2009 All-Star lol balloting has begun

who wants to join the Vote for the Worst AL Players prank?

lol-star

who are the Worst AL Players this year

Liriano :(
Beltre

.220/.254/.271
.176/.215/.243

Which one is Beltre? which one is Brett Gardner?

This one is Alexei Ramirez:

.194/.254/.274

NL frontrunner is Jimmy Rollins: .192/.231/.288

marblecake also the game

i just voted for marco scutaro 25 times

^that's funny because last night i witnessed people doing just that!

Brewers fans doing early stuffing, lol JJ Hardy:

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090526&content_id=4960488&vkey=allstar2009&fext=.jsp

Adrian Gonzalez should be in the top five at first base, come on.

Yadi over McCann by +200K

'd be nice but mccann's stats will be too much in a month.

after Beltran & Braun in OF, I went Manny for now (Ibanez skeptic)

AL:

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090527&content_id=4985248&vkey=allstar2009&fext=.jsp

Fluster Olney

http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=4211466&name=olney_buster

there is no defensible NL catcher choice but McCann.

nope

Yadi is more deserving then Soriano

also brad hawpe is gettin no love

my votes

AL
1B Morneau
2B Hill
SS Bartlett
3B Longoria
C Mauer
OF Bay
OF Adam Jones
OF Hunter

NL
1B Pujols
2B Hudson
SS Ramirez
3B Zimmerman
C McCann
OF Braun
OF Beltran
OF Upton

Ibanez is going to send you his stool now!

braun and beltran are no brainers but the all star game needs some swag imo

also ibanez is taking hgh

Utley and Pedroia (or at least Kinsler) at 2B. Hill will fade some.

I started casting votes for Ibanez, but now that he's on the DL, I go for Dunn behind Beltran and Braun. Stays on the field and always hits 40 HR.

Easy to stay on the field if you don't move!

lol poly

there is no defensible NL catcher choice but McCann.

― Dr Morbius, Sunday, June 14, 2009 11:03 PM (5 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

:D!!!! <3 luv u morbs

here's what my not-trolling AS teams would look like

NL

C Brian McCann
1B Albert Pujols
2B Chase Utley
3B Ryan Zimmerman or David Wright
SS Hanley Ramirez
LF Raul Ibanez or Ryan Braun
CF Carlos Beltran
RF Justin Upton or Hunter Pence

AL

C Joe Mauer
1B Kevin Youkilis
2B Ian Kinsler
3B Evan Longoria
SS Marco Scutaro
LF Carl Crawford
CF Torii Hunter
RF Ichiro Suzuki

I don't even know what position Ben Zobrist plays but he should be in there somewhere.

as a reserve.

Bartlett only real option for dissing Jeter.

C McCann
1B Pugols
2B Utley
3B Wright
SS Ramirez
LF Braun
CF Beltran
RF Kemp

C Mauer
1B Teixeira
2B Kinsler
3B Rodriguez Or Longoria
SS Bartlett
LF Bay
CF Hunter
RF Ichiro

Scutaro's been the superior player for the last two seasons, and has played about 40 more games than Bartlett in that span of time.

can you honestly make the case that Marco Scutaro is the best SS in the AL? w/ a str8 face?

Who would your pick(s) be? Jeter and Bartlett are his only competition; I can understand thinking he doesn't measure up to Jeter, but I'm not sure I understand your incredulity at privileging Scutaro over Bartlett, who nobody really considers a star player either.

i did my 25 votes. McCann and Torii need yours.

also pitchers should be Greinke vs Haren

Haren's 100+ Ks surprises H Reynolds since he is not a "strikeout guy."

Speaking of H Reynolds, what did Pecota have down for Pujols' RBI total this year? Reynolds scoffed at the projection in April -- something like "NO WAY, not with THAT lineup, LOOOOOL."

