NL All-Stars Break Streak

Would the streak ever stop? Many National League players were tired of hearing about it. Since Bud Selig made the game "mean something", the NL has never held home field advantage for the World Series.

Until last night when the NL scored a 3-1 victory over the American League.

McCann collects Ted Williams Award
as the 2010 All-Star Game MVP.

The pitching was spectacular as bats for both teams were quiet. Very quiet. One hit, a three-run double by Atlanta Braves catcher Brian McCann in the top of the seventh, decided the affair.

Or did it?

Yes, McCann took home the Ted Williams Award as the MVP, but there were five critical events within one inning that led to McCann's knock that presented the game to the NL.We'll start in the bottom of the sixth with the AL batting.

Phillips clearly blocks Andrus' foot
from second base.

Philadelphia Phillies ace Roy Halliday has been brought in to pitch. The New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter promptly singled and AL manager Joe Girardi sent Texas Rangers up and coming star shortstop Elvis Andrus to pinch run for the Yankee captain. With Chicago White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko at the plate, Andrus attempts to steal as Konerko goes down swinging. McCann double clutched as he threw the ball toward second base. Andrus had to be safe.

Until he slid past the bag and second baseman Brandon Phillips of the Cincinnati Reds applies the tag to complete the "strike 'em out, throw 'em out". Important play #1.

Important play #2. With Andrus eliminated on the basepaths, Another Ranger, Josh Hamilton singled off Halliday. Phillies skipper Charlie Manuel made a pitching change and elected to go with Washington Nationals closer Matt Capps. I was concerned especially when I saw that Big Papi, aka David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox, was going to hit instead of Vladamir Guerrero, yet another Ranger in this game.

My first thought was this: "Why wasn't Manuel having Cincinnati Reds lefty specialist Arthur Rhodes at least warming up?"

Capps retires Ortiz in the bottom of
sixth when Ortiz was the tying run.

Manuel stayed with Capps to face the lefty Ortiz. Oh-oh. Not a good matchup here. The last pitch Capps launched at Big Papi was arguably the best single pitch of the game. A moving fastball that started out going right at Ortiz until the last three feet or so. Capps' pitch broke in and nailed the inside corner for strike three with Big Papi looking in amazement and disgust.

I was absolutely in awe of that pitch. Going inside on a lefty is usually asking for trouble especially if you're a righty hurler. The K ended the sixth and the NL still trailed by a 1-0 deficit.

Rolen's first-to-third move sparked
the NL's three-run 7th.

Important play #3. Top of the seventh and Cincinnati Reds third baseman Scott Rolen singled up the middle with one out after Reds teammate Joey Votto had grounded out. The next batter was St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Matt Holliday and he singled to center. Rolen decided to challenge seven-time Gold Glove and "hometown" rep Torii Hunter. Success as Rolen goes from first to third on Holliday's single. This ignited the NL bench Girardi removed his Yankee pitcher Phil Hughes for Chicago White Sox reliever Matt Thorton.

But the NL were not quite finished with unheralded plays yet.

After surrendering a walk to Byrd
and the game winning double to
McCann, Girardi removes Thorton.

Important play #4. With the NL having Rolen at third and Holliday at first and now two outs die to Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Chris Young popping out, the Chicago Cubs lone representative Marlon Byrd cam to the plate. Byrd quickly dug himself an 0-2 hole against Thorton. The next three pitches from Thorton were balls and Byrd had worked an 0-2 into a full count. Two more foul balls from Byrd to set up the eighth pitch of the at-bat. Pitch #8 was a ball and Byrd had worked a walk.

That would set the stage for McCann to perform the only three-run scoring hit that wasn't a homer in ASG history. But there was one last play Byrd and Ortiz would be involved in during the bottom of the ninth.

Important play #5. Ortiz lead off the bottom of the ninth with a screeching single into right off of Los Angeles Dodgers closer Jonathon Broxton. An ailing Adrian Beltre of the Boston Red Sox was permitted to hit despite a hamstring issue. Beltre whiffed on a pitch high and in which would set up Byrd.

Toronto Blue Jays backstop John Buck took the first three pitches from Broxton before he could deliver a strike. Buck had the green light on a 3-0 pitch and never really saw it. Nor the next pitch to make the count full. On the next pitch, Buck sent a floater toward Byrd in right. Byrd had been playing deep with the two run lead and had a long way to get to Buck's blooper. The ball fell harmlessly in front of Byrd and Buck had a single...but there was still a problem.

Furcal stretches for throw from Byrd
to force Ortiz at second.

