Why can't baseball make up its mind?

Just when you think you’re out, they pull you right back in. And this time it’s the veritable Mafioso of whiners and complainers out there finger wagging and indignation that seems almost unnatural given the subject matter.

That’s until we see that it’s July and the roster for next week’s All-Star Game had just been announced.

On the scale of injustices occurring these days, it appears as if All-Star “snubs” to guys like Joey Votto and Heath Bell rank right up there with racial intolerance, economic malfeasance and the BP disaster. Of course I’m basing this all off the acrimony and dissent put out on social media outlets, which I’m sure is an accurate representation of all trenchant discourse.

So at the risk of sounding like the PR department for BP, let me put it out there for all the outraged and disenchanted out there…

Get over it!

There, I said it.

OK, I’ll agree with the argument that Joey Votto, Josh Willingham, Billy Wagner, Miguel Olivo and Colby Rasmus should be All-Stars. I also understand that Omar Infante should not be an All-Star if not for any other reason than he doesn’t qualify for the league leadership in most offensive categories. But I also know that in this instance we should, to borrow a phrase, hate the game and not the player.

See, the All-Star Game and the process for which players are chosen is ridiculously flawed. If there is any injustice here it’s not that certain deserving players get left off, but the argument occurs as all. Major League Baseball wants to have it both ways with its broken and, dare we say, stupid system. It wants a showcase where fans can celebrate the game, yet also wants a meaningful contest where something is at stake. That’s not a case of making a cake and eating it, too, that’s pure intellectual dishonesty.

With its All-Star Game set up the way it is, Major League Baseball clearly thinks everyone is dumb… and that’s just mean.

In no other major sport do they pretend that an exhibition is truly meaningful and then hamstring the teams by forcing them to take players that may not be worthy. Just think how Charlie Manuel feels about trying to win a game that is being marketed with the slogan, “It counts!”yet being told that his starters will be a bunch of guys that won a popularity contest on the Internet. If that isn’t enough, he has to select a utility player, a non-closer reliever, and any starting pitcher to play in the Sunday game before the break is not eligible for the All-Star Game.

But you know, it counts.

If baseball wants to have a show, have a show. Do what the NBA does with its All-Star Game where it’s a weekend of parties, dunks and fancy, environmentally deficient cars, lots of showing off, Shakira, and at the end, two minutes of basketball played by the best athletes on the planet. The NBA makes no apologies, either. Instead it touts that it has the best All-Star Game out there and they might even be correct if only for the fact that it doesn't pretend to be something it's not.

The NFL does pretty much the same thing, only most players bag out of it since it seems silly to play an exhibition football game after a long season. Maybe the best way to improve the NFL Pro Bowl is to make it a flag football game, or a “Battle of the Network Stars.”

That is if such a thing as network stars even exist anymore.

I’m not even sure if the NHL has an All-Star Game, but if it did, even the hopelessly disorganized NHL wouldn’t put on an All-Star Game the way MLB does. It just doesn’t make any sense and everyone can see that. Think about it… you have probably been in fantasy football leagues better organized than the NHL and if that league sees the folly of the baseball All-Star Game, then it’s really quite obvious.

What Major League Baseball should do is make a decision whether it wants to have a showcase for its fans or a real game with its best players. Truth be told, there is no way to do both and even the most rational fan would argue that the best way to showcase a sport is to have the best players and teams in meaningful games. That’s what happens in Europe with soccer’s Premier leagues and Champions League. Understanding the simple fact that sports fans — the core audience for baseball, by the way — want their games with no frills, bells or whistles, soccer is perfect. There are no commercials, no fluff and no extraneous goofing off. For no more than two hours you are going to get the sport and nothing else even if it has to go extra time.

It’s so simple that it’s genius. If anyone wants to know why soccer is the most popular sport on earth it’s because they don’t get mixed up in all the sideshows or waste anyone’s time. Instead, they allow the fans to make that choice.

In the meantime, Charlie Manuel is going to Anaheim with a compromised club. Worse, he’s being told he has to win or his side won’t get home-field advantage in the World Series. Maybe if he truly was able to select his players it wouldn’t be so bad, but y’know, it’s a show…

Only it’s not. They say it counts, except it doesn’t.

