National League All Star Game Selection

The National League seems like the dominant league this All Star Game with several producing players at each position. Below are my top two picks for each position. I will also give 2 bonus picks because there is no DH for the National League, but there will be in the All Star Game.

Jonathon Lucroy

Catcher:
Jonathon Lucroy - Milwaukee Brewers - .325/.394/.483
Yadier Molina - St. Louis Cardinals - .305/.349/.442

First Base:
Paul Goldschmitt - Arizona Diamondbacks - .299/.354/.521
Matt Adams - St. Louis Cardinals - .325/.337/.474

Second Base:

Troy Tulowitzki

Chase Utley - Philadelphia Phillies - .319/.378/.517
Dee Gordon - Los Angeles Dodgers .280/.331/.372

Third Base:
David Wright - New York Mets .296/.345/.403
Nolan Arenado - Colorado Rockies .305/.333/.409

Shortstop:
Troy Tulowitzki - Colorado Rockies .350/.450/.661
Hanley Ramirez - Los Angeles Dodgers .261/.336/.469

Outfield 1:
Giancarlo Stanton - Miami Marlins  .313/.411/.611

Andrew McCutchen

Carlos Gomez - Miluakee Brewers .312/.388/.566

Outfield 2:
Yasiel Puig - Los Angeles Dodgers .340/.430/.606
Justin Upton - Atlanta Braves - .301/.380/.575

Outfield 3:
Andrew McCutchen - Pittsburgh Pirates .304/.425/.469
Seth Smith - San Diego Padres .310/.419/.548

Bonus Players:
Michael Morse - San Francisco Giants .298/.371/.574
Freddie Freeman - Atlanta Braves .297/.388/.512

The pitchers will be chosen by St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Matheny because they won the National League Pennant. These are my picks for the pitchers.

Johnny Cueto 

Starting Pitchers:
Johnny Cueto - Cincinnati Reds - 1.68 ERA 92 k
Tim Hudson - San Francisco Giants 1.75 ERA 50 k
Julio Teheran - Atlanta Braves 1.83 ERA 66 k
Adam Wainwright - St. Louis Cardinals 2.32 ERA 81 k
Zack Greinke - Los Angeles Dodgers 2.50 ERA 83 k
Micheal Wacha - St Louis Cardinals 2.45 ERA 75 k
Jeff Samardjiza - Chicago Cubs 2.54 ERA 67 k
Clayton Kershaw - Los Angeles Dodgers 3.32 ERA 55 k
Stephen Strasburg - Washington Nationals 3.15 90

Relief Pitchers:

Huston Street

Kenley Jansen - Los Angeles Dodgers 3.60 ERA 42 k
Francisco Rodriguez Milwaukee Brewers 2.33 ERA 41 k
Sergio Romo - San Francisco Giants 3.52 ERA 19 k
Huston Street - San Diego Padres 1.23 ERA 24 k
Craig Kimbrel - Atlanta Braves 1.77 ERA 37 k
Jonathon Papelbon - Philadelphia Phillies 1.91 ERA 19 k
Aroldis Chapman - Cincinnati
Reds 1.80 ERA 18 k

American League All Star Game Selection

The All Star Game has become kind of a popularity contest allowing people to vote up to thirty times online. I think you should have one vote and vote for those who deserve to be in the game. The All Star Game is very important because the league that wins will have home field advantage in the World Series. People should vote for the best players in the league of their favorite teams. This way if their favorite team that team would have home field advantage. Below are my top two selections for each position in each league.

Joe Mauer is not performing well but should be picked to be in the All Star Game because it is in Minnesota this season. Also although Derek
Jeter leads the voting for AL shortstop, he is not playing very well, but this is his last season and should also be selected.

