The 2013 season has not gone as hoped, so far, for the Toronto Blue Jays or young slugger Brett Lawrie. The Jays have a 20-27 record amid injuries and below-average performances, and Lawrie has experienced both personally.

However, that doesn't mean the Jays need to play in dirty uniforms, or that the players can't be responsible for cleaning them — like many other Canadians in charge of their own work laundry. So it's reassuring that the Jays aren't afraid to function in Toronto society amongst the people, like Lawrie does in this TV commercial for Rogers cable.

As a fan explains to the dry cleaner all of the wonders of being able to watch R.A. Dickey throw knucklers on his mobile device, Lawrie casually enters the establishment, reaches over

(New York Post -- fameflynet photos, Getty)

"Derek Sanderson Jeter," it reads on the birth certificate. Nowhere does it say "Philip," the name on the cup of coffee New York Post paparazzi agents recently caught Jeter with as he left a Starbucks in Greenwich Village, New York. He had a look of, "Oh, seriously?" on his face as the photog went to town on his mug.

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(Oh, The Post. It's not only their fault. It's ours too. I mean, what if they were staking Jeter out to see who his girlfriend might be? Now that's the important stuff, we all can agree.)

It makes sense that Jeter would want to avoid publicity when possible, being perhaps the most famous person in New York City and constantly besieged by strangers. But that's the thing: Just about everyone recognizes him, so would giving a fake name to Starbucks have any effect? And, as The Post points out, players use fake names when checking into hotels all of the time. Restaurant reservations, sure, unless being "Derek Jeter" helps make them happen. But a coffee shop?

"Oh, I thought you might have been Derek Jeter, but since the barista called 'Philip' and you got the coffee, I'm not going to approach you now."

Unless that's not what's happening. Derek Jeter could be getting coffee for teammate Phil Hughes. What a swell guy! Say, how's his broken ankle doing?

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When history looks back on the Reid Ryan era as president of the Houston Astros, no doubt it will fondly recall the first public action Nolan Ryan's son took as head honcho:

Ryan had a snow cone vendor fired — he was an employee of Aramark — for bringing the product into a toilet stall at Minute Maid Park during an Astros game earlier this week.

The vendor was caught with his pants down around his ankles — literally — by a good Samaritan who also happened to be using the bathroom at the time. The whistleblower switched on his cell phone to record the shocking moment, and alerted another ballpark employee (who was walking into the men's room) to the vendor's behavior. The fan also demanded to see a supervisor, adding, in an unintentionally hilarious moment:

"That's realtalk."

The amateur investigative reporter — clearly the star of the 59 second clip, even though we only hear his voice — shared the video with NBC Channel 2 in Houston, who released it to the public and investigated further. In the clip, the door on the stall is closed, but looking under you clearly can see a person sitting on the toilet with a tray of snow cones (perhaps three of them had been unsold) on the ground next to him.

It might have been better to return the cones to the pantry first, or even throw them away, if the urge was so urgent. Place them on a sink? The baby changing table? Just not on the ground. But hey, when you gotta go, you gotta go.

And Ryan agreed, so he relieved the person of his snow cones forever:

Shane Victorino should have known better, being the hyper sort he is. Not to mention that he must be aware of Koji Uehara's reputation for energetic greetings. And yet, Victorino found himself unprepared for Uehara's celebration machine in the Boston Red Sox dugout Wednesday night at Chicago's U.S. Cellular Field.

The result? Major league comedy.

After he retired the White Sox 1-2-3 in the eighth inning, Uehara did what he often does when coming back to the dugout: He enthusiastically high fived everyone and everything in his path from one end to the other. His teammates seemed focused, from Dustin Pedroia to Will Middlebrooks. Mike Napoli even got in an athletic stance and put up two hands for a "high ten." Even clubhouse attendants put their palms at the ready.

When he came upon Victorino, who was seated on a forward bench, kind of slumped and staring off into space, Uehara didn't pause for this teammate to perk up and raise a hand — so he slapped Victorino on the right shoulder.

(Getty)

That rumble you might have heard coming from Miller Park in Milwaukee was Don Mattingly MANAGING, darn it.

Mattingly benched slugger Andre Ethier on Wednesday afternoon for the Los Angeles Dodgers' game against the Brewers, saying Ethier was lacking in his approach:

Mattingly on sitting Ethier: "I’m putting out my lineup that I feel is going to be the most competitive and going to compete the hardest."

— Dylan Hernandez (@dylanohernandez) May 22, 2013

This action comes as rumors swirl that Dodgers management is on the verge of firing Mattingly (rumors that have been pooh-poohed by Dodgers writers and Yahoo! Sports' own Tim Brown). No matter, it counts as a different approach for Mattingly, who has been known as a player's manager — i.e., not an intimidator who calls guys out in public.

The Dodgers have a big payroll and an 18-26 record, and SOMEBODY has to answer for it. But should it be Ethier, who is batting .264/.353./.405 with four home runs for $85 million through 2017? His performance seems a bit uninspired, and it's off from his career averages — but not that off. One good month and he's back in line. And he's only missed one game all season, so if Ethier has been banged up, he's been playing through it anyway.

Sounds like a competitor, yes? Not necessarily, Mattingly says, as relayed by Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register:

(Getty)Well, ain't that a kick in the teeth. At least Chicago White Sox fans have come to expect it.

Club owner Jerry Reinsdorf reportedly told his family that, once he dies, the White Sox are to be sold — but the Chicago Bulls, which he also owns, should go to his heirs.

But daddy, the White Sox came first!

SportsBusiness Journal (via the Chicago Sun-Times) has the scoop:

The publication interviewed Reinsdorf, 77, about his longtime sports ownerships in Chicago and noted that ‘‘the family succession plan calls for the Reinsdorfs to retain their stake in the Bulls while selling the White Sox. Michael Reinsdorf [Jerry’s son and current president of the Bulls] will take his father’s place [as chairman].’’

While that might happen, Jerry Reinsdorf was clarifying things Tuesday.

‘‘Jerry has said that while it is his recommendation that the club be put up for sale once he is no longer with us, he acknowledges that his vote won’t count at that point in the discussion,’’ said Scott Reifert, the Sox’ senior vice president of communications and a longtime friend of the elder Reinsdorf. ‘‘Jerry appreciates all the care and concern about his future but is happy to still be going strong, and he plans to be around for quite a while longer.

‘‘As he said just today, he recognizes that he may be in the fourth quarter, but he’s playing for triple overtime.’’

Note the basketball analogy. Hey, whatever happened to "extra innings"?

(MLB.tv)

In becoming the youngest person in American League history and the sixth player ever from the Los Angeles Angels to hit for the cycle, Mike Trout required skill, preparation and timing to converge Tuesday night.

A favorable call by an umpire didn't hurt, either.

Trout hit a home run in the eighth inning to cap a historic night for himself, but it was his second at-bat against the Seattle Mariners — which resulted with an infield single — that got Trout's cycle started in the third inning. Only, a close look at one of the replay angles shows that Trout didn't beat lumbering pitcher Aaron Harang to the first-base bag after a grounder to Justin Smoak:

(MLB.tv)

Looking at the play in real time as it happened, from a camera angle along the first-base line, Trout's left shoe appeared to narrowly beat Harang to the base. And that's what umpire Vic Carapazza (what a great umpire name!) called — "safe."

(This was as close as I could get on the screen cap.)

But if a replay is watched in slow motion, from a different angle on the third-base side, Harang's right foot somehow gets to the bag first. Carapazza's call was wrong.

Dan Levy of Bleacher Report made this assertion on Twitter, and asked anyone following to forward an account of the game that