"HR" actually gets dumber by the year, at least in front of the mic. I think he was also claiming last night that Griffey is going to hit 25-30 homers.

lol you picked michael young and ben zobrist over ian kinsler

also i think maddon selected 5986 relievers but i might be misremembering

Ian Kinsler is hitting .199, .273, .390 on the road.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/allstar09/news/story?id=4307180

Jason Marquis is an all-star

Andrew Bailey in the only A's player who made it.

i had never heard of him

Howard over Dunn LOL WTF

First-year crybaby third baseman Young over (ex-crybaby) veteran third baseman Inge LOL WTF

well obv howard was gonna get picked by manuel

Howard is also from StL so theres that plot line too.

i'm kind of surprised (Aaron) Hill made it! (but glad)

Suggest Ban Permalink

lol you picked michael young and ben zobrist over ian kinsler

― a poppy seed NAGL (J0rdan S.), Sunday, July 5, 2009 1:01 PM (8 hours ago) Bookmark

seriously maddon is kind of a dick

here's KLaw's Insider spiel

Sunday, July 5, 2009
All-Star follies come with selections
By Keith Law
Scouts Inc.

The All-Star Game is a wonderful opportunity for fans, players and managers alike to showcase their own prejudices and ignorance about the best players in the game.

Fans vote for names they know, regardless of whether those names are actually good enough to belong in the game. Players follow a pretty similar pattern. Managers prefer more subtle forms of ridiculous selections, from carrying a half-dozen closers to stuffing the roster with undeserving players from their own teams to picking players for sentimental reasons. These all add up to some curious names on the rosters and some players who merited spots getting a three-day vacation in mid-July.

The ability to get on base is undervalued, and the ability to play defense is all but ignored. This year's rosters were released earlier today, and here are the conclusions we can draw:

Charlie Manuel is confused by positional requirements, arithmetic

First base is usually a fairly stacked position and is worth three spots on an All-Star roster even in years when the DH isn't in effect. It's particularly deep in the NL this year, with seven National League first basemen currently sporting OBPs of .390 or better. Charlie Manuel ignored four of them and instead took his own guy, the thoroughly undeserving (and declining) Ryan Howard, whose OBP of .328 is just wretched for someone playing a position where offense is almost everything.

Sandoval
Sandoval

Making this selection worse is that we're in one of those years when the DH isn't available, so Manuel doesn't have a place to use these extra first basemen, and has only two third basemen on the roster in a year when San Francisco's Pablo Sandoval has a batting average (.333) higher than Howard's OBP. It was nepotism and bad roster management on Manuel's part, and in the process one of the best young hitters in the game got the shaft.

Charlie Manuel is also hypnotized by win totals

Ubaldo Jimenez has quietly had a solid year in the Rockies' rotation outside of a little wildness, while Jason Marquis has a slightly higher ERA (Jimenez was about one-tenth of a run ahead before a rough outing on Sunday afternoon) even with the help of a healthy dose of luck on balls in play. But Marquis has 10 wins, Jimenez has six, and therefore, in the mind of the ignorati, Marquis is having the better season. Never mind the fact that Marquis hadn't posted an ERA below 4.50 in three years and has nothing in his track record to justify an All-Star selection over Jimenez -- and you could argue that neither belongs, since Manuel already stuck Brad Hawpe in the outfield to give the Rockies their token player.

Joe Maddon might need new glasses

Maddon actually did a respectable job with his part of the roster, but the selection of Tim Wakefield is disgraceful. Sure, it's a feel-good story, but there's the minor fact of him posting a 4.30 ERA, good for just 29th in the AL, with nothing in his peripherals to suggest that he's pitched better than his ERA would indicate. A.J. Burnett has thrown as many innings, struck out 46 more batters and has an ERA a half a run lower, and didn't make the team -- nor should he have. Wakefield is here because of the idiotic fascination that people have with win totals.

Lester
Lester

But it gets worse. The inclusion of Wakefield -- and Jonathan Papelbon, maybe the fifth-best reliever in the American League right now, if we're generous -- comes at the expense of his far superior teammate, Jon Lester. Lester has been extraordinarily unlucky this year (his FIP, or fielding-independent ERA, is 3.41) and still has a lower ERA than Wakefield, and he has more than double Wakefield's strikeout total in only four more innings.

