I remember being surprised last year when I learned that Curt Blefary caught for a couple years at the end of his career. It's a good thing he did; otherwise today's Birthday Team would be scraping the bottom of the barrel for a catcher.

C: Curt Blefary
1B: Gordy Coleman
2B: Al Kozar
3B: Jim Baxes
SS/Manager: Jack Farrell
LF: Gary Matthews Sr.
CF: Beals Becker
RF: Ward Miller

SP: Bump Hadley
SP: Lee Viau
SP: Jimmy Dygert
SP: Arnie Portocarrero
SP: Hod Eller
RP: Rich Gossage

Owner/Killer of American Soccer: Charles Stoneham
Not an avocado-based sauce: Doc Amole

Is Jack Farrell any relation to Blue Jays manager John?

If he is, it's likely a very distant relation. Jack was born 105 years before John, though they are both from New Jersey.

The Nationals have now scored 69 runs in the last eight games, and in the last two games just absolutely pounded the snot out of Lincecum and Bumgarner.

The middle of our lineup has finally come alive, and that is very bad news indeed for the rest of the league.

Agreed. There's no reason they can't continue to score 8+ per game.

I remember being surprised last year when I learned that Curt Blefary caught for a couple years at the end of his career

That's one of my favorite baseball things ever. Here's a guy whose nickname was "Clank" because he was such a dreadful defensive player, and they decided to move him to catcher. It's like if you go away for a weekend with your girlfriend, find out you don't really spending that much time with her, and then propose marriage.

Of course, it did work (kind-of) so perhaps I shouldn't be so judgmental.

Agreed. There's no reason they can't continue to score 8+ per game.

Hee-hee, good one. All kidding aside though, I'll gladly take a core lineup of Harper, Zimmerman, Morse, LaRoche, and Desmond hitting up to its true potential for the rest of the season. And in a few more weeks Werth should be getting added back to that already very solid core.

As of today, everyone in the AL East has played 81-82 games and all are over .500. Has it ever happened this late in the season?

With the Reds' loss last night, the Pirates have sole possession of first in the NL Central. It would be great if they can hold that when the All Star break hits. They still have one with Houston, then three with the Giants. They'll be throwing Burnett, McDonald and Bedard at the Giants, and won't have to see Cain or Baumgarner.

Bedard's been awful since he missed a start with a back problem in May. He goes tomorrow against SF, and it'll be interesting to see if they push his next start to as far after the break as they can get.

Beating up on Lincecum has to be discounted since everyone but the Dodgers embarrassment of a lineup has done so this year.

As of today, everyone in the AL East has played 81-82 games and all are over .500. Has it ever happened this late in the season?

I don't know about the AL East specifically, but everyone in the NL East was over .500 after all games played on October 1, 2005. The Nationals lost their last game of the season to finish 81-81, had they won it, everyone in the division would have finished over .500, which I don't believe has ever been done.

The entire AL West finished .500 or better in 1991. The Angels had to win their last three games to get to exactly .500 on the season; it looks like the last day all seven of the teams were over .500 was September 24.

Lincecum is a rather interesting case. He's still striking guys out at an excellent 9.7/9 rate, not too much lower than his Cy Young days. However, guys are learning to lay off his stuff outside the zone more and more, and as a result his walk rate is up to a rather scary 4.7/9.

Bad luck is definitely a significant part of his performance this season as well, but there's also no question that his fastball is down a good 2-3 MPH from where it was at its peak. When his pitches are in the zone, they're getting hammered hard more and more. If he is in fact completely healthy, this drop in velocity is going to be a big concern for the Giants going forward.

As of today, everyone in the AL East has played 81-82 games and all are over .500. Has it ever happened this late in the season?

August 27, 1986, AL East

Not really up to longform recapping today, so here are the links and some brief discussion:

GotD (yesterday): Marlins 7, Brewers 6 (10). The Marlins went ahead 1-0 in the second on the always-amusing run-scoring, inning-ending play (Brett Hayes singles, Omar Infante scores from second, Gaby Sanchez thrown out trying for third). The Brewers countered with an avalanche of pebbles, scoring five times in the bottom of the inning on four singles, three walks, and two RBI groundouts. The score stayed at 5-1 until the seventh, which Justin Ruggiano led off with a homer; two outs, a walk, and a single later, Logan Morrison came up as a pinch hitter and homered as well, tying the game at 5. Milwaukee took the lead right back in the bottom of the inning, thanks to a single, a sac bunt, a one-out intentional walk to Ryan Braun, and an Aramis Ramirez single that made the walk look dumb. The 6-5 margin lasted until there were 2 outs in the top of the ninth, at which point Sanchez connected with a 1-2 pitch for a game-tying homer. Miami took its first lead in the top of the tenth on a Donovan Solano double and a Hanley Ramirez single, and Heath Bell worked around a one-out double to secure the game.

It's the third consecutive Marlins-Brewers game to take top honors for the day, and they're playing again this afternoon. The series has moved Milwaukee into the #2 spot among the most exciting teams of the year, and within striking distance of Washington; Miami has moved up to #4.

GotD (last year): White Sox 5, Royals 4. KC started off with a two-run first inning homer by Jeff Francoeur, and added a two-out RBI single from Billy Butler in the third. The Sox loaded the bases with nobody out in the fourth; Alexei Ramirez hit into a double play, scoring one run but putting a damper on the rally. In the fifth, Chicago closed within a run on a solo homer by Ramon Castro; to date, it is the last home run of Castro's career, and given that he's not in the majors this year and is 36 years old, it looks likely to remain so.

The 3-2 lead lasted until the eighth, when Brent Morel singled and Adam Dunn homered off of Aaron Crow to put the Sox on top for the first time in the game. Sergio Santos came in for the ninth, and his first pitch was hit over the center field wall by Eric Hosmer to even the score; the Royals would go on to put two runners on base, but stranded them to end the inning.

AJ Pierzynski led off the ninth against Crow with a single, moved to second on a sac bunt, and third on a wild pitch. Mark Teahen struck out, and Juan Pierre (pinch hitting for Morel) walked; once the resultant rain of frogs was cleaned up, Pierre took second on defensive indifference. And with Dunn back at the plate, Crow... balked. He balked, and the winning run scored.

I'm sure there are other things I could say about this game, but come on. Walkoff balk. That's great.

My new favorite Mike Trout factoid: Since getting thrown out stealing on June 4th, he's stolen 15 bases without getting caught in 27 games. He's now at 24/27 on the season.

Posted to early in the night. Trout's now stolen 17 bases in 27 games and sits at 26/29 on the season. I suppose he could add another SB or two by the end of the night.