Every Sunday, MLB FanHouse empties out its notebook in Baseball Brunch.
The most remarkable thing about this season as we hit the not-halfway halfway point of the All-Star break isn't Albert Pujols' RBI total. Or Zack Greinke's ERA. Or the PED suspension of one of the game's biggest stars.
It's the standings. And they not only reflect the season so far, they give us a clue as to the weeks head leading up to the non-waiver trade deadline.
The Phillies and Dodgers are the only first-place team with a lead of more than 2 1/2 games. And 21 of the 30 teams are within 7 1/2 games of a playoff spot: nine of 14 in the AL and 12 of 16 in the NL.
NEW YORK -- Yeah, he was nervous, he admitted with a shy smile. Ricky Romero was pitching against the Yankees, in front of more than 46,000 people on a perfect summer day in the Bronx. The Blue Jays' 24-year-old rookie left-hander was fired up and throwing way too hard, which is why he darn near Yahtzeed* the scorecard in the first inning.
"I was excited, I'm not going to lie," Romero said when the Jays' 7-6 victory was over and he'd improved to 5-1 with a 2.22 ERA in his last seven starts. "Packed house, pitching against the Yankees -- I was overthrowing. And that is something that has just not been me. Not this year, at least."
Not for the past month, for sure. In that time, Romero has been one of the best pitchers in baseball.
NEW YORK – During the top of the fifth inning Friday, a gate in the outfield fence at $1.3 billion Yankee Stadium popped open.
When no member of the grounds crew appeared, Toronto center fielder Vernon Wells went over and latched the wall himself.
"I should have closed it," he joked, "and just stayed behind the gate."
Yes, it's been the kind of year that makes Wells want to hide.
And while the Blue Jays are just five games out of an AL playoff berth after Friday's 4-2 loss, they are also left to wonder: Where would we be with Wells playing up to his contract?
Every Sunday, MLB FanHouse empties out its notebook in Baseball Brunch.
"This concludes our test of the emergency attendance enhancement system. We now return to the regularly scheduled season."
Yes, the 13th season of interleague play wraps up Sunday, except for a Cubs-White Sox makeup game. We have survived six San Diego-Seattle games (that's more zeroes than an A-Rod paycheck).
We didn't learn much we didn't already know: the system has inherent flaws and the American League rules.
For the sixth straight year, the AL has had** the better record in interleague play – 129-108 going into today.
Take out Cleveland and Oakland, and the AL is 119-84.
"It probably is" as big a gap between leagues as in past years, one AL team official said, "until you get to the World Series. Then it doesn't matter."
PHILADELPHIA – Even before Tuesday night's game, Cito Gaston was calling for the designated hitter in all interleague games.
And then the Blue Jays manager got even more of a reason to push for a rule change.
Toronto closer Scott Downs suffered an injury to his left foot pushing out of the batter's box while grounding out in the top of the 10th inning. Gaston allowed Downs to hit because he had a five-run lead at that point and only his backup catcher left on the bench.
"I know that a lot of people like this interleague play," Gaston said, "I know it's great for the fans and all that, but that's what happens. My guys don't take batting practice every day. They don't run. So things like this are going to happen until somebody wakes up and says, 'Look, let's just play [with] the DH all the time or call it off.' "
OAKLAND -- You heard all that talk over the winter about how the American League East was going to be a tight three-team race.
The Blue Jays apparently didn't.
"You don't have to believe what you hear," Toronto shortstop Marco Scutaro told FanHouse. "In baseball, anything can happen. Last year if you would have told me in spring training that Tampa Bay would be in the World Series, I'd say you are crazy."
The first-place Blue Jays improved to 22-12, best in the American League, by taking two of three from the A's this weekend. Toronto has lost only one series so far this season.
B.J. Ryan hasn't had a good first week, and that's an understatement. He's now appeared in two games and looked pretty awful. In his first outing, he blew a save by allowing a game-tying Brandon Inge home run. His second time out should have been a nice, leisurely way to get himself on track. He had been spotted a four run lead, thanks to Roy Halladay and the Jays' bats. Plus, he was facing the bottom of the scuffling Indians' batting order.
Ryan walked three hitters and allowed a single. He also mixed in a double-play ball, so Mark DeRosa came to the plate with the bases jacked and 2 outs. DeRosa doubled in three, cutting the Blue Jays lead to 5-4. Ryan was promptly removed from the game.
Footprints in the Snow is FanHouse's look at the paths to be forged by MLB teams this winter as they look ahead to 2009.
We're coming up on that crossroads season for the Blue Jays. For years they've had a team that, in the prism of the AL East, was merely OK. And each year they were also the team that was expected to break that Red Sox/Yankees stronghold on the division. But those two teams were also the built-in excuse for the Jays when they didn't break through. They have been pretty consistent with their win total over the last 10 seasons (in the 80s every season except for two), but it was never good enough to approach the upper echelon. "Well, the Red Sox and Yankees are in the pantheon of baseball ... who's going to beat them?"
Umm, it was the Rays. And now that the Rays have busted through, the pressure is on the Jays to finally kick this franchise into another gear and make their move. There's no reason to think they can't do it, as the club went 51-37 after replacing John Gibbons with Cito Gaston as manager ... a pace that would have placed them just a hair short of the Sox for the wild card. That's a significant stride, but not enough to be a playoff team quite yet. And with the imminent departure of A.J. Burnett, there will be some work to do to get there.
On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups.
Boston Red Sox (74-55) at Baltimore Orioles (67-62) 1:07 PM ET
Daisuke Matsuzaka is the very case study of new breed vs. old guard. The old guard will see Matsuzaka's 15-2 record and his 2.77 ERA and tell you that he's gotta be one of the best pitchers in baseball. The new breed of fan will tell you that his 1.37 WHIP and his 77 walks in 126+ innings tell the future of a man who's been lucky to get out of jams that he created for himself against mediocre teams. Which side are you on?
Today, Dice K goes up against the Blue Jays ... and while everybody is talking about the job that Jerry Manuel is doing for the Mets after taking over mid-season, there's been a similar, quieter turnaround in Toronto, where Cito Gaston is 32-23 this season after taking over for John Gibbons, who started the season 35-39.
NEW YORK -- Yeah, he was nervous, he admitted with a shy smile. 
NEW YORK – During the top of the fifth inning Friday, a gate in the outfield fence at $1.3 billion Yankee Stadium popped open.
Every Sunday, MLB FanHouse empties out its notebook in 
OAKLAND -- You heard all that talk over the winter about how the American League East was going to be a tight three-team race.
With 
