2011 MLB Season

[Damian WayLNKe]

I'd be down for something to give me something to root for in the Derby.

[gunnar hendershow]

Consider me game for it.

[naiwf]

I'm in if you need more people. I also procured some entertainment.

[The Buscher]

Aaaaaand bring on the replacements:

Out: Jose Reyes, Placido Polanco, Justin Verlander, David Price, Felix Hernandez, James Shields, CC Sabathia (Shields' replacement)

In: Pablo Sandoval, Miguel Montero, Alexi Ogando, David Robertson, Michael Pineda, Ricky Romero

Also, as soon as Matt Cain throws a pitch tonight - he's officially out, widely assumed to be replaced by Tommy Hanson or Craig Kimbrel.

Tune in Tuesday for the All Pretty Good game.

[bill_da_bill]

In fairness, they haven't yet put a pitcher on who doesn't have good overall numbers. But the fact that Scott Rolen and Pablo Sandoval made it even as replacements when they missed as much time as they have, says somehting about the hitting in baseball.

I'm posting the sign-ups for the Derby contest for those interested.

[The Buscher]

Kimbrel gets the nod as Cain's replacement. I also just realized that Jon Lester was also added as a player-elected replacement ala CC, but he's DL'ed so he can't pitch.

So that brings the grand total to 84 All Stars. Yikes.

[bill_da_bill]

There were 82 last year, so this isn't that far off that pace.

[Your Mom]

84 All Stars and I think my team only had 1

[MalaCloudy Black]

We can console each other, Srar. And then after that we can get drunk and lament how it'll be another hundred years before we make it anywhere near the playoffs.

[Evil Chase K]

Kevin Correia was also added to replace Cole Hamels.

Apparently someone forgot to tell those in charge that just because wins 11 games that doesn't mean he's you know, good.

As befuddling as it was for Pirates fans to see Andrew McCutchen left off the roster initially, it's even more mind bogglingly to see Kevin Correia make the team, even as a replacement.

As I wrote about on my blog (YES I HAVE A BLOG) "Cole Hamels, a legitimate All-Star with a 2.40 ERA, 0.952 WHIP, and 8.3 K/9, was replaced with a pitcher who has a 4.01 ERA, 1.277 WHIP, and 4.6 K/9."

Incredible.

[The Buscher]

Yeah, the entire system is flawed. It's clear that not only do most fans ignore stats, so do the players. Correia wasn't even a Bochy selection, he was next in line for the player voting.

If you want the best quality game, I'd say let the managers in the respective leagues vote, and you aren't allowed to vote for your own players. Have them vote in 2 players from each position, 5 starting pitchers, and 3 relievers. The rest of the roster will be filled out by the WS managers, as winning the WS should give you the perk of picking a few guys on your own.

Not to say they wouldn't still make some dumb decisions, but they would actually, y'know, READ the stats instead of voting in Russell Martin like the players did.

[sahyder1]

Did not realize that Pudge got up to 2842 hits. Throw him on the list of better I was putting together yesterday.

Edited July 11, 2011 by sahyder1

[Guest JukeboxHero]

As predicted, the Indians have not been able to keep up the momentum they had in April. I saw it coming, so I'm not too disappointed. I'm hoping they'll still be able to at least make the playoffs.

[gunnar hendershow]

The players vote for guys who they like and want to send to, usually, their first All-Star Game. Players rarely check stats or anything, at least most are that way, since they don't want to get all those numbers in their head. If you know you're going against a guy with a 5.40 ERA you'll approach it differently than if you know he has a 2.10 ERA, everyone should have a clean slate as much as possible. Obviously Halladay, Sabathia, Hernandez, Beckett, etc. have reputations that go beyond stats though.

And, yeah, Pudge is gonna stick around until he inches over 3000 next year.

[The Buscher]

All Star Game lineups announced:

AL

CF Curtis Granderson

SS Asdrubal Cabrera

1B Adrian Gonzalez

RF Jose Bautista

LF Josh Hamilton

3B Adrian Beltre

DH David Ortiz

2B Robinson Cano

C Alex Avila

P Jered Weaver

NL

2B Rickie Weeks

DH Carlos Beltran

CF Matt Kemp

1B Prince Fielder

C Brian McCann

RF Lance Berkman

LF Matt Holliday

SS Troy Tulowitzki

3B Scott Rolen

P Roy Halladay

[naiwf]

You know what's worse than all the Derek Jeter stories? The Christian Lopez stories

He should have gone Randy Moss on the Yankees in exchange for the ball . . . "straight cash homie!"

