All-Star "Controversy"

Should fans vote for the starters? Should every team be represented? Should the game even "count?" We go through this same song and dance every year at this time once the MLB All-Start starters and rosters are revealed. And this year, there's even a new question that's been brought up: Is Tony La Russa holding a grudge against the Reds?

I'm tired of all of it. None of this really matters that much. To me this is all just a product of the 24-hour news cycle that we live in, plus the fact that it's the dead of summer and there's very little actual news to fill that TV time. There's no more basketball or hockey. Football is still a couple months away. I've personally been entertaining myself by watching the Euro Cup and Wimbledon, and on those rare occasions like yesterday when Tiger is in contention, I'll tune into golf.

But I guess these stories (well, aside from Tiger) aren't important enough for the mainstream media to talk about. Let's run the same old arguments about baseball's All-Star game into the ground. It really drives me insane. 

On the bright side, it has given me something to write about today. So, I'll be giving my responses to all of those questions I posed at the start... And then I never want to hear about them again.

SHOULD FANS VOTE FOR STARTERS?

Yes! Of course they should. The game is for the fans! I love the idea that I get to vote for my favorite players every year. I'll never forget going to Cardinals' games when I was a kid and being handed the ballots from the ushers. I'd usually keep one (or five) as a souvenir, but I'd always borrow a pen or pencil from my mom so I could punch out the chads for the players I wanted to see. The MLB All-Star game has always been one of my favorite parts of the summer, and I'd like to think that there are kids today that enjoy the same experiences of punching the ballots that I did.

Here's the other thing. There's a fail safe entrenched with the All-Star selection process, which is that players, and of course the manager, get to select the rest of the roster. So, in theory, the guys who deserve to be All-Stars are still on the team. Even if fans "get it wrong" and the best players don't start the game, why should that matter? If the game is going to count for something, don't you want the best players in the game at the end? As an NL fan, if the game is on the line in the eighth or ninth inning, I'd much rather have David Wright batting in a key spot than Pablo Sandoval.

SHOULD EACH TEAM BE REPRESENTED?

It stands to reason that if the game is going to count for something, each team should have its league's best players, and thus each team shouldn't be represented. But I actually love the fact that each team is represented, and it's for pretty similar reasons that I answered "yes" to the last question.

I specifically remember watching the All-Star game in 1993, and swelling with pride when they announced the Cardinals' representative, Greg Jeffries (OK, I have to admit this. I just looked this up, and it turns out closer Lee Smith also represented the Cardinals. Still, I distinctly remember Jeffries, so I'm going with it). Again, I'd like to think that there are Royals fans out there that will tune into the game just to see them announce Billy Butler, and hopefully they'll stay tuned in to see Butler get the opportunity to bat. 

Does it hurt the game that Butler's inclusion (.297 avg., 16 HR, 48 RBI, .877 OPS, 1.0 WAR) leaves out Blue Jays DH Edwin Encarnacion (.291 avg., 22 HR, 55 RBI, .945 OPS, 2.8 WAR)? Maybe a little, but this is easily remedied. Why not add some more spots? I know expanding the rosters to 40 seems extreme. But what if the majority of those new additions were pitchers, and a fair portion of the roster went into the game knowing that they might not play? This actually leads me into my next question....

SHOULD THE GAME "COUNT?"

One week from now is the 10 year anniversary of the game that changed the game. OK, that's a little overstated, but all that is to say, 10 years ago was when the All-Star game that ended in a tie, and thus Bud Selig decided that the game had to "mean something" so it would never end in a tie again. Since then, the league that won the All-Star game has had home-field advantage in the World Series. I still maintain that the 2004 Cardinals would not have been swept had they had their rightful home-field advantage by having the better record (There's no way Curt Schilling starts Game 1 or 2 in St. Louis, because he couldn't bat! Remember, the bloody sock? That Cardinals team was too good to lose in four games. But I'm not bitter. You could probably argue that the Cards don't win the series last year without home-field, so it all worked itself out.)

