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Well, I got married in 1996, and that was the last year the NL had won the All Star game. Until last year when the Rangers finally got there. Then the NL won again. They continued this annoying new streak this week by winning the All-Star game two years in a row.
I was planning on writing more, but as I look back on the game, there wasn’t a ton memorable about the game. More was made about who didn’t show up, which wasn’t a HUGE deal to me.
Still, I always love watching the player introductions. That’s always fun to watch, and this year for the first time since 1990, there were three Pittsburgh Pirates players. There were, however six Texas Rangers players. Which I think is the most since we had a bunch when the game was in Houston a few years back. Anyway, the Rangers who went were:
Adrian Beltre. He started the game, was a replacement for Arod who had to bail out due to surgery. Beltre went 1-2 with a single.
Josh Hamilton. He started the game, having been voted in by fans. Josh went 1-2 with a single.
Michael Young – Got in on the player vote to be a backup DH. Thing is, Wash put him in the game at third base. He only got one at bat, and struck out.
Alexi Ogando – Late appointment to the squad. Forget who he technically replaced on the roster, as there were a lot of moving parts insofar as roster ineligibilities on the last day or so. He threw 0.2 innings, and faced two batters for a total of 11 pitches. Didn’t allow anything. One of my cuter moments came when he was on the mound. It was when a Texas Rangers pitcher (Ogando) threw to a Pittsburgh Pirates batter (Andrew McCutchen). Liked that. :)
CJ Wilson – Of the 19 total pitchers that were in this game, CJ clearly had the worst outing of any of them. He did pitch a full inning, but gave up three hits and three earned runs. Faced six batters, threw 22 pitches. Not a good outing. The big deal was the three run home run to Prince Fielder. Something was said that it was the first home run in the All Star game since once in 2008, too.
Ron Washingon – Perhaps the coolest one there, because you don’t get to be manager unless you get to the World Series. Enjoyed this one!
I enjoyed watching the game, even though there wasn’t a ton to report on IMO. Still, looking forward to the second half of the season, as it’s just about upon us as I write this.

The last several years I’ve said I’ve been bored with the Home Run Derby. There’s been several things that I’ve rolled my eyes at over the last few years. Interview with actors in the dugouts, Berman’s “back back back” needs to go, the interviews with the players instantly after they’re done (What were you thinking?).. I had pretty much given up on it.
However, this year, given I don’t have Cable TV anymore, I found myself wanting to see it, mostly because I didn’t have the access anymore. One of those “don’t know what you have until it’s gone” kind of things. Then at the last minute, I realized I would be able to see it. The MLB 11 App for the iPad had a full stream of the HR Derby. Technically it was an mlb.com video stream, and not ESPN stream, but I was rather enjoyed I still got to watch it. So I sat in a chair in the house I don’t normally sit in, and watched the HR derby on my iPad. To quote Steve Jobs, it was “magical”. (not really, I’m just being silly).
Anyway, a lot of the stuff I disliked has been removed. Stupid interviews with hangers on weren’t there, and the interviews with the players after their rounds were gone. So that was good. Berman was there, but I did get a laugh out of him, because his mike wasn’t closed during the pre-ceremony band playing. He said something like “I don’t want to say what I want to, because it could go out in the stadium”. No, it didn’t Rick, but it DID go out on TV. Or at least the live streaming feed. :)
I do have to admit, I didn’t like the players taking their kids up to the plate with them for the introductions. That’s a bad precedent, I wonder where one of them will take it. Bring their entire entourage up there with them? I instantly thought of Dusty Baker’s kid again, thinking “what’s he doing there?”
So OK, we have a new twist this year. Instead of MLB picking the 8 contestants, they picked two “captains”, and they picked the players. It’s an interesting idea. Once the swings get started, that captains & teams concept is pretty much out the window. But I do like the idea insofar as the picking of the players. The players in the derby were:
Robinson Cano
Adrian Gonzalez
David Ortiz
Prince Fielder
Matt Holliday
Jose Bautista
Ricky Weeks
Matt Kemp
Of that group, before anything got started, I thought the winner might have been Prince Fielder or Jose Bautista. Robinson Cano went second in the first round, and after his first round was over, I thought to myself, “That’s it, he’s winning this”. That thought turned out to be prophetic.
The first round weeded out Holliday, Bautista, Weeks, & Kemp. Weeks & Kemp I didn’t think were advancing anyway, and Holliday was a bit of a surprise getting knocked out. It had to go through a three way swing off, as Ortiz, Fielder, & Holliday all had 5 after the first round. Fielder nailed the swing off, having five swings, and getting five home runs. Fielder’s home runs were like what Ian Kinsler would be like if he had some bulk on him. They were some titanic uppercuts. I mean I’m really shocked nobody hit the roof the way some of the balls were going this night.
There were some really REALLY well hit balls, including a couple that got past the point where they had pre-figured the distances. That was amusing. But as I thought in the first round, Robinson Cano made it through and won the thing overall. Cano kind of reminds me of that old school Yankee that you don’t really hate, even though he’s a Yankee.
Some of my favorite moments from the derby:

• Fan falling into the pool catching a home run ball hit out that way. Made me laugh.
• The reactions of players to some of the titanic blasts. That never seems to get old for me.
• The diving catch a ballboy made for one of the non home run balls. Kid made a great diving catch.
• The giant bat at the ESPN coverage table. I wish someone had walked to the plate with it.
• By far though, the best moment was Robinson Cano’s dad being his pitcher. The man was beyond stoic during the derby. Until Cano won it, and it was the biggest smile you could ever imagine. Loved that moment. A LOT.

A decent amount of these things are covered in video cliups on the mlb site. Click the “Game Recap” link at the top of this post to see that.
I had fun watching the Derby this year. Whether it was because I thought I wasn’t going to be able to see it, and then at the last minute I could, or perhaps some of my annoyances were gone, I don’t know. Even Berman’s “Back back back” was reigned in.
Enjoyed it.
One last thing. Given what happened in Arlington with a fan dying, you’d THINK people wouldn’t be so stupid – THAT QUICKLY after an event like that. Pretty much the same thing happened, guy leaning over, and went over, only this time his friends caught him. First off, what the hell? Come on dude. Second, there was a picture I saw of him standing on a table or something, basically his feet were at the level of the security rail. No wonder. At some point you can’t regulate, or “safety bar” people’s stupidity. If they WANT to be that stupid, and take unnecessary risks, there’s nothing you can do. Just glad we got to see that picture of the guy standing that high. It was’t the rails, it was the “mental zero” aspect of this jackass that caused that one.

This game is part of a huge break I took from the site (skipped about 35 games or so) due to some personal issues and my having a ton of work getting Duke Nukem Forever released.
Due to that, I’m not commenting on this game. If you want to read about it, please hit the “Game Recap on MLB.com” link. Thanks for visiting!
This is the last of the “missed games”. I did listen to this on the radio, so I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Matt Harrison. He was great – 7.2 IP, 6H, 1B, 7K, and NO runs.

This game is part of a huge break I took from the site (skipped about 35 games or so) due to some personal issues and my having a ton of work getting Duke Nukem Forever released.
Due to that, I’m not commenting on this game. If you want to read about it, please hit the “Game Recap on MLB.com” link. Thanks for visiting!

This game is part of a huge break I took from the site (skipped about 35 games or so) due to some personal issues and my having a ton of work getting Duke Nukem Forever released.
Due to that, I’m not commenting on this game. If you want to read about it, please hit the “Game Recap on MLB.com” link. Thanks for visiting!

This game is part of a huge break I took from the site (skipped about 35 games or so) due to some personal issues and my having a ton of work getting Duke Nukem Forever released.
Due to that, I’m not commenting on this game. If you want to read about it, please hit the “Game Recap on MLB.com” link. Thanks for visiting!

This game is part of a huge break I took from the site (skipped about 35 games or so) due to some personal issues and my having a ton of work getting Duke Nukem Forever released.

Due to that, I’m not commenting on this game. If you want to read about it, please hit the “Game Recap on MLB.com” link. Thanks for visiting!