[Lint]

and from the "no one will ever learn" column..

Keith Carmickle and his friends had already caught three balls during Major League Baseball's Home Run Derby Monday night and wanted more.

He nearly got a lot more: a headfirst fall to a pool deck about 20 feet below.

[+] EnlargeKeith Carmickle

Norm Hall/Getty ImagesKeith Carmickle nearly fell 20 feet headfirst Monday before being caught by his friend and his brother.

Chasing a home run hit by Milwaukee's Prince Fielder, Carmickle was saved from a long fall when his brother and a friend grabbed him around the legs and arms, then pulled him back as he dangled above the deck area behind the pool in right field at Chase Field.

His near miss came the same day as the memorial service for Shannon Stone, a 39-year-old fan who died last Thursday while trying to catch a ball thrown into the stands at a Texas Rangers home game.

"I thought: I've lived a good life," Carmickle said about dangling.

Seated in a small section of seats above the right-field fence, Carmickle, of Kingman, and his group had already grabbed home-run balls by Robinson Cano and Adrian Gonzalez and were looking to add another to their collection when Fielder came up in the second round of the derby.

Trying to snare a towering shot by Fielder, Carmickle stepped up onto a metal table about 18 inches wide and reached down to catch the ball. It hit a wall several feet below Carmickle. His momentum carried him forward, headfirst over a short railing at the back of the table.

Carmickle was headed for a hard landing when his friend, Aaron Nelson, grabbed his legs and his brother, Kraig, grabbed him around the arms. Carmickle dangled briefly over a deck where a couple of cameras were positioned behind Chase Field's pool before being pulled back up to his seat as the crowd above and below gasped.

"He tried to catch it, I grabbed his legs and his brother grabbed his arms," said Nelson, who, along with Kraig Carmickle, is from Chandler. "So when he went over the ledge, we pulled him back. He wasn't going down, I was holding on."

The Carmickles and Nelson gathered themselves after the near fall and let out a few shouts before breaking into high-fives. They relived the moment with a few of the fans around them, then again as they looked at photos taken by an Arizona Republic photographer, who had shots from behind of Carmickle on the table, then falling.

The trio spoke with security personnel a few minutes later and were allowed to remain in the game, with Carmickle putting his arm around a security guard who told him to be careful before he walked back to his seat.

"I stepped up on the table, I missed the ball by 2 or 3 feet and went over," he said. "We caught three balls and I told the guys I was going to go for the cycle. Dude, they were really holding onto me."

Fielder didn't notice the close call and continued his turn in the derby.

"I didn't see it," he said. "We don't need any of that."

Seriously...people are just idiotic

[gunnar hendershow]

Jeter really should have picked a better reason to describe missing the ASG besides "I'm tired." Saying he just got off the DL and doesn't want to put too much strain on himself yet sounds a lot better. Heard some soundbites from Cal today on 105.7 where he said that any everday player gets fatigued and picks up some knocks, and that he never considered skipping an All-Star Game for those reasons.

It's a different era now though, to be fair, and guys seem less and less enthusiastic about a glorified exhibition game every year.

[Ananas]

He already had a good reason that he chose not to use... "I haven't been an All-Star for 2 years."

[sahyder1]

Here is the idiot who almost got himself killed last night. Credit to ' class="bbc_url">@chinny

for the pic.

This photo is from the AP.

On the topic of All-Star game pullouts they should put in a mini DL. If you're named to the all-star game and you skip the game you should miss the first series back. Even SPs who won't pitch in the game because they pitched on Sunday should still show up. I was going to say let the commish have the power to make special exceptions but Selig made a ridiculous statement today that if he was Jeter he would have skipped the game too. This is the commissioner of the league making this comment.

Players who skip the game should also not get the bonus. The fact that guys like Jeter will be getting All-Star bonuses despite not showing up is a joke.

Edited July 12, 2011 by sahyder1