The well-known phenomenon of Metroplex Bias is at work again

Josh Hamilton doesn't belong at all, but he's here largely because he's famous, and when healthy he's pretty talented. It's a mistake, but not as irritating as the inclusion of Michael Young, whose grit and hustle and other nonsense have all served to mask the fact that he is apparently a lousy defender anywhere he plays. Young's spot on the roster squeezed out the far more deserving Scott Rolen, who is outhitting Young even before you adjust for their home parks, and who is one of the best defensive third basemen of the past 20 years, even retaining that skill set through advancing age and a Job-like cavalcade of injuries.

Apparently both managers expect to face multiple save situations (or, how Javier Vazquez got screwed out of a spot)

Maddon and Manuel probably wouldn't be big league managers if they didn't pass that exam that teams give managerial candidates, making them swear that they'll use their Designated Closer Guy in save situations and otherwise have him nailed to the bullpen bench. Ryan Franklin throws 32 decent and hit-lucky innings and takes the spot of Javy Vazquez, who ranks ninth in the NL in ERA and second in strikeouts and has thrown more than three times as many innings as Franklin -- and unlike Franklin, who has never been anything better than a fifth starter or mediocre middle reliever, Vazquez has proven before he can pitch at a high level.

Franklin
Franklin

(Speaking of Franklin, what is the lesson here? Using steroids is OK? Will we see editorials questioning the refusal to condemn Franklin, or urging fans to boo him next Tuesday?)

Since the fans can't be trusted to vote for the best players, the players can't be trusted to pick the best players, and the managers make all manner of bad selections, the best option is clearly to let me pick the rosters. I wouldn't dream of shirking this responsibility, so my picks are below.

There is no rule, anywhere, that says that All-Star rosters have to be based completely or largely on current-year performance -- and basing them largely on current-year performance would be stupid, since a half a season isn't much of a sample. The rosters below balance players' performances in recent years, performance in the current year, "star" value (it is, after all, the All-Star Game, not the All-Guys-Who-Had-Fluky-Good-First-Halves Game), positional needs, and the idiotic one-player-per-team rule, although it only presented a major headache in the case of Oakland. Therefore, Dustin Pedroia and Cole Hamels are here on the basis of what they did prior to this year, even though neither was worthy of selection based strictly on 2009. I also gave both teams three catchers and 13 pitchers to spread out the workloads at those positions and avoid giving either manager a coronary.

(For what it's worth, I put these rosters together on Saturday before learning any of the actual selections.)

American League

Starters:

C -- Joe Mauer, Minnesota

1B -- Kevin Youkilis, Boston

2B -- Ben Zobrist, Tampa Bay

SS -- Derek Jeter, New York

3B -- Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay

LF -- Carl Crawford, Tampa Bay

CF -- Torii Hunter, Los Angeles

RF --Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle

Reserves:

C --Victor Martinez, Cleveland

C -- Jorge Posada, New York

1B -- Miguel Cabrera, Detroit

1B -- Carlos Pena, Tampa Bay

2B -- Aaron Hill, Toronto

2B -- Dustin Pedroia, Boston

SS -- Jason Bartlett, Tampa Bay

3B -- Scott Rolen, Toronto

LF -- Jason Bay, Boston

LF -- Johnny Damon, Yankees

CF -- Adam Jones, Baltimore

RF --Shin-Soo Choo, Cleveland

Pitchers:

