I guess this fulfills my intent to post at least one item for every team.

Greinke's out hurt, so Callaspo's the Royals representative. Seattle has three starting pitchers in there... didn't notice that until now.

Brandon Webb's healthy... that's different. Probably the one that most stands out is Flores for Washington... you'd think Zimmerman would make it instead.

OK, I guess Cliff Pennington as an All-Star is pretty surprising, too.

Am I the...

You decide whether you believe that the Royals are really that good, or that the AL Central is really that mediocre. As long as the Royals are actually planning on spending money and being proactive at the trade deadline, more power to them. I just don't expect this to last. Why would it, especially if Greinke's out of action for too long?

So Charlie Manuel's out already? What have you done for me lately...

Needless to say, as the game goes, I think this is more than a little strange. Yeah, I know, a team that's supposed to win 95 games is .500 through two months. Is that such a huge problem?

In any case, it's not as shaky as the replacement the Phillies hired the following day: Gary Robinson, who was fresh off of a 12-44 stint with the Pirates' short season Single-A team, the State College Spikes. Really?...

Ichiro is just interesting. He's the most successful player to cross over from Japan to the United States, he started his MLB career at 27, he was both the AL Rookie of the Year and the MVP for a 116-win team, he's been an All-Star and a Gold Glove winner in each of his nine full seasons so far, but I don't know what to make of him.

Ichiro is... well, not exactly one-dimensional. He can field well, and is an excellent baserunner. He does lack power, though, or if he can hit for...

Yes, those are the Royals and the Pirates lurking around .500. Sometimes I wonder if fans of those two teams would celebrate even a moderately successful season the way other fan bases might celebrate a playoff berth.

One of the best things about sports is the surge of hope one feels for one's team, especially when they are succeeding beyond expectation. The fan can allow himself to dream, to believe, even if only for a moment, that his team might just possibly see the whole thing...