Confused? So is Major League Baseball.

Helping out with the All-Stars

PITTSBURGH — Guys like me have no particular insight or influence when it comes to Phils’ manager Charlie Manuel and his decision making. Come to think about it, no else really does, either. Charlie is his own man and isn’t afraid to put his ass on the line.

The buck stops with Charlie.

So when discussing the All-Star Game and Manuel’s job as manager for the National League for the second year in a row, there wasn’t much reading between the lines. Charlie said he had a deadline in which to submit his roster and like anyone with a busy life and a job that takes him to place like Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, he was probably going to go right up until the last minute.

Actually, that makes sense because choosing an All-Star team isn’t exactly like writing a paper for an anthropology class. History doesn’t change, but baseball statistics are never static. Just when you think you have a handle on what the numbers show about a ballplayer he’ll ground out to end the fourth inning somewhere or some nerd will develop some new metric that revolutionizes everything.

Ultimately, however, it comes down to the numbers and more than anything Charlie will take a look at the more mainstream of them before submitting his selections.

And because we’re like that in the sports writing business, I took the time to come up with a starting nine for both leagues. No, Charlie didn’t ask me to do it and as stated earlier, it’s doubtful this exercise will have any influence. Truth be told, I didn’t even vote in the All-Star balloting.

But because there’s nothing else really going on and no World Cup action to tune in for, here’s my starting nine for the National League:

C — Miguel Olivo, Colorado
Actual pick — Yadier Molina, St. Louis
This was purely a statistical and offensive selection seeing as Olivo leads all National League catchers with 11 homers and 39 RBIs. Truth is I can’t really recall an instance when I saw Olivo play this season and his numbers could be inflated because he’s playing for the Rockies at Coors Field this season instead of for the Kansas City Royals. It’s a lot different when a guy gets to bat behind Jason Giambi instead of Alberto Collaspo.

Brian McCann of Atlanta just might be the best all-around catcher in the league and will be there with Molina and Olivo, though it would be interesting to see if Carlos Ruiz would have been in the mix had he been able to stay healthy.

1B — Albert Pujols, St. Louis
Actual pick: Pujols
I didn’t even bother looking up Pujols’s stats and I haven’t checked his line in a box score all season. Oh sure, Joey Votto from Cincinnati is having a monster first half and Ryan Howard has posted some decent numbers, too. But as long as Pujols is drawing breath on this planet, he’s in the All-Star Game.

In fact, Pujols could be 90 and retired for 20 years and I would write his name in for the All-Star Game. I wouldn’t even care if his UZR was subpar because Pujols is the best hitter we have ever seen.

2B — Martin Prado, Atlanta
Actual pick: Chase Utley, Philadelphia
Going by what I get to see on a regular basis, a guy like Prado deserves some investigation. Did you know that Prado comes from the same hometown (Marcay, Venezuela) as ex-Phillies outfielder Bobby Abreu? Or that last season Prado hit three homers with 10 RBIs and a .432 batting average in 15 games against the Phillies?

How about this one… did you know that Prado leads the National League with a .336 batting average and finished first in the player’s balloting for the All-Star Game? It’s true. Prado beat Utley in the player’s vote, 472-276. That’s right, Prado beat Utley like a gong.

Because Utley is out with a torn up thumb until September, Prado will get the starting nod for Big Chuck’s National Leaguers.

3B — Scott Rolen, Cincinnati
Actual pick: David Wright, New York
I have a confession to make and it makes me a little uncomfortable, but here it goes… Scott Rolen is my favorite player. Yes, Pujols is the best hitter I’ve ever seen. Much better than even Rod Carew, George Brett or Tony Gwynn, but if my sons ever are interested in playing baseball seriously, I’ll get a DVD of Rolen, pop it into the machine and show it to my kids.

Then I'd probably say something like, "That, son, is how you play the game."

