This is the time of year where I post my annual rant about the All-Star selections and how horrible they are: not this year. With the singular exception of KC stuffing the ballot box with outfielders I've never heard of, all the rest of the selections look OK. Fans, players, and managers made all the picks and they look good to me.
All-Star game means something for only 2 reasons. 1) Players sometimes get bonuses for being selected an All-Star, and 2) the winner gets the Host for the World Series. #1 I'm ok with, #2 I have never liked.
The reason we have #2 is because they destroyed the mystique of the game when they went to interleague play. Never liked that move.
:idea: I'm against everything: designated hitter, interleague play, lower mound, All-Star game determines WS host, fan voting, and my #1 most hated baseball activity............ HOME RUN DERBY! Why not televise fishing in an aquarium? Bryce Harper refused to participate this year because his DAD wasn't available to pitch to him. Exqueeze me? Why not just hit off a batting tee?
I didn't bother to watch. NBA All-Star game, never watch. Pro Bowl, never watch. MLB All-Star game, stopped watching years ago.
I saw an article on DeadSpin about the reported bat that Pete Rose used that last year going after Ty Cobb. It was custom made and somebody has one of them and had it x-rayed and it's corked. I'm sure everybody has heard of the Cable show called Myth Busters, they attempt to prove or disprove popular myths. According to this article when they tested corked bats to see if the ball did in fact come off hotter, they found that not only did it not come off hotter the opposite actually happens. So MLB players who thought they were gaining advantage, were actually hurting themselves. http://www.discovery.com/tv-shows/mythbusters/mythbusters-database/corked-bat-makes-baseball-fly-farther/
Huskerlad :!: Petey Rose should no more be in the Beisball HOF...then You and I should be in the Skybox HOF!!
Joel, I agree with you re: Pete Rose, but what makes you think that you and AJ would not be candidates for the Skybox HOF? You both would have my vote.
I am torn regarding Pete Rose. I followed him as a kid when he played summer ball for Frisch's Big Boy restaurant in Dayton, Ohio right through to the present. He was blue collar and not very book smart with a strong profane streak in him. First time I talked to him was in his rookie year at a baseball clinic during the All Star break in 1963. I was one of the uniformed Little Leaguers who surrounded him at second base. He used me as prop to show the correct fielding position. The last time was in the Mall in Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas in 2006. He was sitting alone at a card table, selling autographs. I walked up and launched into a recount of the baseball clinic story and he remembered it. I talked to him for at least 15 minutes. He is rougher than a corn cob and probably guilty as charged. He is also the best baseball player I ever saw given the limited physical gifts he posessed . I believe his hit record is as safe as Cy Young's 511 wins. If he played on your team you loved him; if not, you despised him. In a game renowned for cheating and rule bending, he perhaps stands alone. If keeping him out of the HOF somehow convinces us on the outside that the game is somehow sacred then I guess it is a good thing. But anyone who saw him play and who analyzes his accomplishments knows that he takes a backseat to no one currently residing in Cooperstown. https://video-lga1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/h...=0f27e246bba85e6989b226c136cfab89&oe=55A7D3FB
George, that goes without saying. I am sad that I feel the way I do, but he knew the rule about gambling and knew the consequences, so he can't use ignorance as an excuse. From what I've read he was reminded of it every single day by a sign in the clubhouse. On top of everything, it has been revealed that he placed bets while a player, something he has insisted never happened. It comes down to accountability. I can't see why baseball should change its position to accommodate those who seek forgiveness for him. It would open a huge can of worms that IMO would turn the sport upside down. Having said all that, nothing in this topsy-turvy world we live in would surprise me.
I saw his comment when asked about his upcoming meeting with the new commish... "I'll try to be as honest as I can"....certainly implies that there are things he can't reveal or talk about still, or maybe he gets into more govt trouble. Not to mention that even if he is reinstated into baseball, that does not mean he'll get into the HOF. The writers still have the final say there and I don't see him, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, etc ever getting into the HOF ever.
Terry makes a good point. It's possible, not probable IMO, that he could be reinstated partially or fully, allowing him to participate in Reds' activities, similar to the pre-All Star game introduction. I'm not sure this would happen, because to do so would open the door for him to go to the HOF, which, as Terry says, won't happen, but who knows? Why allow even the possibility for it to happen?