SP -- Zack Greinke, Kansas City

SP -- Roy Halladay, Toronto

SP -- Justin Verlander, Detroit

SP -- Felix Hernandez, Seattle

SP -- Edwin Jackson, Detroit

SP -- Cliff Lee, Cleveland

SP -- Josh Beckett, Boston

SP -- Jon Lester, Boston

SP -- Kevin Millwood, Texas

SP -- Mark Buehrle, Chicago

RP -- Andrew Bailey, Oakland

RP -- Joe Nathan, Minnesota

RP -- Mariano Rivera, Yankees

Bailey and Dallas Braden are the only viable candidates on Oakland's roster, and both are just half-year wonders. Braden has benefited from his home park and defense more than Bailey has, so I gave the reliever the nod. Posada gets the third catcher's spot over Mike Napoli and A.J. Pierzynski on career value -- and Posada has actually hit well when he has been on the active roster. The best players omitted here are probably Justin Morneau (passed over in favor of Pena, a much better defender and almost Morneau's equal as a hitter), Adam Lind (no DH in the NL park -- another dumb rule, since no one wants to see pitchers hit or bunt in an exhibition game), and Jered Weaver (who would have had Bailey's spot if I didn't need it for an Oakland player).

National League

Starters:

C -- Brian McCann, Atlanta

1B -- Albert Pujols, St. Louis

2B -- Chase Utley, Philadelphia

SS -- Hanley Ramirez, Florida

3B -- David Wright, Mets

LF -- Raul Ibanez, Philadelphia

CF -- Carlos Beltran*, New York

RF -- Justin Upton, Arizona

Reserves:

C -- Chris Iannetta, Colorado

C -- Yadier Molina, St. Louis

1B -- Adrian Gonzalez, San Diego

1B -- Prince Fielder, Milwaukee

2B -- Freddy Sanchez, Pittsburgh

SS -- Miguel Tejada, Houston

3B -- Pablo Sandoval, San Francisco

3B -- Ryan Zimmerman, Washington

LF -- Ryan Braun, Milwaukee

CF -- Matt Kemp, Los Angeles

RF -- Manny Ramirez, Los Angeles

RF -- Jayson Werth, Philadelphia

* To be replaced on roster by Atlanta 3B Chipper Jones.

Pitchers:

SP -- Tim Lincecum, San Francisco

SP -- Dan Haren, Arizona

SP -- Javier Vazquez, Atlanta

SP -- Josh Johnson, Florida

SP -- Ubaldo Jimenez, Colorado

SP -- Matt Cain, San Francisco

SP -- Chad Billingsley, Los Angeles

SP -- Johnny Cueto, Cincinnati

SP -- Jair Jurrjens, Atlanta

SP -- Ted Lilly, Chicago

SP -- Cole Hamels, Philadelphia

RP -- Jonathan Broxton, Los Angeles

RP -- Heath Bell, San Diego

Weakest selection here is Tejada, whose performance this year is almost entirely a function of Minute Maid Park, which is very friendly to right-handed hitters with pull power. Beltran wouldn't play, and would be replaced by another player, which lets me sneak Chipper Jones on to the roster after he was squeezed out by token selection Ryan Zimmerman (now hitting .240/.335/.383 since his hitting streak ended).

Ramirez
Ramirez

Kemp belongs both on offensive and defensive value and gives us one true center fielder on the roster to go with Werth and Upton, both of whom are capable of playing center for a few innings. Of course, if the Dodgers had beaten the Phillies in the NLCS last year and Joe Torre was managing the All-Star team, he'd bat Kemp eighth and probably pinch hit for him at the first opportunity.

Biggest omissions are relievers Rafael Soriano and Ramon Troncoso, starter Chris Carpenter, half-year wonder Zach Duke and Brad Hawpe, whose serious defensive shortcomings make him an untenable selection over Upton or Werth.

And yes, Manny Ramirez belongs on the NL All-Star team. He was one of the most valuable hitters in baseball last year, is an immensely popular player and still ranks fourth among NL left fielders in VORP despite missing 50 games. He belongs in the game, and ignore anyone on a high horse who tells you otherwise.

Keith Law, formerly the special assistant to the general manager of the Toronto Blue Jays, is the senior baseball analyst for Scouts Inc.

"Ryan Franklin throws 32 decent and hit-lucky innings and takes the spot of Javy Vazquez, who ranks ninth in the NL in ERA and second in strikeouts and has thrown more than three times as many innings as Franklin -- and unlike Franklin, who has never been anything better than a fifth starter or mediocre middle reliever, Vazquez has proven before he can pitch at a high level."

