The bullpen phones at Progressive Field were fully functional on Thursday afternoon, yet Cleveland Indians manager Manny Acta and his bullpen still managed to mix their signals during their 2-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers.

The awkward moment occurred while the Tigers were mounting a threat against starter Justin Masterson in the seventh inning. With two men aboard and one out, Acta casually strolled to the mound to discuss strategy, and perhaps gauge how much Masterson had left in the tank as he approached 100 pitches.

Meanwhile, out in the Indians bi-level bullpen stationed in right center field, the interpretation was that Acta's appearance signified the end of Masterson's afternoon, which is an understandable assumption. It's very rare that a manager's visit doesn't involve a pitching change. But in this case, the signal never came, and reliever Joe Smith, who had jogged down the stairs and made it about ten yards into the outfield, was forced to make a U-turn and camp out in the lower portion of the bullpen.

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Chicago Cubs outfielder Tony Campana had the baseball world buzzing Tuesday night after he sailed through the air to elude the seemingly unavoidable tag of Houston third baseman Matt Downs. Our own Dave Brown even compared the athletic and creative hustle play to something we might see from Superman, or even 2011's most popular underdog, "Super" Sam Fuld.

After watching the replay several times, I'm in agreement that Campana's status should be elevated from regular guy/fourth outfielder to, at the very least, a superhero in training. He's just going to need a cape, a fancy suit and his very own theme song to complete the transformation.

Well, make that a cape and a suit, because the song has already been taken care of by Matt Spiegel — a Chicago sports radio personality who co-hosts from 9-1 every weekday on 670 The Score — who wrote, produced and recorded The Tony Campana Song — a short, but humorous parody set to Barry Manilow's Copacabana.

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As any red-blooded North American schoolboy or girl knows, Roy Halladay is a famous right-handed pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies. Halladay is famous because he's won two Cy Young Awards (and finished second in the voting two more times), and he's thrown a perfect game (plus a no-hitter in his first playoff appearance). All with his right arm. Right?

Yes. Well, unless he was just foolin'. Because, according to the bobblehead dolls of his likeness that sell on MLB.com, Roy ain't no righty. Normal righty, anyhow. Thanks to Zoo With Roy, the first bolg blog to break this nation-wide, for shedding some light on this left-wing scandal.

[Related: S.F. Giants immortalize golfer Rory McIlroy in bobblehead form]

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The problem with the dream of making your first big-league start is that reality often has a tendency to get in the way.

Such was the case for Will Smith on Thursday night. Not only did the Kansas City Royals left-hander make his major-league debut, but he did so at Yankee Stadium with Derek Jeter serving as his first batter.

The results: Smith lasted only 3 1/3 innings in the Royals' 8-3 loss, giving up five earned runs and three homers as Ned Yost's plan to call up and start a lefty against the Yankees didn't produce its intended results.

"I was nervous a little bit," Smith later told MLB.com. "You're facing a future Hall of Famer to start your career in Derek Jeter. That was cool, but at the same time, you've still got to go out and make your pitches and get people out."

Smith's fairy tale actually went according to the script for one hitter. Jeter grounded out to the shortstop for the first out of Smith's career. Smith's family — which had traveled from his hometown in Georgia to watch his debut from Yankee Stadium's fancy seats — looked like this:

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The Steinbrenner family says it is not interested in selling the New York Yankees and dividing up the huge pinstriped pie that patriarch George left behind with his death in July 2010.

But a rather thin article in Thursday's editions of the New York Daily News claims otherwise, speculating that the family must have dollar signs in its eyes after Frank McCourt brought home a huge windfall with the $2 billion-plus sale of the Los Angeles Dodgers to Magic Johnson and Co. earlier this year.

From the New York Daily News:

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The Juice is back for its fifth season of fun! Stop by each weekday for an ample serving of news from the action, plus great photos, stats and video highlights.

Flipping out: Little Leaguers, please: Do not try this at home. It will go in the books as a 4-6 force out, but that's only because they don't put pictures on scorecards. With the go-ahead run on second base in the seventh inning, Cincinnati Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips needed to keep Michael Bourn's sharp grounder in the infield and get an out somewhere — if possible. Phillips dived to his right, knocked the ball down and kept it close enough that he was able to flip it with his bare hand — while contorting his body — to teammate Zack Cozart just before pinch runner Tim Hudson could slide into the second base bag. Phillips never had a grip on the ball, but he was in control in his own way.

Two innings later... : In the bottom of the ninth, Todd Frazier made everyone flip out in a different way, ending what began as a pitcher's duel between Bronson Arroyo and Atlanta's Tommy Hanson with an oppo taco against Cristhian Martinez for a 2-1 victory and a 3-0 series lead sweep at Great American Ball Park. Frazier didn't get all of it, but you don't always have to in that stadium. From the Associated Press:

This one barely cleared the wall in right field, landing in the first row of seats an estimated 355 feet away.

''I knew when I hit it that I got a lot of it,'' Frazier said. ''I was hoping it was enough. It just got over. Fine with me.''

The teams combined for 11 home runs in the three-game set. Cincy's won five straight.

Cole Hamels, stopper: Round two of Cole Hamels vs. Bryce Harper yielded no intentionally hit batters. It was pretty one-sided, though, with Hamels pitching eight shutout innings in a 4-1 victory for the Phillies, who stopped a four-game losing streak. Washington had won six straight in Philly.

New chief in town?: The Cleveland Indians aren't going away, are they? Jason Kipnis scraped his arm and drew blood on home plate sliding in for the go-ahead run (with the help of a throwing error by Prince Fielder) in a 4-2 victory against the Detroit Tigers. It also guaranteed Cleveland a series victory against the defending AL Central champs, who won the final 10 meetings between the two a season ago.

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Josh Hamilton, that's coming out of your game check! Be sure to replace your divot. Way to make a good impression. At least tell Alex Liddi that you're sorry for robbing him.

It's a good thing Hambone ran into that particular part of the fence at Safeco Field, because it appears to be part of a gate, and would offer more give than one panel over in front of the bleachers. Hit the wrong part of the fence at that speed, and his teammates on the Texas Rangers might be putting up a chalk outline of his body for real.

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You don't need to be as smart as Keith Law to notice the spelling mistake in the banner above.

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At 22-21, the fourth-place New York Yankees aren't quite in Kansas City Royals territory just yet. Still, I look at this picture of a diving Mike Moustakas and can't help but wonder if the half dozen Yankee fans  are more terrified of the potential symbolism for their struggling team than they are concerned for the well being of the hustling Royals third baseman.

So have at it, amateur Internet copy editors of the world. How should this caption read?

Follow the jump for winners from our last C-a-C featuring the boys in blue:

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The hiring of Theo Epstein as club president and Jed Hoyer as GM failed to turn the Chicago Cubs into a World Series contender in one season. Not a surprise, but the Cubs owning the worst record in the majors heading into action Wednesday still is a big downer for fans hoping the winds of change would bring something better, and sooner.

At least there's Tony Campana. He's a holdover from the previous administration, but Campana has batted .306 with a .359 on-base percentage (that could be better) and 12 stolen bases. Campana optimistically boasted in spring training that he could steal 100 bases if given the chance. Perhaps he could. But his speed has made him fun to watch. Like here, after an errant pickoff attempt against the Houston Astros on Tuesday night:

"Uh oh," goes Cubs broadcaster Len Kasper. But never fear, Len! Campana's acrobatic (and remarkably lucky) slide somehow eludes the tag of infielder Matt Downs at third base. The ninja move from the government was part-Pete Rose, part-Superman, part-Sam Fuld.

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