Ortiz was stuck in determining if Byrd was going to catch the ball and did not venture far off first. When the ball dropped, Ortiz attempted to advance to second only to be nailed by Byrd with a whirling throw to second to a waiting Dodger shortstop Rafael Furcal covering. Two outs and once again, base running proved critical. This was the third instance in three innings (Andrus, Rolen, Ortiz). All of those benefited the NL.

Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler flied out to Young and the streak was over.

Girardi was criticized for not using his own player, third baseman Alex Rodriguez, in the ninth inning. I'm sure that will be revisited many times over the next three months...and even longer if the NL World Series rep wins a seven-game series. All the critics must remember this. Managing an All-Star Game is much harder. You want to make sure every player gets a chance to play. Plus, you have to develop strategy while giving every player that chance.

First off, (soapbox, please) despite being for home field advantage, it's still an exhibition. I thought making the ASG be for that was always ridiculous. It's a game for the fans. That's it. Hopefully, the next commissioner will re-visit that issue.

With that said, is it possible that the NL can start a streak of its own? Who knows but with all the young pitchers Charlie Manuel trotted out to the hill last night, I can see a streak starting.

Being Snubbed?

It’s a yearly occurrence. Someone is going to get snubbed from participating in the mid-summer classic, the MLB All-Star Game. There are far more selection errors in the National League than in the American League. We’ll begin there with our “corrections”.

One thing to please keep in mind. I will not overly object to the starters as we all know that it’s a popularity contest now. If I do, I’ll try to be as transparent as possible on that front.

First, let’s start at catcher. Catcher? That’s right. St. Louis backstop Yadier Molina won the fan vote, so we have no choice but to except that as much as I don’t agree with it. But here’s my question, why is the Braves Brian McCann the reserve? Why not Miguel Olivo of the Colorado Rockies? Here’s the only proof I need and with all of my qualms, it’s in the stats.

Player	AVG	HR	RBI
McCann	.265	10	34
Olivo	.307	11	39

The only drawback to Olivo is that he’s only appeared in 59 games. McCann has been in 70. That’s it. And Olivo doesn’t have a shot to go via the fan vote.

Now to the one that has everybody abuzz is first base. I’ll post the stats first and then let my tirade begin.

Player	AVG	HR	RBI
Howard	.293	15	59
Gonzalez	.291	16	51
Votto	.312	19	57

What am I missing here? It’s obvious that Albert Pujols is the starter and he deserves it, but for the Cincinnati Reds Joey Votto to be at the mercy of the fan vote is a severe injustice. Votto has a higher OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage) than Pujols (.984 for Votto to .981 for Pujols).In fact, Votto’s OPS leads the NL. Some, including Peter Gammons and John Kruk, have touted Votto as a legitimate MVP candidate. And let’s not forget that last year Charlie Manuel selected three additional first basemen (Howard, Gonzalez and Prince Fielder) in addition to Pujols’ selection because they all deserved to go. Why not this year, Charlie?

Now we all know that pitching is always a hot topic as far as snubs go. I can present at least four NL pitchers more deserving to go than Tim Lincecum. Seriously, I can. See for yourself.

Player	W-L	ERA	K
Lincecum	8-4	3.28	121
Latos	9-4	2.62	91
Garcia	8-4	2.10	77
Kershaw	8-3	3.02	116
Pelfrey	10-2	2.93	66

The only stat where Lincecum is better than Latos (SD), Garcia (STL), Kershaw (LAD) and Pelfrey (NYM) is in strikeouts. I do believe back-to-back Cy Youngs has created quite a rep for Mr. Lincecum. Latos has more wins and a lower ERA. Garcia has the same record but an ERA well over a run better. Kershaw has one less loss and almost as many K’s. Pelfrey has double digit wins and a lower ERA. Any of these four far more deserving to go.

I would pick on Houston’s Michael Bourn and roll out a lot of guys that deserves the nod, but the Astros have to have a rep, right? Bourn does lead the NL in steals, so I can deal with that…somewhat. I would like to see Colorado’s Carlos Gonzalez, Washington’s Josh Willingham and St. Louis’ Colby Rasmus all in the mix, too. Gonzalez at least has a shot from the fan vote.

One last thing on the NL side. Why Omar Infante?

The American League has a lot less selections to argue. I’m pretty much on base with all of them. Well, the ARod choice does irk me a bit considering Texas’ Michael Young is also having a sensational season. He is at the fans mercy and I got a feeling there will be a lot of votes going the way of Nick Swisher because he’s a Yankee. Not that I hate the Yankees (I respect them ,but I’ll never be a fan), but everyone knows what a fan base they possess.

