There’s plenty on the actual game itself, so you can read the coverage below, a few comments by me about the Ranger related stuff…
We had five All-Star players this year, a new record. Here’s a quick rundown of what happened with them.
Francisco Cordero: Didn’t play, but then again with the push to avoid tie games, some folks have to be kept out.
Kenny Rogers: Didn’t play, but not surprising, as he was pseudo-hurt anyway. Probably would have had to go extra innings to see him.
Hank Blalock: Came in during the top of the 6th, went 0-2. Didn’t do much, but nice to have him here.
Mike Young: Came in during the top of the 5th, also went 0-2, but made a fabulous defensive play.
Alfonso Soriano: Oh, went 2 for 3 with 3 RBI’s, 1R, and one big three run HR. Named MVP of the game!
Not only did we have the top vote getter in the entire shebang, but he was named MVP of the game. I’m sure part of that stuff has to do with him being a former Yankee, but you know what? He’s wearing our uniform now. Soriano was the first Ranger MVP of an All Star game since Julio Franco did it in 1990.
We did have five players in the game, but it seemed dominated by Soriano. I was quite surprised when he was named the MVP, as I didn’t think there really was a standout player on either side – the standout performance was a negative one, that being Roger Clemens. As usual, my wife and I loved watching the player intros, which I think is the best part for a lot of people. Was it me, or did it seem really rushed? They seemed to spend less time on each player than they did before. Curt Schilling will get fined again, for writing on his cap – that’s a no no that he seems to repeatedly ignore.
Last night, someone on my forums asked me what I thought the score would be. I generally don’t like to predict All Star games, since there’s too many variables, and too many players. Pushed though, I said “AL 7-4”. I ALMOST got it right – it was AL 7-4 for quite awhile until Ortiz of the Red Sox screwed it up for me with a 2 run HR to make it 9-4.
Let’s hope the second half goes as well as the first half does for us, and that Tom Hicks really does replace John Hart with Grady Fuson right away as was implicated on Tuesday in the Ft Worth Star Telegram. :)