The night featured a pre-game ceremony honoring Willie Mays, one of the greatest players in history, who had some spectacular All-Star Game moments of his own. This was ironic because, late in the game, one of the modern game's greatest players was sitting in the dugout during the NL's 9th inning rally. I'm not an Albert Pujols or Cardinals fan at all, but when you sit him on the bench when you're down by a run with men on base... well, it kinda' ruins the whole "this one counts" myth, no?

When needing to rally, would any manager honestly send Orlando Hudson and Aaron Rowand to the plate above Pujols? No offense to those two guys, but they're not Pujols. Tony LaRussa can justify this all he wants, saying he wanted to hold Pujols back in reserve in the event of an extra-inning tie, but it's still a rip-off. If this game truly was important, Pujols would've been out there. You would expect that to be the case in just about any game that "counts". There's nothing wrong with emptying the bench early when you have a good chance to win the game. Nope... nothing wrong with it all. Just ask Don Baylor, Lance Painter and the 1995 Rockies.

On the broadcast side, I've had a wonderful year free of Tim McCarver. It's always painful when he's brought it as a color commentator, but like going for a prostate exam, it's a once a year thing. You can stand the pain that often (actually--I'm not sure, having never been to see Mr. JellyGlove, yet). McCarver's now showing signs of aging. His voice was noticeable gravelly, so I hope that factor is picked up by network-types and it leads to less exposure for him.

Another Great Moment in McCarver Ignorance occurred late in the game, when he tried to act concerned over Freddy Sanchez at third base. "This is unfamiliar territory for him, since he usually plays second". Partner Joe Buck quickly (and politely) covered up for him by saying that Sanchez had primarily played third until this year, when the Pirates moved him to second. Also, earlier in the game during an interview, Tony LaRussa had mentioned Sanchez's infield versatility. So McCarver apparently read the All-Star roster and noted the positions, without performing any coherent thought over the names listed. Gee, what a shocker.

Finally, after two days of hyperbole, coverage and exactly ZERO homeruns in Willie McCovey Cove, I'm guessing it'll be awhile before another correspondent is stationed out there in a kayak.

But I'll give Eric Byrnes credit. Sitting in a kayak with my dog and hoping to catch homerun balls outside the All-Star Game has been added to my List of Fantasy Crap I'd Give My Left Nut to Do. Wouldn't appeal to me unless all those factors were present. Catching a home run ball? Ehhh. Kayaking? Ehh. But kayaking with my DOG and trying to catch homerun balls at the All-Star Game? That's freakin' outstanding.

Vote once, vote often
The All-Star rosters themselves didn't hold any objections for me. I thought it was a good selection of players who have performed well this year, even with the "one from every team" and roster restrictions. Tom Gorzellany or Xavier Nady should've been the Pirates' representative, but Gorzo made the "final vote" crew and Nady was excluded simply due to the overload of talented outfielders in the NL. The "make-up selection" for the Pirates was Freddy Sanchez and he was actually a good third choice. While Freddy hasn't been near his 2006 hitting form this year, his selction was more of a concession to winning the batting title. No real problem with that.

I was surpirsed that San Diego's Adrian Gonzalez didn't make it. He also plays at a well-stocked position (1B) and while he was red hot earlier this year, it appears that he's caught "Chris Shelton Disease". A case where a guy destroys pitching in April and May, then comes back down to terra firma by mid-June and is almost forgotten by season's end.

The clowns on Baseball Tonight wanted Sammy Sosa on the roster, simply because he hit #600 this year. Bullshit. Outfield/DH is another crowded spot and there at least 10 OF/DH's in the AL who are having better years than Sammy So-so and his sparkling .251 average. But, but.. the fans were robbed of the opportunity of seeing some clown use a corked bat at batting practice. Remember, he does that "for the fans".

I didn't cast a single All-Star vote this year, either at the park or online. I saved all my clicks for that "final fan voting" gimmick. I went and picked Roy Halladay and Tom Gorzelanny. Gorzo because he's a Bucco and Halladay because he believes I went to the same high school as him. Cheap auotgraph hound story: I was in a crowd at BlueJays' camp in Dunedin in March 2004 and got Halladay to sign a ball for me when I hollered: "hey Roy! I went to Arvada West, too!"

Protest the Pirates.... or not...maybe... or don't go at all. If it's conveinent.
In the last week of June, the Pittsburgh Pirate fans organized a "protest" and planned to walk out of a home game in the third inning. Problem was, it appeared that maybe 300 people held to the idea. The rest stuck around because the Pirates were winning at the time and it looked like it might be a good game. Congratulations, Pittsburgh fans, you are officially Baseball Fans. Afraid to walk out on your team because there's a chance something good might happen. That's the Baseball Fan Curse.

The actual protest itself sounded laughable. I'd call it the Great Bathroom Break of 2007. It had nice instructions. "Leave in the third... just for a little bit. You can go back sooner if you want. Or leave the game completely. Or don't go at all. Or stay".

Typical Pirates. Even the negative stuff can't go as planned.

Outside of criminal behavior, I can't really see a good way to protest a team. Maybe hold a mass bobblehead burning at the next giveaway (gasp! Nooo! Not my bobblehead!!) Or get everybody to go to the game and moon the team in the third inning.

But before it happened, the "protest" was successful on some levels. It drew national attention to the floundering Bucs franchise, on the brink of their 15th consecutive losing season. Of course, two weeks later it's forgotten by everyone outside of Western Pennsyltucky, but take the small victories. The Rocky Mountain News-- a fishwrap in the worst baseball town in the US-- ran a story about the planned Pirates protest. I honestly believe that the last time they ran anything outside of a box score on the Bucs was when Dave Clark crashed into Jacob Brumfield, circa 1995. So, yay for that (the protest. Not Clark and Brumfield)

Fire in the Hole
I caught the first part of "The Bronx is Burning" on ESPN and liked it. If anything, it's better than Spike Lee's "Summer of Sam", which means no screaming, no John LeguiDoucheBag and, most importantly, no nekkid Adrian Brody.

Problem with "Bronx" is that it seems to be way too eccentric. Almost to the point of parody. All the New Yorkers have the thickest accents I've heard. Oliver Platt plays Geroge Steinbrenner like an extra on a sitcom. Thurman Munson looks like Roy Munson ("Kingpin"). Reggie Jackson's afro wig looks like an advertisement for your local carpet warehouse.

Worst, John Turuturro was apparently given ear implants to make his ears resemble Billy Martin's. It's distracting, because in every scene he's in, you can't help but stare at the EARS-- he looks more like a sci-fi character, or one of the little goat-guys from "Chronicles of Narnia"

ESPN is including little "back story" pieces at the end of each episode. This week's dealt with the controversial "straw that stirs the drink" interview between Reggie Jackson and Roy Ward from Sport Magazine. Includes modern interviews from each side. I'm guessing these snippets will be included on the eventual DVD release. With "LOST", "The Office", "My Name is Earl" and "Battlestar Galactica" in between seasons, I plan to follow this series for the next few weeks. A summer full of watching nothing but baseball and old wrestling shows can distort your viewing habits. I mean, I didn't realize how much I had missed my serialized "normal" TV shows.

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