Hit-lucky with a .84 WHIP??? ookeee

He's saying he's lucky that more hits haven't fallen against him. His BABIP is .214.

His HR/9 is also half what it's been in years past (.56 vs. 1.31).

Also he was suspended for steroids, but he's a relief pitcher so no big whoop.

Cueto showing his all start talent off tonight!

ERA went up .75!

CLORP6 went down .93(2)

holy lol

good reason 2 VOTE CHONE:

If elected, Figgins will pay tribute to his favorite player, Ozzie Smith, and do a backflip when arriving at his position. That would be great for hometown Cardinals fans and it would be worth the price of admission alone.

Welcome Inge, Flying HI'an.

Inge, with his mighty calves, can dunk on a 20' rim or something.

Victorino would have been on the team anyway when Beltran needs an injury replacement and Manuel isn't shy about putting more Phillies on the roster.

Like I said..

Phils' Werth replaces Beltran for NL

Fresh from homering for the fourth straight game, the Philadelphia outfielder was picked for the NL All-Star team Friday as a replacement for injured New York Mets center fielder Carlos Beltran.

Werth over Panda! Outrageous.

the panda is egregious

Yeah the homerism is what chaps my ass the most. Werth has great numbers, but the team is already stacked with non-CFers and Phillies. Kemp can play CF but his numbers arent as sexy and the Doyers are pretty well represented already. And as much as I hate to admit it, Sandoval has a case since the only other 3Bmen are Wright and Zimmerman.

N Cruz replaces Torii

Also, Panda is a lot of fun. Kemp and Werth are just these boring dudes who are good at baseball, as far as I can tell.

A Lind does not replace Torii

how is Panda fun, exactly? (never seen him play)

the panda is egregious

― love/cank (J0rdan S.), Friday, July 10, 2009 2:58 PM (40 minutes ago) Bookmark

i meant that passing him over is egregious - panda is amazing because he's a cheery chubby dude who can hit for average to all fields and is a good athlete - he's basically the anti-ryan howard

if panda played for the phillies in that park he'd have 25 homers right now and he'd still be hitting .335 and jerry manuel would be jumping at the chance to put him on the team

jerry manuel obv = charline manuel - i'm so bad at typing thoughts

jheah i voted for Inge in that last minute teaser bullshit. only once tho so it was practically meaningless. but still.

Did the futures game get rained out or something? I thought it was going to be on today but they just showed a repeat of the game from last year.

it started 5 hours late

Halladay vs Lincecum

shouldn't the All Star GAme take place at Yankee Stadium again this year? it is the new stadium's Inaugural Season.

are you serious?

What I dont get is the 2010 game is in Anaheim. That aint no new stadium. I thought that was the rule. Twist the arm of local government to build you a new stadium with taxpayer money, get the All Star Game.

god I loathe Berman

Cruz looked like he was barely swinging -- he can take this without getting tired out by round 3.

yeah Prince looks pretty winded

thankfully espn has added a chemtrail tracker this year. like everyone else, my one problem with the home run derby in years past was that i couldn't see the baseballs!!

brandon inge sonned in hr derby beef

Can Albert Pujols claim the Derby title in front of his home fans? Can Ryan Howard become a two-time Derby champion? Will an American League underdog like Brandon Inge rise up and take the crown?

they should cut out the announcers entirely and just let us listen to the players talking shit

this is total too much televised baseball bias but i am so fucking sick of hearing about cardinals fans and how great they are.

i do hate hearing joe buck rhapsodizing abt the majestic town of st. louis

ha xp

tbf buck was really being prodded by berman

they didn't boo brandon inge!! what incredible humans live in this amazing town!

and uh sorry to burst their bubbles but i've been to one cards game this year and they lost 11-2 to the rockies and there was plenty of booing

the standing o for randy johnson a couple weeks ago was nice :P

aw man albert with his son!!

im sorry famous and successful general manager steve phillips, but i think the phillies won a championship largely because of ryan howard's power

some1 should have asked josh hamiltons 70 y.o. dude back 2 pitch 4 them

do you guys get the becky queen of carpets ads in columbia?

