An All-Star Game of Ups and Downs
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by user Gadzooks
Posted by Erik from thefourthout.blogspot.com
Not a bad time at the ol' Bell last night, eh? The 78th annual All-Star Game had a little bit of everything, when all was said and done. "A little from column A, a little from column B," as a wise old man once told me:
The Good:
Mets hitters: All three position players from the Metropolitans got at least a hit. Carlos Beltran had a screeching triple off the facade in right center, and David Wright went 1-for-3 with no K's. Jose Reyes, meanwhile, was the sparkplug, going 3-for-4 with a steal and holding backup shortstop J.J. Hardy to a lonely walk in the ninth inning rally. If only Willie Randolph had been able to make the trip out west, as originally planned.
Ichiro : How good is this guy? Exactly. And how much does he deserve the almost-$100 million he's about to sign for? Plenty, and probably more. Hitting the first ever All-Star inside-the-park homer is nothing to sneeze at, especially since 165 All-Star homers had come before his one-of-a-kinder. Definitely deserved the MVP — and got it.
The AL streak: Now it hits 10 in a row, all the more important since victory now determines home-field advantage in the World Series. (Does anyone else miss the days when they just alternated every year? At least there was reason to it. Or just do it like every other sport and base it on best regular-season record. No other sport seems to have a problem with it.)
The Bad:
Billy Wagner : While the Mets' position players did their thing, Mr. Sandman did not, allowing Victor Martinez's 2-run bomb to left in the eighth. It proved to be the deciding factor, and it'll be interesting to see how it affects Wagner's psyche in the second half.
Tony La Russa 's managing: Let's see. Would I rather have Aaron Rowand coming up to bat with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth, or Eric Byrnes, who's comfortable playing in the Bay Area and haunts AT&T Park 9-10 times a year as a member of the D-Backs? Poor choice picking Rowand over Byrnes for the last outfielder slot. Where was Byrnes? In McCovey Cove, bored as any of the 300 other maniacs out there in the water.
J.J. Putz : How pissed off are Mariners fans today? Putz – who's been absolutely lights out in the first half – threw 24 pitches, gave up a bomb to Alfonso Soriano in the ninth, and nearly blew the game before Francisco Rodriguez came in and, well, nearly blew it before getting the "save." You have to wonder how he's going to respond going into the second half. What a waste of an effort. Then again, that's how you could describe the Mariners' season, so go fig.
The Ugly:
Barry Bonds : The dude looked like he was going through the motions. Yeah, he hit one to the warning track in left, but otherwise a totally forgettable experience for the hometown kid. Hope he enjoyed his final All-Star appearance ever.
Bud Selig : Boy, SI's Jon Heyman looks kinda dumb now, huh? His exclusive report yesterday morning that Selig would definitely attend Bonds' inevitable record-breaking moment turned out to be erroneous, as ol' Allan H. has not really formally decided yet on what to do. He should be there. Believe me, MLB can afford to spend the frequent flyer miles. His absence at such a moment would only scar the sport further than Bonds' mockery already is.