Because Rolen plays the game exactly the way it should be played and it's not really very subtle, either. For now though, the kids like the big fella. For intance, my oldest likes Ryan Howard because he had a life-sized poster in his room and the Phillies’ first baseman has some flair in the batters’ box with that exaggerated trigger with his bat pushed forward like a sword and, of course, he hits a lot of homers. Kids like big dudes who hit homers. When I was my son's age it was Greg Luzinski that every kid copied. Now it's The Big Piece.

Meanwhile my youngest doesn’t know what the hell a baseball is yet, but he'll learn because he's a lefty. All they both know about baseball is that it often keeps their daddy away from home and that’s not a good thing.

But back to Rolen...

There are no hidden meanings when Rolen plays third base or circles the bases. It’s all effort and power with some finesse sprinkled in around third base with some glove work that even forced Mike Schmidt to admit that Rolen was the best he’d ever seen. There also is no searching for nuance, which somehow makes his game appealing. Rolen really doesn't have any style when he plays and anyone with a sense of fashion will tell you, sometimes no style is style.

If there is something beneath the surface with Rolen it's that he has an iconoclastic quality, if you will. It was something that the folks in Philly didn't get at all, and maybe the only explanation is it's some sort of Indiana thing that is ingrained with dudes from that part of the world as if it’s part of their DNA. Letterman, John Cougar Mellencamp and Larry Bird all seem to have the same kind of qualities as Rolen, and they all come from the same place. 

Indiana.

For some reason certain folks from Indiana react to every slight or insult. When he was in playing in Philly, Rolen looked like he played baseball because he wanted revenge for something. It was something to see. Sure, guys with his sensibilities have traits that can be a bit alienating, but whatever.

Do you think everyone likes Letterman, Mellencamp or Bird? Do you think they care?

As far as the 2010 season goes Rolen seems to be on the path for the comeback player of the year. Healthy for the first time in about a half a decade, Rolen won the player’s balloting by 30 votes over David Wright. Plus, with his sixth All-Star appearance, Rolen has the third-most All-Star appearances on the squad behind Pujols and Roy Halladay.

He's old, but at least he has his panache back.

SS — Hanley Ramirez, Florida
Actual pick: Ramirez
There are two things that are peculiar about Ramirez. One is to wonder how he would be discussed if he played in Boston, Philadelphia or New York instead of Miami. If he spent five minutes playing for the Yankees or Mets, folks would probably be talking about Ramirez as if he were the second coming of Honus Wagner. Instead, we get to chalk down Jose Reyes as the most overrated New York player.

The second peculiarity is that most people only know Ramirez as the guy who lollygagged after a ball and then battled with his soon-to-be ex-manager. Of course that has a lot to do with Ramirez playing in Miami instead of an actual sports town, but hey, what are you going to do? Ramirez was voted to start in the All-Star Game for the third time so it appears as if they’ve heard of him somewhere.

OF—Andre Ethier, Los Angeles; Corey Hart, Milwaukee; Josh Willingham, Washington
Actual picks: Ryan Braun, Milwaukee; Ethier; Jason Heyward, Atlanta
My picks are all statistically based because if I was going by what I have seen, Hart would never be there. Has there ever been a player that always ends the season with great statistics, but whenever you get the chance to see him play, he stinks? That’s Corey Hart for me.

Then again I’m probably focusing on Hart because he won the final five Internet balloting two years ago and I was unfamiliar with his body of work aside from the humiliating 3-for-13 he posted in the 2008 NLDS against the Phillies.

Besides, who didn’t love that tune, “Sunglasses at Night” by Canadian pop-rocker Corey Hart back in 1983? Just thinking about it makes me want to break out a key-tar and rock out.

Either way, Corey Hart (but not Corey Hart) is having a solid season. I still haven't seen him play this year and I'm sure if I did he'd go 0-for-4 with a couple of K's and a throwing error, but whatever. His numbers look really good.

P — Ubaldo Jimenez, Colorado
Actual pick: Jimenez (player vote)
Remember the first time you saw Jimenez pitch? It was probably in September of 2007 at the Bank or maybe even in October of that year in the NLDS. If you’re like me (and why wouldn’t you be?) you probably said aloud, “Holy bleep, what was that pitch?!”

You also probably thought, “I bet that guy is going to be a star if he can put it all together.”