Robinson Cano

American League:

Catcher:
AJ Pierzynski - Boston Red Sox - .288/.317/.417
Kurt Suzuki - Minnesota Twins - .297/.
367/.399

First Base:
Edwin Encarnacion - Toronto Blue Jays - .279/.359/.615
Miguel Cabrera - Detroit Tigers - .325/.370/.558

Second Base: 

Robinson Cano - Seattle Mariners - .327/.371/.420 

Jose Altuve - Houston Astros - .318/.360/.429

Third Base: 

Josh Donaldson - Oakland Athletics - .284/.377/.550

Yangervis Solarte - New York Yankees - .294/.363/.458

Short Stop

Alexei Ramirez - Chicago White Sox - .327/.364/.477 

Derek Jeter - New York Yankees - .273/.337/.326

Outfield 1: 

Mike Trout - Los Angeles Angels - .294/.380/.549

Jose Bautista - Toronta Blue Jays .311/.441/.558

Outfield 2: 

Nelson Cruz

Michael Brantly - Cleveland Indians - .307/.370/.505

Shin-Soo Choo - Texas Rangers -.289/.414/.456

Outfield 3:

George Springer - Houston Astros .259/.444/.500 

Melky Cabrera - Toronto Blue Jays .308/.351/.497

Designated Hitter: 

Nelson Cruz - Baltimore Orioles - .314/.384/.672

Victor Martinez - Detroit Tigers -  .335/.390/.395

Fans do not get to choose the starting pitchers. That responsibility is given to the manager of each team. Usually the manager gives players on his team the benefit of the doubt and selects them to the All Star Game. 

Masahiro Tanaka and Yu Darvish

Starting Pitchers:

Masahiro Tanaka - New York Yankees - 2.06 ERA 88 k

Yu Darvish - Texas Rangers - 2.08 ERA 83 k

Mark Buehrle - Toronto Blue Jays - 2.10 ERA 46 k

Felix Hernandez - Seattle Mariners - 2.57 ERA 83 k

Sonny Grey - Oakland Athletics - 2.45 ERA 65 k 

James Shields - Kansas City Royals - 3.36 69 k

Relief Pitchers: 

Greg Holland - Kansas City Royals - 1.74 ERA 30 k 

Glen Perkins - Minnesota Twins  2.96 ERA 33 k

Koji Uehara - Boston Red Sox 0.76 ERA 34 k

Dellin Betances - New York Yankees 1.38 56 K

Sean Doolittle - Oakland Athletics 2.77 ERA 38 k

If you would like to cast your vote for the All Star Game follow this link. Vote Here. Remember to vote responsibly, this may make or break your favorite team. 

The All Star Break

The Home Run Derby was just shy of amazing. Yoenis Cespedes put on a show by blasting 17 home runs in the first round and eventually winning the entire competition. My pick Bryce Harper was the runner up with a total of 24 home runs, conveniently 8 in each round.

The All Star Game itself was all American League. The AL pitching combined to pitch a shutout and the offense scored 3 runs. Two runs came off of Diamondback's starter Patrick Corbin and the third off of Braves' closer Craig Kimbrel.

The highlight of the night was the entrance of Mariano Rivera to his final all star appearance. Every player, umpire, coach, and crew member cleare
d the field and Rivera walked into to the hymns of Enter Sandman all by himself. The ovation was electrifying, loud, and actually a quite touching. The respect the fans, the players, and everyone for that matter have for Rivera is just amazing. He pitched a perfect 8th inning and helped the American League secure home field advantage in the World Series: Somewhere he also wishes to have another ovation.

Robinson Cano was hit on the knee by Matt Harvey in his first at bat. It was of course an accident, but something the Yankees cannot afford. Cano tried to stay in the game, but was taken out before the end of the top of the first. Tests came back negative and reports are that Cano will play in the game against the Red Sox Friday night.

My first half awards:

American League MVP: Miguel Cabrera
American League Cy Young Award: Felix Hernandez
American League Rookie of the Year: Jose Iglesias

National League MVP: Yadier Molina
National League Cy Young Award: Clayton Kershaw
National League Rookie of the Year: Yasiel Puig

There are
also reports that the Texas Rangers are on the verge of acquiring Matt Garza

Baseball in the Big Citi

The All Star Game is next week and this year it will be held at my home. New York City. Its been 5 years since the All Star Game was held it Yankee Stadium, this time the venue will be at the Mets' Citi Field.

Bryce "The Warrior" Harper and Chris "Crush" Davis

First the Home Run Derby will take place Monday, but Citi Field doesn't yield many home runs, so they will have to be blasted. The participants for the National League: David Wright, Carlos Gonzalez, Michael Cuddyer, and Bryce Harper. For the American League: Robinson Cano, Prince Fielder, Chris Davis, and Yoennis Cespedes. I predict Harper will win the Home Run Derby at Citi Field.

