Doby was AL's first African-American player. He died Wednesday at age 78. (ESPN Classic)

Jay Jaffe on Doby. (Futility Infielder)

Gregg Rosenthal: "I will say that the Brian Daubach storyline has gone stale. Daubach doubled home the go ahead run in Chicago’s numbing 3-1 win over the Red Sox Wednesday night. Incidentally, Daubach expressed regret over pumping his first after his Tuesday night home run. No apologies necessary. Please, Brian enjoy what moments you can while playing in moribound U.S.S Cellular field. Going from Fenway to there is like moving from Rome to Worcester." (Gregg's Baseball, etc., June 19 entry)

Adam Dennis on the latest Cubs trade rumors. (Cubrants)

Bernie Miklasz: "It's too late to turn back now. The Cardinals are stuck with a pricey, veteran team, and they're still trying to get a new ballpark off the ground. To reach October, the owners must reach into their pockets." (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

Josh on last night's doubleheader sweep of the Expos by the Pirates. "OK, enough complaining - this is a happy day, and here's why. Of their 11 hits, the Buccos recorded 4 of them in the bottom of the 9th against that paragon of pitching prowess Rocky Biddle. Exactly. That's what double-headers do to a bullpen." (The Baseball Boys)

Arizona rallies with two runs in ninth. Billy Wagner blew the save for the Astros, but it was still a good day for him - his wife gave birth to a girl. They tried to give her a pacifier, but she threw it across the room at 100 mph. (ESPN.com)

Steve: "There is something about the D'backs taking down big time closers. Add Billy Wagner to this list of names: Eric Gagne, John Smoltz, Rob Nen, Armando Benitez and Trevor Hoffman. I'm not sure but the D'backs may be the only team to have beaten all of these guys at some point." (Diamondback Bites)

Prospectus Triple Play: Orioles, Rockies, Mets. "This year Mike Scioscia could very well give the Orioles two All-Stars for the first time this millennium. The surprising Melvin Mora is a virtual lock (leading the AL in batting average and, much more importantly, Equivalent Average) and provides positional flexibility galore (and who knows how important that might be under the new All-Star rules?). Also presenting himself for consideration is Sir Sidney Ponson." (Baseball Prospectus)

Joe Sheehan on pitcher workloads, today and in the past. "That's the thing that baseball people over the age of 45 do not get. Their experience is not transferable to today's game, because while it looks the same, it is completely different for pitchers. They have to work much harder to get comparable results; not because the old guys were better, but because circumstances have changed. What Bob Feller, or Warren Spahn, or Juan Marichal, or Steve Carlton did is completely irrelevant to what the expectations should be for Mark Prior." (Baseball Prospectus)

Bi-Weekly Review: A.L. West. "The A’s have played fast and loose with the schedule the last two seasons, playing .700 ball after June to make up for lackluster starts. Is it in the cards for 2003?" (Baseball Primer)

Bi-Weekly Review: A.L. Central. "And don’t look now, but Angel Berroa (yes, Angel Berroa) is having an all-star type season. Berroa is hitting .358/.414/.774 this month and has raised his season stats to .281/.344/.473 with seven homers, 16 doubles and three triples in 224 at bats. He’s fourth among AL shortstops in batting average (.281) and OBP (.344), and third in slugging percentage (.473)." (Baseball Primer)