Verlander had another one of those games where he pitched well but gave up 3 bombs and lost. He leads the AL with 26 HR's given up.
Hall of Famers Robin Roberts and Don Sutton gave up a lot of HRs. When you throw a lot of strikes, you give up a lot of HRs...
Glad to see Max Muncy made the All-Star team. That gives us five. The only deserving player who missed out was Alex Verdugo and he's a rookie. More amazing stats about Bellinger: - Only two players in MLB history under the age of 24 have put up these numbers: Cody Bellinger and Willie Mays. - Only ONE player of ANY age has put up similar stats: Babe Ruth (1921).
Speaking of trades, Astros prize rookie Yordan Alvarez was acquired from the Dodgers for Josh Fields... Who I think is out of baseball.
The Dodgers have a ton of guys in the bushes that would be the prized rookie of any team they played for even the Yankees.
Allan Ashby thinks Jake Marisnick will (should) be suspended. Houston view of the play. I'll wait for Sid to watch the replay.
I watched several times from several different angles. The C clearly did not block the runner's path to the plate, giving the runner a clear path on the outside. While I don't believe the runner intended to crash into the C, I don't understand his instantaneous decision to go to the inside. He must have thought the C's momentum would carry him to the outside, which didn't happen, giving the play the appearance of an intentional collision by the runner. If you watch the play in slow motion, you see the runner's left foot clearly out of the base path. IMO, there are two ways it's a clear violation of the rule, the basis for the "out" call and the fact that the runner initiated the contact, whether accidental or not. In hindsight, the runner should have taken the outside path to beat the tag. While I don't believe it was intentional, I wouldn't argue with a suspension.
Well it's Justin Verlander to start for the AL and the Dodgers Hyun-Jin Ryu. I saw where they are going to try an innovation should the game go into extra innings. The teams will get an automatic runner at 2nd base in the 10th.
At the All-Star break, the gap between the 1st and last place teams in the NLC is less than between the first and second place teams in all the other divisions. The Athletic writers chose a NLC All-Star team, which I'd put up against anyone. The Reds no longer are the pushovers of the recent past, and the Pirates won series vs. both the Cubs and Brewers before the break. AJ's Cardinals are lurking close behind the Cubs and Brewers. It will be a heavyweight fight card the rest of the way for the NLC.
Well the Astros can attest to the vigor of the NLC, having lost a road series at Cincy and then the Pirates came to Minute Maid and took a home series. I see that Justin Verlander threw down the gauntlet at MLB and the Juiced Baseball. The HR numbers this year are just astounding, and he says it's all because MLB owns the company that makes the balls and has purposely juiced them to get a lot of offense into the game. Hard not to mention that he leads MLB in home runs given up.
At game's end, the winners IMO: a tie between the MLB commercials and the Indians All-Stars' tribute to Carlos Carrasco. -I just want to play.......took me back in my mind to when I was 17 years old. -Francisco Lindor........Owns Cleveland and the best smile in baseball. I've become a fan. I couldn't figure why in the pregame they snubbed the 3rd candidate for NL MVP, Josh Bell (similar stats, double-digit RBI lead). It became clear when later they aired the commercial featuring Yelich and Bellinger. Good commercial, similar to the old Larry Bird/Michael Jordan commercials. For the most part, the AL SPs ruled the night.
Saw an article online about a possible strike over the next CBA. Main gripe seems to be compensation of course. Players are restricted when they come into the league in terms of salary, one player put that you are underpaid as a young player and over paid as an older player. But that it's changed and now younger players are still underpaid but clubs are unwilling now to pay players in their 30's, they let them go rather than pay them. So they feel it's underpaid on the way in and underpaid on the way out. I know the Astros have worked the system so that they get an extra year of control on their top young players. MLB players are furious, willing to strike over economic system: 'We're all united'
I say good luck to the players. But before you strike take a look at all those empty seats around both leagues. Read the comments about the dis-satisfaction among many purists about the possibility of juiced baseballs, about the disdain for the shift, the home run derby feel of the game, the lack of starting pitching, the length of the games. Consider that many time honored milestones will likely never be reached again; 25 wins by a pitcher in a season with 20 coming maybe once or twice a year, 300 in a career, 75+ stolen bases in a season, even a dozen complete games in a season. You are more likely to see a hitter achieve a golden or even platinum sombrero or pitcher give up 50-60 home runs in a season. Think about those achievements that have become things of the past but kept fan interest at high level through a long season before you hijack what's left of the game over money.