I do have a couple of things to touch upon here. You may question the selection of Cleveland’s Fausto Carmona as a pitcher. Sure, he’s only 7-7 with a bit of a hefty ERA, but Shin-Soo Choo would have garnered the Tribe’s spot had it not been for injury. But there are a number of pitchers that can claim they have the numbers to be worthy of a selection and a spot may open soon. The Red Sox are currently pondering placing Clay Buchholz on the DL. Here are two guys that lay a claim to that opening, Andy Pettitte of the Yankees and Jered Weaver of the Angels.

Player	W-L	ERA	K
Weaver	8-3	2.82	124
Pettitte	10-2	2.82	78

Same ERA. Pettite has a better winning percentage (.833 to .727). Weaver leads to AL in strikeouts. Tough choice for Joe Girardi. If he chooses Pettitte, he’ll be called a homer and the fans in Anaheim will curse him for passing over Weaver. Pettitte is having his finest season in a while and I’m not sold on taking CC Sabathia over Pettitte. This could be Pettitte’s last shot while CC has a few more in front of him.

And Weaver’s a story in himself. A lot of people thought the Angels pitching staff would just melt without John Lackey. Weaver has proven to be the new lynch pin of the staff.

I know there's others, but I'll let you determine that.

Update #1: With Buchholz on the DL, Pettitte is his replacement. With Sabathia pitching this coming Sunday, Weaver is slotted to be an All-Star, but he, too will need to be replaced since he's slated to toe the slab on Sunday.

NASCAR's All-Star Race Best Among All-Star Gatherings

I know. NASCAR is boring because all the drivers do is "turn left".

The theory that all they do is turn left is correct, but NASCAR is not boring and last evening's All-Star Race proved that. Look at the other All-Star games.

The NFL Pro Bowl is really a joke, but football is in a bad spot here. There's no clear time to hold the event. The fans aren't solely responsible for the starters as the coaches and players also have a say to avoid a popularity contest. But shouldn't this be for the fans? It really seems all the Pro Bowl is for is players either receiving a winners or losers check. And don't forget that most of the time, the players that are selected (even though they all say it's an honor to be selected) don't even show up to play. They devise some sort of injury reason to avoid the travel and the game.

On that note, I do excuse Brett Favre from last year's game. His ankle was busted pretty bad in the NFC Championship.

Major League Baseball added a purpose to their All-Star Game when Bud Selig in his infinite wisdom decided to award home filed advantage to the league that won. It takes away from the exhibition feel, but adding that "incentive" has seen a number of reason why other changes should be made to the setup. Some say the rosters should be cut back instead of expended as they were recently. Others have the opinion that be placing such a "incentive", they will ask if it's necessary to have a representative from every team. That could also lead to a decrease in roster size. The fans vote for the starters, but almost all of them are out of the game by the fifth inning. Managers feel the pressure to play every position player and that could offset most forms of strategy, too.

While there's no such incentive for the NHL's All-Star Game, they do offer the skills competition on the evening prior to the game. The stars of the league have an opportunity to show off their wares, but that's about it. The game itself couldn't be more boring. Seeing goals scored is nice, but where's the hitting? Isn't that one of many reasons why hockey appeals to some (other than seeing a fight)? Sure, some will flip it on a hockey game just to see if there's a scuffle or two, but we want to view thundering open ice hits, too. There's the injury risk, sure, but, physical play carries a game. The NHL All-Star severely lacks there.

The NBA's All-Star Weekend is an awesome spectacle and is the next best All-Star gala. The fans vote the players who start. They add the 3-point and slam dunk contest. The weekend as something for everyone. The game itself is nothing more than a glorified exhibition that holds zero purpose other than to entertain the fans. That's what All-Star games should be, right?

NASCAR has this All-Star thing down pat.

Fan voting? Sure. After the first "segment" the fans cast a vote to determine one driver to continue.

All the drivers have as shot. If you're fortunate enough to qualify well, advance by finishing 1st or 2nd in the Showdown or attain the fan vote, you have a shot at winning...and here's where NASCAR dials up the intensity meter.

Incentive? How about a purse of $1 million to the winner. Plus, if you win a segment, you get $25,000. Not bad for a days work.

But this isn't only for the drivers and their teams. The fans snatch the opportunity to also boast about how their favorite driver won the biggest event of the season. Those at Daytona, Indy, Darlington and even Talladega may disagree, but no question winning the All-Star Race can lead to good things.

Just ask Michael Waltrip. He had never won a points-based race, but he did mange to win the All-Star Race and collect that check. He turned that into a stint at Dale Earnhardt, Inc. where he did win a race or two.

Just ask Tony Stewart. Just last year, Stewart's fledgling team, Stewart-Haas, was having a bit of struggle. Stewart won the All-Star Race which kick started his 2009 season and landed him in the Chase.

Last night was one for Kurt Busch. Catch the last few laps here.



Congrats, Kurt...and please calm down your brother.