In hindsight, and even at the time, this seemed like a ridiculous solution. Yes, they decided to call the game because it didn't technically mean anything, but the main reason it ended is because the teams were out of pitching! So (back to my original tangent), why not just expand the rosters and add some more pitching? You could even add one or two rookie or second-year pitchers to each team with them knowing in advance that they're only going to be used if the game goes into extra innings. Or, if teams run out of pitching, let's just call everyone off the field and have a Home Run Derby to determine the winner? Really, that's not any more flawed than ending hockey or soccer matches with penalty shoot outs/kicks. (Those last two ideas were actually stolen from ESPN's Bill Simmons, but I felt the need to pass them along).

All that being said, I've actually gotten used to home-field being determined by the All-Star game. Like Bud Selig has said, it's not like the way they did it before was very scientific (The AL and NL alternated every year who got home-field in the World Series). Based on that logic, I'm not entirely against the game "counting" like I was nine years ago. At leas, it doesn't bother me.

Still, the most obvious way to determine home-field advantage in the World Series would just be to give it to the team with the best record. All the "experts" on Outside the Lines today said that people involved with Major League Baseball say it doesn't work logistically. Which is ironic, because I don't think it's logical to determine home-field any other way.

IS LA RUSSA HOLDING GRUDGES?

Yes, and I love it!

No, seriously, I'm not sure how I feel about this. On the surface, it definitely seems like he's still holding some animosity towards Brandon Phillips and Johnny Cueto (who, by the way, ended Jason LaRue's career. Who was Jason LaRue, you ask? Yeah, I see your point, but still) for the bench clearing altercation between St. Louis and Cincinnati several years ago. 

Phillips and Arizona's Aaron Hill have been the best to second basemen in the National League this year, and it's possible neither make the team (Hill is a part of the final fan vote). Dan Uggla got the nod from the fans at the position, and Jose Altuve was picked as the back up, and is the sole representative from Houston. Oddly enough my biggest problem with all of this is that Jed Lowrie wasn't picked Houston's representative, since he's probably been one of the best offensive shortstops in all of baseball. However, I don't see these snubs by La Russa as being that egregious.

Cueto (9-4, 2.26 ERA) being left off the team, on the other hand, must a bitter pill for Red's fans to swallow. It's also hard to believe that Zack Grienke (9-2, 2.82 ERA)of Milwaukee, another former division rival of La Russa, was left off the team.

The reality is it's a difficult job to pick these teams. I sat down for an hour last week and tried just pick the hitters and I couldn't narrow the list down. There are literally nine AL players that play 1B or DH and have an argument to be on the team. And after looking at the pitchers that actually made the team for the NL, it's difficult to decide who should be left in place of Cueto or Grienke. 

And of course, like my friend Drew Hutchison (NOT the rookie pitcher for the Blue Jays) said on facebook, paraphrasing of course, "if Dusty Baker wants to decide who makes the All-Star team, maybe his team should win the pennant."

Ultimately, it's difficult for me to think the former Cardinal's manager is holding any grudges when the Cardinal's biggest rival, the Cubs, has TWO players on the team despite having the worst record in baseball.

If that's not a controversy, I don't know what is.

One Night in Miami...

For well over a week now I've been waiting and hoping for a momentum swing to happen for my favorite team in Miami. It never happened for the Oklahoma City Thunder, but it may have happened for the St. Louis Cardinals last night.

The Redbirds got off to a hot start this season, carrying over the momentum from one of the most improbably World Series runs in MLB history (I'll probably write about that in full detail at a later date). Many experts counted out the Cardinals after losing Albert Pujols, but I knew better. I knew David Freese took the leap last postseason, and that health was the only thing standing in the way of him putting up All-Star numbers. I knew Carlos Beltran, again if healthy, would help fill the void left by the departing Pujols.

