Prospectus Triple Play: Astros, Brewers, Expos, Athletics, Giants, Blue Jays. "The Giants have arguably the best pitcher in the NL (Jason Schmidt) and the best player in the world (Neifi Perez, uh, I mean what's-his-face). In fact, it's not inconceivable that the Giants could sweep the three major postseason trophies come October, as rookie Jerome Williams is resembling Greg Maddux more and more every start. (Who else throws a 96-pitch shutout?)" (Baseball Prospectus)

Outfielder's breakout year halted by torn ACL. Corey Patterson is done for the season. (ESPN.com)

Christian Ruzich: "This is a devastating blow for the Cubs 'offense' -- Corey was among the team leaders in nearly every offensive category, on a team which was in the second division in all of those categories...I don't think it's too early to start talking about how to replace him, because Trenidad Hubbard (on his way to Wrigley from Iowa as I type) is not the answer, nor is Tom Goodwin." (The Cub Reporter)

MLB All-Star Game 2003. Home page for ESPN.com's coverage.

American League All-Star Roster. (ESPN.com)

National League All-Star Roster. (ESPN.com)

Out of nowhere, Mora now an All-Star. Rob Neyer:

Like I said, there haven't been many like him.

How many?

Before I answer that question (in a limited way), let me stress that I'm not talking about guys like Ron Coomer and Greg Olson (the catcher, not the closer with the killer curveball), who were All-Stars because the manager needed to fill a position and/or there had to be somebody from their team. (Remember Joe Girardi making the 2000 National League All-Star team, merely because he was the first catcher who happened to answer his phone?)

No, I'm talking about guys like Melvin Mora, who came out of nowhere to earn their All-Star berths with stellar performances in the first half of the season.

(ESPN.com)

More mid-season reviews from Ben Jacobs: Reds, Cardinals, Astros, Cubs, Marlins, Phillies. (Universal Baseball Blog, Inc.)

Is Rocco Baldelli the Real Deal? (Rich's Weekend Baseball Beat)

New weblogs:

     Jeremy Heit's Blog
     Simply American: SF Giants
     Simply American: LA Dodgers