All-Star Game Notes

A friend of mine and I were talking about how much we hate the All-Star break. What is there to do without fantasy baseball? Three whole days of no fantasy? I found myself moving Xavier Nady from 1B to Utility and Dmitri Young from Utility to 1B just to keep myself sane. That's what it came to.

But watching the game yesterday wasn't bad. The Willie Mays thing was pretty good. Signing the ball for Jose Reyes was a great moment...not as good as him saying, "We're cutting into TV time" on camera. Aside from Chris Isaak and the other guy singing off key, the pre-game stuff was alright.

The game wasn't bad either. Serious excitement in the 9th. Ichiro, dominating with an inside the park homer while going 3-3. I believe I said he was the MVP of the AL yesterday...if only I picked up fantasy points for All-Stars.

Fonz's homer in the ninth was exciting...but I think we all wanted to see Albert Pujols come up with the shot to win the game. It's gotten a little much when a player blasts his own manager for not putting him in. Let's face it, Pujols shouldn't have been there anyway.

Did anyone see Sports Illustrated when they did the cover story, "Living with Barry?" I did. Half of it was about how so much of San Fransisco hates Barry Bonds. I was wondering where the boo's were yesterday? He was an outstanding host and was well appreciated by the home-town crowd. Bonds, as mentioned in one of the first posts, isn't the media darling that say, Derek Jeter is. However, Bonds also has been pushed away by the media. My theory about Bonds is just like the 2004 Presidential Election; Remember when John Kerry was leading in the polls going into the election and Bush ended up winning? The theory that was generated was that no one really wanted to admit that they thought Bush was the right choice, but in a voting booth, who's going to see you vote? Grant, it wasn't a runaway Bon Jovi style, but you see what I'm saying.

I think the same is true with Bonds. Everyone knows deep down that he is a great player. He will go down, regardless if you like it or not, as one of the greatest ever to play. Again, as I have written about before and go back and read my Bonds post in May, he has adapted his game to his ailments in his later years. No one's body can go 30-30 or 40-40 for their entire career. Look at Carlos Beltran...he's been playing this whole year with a bad leg. It just isn't possible.

Bonds is a great player, like it or not. And on the stage when those who had the shot at booing him out, he received a bigger standing ovation than his godfather Willie Mays. Ask Russell Martin about boo's.

Finally, I believe this is going to be the last year for Tony LaRussa in St. Louis. It's a bold prediction, but I am making it. He won his title in the NL. Now, he can't handle his best player. Or his best player can't handle him. Regardless, I have a feeling this is going to be it. Why not? What else does he have to prove?

The All-Star Game wasn't bad last night. What's most exciting is that we're gearing up for a big time second half. The home run record will be broken. Speaking of...yesterday on Mike and Mike in the morning, they did a deal on the most impressive records held in sports not involving home runs. They did a pretty good job with it, I may do a better job tomorrow. We will see. Anyway, the home run record, intriguing players coming back from injuries, the AL Central race, and the guaranteed surges from Oakland and Houston that we get every year are going to be there for us to give us a great second half.

Until then, I'm going to move Kenny Rogers from Pitcher to Starting Pitcher.