Happy Canada Day!  While baseball may be an American pastime, let's take just a moment to honour our neighbours to the north for their fine nation- it keeps Alaska the proper amount of distance away, and they host the Toronto Blue Jays, allowing baseball to maintain the slightest pretence that the World Series is an international competition.  Hooray, Canada!

Pour lire Octets Serpent en mal traduit en français, cliquez ici. Attention! Nos excuses, mais le service de traduction est actuellement indisponible. S'il vous plaît communiquer avec le bureau du Premier ministre Stephen Harper, et il ne manquera pas de vous contacter si une traduction exacte est mis à disposition.

A travel day today for the Diamondbacks, so not much on the news radar.  But here's a look around at what news we have got.

DBacks News:

• [foxsportsarizona.com] D-Backs June Report Card: Tough schedule too much to tame
  - Honestly, I don't think I'm the only person who looks back at the month of June and thinks that could have gone a lot worse.  But Jack Magruder does a good job of analysing just how things went.

• [dbacks.com] GM Byrnes casts wary eye at Deadline - So, earlier in the month we were told that big changes were in store, but now we're in no hurry to make moves?  Colour me confused.

• [sportingnews.com] My NL All-Star team - Stan McNeal puts together his suggested NL roster for the All Star Game, and says he sees the Diamondbacks representative coming from the outfield, or possibly second base.

• [dbacks.com] Kennedy works out kinks in bullpen session - If it leads to fewer walks, that sounds like an excellent plan to me.  Nine walks in less than six innings is too many for a pitcher of his calibre.

• [Mlbtraderumors.com] Phillies Interested In Dan Haren - As always, the trade rumours.  This one has the Phillies looking to add him to the roster.

• [minorleaguebaseball.com] Valdez, Allen Lead Aces Past Bees, 5-3 - Cesar Valdez went five scoreless innings, and Brandon Allen hit his third home run in five games.  It's good to see him warming up on offence.

After the jump, more news from the rest of the world.

• [azcentral.com] Cactus League brought in an estimated $348 million - 10 of 15 teams say a per-game attendance increase. Not bad, given the economy. We'll see how the numbers look next spring with the new park for the Diamondbacks and Rockies opening up.

• [yahoo.com] Want playoff tickets? MLB is now welcoming all wagers - Probably not anything we have to worry about this season, but interesting anyway. In the words of Mr. Horse, "No, sir, I don't like it."

• [forbes.com] Baseball's Most Overpaid Players - Good news! None of them are Diamondbacks!

• [mlb.com] Mr. Cub tells club to relax - Ernie Banks has some words of wisdom for the Cubs. Playing in Wrigley has to be one of the most stressful places in baseball, but you know that's the situation when you take the cheque.

• [yahoo.com] K.C.'s Jose Guillen, after great catch, to hecklers: "I still got it" - Watch the video- is the outfield wall there just a screen? No padding? Ouch.

• [philly.com] Big green litigation machine - Is the Phanatic the most-sued mascot in baseball? Not once we file that class-action suit against Baxter for pain, suffering, and mental anguish.

• [villagevoice.com] Brooklyn Man to Unleash Ultimate Suffering Upon BP by Way of Vuvuzela- As they say, revenge is a dish best served BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRT!

• [deadspin.com] Luke Scott Injures Himself During Home Run Trot - How do you know your season is going badly? When your player hit a solo home run to go ahead in a game, and then pulls a hamstring rounding first.

Your Daily Strasburg:

• [espn.com] Stephen Strasburg, wunderkind, meet Tim Lincecum, writes Mark Kreidler - "But the cult of personality surrounding Strasburg already holds such sway that his every start is thoroughly dissected for signs of weakness, signs of greatness, signs of superstardom."  That's a lot of pressure on a kid.  Hope he's up to dealing with it. 

And there's your links for the day.  Dodgers visit tomorrow, and I'm sure we'll have a lot to talk about then.  Until then, enjoy the day off, eh?  Go DBacks!