What I didn't expect was how great the starting pitching would be for the first month of the season. Unfortunately the pitching faded, the lineup succumbed to a multitude of injuries (Skip Schumaker, Jon Jay, Lance Berkman, Matt Carpenter, Allen Craig, etc.) the Cardinals surrendered possession of first place in the NL Central on May 23rd after dropping eight of 10 games earlier in the month. Another five game skid to start the month of June set the Cards 3.5 games out of first, and at .500 for the first time all season. The Cards treaded water, but fell as much as 5 games behind the red hot Reds as recently as June 17.

The Cardinals still haven't found their way back into first place (2 games out), but they are starting to show signs of the team that gave us a roller coaster ride last October.

Things started to turn on Friday when Jay can Carpenter were activated off the DL. Jay was hitting .343 before heading to the DL on May 14. He started Friday and Saturday and got three hits, while helping the Cardinals sweep the lowly Royals, 11-4, 8-2 and 11-8. While Jay hasn't entirely held up his end individually on the offensive end, he's added a pretty sure glove back to center field, and having his bat in the No. 2 spot allows everyone else to fall in line, including a World Series MVP batting in the No. 7 spot!

Of course, a sweep over the Royals isn't exactly something to get that excited about, but what happened in Miami last night was pretty great.

(The next five paragraphs are a review of last night's game, so feel free to skip down if you know how it happened)

The Cardinals trailed the Marlins, 6-2, going into the bottom of the 9th inning, and things looked bleak, especially considering the Cards got their first two runs on a wild pitch and an error. On the bright side, the Cardinals did have the top of the order up, and were facing Heath Bell who, despite getting a three year, $27 million contract in the offeseason, has struggled mightily in a Miami uniform.

Rafael Furcal led off with a walk. Shane Robinson (who replaced Jay on a double switch earlier) struck out, but Matt Holliday kept hope alive with a double that placed Furcal at third (it should be noted that after a slow start, Holliday is batting .364. His power numbers aren't quite where they should be, but I'm confident he'll get there eventually). Beltran followed with a  run-scoring single, and Craig hit a sacrifice fly to bring home Holliday. That set the stage for the Cardinals best clutch hitter (in my opinion), Yadier Molina. Yadi came through once again and crushed one over the left field fence to tie the game.

The bottom of the 9th saw some confusion as, after retiring the first batter of the inning, skipper Mike Matheny went to make a double switch to bring in pitcher Victory Marte. Unfortunately when Matheny said Marte was entering for the fifth position (Freese at third base), the umpire interpreted this as the fifth spot in the order. Long story short, Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen pointed this out to said umpire, and, not only did the Cards lose Freese in the order, but Craig (in the fifth spot) also had to come out. If this sounds confusing, don't worry, because it literally took the umpires 10 minutes to figure all this out.

After the Marlins threatened, St. Louis was fortunate enough to get an inning ending double play. Daniel Descalso led off the top of the 10th with an out, but Tyler Greene (who entered on the original double switch) followed with a single. Furcal gave the Cardinals the lead with a double to the left field corner that scored the speedy Greene from first. After Robinson grounded out, Holliday was hit by a pitch, and in order to bring up Marte's spot in the order due to the flubbed switch, Beltran was intentionally walked.

The Cardinals countered with all they had left on the bench, No. 5 starter Joe Kelly. After taking two hacks and missing, Kelly dribbled one to short and Jose Reyes was unable to make the play, allowing another run to score. Kelly's RBI ended up being the difference as Jason Motte tried to make things interesting in the bottom of the 10th.

So, have the Cardinals turned the corner? It's hard to say at this point, but it was nice to see some signs of life from a team that's been scuffling as recently as a week ago. The best wins are the ones where everyone contributed, and by my count, Molina, Beltran, Greene, and Kelly all came up with big hits in big situations, not to mention the solid bullpen work from youngsters Sam Freeman and Marte.

