough loss on Saturday. I had my headphones with me and Dunn Tire Park listening to the game, and it makes it much easier to tell everyone the score when the Jays are pounding the ball out of the yard, seeing everyone but me and my little buddy Brian are Yankees fans.

So can we talk about Vernon Wells as a MVP candidate now? I would say he had a heck of a series, from the first game to the last. Starting pitching was strong all series long. If only the pen would not have fallen apart Saturday we would be talking about a sweep. But the best part of the weekend was Eric Hinske, a guy who looked like would be on his way out of Toronto, had a heck of a series and looks like he will be getting lots of starts down the road with Shea in San Francisco. I expect Hinske will be the starting DH, and he can give Glaus a break and third, Overbay a break at first, and he can play left field. Yeah he is getting paid a lot, but I think he is worth it if he plays like he did this weekend.

Now it is on to the west coast, and probably the hardest road trips of the year. Yeah the teams in the AL West are not as good as the Jays, but all the travel and time change takes it toll on players.

Bisons Report: For the second straight game the Bisons blew a lead in the top of the ninth. Syracuse scored three times to take a 6-4 lead over the Herd. But unlike last night, the Bisons cashed in their baserunners in the bottom of the inning and came out with a 7-6 win. The Bisons finish up against Syracuse tomorrow and then have a huge series with Louisville, which they pretty much have to sweep if they have any thoughts about getting  back in the playoff race.

New York-Penn League Report: The Batavia Muckdogs shutout the Boston Red Sox farm club the Lowell Spinners 4-0 today in a game I did not think would ever be played. When I was leaving the Bisons game the skies were really dark and when I made it back to my dads which is close to Batavia it was really dark and looked like lots of rain was on the way. So I decided not to head over to Batavia because I figured the game would be called. As I type this the Jamestown Jammers are beating the Brooklyn Cyclones 12-1 in Jamestown, in a game that was probably delayed by rain too.

Tonight on Baseball Tonight they were discussing if A-Rod should be traded. Yes, he had a bad week, and if he were some guy who just came up from the minors he would be back in the minors. But if he were just your average player and had a week like he did, nobody would even notice. But he is A-Rod, the best player (or top two with Pujols) in baseball, and he is playing in New York. If he were still in Seattle or Texas and he had a week like he did, he would get mentioned, but I don’t think they would spend the first ten minutes of the show talking about it. So why would the Yankees trade the best player in the game? I have no idea, he had a really bad week, and while I liked all the E-Rod jokes, and the K-Rod jokes yesterday, he will be back to hitting homeruns and playing solid at third. Yeah the crowd in New York is tough, and the media can be tougher, but it was ONE FREAKING WEEK PEOPLE, CHILL OUT. There is only two other teams that could afford him and still have money to spend on players around him. And I really don’t think the Yankees are going to trade him to the Red Sox or Mets. And I don’t think any lower budget team will trade for him after seeing what happened to Texas when they spent all their money on him. So A-Rod will be in New York for a long time, probably the rest of his career.