mauer reminds me of sidney crosby in that "it's too bad the superstar of the league is such a nerd" way

haha no we dont

phillips hypothesis re david wright was monumentally retarded

was that the "he's focusing too much on making contact and not driving the ball" i caught while cleaning up my entryway?

not only that, but that if david wright was in the home run derby, it could help him re-discover his lost home run swing

imo they should cancel the celebrity softball game and have the little kids play ball

lol i took for granted that every derby should have an abreu or hamilton who just lights it up for a round but this shit is weak as hell imo.

yes jordan i agree.

vvv rooting for Prince vvv

I can barely quell my excitement for G-Force.

prince!!

503 ft. of luv

PRINCE

http://www.sporcle.com/games/homerunderby_results.php

I got 16/24, but most of them were guesses (who can remember this sort of stuff?)

I hope someone does this:

http://www.sweetgifs.com/images/032.gif

The gymnast in the celebrity/legend softball game did that.

It was lame.

Not nearly as cool as Nelly's diving catch.

Figgins now on the team (Longoria out) -- maybe it will happen.

:-D

SI_JonHeyman just introduced myself to @alyssa_milano. we complimented each others' tweets. made my year.

sportswriters oogling women is honestly one of the grossest things on the planet to me

Alyssa_Milano Got to meet @SI_JonHeyman on the field. He's awesome!

Ichiro is fuckin' stylin'.

i can't read gregg easterbrook for many reasons, the oogling being one of them

one of his lesser sins imo

these intros are pretty tight

i heard nelly's new teeth are starting in left field for the NL??? t/f?

damn ichiro is a gregarious ass dude

i feel like i heard he speaks flawless english but likes to keep it on the dl

ichiro is the single dopest athlete in all of sports

yeah yeah just like how he's a home run machine in BP but never does the hr derby - he knows the value of lettin ur imagination unfurl like that big ass flag on the field what the hell is goin on with that

(he is the best tho)

i'm nervous for obama's pitch because the internet conservative gloating will be unavoidable if he fucks up

lol well if he throws like a girl he deserves to get crapped on

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtImIqR5neU

xp i mean yeah just like how i might make fun of my friend greg who can't throw except i don't have an agenda beyond givin him shit.

paul sorvino doing a zaxby's commercial... http://s5.tinypic.com/oqhmc0.jpg

hanley ramirez is the freshest player in the mlb fyi

agreed

jesus fuck can we start this game.

brian mccann is second freshest btw

having a stealth bomber fly over seems sort of anti-spectacle to me, didnt they have any normal jets

AHHHHHH why did i think watching this was a good idea

the baseball asg is amazing imo

this stuff is cool i think, baseball can get away with it

yeah but there's no way i'm gonna see the end of the game at this rate.

i realize this is to maximize ratings on both coasts and there's nothing i can do but really in between two commercial breaks all we get is sheryl crow??

i basically never watch the asg but i have been pretty absorbed so far - probably gonna have it on in the background from hereon out

i honestly didn't even know stan musial was still alive, wow

that's a pretty sweet ride

88!

props to obama for representing with the white sox jacket even tho i hate those guys

yeah thank god hes not a small bears fan

haha yeah that kinda owned

that ichiro clip is pretty LOL cuz he gets it wrong, it should be "hotter than two rats fucking in a wool sock" fwiw.

the secret service needs to throw a hood over mccarver's head, drag him to the middle of the field and shoot him in the face execution style in front of thousands of horrified fans (and millions of grateful viewers)

Pujlols

more like NLoL

likin all the 1st pitch swingin game is movin @ a good pace

obama was dope

yea dude is smooooth

guys i'm facebook chatting with morbs who advises you to "cast your ballots early for 2012"

i would say he sends his love, but i can't be sure!

his signoff: "see you in 19 days. PERHAPS"

<3

by my count we've got 3 of 7 mlb Heebs in the game. kinsler r.i.p.

wtf that commercial was like an hour

It was kind of mesmerizing with the sound off.

carl fucking crawford

i'm psyched cause the tie makes it more likely wakefield will pitch.

granderson! love this guy.

i love the all star game but that one was a snooze - RIP roids

poor hunter pence didn't get in the game

he looked so sad on the bench

awww, i like pence, he seems like a dude.

i just wanted the damn thing to go to extras so i could see vmart try to catch wake.