To me it's starting to look a lot like the team that overcame a 10 game deficit with two months to play last season. The biggest problem the Cardinals are facing right now in my opinion is inconsistency out of the bullpen. The starters have not been near as great as they were to start the season, but they're hanging in there, and Adam Wainwright is close to regaining his old form. If the Cardinals can get Lance Berkman and Chris Carpenter back at any point this season, things will really be looking up. Although right now, neither of those things seem too likely.

While things could certainly still head south for the Cardinals, and the injury bug is always lurking, I'd like to believe that, like it did with LeBron a few weeks ago, something clicked in Miami on Monday night, only this time, the good guys will come out on top.

Welcome!

A WARM WELCOME, AND NBA FINALS THOUGHTS

Hello everyone and welcome to my sports blog! For those who don't know me, I'm a former sports writer and an avid sports fan. People have been telling me for a long time that I should start blogging, and today... well, I was finally bored enough to start doing it.

A quick aside: Full disclosure, I'm kind of a pro wrestling nerd, so from time to time I may choose to write about that. I can't help it. I grew up watching the WWF, now WWE, and in a way it connects to my childhood. Wouldn't you watch episodes of Saved by the Bell if they still made them? Anyway, even though the outcomes are predetermined, I don't usually know what they are, so it also appeals to the sports fan in me. This probably won't happen often, but I feel my readers (if I actually have any) should be warned

I should start by saying that my favorite sports teams are the Indianapolis Colts, the St. Louis Cardinals, the Oklahoma City Thunder, and Indiana University athletics (mainly basketball and football, but since I'm an alum, I cheer for any sport). I'd have to say the Cardinals were my first love. I've been a fan as long as I can remember. Living in southern Indiana, St. Louis is just a three hour drive across Illinois, so we took many family trips there during the summer when I was a kid. IU basketball was something else I grew up watching as a kid, and truth be told, it was probably about 60 to 70 percent of the reason that I opted to attend school there. My family has been Colts' season ticket holders since 2003, but I'd have to say I truly became a fan the first time I went to game in 1997. At the time it just astonished me at how much support there was by some of the diehard fans in the upper level for a team that really wasn't any good. From then on I was hooked, and I guess you could say I was lucky they stumbled into Peyton Manning the following spring, but more on that at another time. Finally, my love for the Thunder began just as organically.

I always watched the NBA when I was a kid, but I never really had a favorite team. I mostly just enjoyed rooting for players, like Larry Johnson, Shaq with the Magic and of course Michael Jordan, just to name a few. I fell out of love with the league shortly after MJ's second retirement (the lockout probably had just as much to do with it), but sometime around the 2004-2005 season I started watching again, namely because my favorite sports columnist, Bill Simmons, spent so much time writing about the NBA. When I tuned in, I really enjoyed what I saw, especially Steve Nash running the show in Phoenix. Looking back on it now, I'm pretty sure the Suns/Lakers first round series in 2006 was what got hooked on the NBA again. Anyway, I was back in, but I still didn't have a team to root for.

I went to a game on my birthday in Oklahoma City in 2008, the team's first year there, and it was the same experience as I had with the Colts. As a birthday gift, my brother was able to scalp tickets two row behind the visiting Timberwolves bench. We ended up sitting about 20 feet away from then T-Wolves president (or GM, or some higher up, can't remember) Kevin McHale. I loved being able to see the game up close like that, and I loved how the fans rallied around a floundering, albeit young and growing, team. Now they're three wins from a championship. Unfortunately, they're also one loss away from the season ending....