Jimenez’s had what big leaguers like to call, “electric stuff.” He was raw back then, but threw 98 with breaking pitches that hissed and slithered like a snake. He was exciting in a way folks get excited when they discover a really good band that no one else has heard of, but now that everyone has caught up with the proper way of seeing things, you somehow feel justified and self-assured that you know baseball talent when you see it.

Hell, you might even be ready for a gig as a scout so you can go bird-doggin' around looking for the next best thing.

Anyway, Jimenez pitched the clinching Game 3 at Coors Field in the ’07 NLDS and held the Phillies to just three hits in an interesting duel with Jamie Moyer, which was his coming out party. People got a good, first look at him then though it took some time for him to get right here.

Two years after that rookie season, Jimenez won 27 games and showed flashes of brilliance though the rawness was most prevalent. This year, though, it appears as if he’s put it all together. At 14-1 with a 2.27 ERA, Jimenez already has a no-hitter to his credit and should get the starting nod for the National Leaguers.   

Interestingly, Halladay finished second in the player balloting behind Jimenez. However, since Manuel will be thinking more about his club than the National Leaguers, don’t expect Halladay to get into the game.

And that's it. There are you're National League All-Stars as defined by me. Get busy debating the merits of Omar Infante or Joey Votto. There's seven days to fight about it until everyone shows up in Anaheim for the big game.

Meet me in St. Louis?

I like to tell this story, which is about to become obsolete this week. In all of these years of covering and writing about sports, I have been to exactly two All-Star Games. One was the 2002 NBA All-Star Game at the Wachovia Center. As I recall, I watched the first quarter of the game, saw Michael Jordan miss a dunk and Ali and Joe Frazier sit together at courtside, and took off. That was enough.

The other All-Star Game was the eighth grade CYO spectacular where our Sacred Heart squad turned out a 2009 Phillies-esque representation at the game. This one I stuck around to the end, started the game and had a game-high 12 points.

But this year I could avoid the Major League All-Star Game no more. After years of watching – dating back to the 1978 game – I’m actual going to witness this made-for-TV event. Call it a behind-the-scenes look at the bastardization and corporatization of our beloved game.

You know, all the things that everyone loves.

As such, certainly the big guns in baseball will be in St. Louis this week. We’ll have the self-important national media types as and league officials as well as a cadre of Hall of Famers and celebrities like Rollie Fingers and Alyssa Milano.

See, who would want to miss that.

Of course Ryan Howard will be in the worst of all made-for-TV travesties called the Home Run Derby where ESPN is required to show 35 commercials for every meatball of a pitch thrown and offer Chris Berman at his most nauseating.

Listening to Chris Berman is a lot like trying to put your entire fist into your mouth. Not only is it difficult and a tremendous waste of time, but if you succeed and get those knuckles past an incisor and/or molar and actually get your fist in your mouth, you know… then what?

All you are is some jackass sitting there in front of the TV with your fist in your mouth… how are you going to get it out?

My advice? Don’t listen to Berman — turn down the sound if you must. And please, for the love of all that’s holy, do not put your fist in your mouth.

Regardless, watching this show from inside of the ballpark-turned-TV studio will be a hoot. Veteran ball scribes say the Monday before the All-Star Game is the longest work day ever. It’s even longer than busy days at the winter meetings, which just so happens to be every day at the winter meetings.

But since I write sentences about baseball for a living, the work doesn’t bother me. It gets busy and the days long, but so what. Baseball writers that complain about the work and the writing should go dig ditches or get a job as a stagehand for Chris Berman.

Anyway, as a veteran observer of the All-Star Game, here are some of the most memorable moments I have seen either with my eyes or through osmosis.

• Bo Jackson’s leadoff homer in 1989 Who didn’t love Bo Jackson? • That pre-game Ted Williams thing at Fenway in 1999 A couple of years later they cut off Ted’s head and froze it. They even named the MVP Award after Williams which is apt. Williams was the personification of the selfish ballplayer whose greatest on-the-field glory came in the All-Star Game. It certainly wasn’t the only World Series he played in. • The crazy 1987 All-Star Game in Oakland Tim Raines won this won for the NL with a two-run triple in the 13th – the only runs of the game. The American League almost won the game in the ninth when Phillie Steve Bedrosian nailed Dave Winfield attempting to score from second on a botched double play.