You can tell it's an all-star game if a Padres pitcher is blowing it.

yeah good job national league you let a guy who was cut from the mets and who pitches in one of the best pitching parks in baseball and had never made an all star team in his entire life lose the game!

He was cut by the Mets? We traded for him.

either way the mets decided that he was not good enough for their bullpen

He is good enough for pretty much any bullpen now, but a first-time all-star playing for a terrible team is probably not the guy you want up there when you're fighting for home field advantage in the World Series, an event Heath Bell will not be pitching in anytime soon.

NL West pitchers gave up all the runs =(

barely cared but of course wanted more sonning by the AL

two things:

1) this is some susan lucci shit
2) some advertiser has to start making fun in 2010, like the whole country gets free nacho gordita chimichangas if the NL wins

Paraphrasing McCarver/Buck explanation as to why AL > NL

McCarver: "Because of the DH. In the AL, you have the DH, and even when the NL is the home team, those AL lineups with the DH will have an impact on the offense."

Buck: "To be honest, the AL is better."

McCarver: "Yeah."

Buck: "IT'S CUZ I SAY SO."

McCarver: "Yeah."

I like that the AL had the DH for 30+ years but the NL only decided it couldnt handle this new innovation until the 90s.

i don't get what you mean... NL always had a DH in the playoffs at AL parks... or do you mean in season interleague play?

where "the playoffs" = "the world series"

also the NL still has the edge in the alltime series results: 40-38-2 so this just may be a regression to the mean! ;)

NL baseball is superior, but AL baseball players are superior. So: worst of both worlds.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/thehotstoneleague/2009470233_ichiro_visits_grave_of_george.html

This is a cool story. Turns out that Ichiro spent part of Monday visiting the St. Louis grave of Hall of Famer George Sisler, whose single-season hits record he broke in 2004. Ichiro very much wanted to pay his respects to Sisler, and brought flowers to leave at the gravesite.

Remember that Ichiro briefly greeted the members of the Sisler family that were in Safeco Field the night he got his 257th and 258th hit to tie and break Sisler's 1920 record for the St. Louis Browns. Sisler died on March 26, 1973 in Richmond Heights, Missouri.

"There's not many chances to come to St. Louis,'' Ichiro told me today in the American League clubhouse, speaking through interpreter Ken Barron. "In 2004, it was the first time I crossed paths with him, and his family generously came all the way to Seattle. Above all, it was a chance... I wanted to do that for a grand upperclassman of the baseball world. I think it's only natural for someone to want to do that, to express my feelings in that way. I'm not sure if he's happy about it."

Ichiro said his wife, Yumiko. , went with him, as well as some friends.

Here's what Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu had to say: I got to see the pictures with Ichiro at Sisler's grave, and it gave me some chills. I think it's important that people understand that there's a different side to him, and to be able to go back and respect a man whose record he broke was awfully special."

Here is an excellent story from 2004 about Sisler's burial site.

I think it says a lot about Ichiro that five years later he made the effort to visit Sisler's grave.

obama was dope

― barrymore, murdrewland (J0rdan S.), Tuesday, July 14, 2009 9:37 PM (2 weeks ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

yea dude is smooooth

― johnny crunch, Tuesday, July 14, 2009 9:39 PM (2 weeks ago)

Best moment w/ Slick Hustler's first pitch clip was Stewart on Daily Show: "And he started at shortstop! He can DO ANYTHING!!! (adds sotto voce) ... except create jobs."

(Audience full of sophomores, J0rdans and johnny crunches grumble mutinously and search their pockets for stones to throw)

The crowd was not pleased with that joke, but I thought it was great.