Top 1: Bobby Abreu struck out swinging against Dustin McGowan

Top 3: struck out swinging against McGowan

Top 6: called out on strikes against Jesse Litsch

Top 7: called out on strikes against Luis Perez

Top 8: flew out to center against Carlos Villanueva

Final Line: 0-for-5, 4 K

Notes: Abreu notched his first golden sombrero of the season on Wednesday against the Blue Jays.  A week away from completing the worst season of his career, this will be the first time Abreu has finished with less than 150 games played (136), double-digit home runs (7), sub-.400 slugging (.360), sub-1.0 fWAR (0.2), and sub-.142 ISO since bursting onto the scene with the Phillies in 1998.

Total 2011 Sombreros: 120

Bottom 1: Kelly Johnson struck out swinging against Tim Wakefield

Bottom 3: struck out swinging against Wakefield

Bottom 6: struck out swinging against Franklin Morales

Bottom 7: grounded out to first against Daniel Bard

Bottom 8: struck out swinging against Matt Albers

Final Line: 0-for-5, 4 K

Notes: With players like Adam Dunn, Ryan Howard and Mark Reynolds playing nearly everyday—well, I guess not so much Dunn these days—it’s hard to believe that Kelly Johnson is now tied for the league lead in golden sombreros.  Tied with Adam Dunn and Grady Sizemore with three, Johnson’s latest achievement came against the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday night.  The second baseman’s strikeout rate sits at a career-high 27.6% and his OPS is down over 150-points.  And after this season, it’ll be interesting to see if Johnson will be factored into their long-term plan. (The same can be said regarding the Diamondbacks and Aaron Hill.)

Total 2011 Sombreros: 109

I hope everyone enjoyed his or her holiday weekend as much as I did.  Lots of exciting things happening over Labor Day weekend, so let’s jump right in.

– I finally caved and joined Twitter.  Follow me @sp_flips to get up to date info and nonsense.

– So much for having a bunch of exciting finishes across multiple divisions this year.  With the Giants, Indians, White Sox, and Cardinals failing to gain any ground whatsoever; it appears as if the only exciting race might be the AL West.  Unless the Rays can somehow make a run for the wildcard in the AL East, that is.

– George who?  Kottaras? What a special night it was for the back-up catcher.  Hitting for the cycle is rare enough, but how rare is it to see a back up catcher do it?  I am not completely sure, just sure enough to say that you probably won’t see it happen again in your lifetime.

– Seeing old Charlie Manuel play a game under protest took me back to my youth summer league days.  Did he have to put up a $100 cash like my coaches did?  Or do you think the front office covered it for him?

– Congrats to Adrian Beltre– now the youngest 3B to ever amass 2,000 hits.  Just imagine what could be if he knew how to stay healthy?  Wow.

– Watching Josh Beckett go down was rough.  Not only does he play on my fantasy squad, but he also proliferated the notion that pitchers are not athletes.  Just watch this and tell me where/how he hurt himself. (FF to the 21-second mark.)

– How about Javier Vazquez?  Dude has been looking like it’s 2009 again.  Make sure nobody steals his Delorean.

– I can only imagine the silence in the Jays front office boxes as Brett Lawrie did this.

– Have a great day everybody, and remember…there are only 4 days left in this workweek.

Bottom 2: Kelly Johnson struck out swinging against David Price

Bottom 4: Johnson called out strikes against Price

Bottom 7: Johnson called out on strikes against Price

Bottom 9: Johnson struck out swinging against Cesar Ramos

Final Line: 0-for-4, 4 K

Notes: Johnson’s golden sombrero on Sunday was his second of the season, as he became the only player to accomplish the feat in both leagues.  Johnson and the Blue Jays collected three hits against David Price, who fanned a career-high 14 hitters over seven scoreless frames.

Total 2011 Sombreros: 100

Bottom 2: Adam Lind grounded out to second against Jeff Francis

Bottom 4: Lind called out on strikes against Francis

Bottom 6: Lind struck out swinging against Francis

Bottom 8: Lind struck out swinging against Greg Holland

Bottom 9: Lind struck out swinging against Joakim Soria

Final Line: 0-for-5, 4 K

Notes: One of three players to register a platinum sombrero in 2010, Lind got on the board with a golden sombrero against the Kansas City Royals on Thursday.  After hitting .311 with 9 home runs and 22 RBI in June, Lind tailed off in July (.210, 3 HR, 10 RBI) and his struggles have only intensified in August – .181 (17-for-94), 3 HR, 14 RBI, 20 K, 0 BB.

Total 2011 Sombreros: 97