Granderson needs friends
For those of you who frequent Curtis Granderson’s MySpace page and are on his friends list, he needs your help for a minute. His page was apparently deleted by accident, and while his blog entries and photos were recovered, it’s not looking so good for his friends list, numbering nearly 28,000. If you were on it, you need to re-send a friends request to help restore it. Otherwise, he won’t have a lot of friends.
Jason Beck
Well, I don’t have a page on MySpace, but I know that Curtis has a lot of friends among baseball fans. That catch yesterday certainly didn’t hurt.
It’s such a shame that he wasn’t on the All-Star ballot this year, he has certainly earned consideration. I was kind of hoping Manny would back out of it (like he usually does) and offer JL the option of adding him to the team, although there probably would have been some more squawking if he had…
I’m so pleased with the way the pitching staff has solidified over the past couple of weeks. Things are looking much better going forward. With all the ups and downs we’ve had through the first half, who would’ve guessed we’d be 1/2 game off the best record in the majors at the break? Go Tigers!
And Magglio, Good luck tonight, but please don’t mess up your swing!
matt
The All-Star game is one of baseball’s richest traditions and continues to this day to be the best one of the major team sports in the USA. It’s a seasonal marker, a time to reward players, and plenty of fun for the fans.
Lately, however, it’s gotten a little strange. Let’s start with the way the players are selected. There was a time, years ago, when fans voted on who would appear in the game. This came to an end sometime in the 1950s when Cincinnati people allegedly engaged in ballot box stuffing and nearly the entire team was made up of Redlegs. The commissioner had to step in and put things to rights. After this event, the teams were chosen by player vote. This worked well, and resulted in making an All-Star team a tremendous honor, as the player had been voted in by his peers. That all changed when baseball, which had never put a great deal of thought into what fans may want, suddenly did a 180 and began catering to them. The popular vote was brought back. There’s nothing wrong with this, as it obviously is a source of great enjoyment for fans of the game. Where it has gotten weird is the current practice of players actively compaigning on their own behalf, through websites, radio appearances, etc. In the end, we end up with a couple of All-Star teams that don’t necessarily contain the best players in that given season.
None of this is too big of a deal, because it’s all in fun, right? Well….wrong. All it took was for one game to end in a tie and Bud Selig, as he usually does when faced with any kind of negative publicity, cracked like an egg and declared the game would now decide which league got homefield advantage in the World Series.
In Rocky IV, moments before Ivan Drago killed Apollo Creed in the ring, Apollo’s trainer screamed “It’s supposed to be an exhibition!”
It’s supposed to be an exhibition. Players are supposed to represent their leagues and uphold their own honor by giving a good performance. I think they’ve always done this. Mr. Selig seems to think we have to be assured that “this time it counts” every July.
Now, it’s either an exhibition or it isn’t. It can’t be both. If it’s going to “count” then perhaps we’d better let the players vote on who’s in it. If it’s going to remain a popularity contest then we’d better leave the World Series out of it.
Man– I don’t like the All Star break at all– I felt like the Tigers were finally hitting their stride and I’m worried about how they’ll bounce back next week. I think the game is really a waste of time and can’t believe that it actually determines home-field advantage for the world series. Another great decision from our commissioner… Can you tell that I’m bummed that the Tigers don’t play a meaningfuly game for three more days?
In any case, its a weird feeling right now for a Tigers fan– on the one hand, we have to be relieved that we’re in first place despite all of the injuries and nagging issues that have plagued the Tigers throughout the first half. At the same time, I feel like a football team headed to the locker room at half with the lead but knowing that we left some points out on the field in the first half. Lets hope that the team can pull together in the second half and prevent some of those late inning losses that seemed to pop up every few weeks.
On the injury front, has anyone heard anything further regarding Rodney and Zumaya’s health. I was expecting Rodney would be ready to go this week– is that still the case? If that happens, I would think that McBride would be sent down- right? As far as Zumaya is concerned– has he even started throwing yet? I would doubt it. I’m hoping that we’ll get some good news on his health soon…
Did anyone watch the homerun derby? I must have been really bored, because I sat there and watched the entire thing. Three hours worth, it’s very long. Too long.
I realize you won’t really sell out a stadium and create a TV extravaganza with a one hour derby, so why not break it up by throwing in some other competitions? While the hitters take a break, there could be a pitch control contest, where hurlers pitch into an ever decreasing strike zone. That shouldn’t tax their arms too much. You certainly wouldn’t want to have a speed gun contest. Then there are foot races. Say a forty yard dash, pitting players from each position, from the speediest centerfielders to the slowest catchers. The catcher’s race would be fun.
The above doesn’t have the large visual appeal of soaring homers, but it would break up the evening and showcase some other baseball skills.
Just a random thought on a day when there’s nothing but an exhibition…….that counts.