Andrew Jones is funny. Tubby guy who swings like he's in a F5 twister - usually below the pitch. And he catches the ball like he wants to give the management a heart attack - which is a nice touch.

Barry Bonds has done irreparable harm to baseball, and he just might be the devil - the jury is still out. I defended him up until that reality show (ironic). He's just an ass, with a needle hanging out.

Carlos Beltran is just about as good as they come (except for freezing with the world on the line).

G.D. Ken Griffey Jr. is having a great offensive season. If you get ESPN, you've noticed that he's in a time warp at the plate. I can't be the only one absolutely loving it. Nevertheless, I bet old poppa griff would be a more effective right fielder tonight than his son. I know, I know, if Jr. tried to make plays his legs would explode, so I'll put up with it. And, what person in America over the age of 15 doesn't want to see Jr in the derby? Get that man a chartered flight to the AllStar game, and fast.

Jenkins ain't that bad, but Soriano is too much fun to not invite to the All Star game.

But wait! What's even more exciting is that somewhere in Columbus, OSU football players are throwing steel around.

I know it gets kind of iffy this time of year guessing who's going to be the starting pitchers in each league (with throwing schedules, "injury" excuses, and the general fallibility of coaches all having to be considered), but if you had to choose them this year, it'd have to be Peavy and Haren, right? Furthering the possibly one-sided conversation, is there a more underrated pitcher in all of baseball than Haren?

Just because we're all used to seeing someone in a position doesn't make them a good choice (as we learned once again in 2004).

Cabrera is having a magnificent season. He's basically step for step with Jeter at the plate (Cab's .343/.383/.457 vs. Jeter's .342/.418/.476). Shortstops, though, are counted on just as much for defense as offense, and Cabrera is clearly the better of the two. Cabrera's only made 4 errors this season. Jeter? 11. Granted, it hasn't even been half a season yet, but if you have shortstops hitting nearly identically, and one of them makes three times as many errors as the other, your vote should be for the fielder who gets things done.

Cabrera's a big reason why the Angels have a six-game lead in the West. Give Jeter the year off and vote for Cabrera.

One possible explanation for this year's more intelligent All-Star voting? When you look at the ballot at MLB.com, you're able to call up "pop-up" boxes listing key stats for the players at each position, and you can then rank the players by each stat. Sure, the chart leaves out defensive skills and the much-dreaded "intangibles," but it also shows pretty clearly who's got the best numbers at each position. Accordingly, it makes it a lot harder for (conscientious) voters to choose guys having subpar years, and a lot easier to recognize the Russell Martins. I don't remember this feature being on previous year's ballots, though I may be wrong.

He actually started out last season pretty similar to what he's done so far this year. Then he had his famous face-plant into the wall and was never really right after that.

I have to admit that I was doubtful about him coming in the season. But now I hope the Phillies give him a contract before the end of the season.

It's especially impressive considering that he's hit everywhere in the lineup. Only in the past three weeks or so has he been consistently in the 5 hole. And not coincidentally, Ryan Howard is on a tear with a real bat finally hitting behind him.