I had a piece written up for the Home Run Derby last night, but I plain forgot to post it. No big loss, though. It wasn’t a masterpiece by any stretch. What is more regrettable is that I managed to miss but all the last round last night because I just plumb forgot it was on. I really can’t believe I did that, because I had been pretty excited to watch it all day. I honestly can’t remember the last time I missed it. That is not going to happen tonight. My schedule is set. I’m posting this eating a little dinner,* doing my workout, and then settling in for the game. *For those who don’t know (which is probably about everybody), I’m getting serious about dropping weight again. I was down almost six pounds before having a bad day yesterday. I’m shooting for losing about 25 or 30 pounds. So, yeah, dinner will be literally small. Now, as for a preview, I do expect it to be close. These things typically are, and they should be. There shouldn’t be that much difference between the cream of the crop from both leagues. Now, granted, there are exceptions. This is still baseball,* anything can happen on any given day. Look at the NL’s 8-0 win last year. More often than not, it’s close, and many times in recent years going into extras. Lots of extras, in some cases, like 2008’s 15 inning affair. I don’t necessarily expect that, but I do expect it to be a one or two run game. *Or sport in general. I also expect the National League to win this. I know, the crappy DH is being used in all All-Star Games now. I get that, and I actually respect the thinking behind this one. I don’t like the DH on principle, but I actually don’t mind it in this one specific instance. Still, history since the 60’s suggests that leagues tend to go on pretty long runs of winning this thing at a time. If you remember a few years ago, you heard so much about the demise of the National League because of their interleague record and decade-plus losing streak in this game. Now the National League has won the last three games (as well as the last three World Series [Giants, Cardinals, Giants] for what it’s worth). Not sure about the interleague record, but I’m sure that’s mostly because I would really rather we just pretend it doesn’t happen. I might break it down player by player, but that seems like a pointless task in a game like this where nobody is going to play the whole game and the starting pitchers are going to go, what, three innings max? Probably more like two? Which is a bit of a shame. Max Scherzer has been on an absolute tear this season, which of course comes after many seasons of me having him on my fantasy team but not playing this year. Matt Harvey has apparently been putting together quite a rookie season, but I couldn’t prove it. I haven’t watched him pitch yet. Or the Mets in general for that matter. But I’ve heard quite a bit about him* and I’m pretty pumped to get a look at him first hand. *I’ve also heard a lot about this video Harvey did for Jimmy Fallon last night. I’m told it’s a riot, but I haven’t been able to watch it yet, either. And, really, that’s supposed to be the fun of these All-Star games. You get to see the best in the game, and ideally, the best that you don’t normally get to see. I wouldn’t be able to watch the Mets all but a handful of times all year. In fact, outside of their home territory, I would probably get to see them more often than most, thanks to this area being shared by two National League teams.* That still comes out to, what, maybe ten games a year? Throw in a couple more if they happen to be on Sunday Night Baseball or something like that? That’s not a lot to go off of in a season as long as baseball. And, you know, there’s a very good chance you won’t get to see a top pitcher like Harvey if the pitching rotation fell just right. This is the one night a year you can pretty well guarantee you’re going to get to see the players that are most interesting,** and that’s still pretty cool, even in this age of MLB.TV and near-universal ESPN. *And the White Sox, but that’s not so helpful in this case. **Except for Yasiel Puig, because, well, I never really understood why. The All-Star game is about rewarding great first halves, and he has absolutely torn it up this half. I don’t understand why being a late rookie call up means he’s not worthy. I’m sure he would have been with the big team from day one if he had the choice. Also, I don’t really understand why Cespedes wasn’t worthy of a spot with the way the A’s are going (again), but I think he made his point pretty clear last night. In any case, I’ll be watching tonight, scorecard in hand. I’m sure you can look for that scan tomorrow. I suppose this is as good a place as any to ask. Does anybody else find my scorecards interesting at all, or is it a vanity project of the highest order? Not saying I’m going to stop posting them, because I still find them interesting, but I’m just curious. Just how dead is the art and appreciation of keeping score? Comments are closed.
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