• Brad Lidge throwing 100 pitches in the bullpen According to Charlie Manuel the first rule of the All-Star Game is to return players back to their teams healthy. Maybe K-Rod ought to get his right arm limber for all those times he is going to warm up on Tuesday night.

• Pete Rose decking Ray Fosse Arguably the most famous play in All-Star Game history. This is the one where Rose bowled over Fosse in order to score the winning run in the 1970 game and separated the catcher’s shoulder. The thing about the play was Fosse never had the ball. He also spent the night before the game having dinner with Rose.

• Commissioner Bud Selig flapping his arms during extra innings of the 2002 game According to Charlie Manuel the first rule of the All-Star Game is to return players back to their teams healthy. Therefore, managers Joe Torre and Bob Brenly didn’t want to continue the game past the 11th inning when both teams ran out of pitchers. Forced with making a spontaneous decision in Milwaukee’s Miller Park, Selig freaked and flapped his arms like a pigeon attempting to leap over a mud puddle.

Aside from cancelling the 1994 season, the arm flapping was Selig’s most memorable moment.

... I said it was a tiny pianist

I watched the All-Star Game last night, but didn’t really get engaged, though I had a few questions.

Like:

* Why did the teams line up on the infield base paths before the game? That was odd?

* Why didn’t Tony La Russa pinch hit for Aaron Rowand with Albert Pujols with two outs and the bases loaded in the ninth inning. Nothing against Rowand, who I was hoping would get a hit to win the game, but Pujols is the best hitter in the game. Plus, I thought La Russa was a genius… doesn’t he know that Pujols is good?

* Do Joe Buck and Kevin Kennedy really believe the MLB is A-OK tripe they blather on about during the telecasts, or are they just “talking points?”

* Who is Paula Cole and why didn’t her piano work?

* Why does one need a piano to sing “God Bless America” during the seventh inning stretch?

* Why do they continue to sing “God Bless America” during the seventh inning stretch?

* Why is still funny to me when Billy Wagner gives up a home run? Frankly, Billy Wagner is about as interesting as a sack of rocks, yet I still laugh when he gives up a home run like he did to Victor Martinez last night.

* I missed the pre-game Willie Mays thing, but people say it was cool. That’s not really a question, but I thought it was worth noting.

Another thing, I’ve heard from lots of people that Willie Mays is the grumpiest old dude out there. Another friend told me that he met Willie Mays once and asked him to sign a baseball for him. Willie said, “That’s 30 bucks, kid…”

It serves him right for asking for an autograph.

* Another observation: in baseball the most exciting play is an inside-the-park homer.

***
I just watched the replay of Stage 4 of the Tour and I was fascinated that they showed the heart rate and cadence of a few of the riders during the telecast. It makes me think that it might be a good idea to get a heart rate monitor for training… then again I’ve come this far without one, and I can usually tell when my heart is beating harder than usual.

Still, it was cool that the technology has come so far as to show if the riders were anaerobic. It should be especially interesting to see what those hear rates will reveal when the race hits the mountains.

Anyway, they’re still racing in flat, northern France where veteran Thor Hushovd won in a big sprint thanks to a nice lead out by teammate, Julian Dean.

Stage 4 Final
Top 10:
1.) Thor Hushovd, Credit Agricole, Norway
2.) Robbie Hunter, Barloworld, S. Africa, same time
3.) Oscar Freire, Rabobank, Spain, s.t.
4.) Erik Zabel, Milram, s.t.
5.) Danilo Napolitano, Lampre, Italy, s.t.
6.) Gert Steegmans, Quick Step, Belgium, s.t.
7.) Robert Förster, Gerolsteiner, Germany, s.t.
8.) Tom Boonen, Quick Step, Belgium, s.t.
9.) Sebastien Chavanel, Française des Jeux, France, s.t.
10.) Mark Cavendish, T-Mobile, Great Britain, s.t.

Overall, not much has changed though CSC has made good on the promise to defend Yellow for as long as possible. There was an interesting story about it today in The New York Times as well as an excellent post from Martin Dugard in his blog.