Ah, the NBA Finals. It's been a while since I've had this much of a vested interest in the Finals. Actually, it's been 14 years to be exact. The Heat are one win away from eliminating the Thunder and winning the first of "not one, not two, not three..." You get the idea. The thing is, it's hard for me to be too upset about the idea of the Thunder losing. For starters, I'm not sure a lot of people thought they'd get this far. Yes, a lot of people did pick them, but along they way they had to take out the defending champion Mavericks, Kobe Bryant's Lakers and the Spurs, who won 20 games in a row. Eliminating all those teams is quite an accomplishment, especially when (assuming James Harden comes back) there is a young nucleus here that is likely to be together for years to come. Durant's shot a title will come. And I'm not counting out my team. Hell, his time could come in five days.

But the main reason I'm not that upset is because of LeBron James. Something else I should have mentioned from the start is that along with loving sports, I love watching greatness. And this guy is playing out of his mind! He's doing exactly what we knew he could do, and exactly what we'd hoped he'd do since he joined the league in 2003. Had you told me before the series that he'd be playing this well, I'd have probably said the Thunder have little to no chance of winning. Yes, an argument could be made that the main reason the Heat are up 3-1 is because their role players are stepping up (seriously, 25 points from Mario Chalmers???!!!), but to me LeBron is the difference maker. The reason guys like Chalmers, Shane Battier and James Jones are getting those open looks is because of LeBron.

On the one hand, this shouldn't be that surprising, because he's been doing this during the regular season for the last, well, pretty much his entire career. At the same time, when his team's have been eliminated from the playoffs  the last few years, LeBron was nowhere to be found. He was standing in the corner while others took the big shots or made the big plays.

It's almost as if something clicked during the Pacers series. The Heat fell down, 2-1, and all of a sudden LeBron realized he had to put the team on his back. Again, they fell behind to the Celtics, and LeBron had one of the all-time great playoff performances. I noted at the time that if the Heat didn't end up winning the title, LeBron's haters will still call him a choke artist, despite glaring evidence to the contrary.

It's still funny to me how much everyone hates LeBron. I'll be the first to admit that I didn't really like The Decision. It bothered me the way LeBron strung the city of Cleveland along and then ripped their hearts out on national television without even a hint of sadness towards leaving the city he called home. To be clear, I had no problem with him leaving. He didn't really owe the city anything... except a courtesy call to let them know he wasn't staying so they could head towards plan B, even though I'm not sure the Cavs had one (you know, besides the owner writing an angry letter in comic sans font). But he had a right to go wherever he chose, it's just the murdering a franchise on national TV was in very poor taste. The other thing that bothered me was that the fans of Miami, it seemed, were getting a free ride to a title, and likely multiple titles (and these ungrateful fans can't even get to the game on time!!!). Needless to say, I was very much rooting for the Mavs last season, and I enjoyed seeing the Heat crumble.

Still, the backlash that LeBron took from The Decision stunned me a little. It's amazing to think how much everyone loved LeBron three years ago, and now he's probably the most hated superstar in sports. It'll be interesting to see if that changes if he wins the title.

This year has been different. Now that LeBron has showed he can take it to that next level when he has to, the sports fan in me loves to watch, although the Thunder fan in me hurls curse words, throws hats, kicks tables and begs for fouls that we just don't seem to get.

I guess that's actually the main reason I'll get over it quicker than expected if the Thunder can't win the next three games. The LeBron haters will finally shut up. It's astonishing how much this guy gets picked apart, and maybe even more astonishing the way he's (for the most part) kept his mouth shut and let his game do the talking these past few months.

Having said all that, when you look at the way LeBron vanished against the Mavs last year and the Celtics in 2010, wouldn't it be about right if his team became the first team ever to blow a 3-1 lead in the Finals. I guess Jeff Van Gundy said today that if the Thunder win tonight, they're back in control of the series, and there's probably some truth in that. If nothing else, shouldn't every basketball fan be rooting for the Thunder tonight just to see  how LeBron reacts if the series heads back to OKC?

Regardless, these playoffs have been fun, and this series has been great. We can only hope that it goes seven games.

I guess that's all for now. Once I get used to this format, maybe I'll start adding pictures, links and whatnot. Hope you enjoyed, and please feel free to pass along!