CLEVELAND INDIANS 3B CASEY BLAKE was named as the AMERICAN LEAGUE Player of the Week for the period of 30 June – 6 July after compiling a .375 batting average, with 4 home runs and 14 runs batted in. (7-06)

LIVAN HERNANDEZ of the MONTREAL EXPOS was named as the NATIONAL LEAGUE PITCHER of the Week for the week of 7-13 July after he posted a 2-0 mark with a 1.00 ERA. (7-13)

Entering Thursday, CHICAGO WHITE SOX reliever BILLY KOCH, the top closer in the AMERICAN LEAGUE in 2002 while with the OAKLAND ATHLETICS, had not pitched in a save situation since 4 July, with TOM GORDON assuming the closer's role after that date, and Koch, whose velocity mysteriously has dropped into the low 90s, is now being shopped around by General Manager KEN WILLIAMS. (7-24)

On the day before the induction of GARY CARTER into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, the question of the day was, " which player not in the Hall of Fame should be", to which TONY PEREZ, now a FLORIDA MARLINS Special Assistant, stated, "LUIS TIANT, because of his win record. ANDRE DAWSON should be, PETE ROSE, no doubt. But Luis should be in and didn't get enough votes. I faced him in the World Series and he was tough. Look at a lot of guys in the hall, Luis has almost the same numbers. MONTREAL EXPOS catcher BRIAN SCHNEIDER said, "PETE ROSE. Most hits ever. Yeah, he screwed up. I know there's a lot of stuff behind the scenes that no one knows about. But when I see what the guy accomplished on the field and he's not in the Hall of Fame, it kind of sucks." LENNY HARRIS of the CHICAGO CUBS is of the opinion that, "ANDREW DAWSON. His numbers speak for themselves. Five-tool player. Automatic." Finally, FLORIDA MARLINS utilityman ANDY FOX said, "PETE ROSE. If you go on pure numbers, he deserves to be there. It's a no-brainer for me." (7-26)

In an 8-1 OAKLAND ATHLETICS victory over the ANAHEIM ANGELS at EDISON INTERNATIONAL FIELD, in only his second MLB appearance, 21-year-old Canadian-born RHP RICH HARDEN (1-0, 1.29) earned his first MLB win, after pitching 7 strong innings, giving up seven hits, one run, one earned run, while walking one and striking out three. He got great offensive performances from his hitters, three of whom went 3-for-5, with seldom used C ADAM MELHUSE (.200) being 1-for-3 with his third run batted in and a walk, as they rapped out 15 hits in all in the win. (7-26)

Canadian-born pitcher RYAN DEMPSTER (3-7, 6.63) has begun blaming CINCINNATI REDS skipper BOB BOONE for his lousy pitching. He was yanked on Wednesday after the right-hander threw 101 pitches while allowing four runs in five innings. "Every time, five innings. Unless you have a shutout around here, you can't stay in games. We get ragged as starting pitchers, well, how about leaving us out there ? Maybe change it up, maybe let us try and battle through some things," he stated. "It's a confidence thing, you know ? It's a tough enough game as it is when you have confidence. But when nobody else behind you is showing any, it's kind of tough to do your job looking over your shoulder all of the time." The Reds' starters entered Saturday with 566.2 innings pitched, fewest in the NATIONAL LEAGUE. (7-26)

CHICAGO WHITE SOX skipper JERRY MANUEL said he doesn't expect his group to make any last-minute moves before the upcoming trading deadline this Thursday, but did state that he wouldn't mind another starting pitcher. (7-26)

RHP ZACH DAY (4-3, 3.44) was activated from the 15-day DL after having been sidelined since 28 May due to inflammation in his right shoulder but ran into some major trouble right away as a bases-loaded triple off the bat of C JAVIER LOPEZ keyed a five-run first inning and ANDRUW JONES had four hits with three runs batted in as their visiting ATLANTA BRAVES downed the MONTREAL EXPOS in a 15-4 result at OLYMPIC STADIUM in front of a crowd of 14132. The starter went only 2 innings, giving up five hits, six runs, six earned runs with two walks, which saw his record move to 4-4 and his ERA rise from 3.44 to 4.14. For the losers, 1B WILFREDO CORDERO (.282) went 3-for-4 with a run scored, SS ORLANDO CABRERA (.300) was 2-for-4 with a run batted in and a run scored, OF VLADIMIR GUERRERO (.3.09) went 2-for-4 with a run scored and OF BRAD WILKERSON (.275) was 2-for-4 with two runs batted in and a run scored. (7-26)

In their 2-1 loss to the SAN DIEGO PADRES, among the top hitters for the SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS were RF JOSE CRUZ JR (.256) who was 1-for-4, CF MARQUIS GRISSOM (.310) who went 1-for-4 with a run scored, and 1B ANDRES GALARRAGA (.303) went 1-for-4 with the only run batted in. (7-26)

The BALTIMORE ORIOLES placed DH DAVID SEGUI on the 15-day disabled list for the second time this 2003 campaign with a sprained left wrist. (7-26)

Before a crowd of 23168, the TORONTO BLUE JAYS went down to defeat in a 7-2 loss to the visiting BALTIMORE ORIOLES at SKYDOME, as starter MARK HENDRICKSON (6-7, 5.25) took the loss, after going 5.1 innings, giving up eight hits, four runs, four earned runs, with a walk and two strikeouts. The O's starter, PAT HENTGEN (3-5, 4.92) beat his original team, winning his second straight start, allowing two runs on just five hits over six innings with five strikeouts. 3B TONY BATISTA (.253) was 3-for-4 with two runs scored and C ROBERT MACHADO (.300), in limited play since being called up, was 1-for-3 with a walk. For the losers, 2B ORLANDO HUDSON (.275) went 2-for-4 with a run batted in and newly arrived RF BOBBY KIELTY (.264) was 1-for-3 with a run batted in and a run scored. (7-26)

MONTREAL EXPOS starting pitcher LIVAN HERNANDEZ was named as the MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL Pitcher of the Month for July after compiling a 4-1 mark with a 1.80 ERA. (7-31)