For the record, Fabian Cancellara knows his time in Yellow will be short.

"For me, when I get into the mountains, it's sure that it's finished," Cancellara said.

Overall
1.) Fabian Cancellara, Team CSC, Switzerland
2.) Thor Hushovd, Credit Agricole, Norway, at :29
3.) Andreas Klöden, Astana, Germany, at :33
4.) David Millar, Saunier Duval-Prodir, Great Britain, at :41
5.) George Hincapie, Discovery Channel, USA, at :43
6.) Bradley Wiggins, Cofidis, Great Britain, at :43
7.) Sylvain Chavanel, Cofidis, at :33
8.) Vladimir Gusev, Discovery Channel, Russia, at :45
9.) Tom Boonen, Quick Step, Belgium, at :46
10.) Vladimir Karpets, Caisse d'Epargne, Russia, at :46

The race will change a bit tomorrow when the riders face the first real climbs on the way from Chablis to Autun, covering 113 miles.

Yes, wine country.

***
Floyd Landis was on NPR's Talk of the Nation this afternoon from Chicago. If you have Real Player and 30-minutes to spare, check it out here.

Early and often

When I was a kid and went to ballgames, I used to grab piles of the All-Star ballots and punch out those cards. Sometimes I sent them in, other times they just ended up in the bottom of a drawer somewhere.

Either way, I voted. Early and often. And no, I was never one of those kids who voted just for my favorite players. Back then I was a numbers guy and used that as the criteria in which a player merited an All-Star selection.

Yeah, I know, so silly.

Anyway, I still see those All-Star punch cards on display at the ballpark and always resist the urge to pick up stackfuls. These days those ballots are such an anachronism – an old-time relic of the 1980s when something as pedantic as cable TV was seen as innovative. These days, the core of All-Star voting takes place on the Internets where the ballot box can be stuffed by overzealous fans and interns working in the teams’ office.

But not here. No way. The All-Star Game determines which league gets home-field advantage in the World Series. You know, since Bud Selig and the league office have figured out baseball’s performance-enhancing drug problem they can focus on which the hardcore issues like which team gets to host Game 1 of the World Series. He has to do it because the idea of rewarding the team with the best record in the regular season is just so far out there.

OK. While rambling through the Internets last night I figured it was time to vote for which players I thought deserved an All-Star nod. Here they are:

American League
c – Victor Martinez, Cle
1b – David Ortiz, Bos
2b – Placido Polanco, Det
ss – Derek Jeter, NYY
3b – Alex Rodriguez, NYY
of – Ichiro Suzuki, Sea
of – Vladimir Guerrero, LAA
of – Magglio Ordonez, Det

National League
c – Russell Martin, LAD
1b – Prince Fielder, Mil
2b – Chase Utley, Phi
ss – Edgar Renteria, Atl
3b – Miguel Cabrera, Fla
of – Ken Griffey, Cin
of – Carlos Lee, Hou
of – Matt Holliday, Col

***
Speaking of Selig and showing the fans who is boss, MLB is still battling over who owns such public information like statistics produced from acts performed on a wide swath of grass in front of 50,000 spectators and countless others watching at home.

Yeah, that’s right, MLB is still fighting over the statistics used in fantasy baseball leagues.

Along those lines, I ran 15 miles yesterday and I did it on public roads… do I own the statistics from that run or does Selig and the gang want a piece of that, too?

How about the neighborhood wiffle ball game? Little Jimmy hit a bunch of home runs and made a couple of nice catches near the bushes next to the driveway… can he use the term "home run" or is such a statistic “intellectual property?”

***
Meanwhile, reports are that Selig wants to suspend Jason Giambi for not cooperating with the toothless Mitchell Investigation into baseball’s drug problem. You know, because Giambi said, “I was wrong for doing that stuff.”

In other words, Selig is telling the players, “Tell the truth and you will get in trouble… now go tell the truth.”

***
Here’s one for the Phillies fans that keep harping on the signing of Jose Mesa:

Do you think the Phillies really wanted to sign Jose Mesa? Stop and think about it for a second…