All-Star Thoughts

I spent most of my Tuesday night and some of my Wednesday morning watching the All-Star game. The plan was I would tivo the first hour of the game and them watch from the beginning so I could skip all the commercials. By about 1:00am I had burned through all my buffer and I was watching real time. Here are some of my thoughts:

First off, I had quite a few personal rooting interests in this game. I play fantasy baseball with Dave and Nate and this year I have a whopping NINE all-stars on my team. It would have been ten if I had held on to Joe Crede. Despite all that talent, I'm in 9th place in a 10 team league at the break. This leads me to Uggla, my starting second baseman.

Uggla just looked lost out there. He's the only all-star to ever record three errors in the midsummer classic, two of them to start the tenth inning. To be fair that third error really wasn't his fault. The ball took a very wicked hop and he kept it in front of him. I've heard of golfers getting a case of the yips but I've never seen it happen to a ball-player before. I really hope this doesn't put him in the tank for the second half of the season.

Despite Uggla's troubles, there was some spectacular defense in this game. When the AL loaded the bases in the tenth with nobody out the NL, specifically Rockies' pitcher Aaron Cook, managed to get not one but two infield grounders to get the force out at home. Major props to our own Cristian Guzman for one of those outs. Gooz was playing out of position at 3rd base for the first time in his major league career. Also some love for Miguel Tejada who made a great scoop and throw to first to get the final out to end the tenth. Nate McLouth's outfield assist in the 11th was another defensive gem.

I love that both coaches had to empty their benches. I always get a little extra thrill when the guys from my team get in the game and seeing as this is supposed to be for the fans I think everyone should play. The fact that they used every pitcher was even better. Part of me wanted to go to sleep but another part of me wanted to see Evan Longoria come out to pitch the 16th.

Finally, I think the winning league/home field advantage in the World Series result has to be scrapped. It was a nice idea to try and get some impact behind the All-Star Game but it failed miserably. Home field advantage should go to the team with the best record, period. What is arguably the biggest advantage in sports should not be decided by the running ability of the third string catcher in the bottom of the 15th inning.