Inside Baseball with Jesse Barfield

The Jays are playing the spoiler role down the stretch as they are facing some of the tougher teams in their division.

They played some gritty baseball last weekend, taking two of three from the Bronx Bombers, coming from behind and taking advantage of some rare Yankee mistakes.

Although the Yanks are sometimes called the Bombers, they haven't dropped a lot of bombs lately, which really surprises me because they are usually one of the best second-half teams. But the Jays have gained momentum and are creating some problems for other teams as we near the end of the regular season.

Despite some mediocrity in the Toronto offence during the first half of the season, the second half gives me a reason to be optimistic for the future of this team, especially with the front office’s commitment to bringing back Cito and the coaching staff next year.

As the Jays head back to New York this weekend for the final games they will play in the current Yankee Stadium, I can't help but think about all the years and memories that are connected to that place.

Having played against those darn Yankees and been a Yankee, it has been an honour to play in the House that Ruth built.

As a kid, like so many others, I dreamed of one day wearing pinstripes, patrolling right field like Reggie Jackson, but how would I know that my dream would really come true?

The Jays opened up a “can of whoop-a__” on the Yankees as they clopped them 14-3 on Thursday.

Roy Halladay looked as sharp as I have ever seen him, his pitches had good movement down in the zone and he worked both sides of the plate. Yankee hitters had no chance.

Halladay must have taken his teammates out to dinner the night before because they usually don't give him a lot of run support, but he had runs to spare this time. The Jays bats came alive again – pounding out 21 hits in front of over 37,000 fans. Amazing.

Entering Thursday's game against the Detroit Tigers, the Jays are just eight games back in the wild-card race.

Yes, I know that time is running out, but that’s why you play a full 162 games. The Yankees are struggling, and although Minnesota is leading the American League in batting with men in scoring position, the Twins tend to only win at home. So, to me, the wild card is still up for grabs, so let’s just see what happens.

The Jays have been playing some exciting baseball over the last 10 games. They’ve won three in a row and seven out of 10. We have been waiting for the offence to be consistent all season and now with a healthy Vernon Wells in the lineup, they could be a force to be reckoned with down the stretch.

It's hard to believe that this was the last Old Timers’s Day in The House That Ruth Built.

It was a tremendous weekend for me being a part of the Old Timers’s Game last Saturday. What an honour to be in the dugout with so many Hall of Famers, legends and all-stars! Just think, I am sitting there looking at Reggie Jackson,Yogi Berra, the newest Hall of Fame inductee Goose Gossage, Don Larsen (the only man to pitch a perfect game in the history of the World Series) and so many more.

The stadium was packed with fans of all ages who came to cheer their heroes on. It was an hour and a half of pure love of the game and the only word I can use to describe the scene is "AWESOME". As we were introduced, all 72 of us - the most Yankees ever assembled together - lined up from home plate down both foul lines.

With the trade deadline just around the corner, Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi has stuck to his guns and so far refused to trade A.J. Burnett. Good pitching is so hard to come by, and with the uncertainty surrounding Dustin McGowan after he had shoulder surgery, I really can't blame Ricciardi.

A.J. has electric stuff and he is a bulldog on the mound, which is intimidating to hitters. With some pitchers, you see players just dig in, get comfortable and get ready to crush the ball. But with A.J., you don't see many hitters running up to home plate to face him. When he is on top of his game, he can match up with any pitcher - yes, I said any pitcher in baseball.

Tuesday night’s game against the Baltimore Orioles was a slugfest!

The Jays kept battling from behind with some tough at bats and gutsy play - now that was a good old-fashioned, knock-down, drag-out ballgame. It just kept going back and forth until the late innings. And Toronto’s hitters FINALLY picked up the pitchers this time.

Hey, they were due, the pitchers have been carrying this team all season long and to be quite frank with you, they have carried the load for the past few years.

We're at the midway point of the Major League season, so here's my wrap up of the first half in the American League and few things to look for going forward.

Fans got their money’s worth over the all-star weekend, from the incredible home run derby to the game itself.

Did you see Josh Hamilton in the first round of the home run derby? He put on a video game-like display with 28 bombs. You've got to be kidding me!

For those fans who had not heard the background story of Josh Hamilton and his struggle with drug addiction, they got to see a young man determined to turn his life around, and boy has he ever. Just think, he didn't play baseball for the last three years and can dominate Major League pitching the way he does? Now to me, he is "The Natural.”

Then we have the all-star game and no one expected it to be the battle it turned out to be.

There has been so much talk lately about all the great catchers that come from Puerto Rico, like rookie all-star Geovany Soto of the Chicago Cubs.

How good is he?

How about this stat … he’s the first rookie catcher ever to start an all-star game! Now that’s impressive. But I have a theory that there is a farm somewhere in the hills of Puerto Rico where they raise catchers just like San Pedro in the Dominican Republic raises big league shortstops!

Just think about it, all three Molina brothers are Puerto Rican (each has a World Series ring), and of course Carlos Delgado came to the Jays as a catcher. Where is he from? Yep, you got it, Puerto Rico. For some, this may be a surprise, but not really for me. Let me tell you why.