I know I'm not the only one hoping Gonzalez's injury will sideline him from the All Star Game and Giancarlo Stanton will have to be added to the Home Run Derby. That guy will hit them all the way to Brooklyn.

The actual All Star Game will be exciting as well. Matt Harvey will probably get the start for the National League, because it's his home ballpark, although Clayton Kershaw clearly deser
ves the start purely based on statistics. For the American League, I think Jim Leyland may go Felix Hernandez to start the game, and it almost certain Mariano Rivera will be pitching at some point. I predict the American League will win the All Star Game this year.

First time All Star Patrick Corbin will be returning to his home state and will be fun to watch pitch, for he has dominated the Major League this season. Manny Machado has been ripping doubles left and right and he is on track to break the record for most doubles in a single season. Marlins starter Jose Fernandez also made the roster for his stellar first half and is a huge promise for the future of their organization.

You can view the rest of the roster here http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20130706&content_id=52391804&c_id=mlb

But there were some huge All Star Game Snubs. Grant Balfour, Evan Longoria, Matt Carpenter, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Mike Leake.

Vote in the poll for who you think was the biggest All Star Game snub.








Dont Forget to submit your vote for All Star Game Final vote. Vote Puig! and Vote Robertson!

2013 Schedules

In 2013 the Astros will move to the American League West. That made some difficulty in the schedules. Now there are 15 teams in each league and 5 teams in each division. Think about it... 15 teams in one league and they each have to play each other, that means one team is not playing. So scheduled inter league games are unavoidable throughout the whole season. For example The Yankees play The Diamond Backs April 16-18 and The Giants September 20-22.

With the new schedule a team will play 76 games against their own division (19 games against each rival), 66 games against other teams in their league, and 20 inter league games.

The schedule makes division races more intense, while allowing fans to see other teams in the MLB. The schedule works out nicely and 2013 looks like a promising season. To see your team's schedule for 2013 click HERE.

The 2013 All Star Game will be at the home of the New York Mets, Citi Field.

Memorable Moments From the 2012 All Star Game

Chipper Jones started the game with an unprepared speech to the National League All Stars. He stated that no matter how well, how bad, how old, or how young just enjoy the game because you deserve to be there. The future Hall of Fame candidate also said this is his last All Star Game and he is not going to lose.

In the first inning the National League pounded Justin Verlander and put 5 runs on the board. The big blow came off of a bases clearing triple by Pablo Sandoval. The irony is many people said David Wright deserved the start instead of Sandoval. 3 triples total were hit by the National League, one by Sandoval, Furcal, and Braun.

Melky Cabrera hit the only home run of the game and earned him the MVP of the game. It was just another thing to add on to an already great season.

Chipper Jones had one at bat in the game and was able to make the most out of his at bat. He got a single through the 3.5 hole. His final All Star Game was worth it. His speech probably made a big impact on the players and they won this game for him.

The final score was 8-0 in favor of the National League. The National League team in the World Series will now have home field advantage. This is also the third consecutive year the National League has won the All Star Game.

All Star Break

Prince Fielder won the Home Run Derby last night and 615 thousand dollars was donated to charity. Today the All Star Game will get going at 8 PM EST and will be able to be viewed on FOX. We are at the non official half way point of the season, so who would win the awards as of now?

American League

MVP:

Josh Hamilton: 27 HR, .308 AVG, .380 OBP, 75 RBI. Hamilton has carried the Rangers in first place the entire season.

Cy Young:


Jered Weaver: 10 Wins, 1.98 ERA, 73 K, 96.2 IP, .900 WHIP. Weaver missed some time with an injury, but has still been able to give the Angels phenomenal performances every fifth day. 


Rookie of the Year: 


Mike Trout: 12 HR, .341 AVG, .397 OBP, 40 RBI, 26 SB. Trout has surprised many by how great he has been. His tremendous fielding, speed and power are all indications of the great player he will be in years to come. 


National League: 


MVP:


Andrew McCutchen: 18 HR, .362 AVG, .412 OBP, 60 RBI. McCutchen is the main reason why the Pirates are in first place. 


Cy Young: 


RA Dickey: 12 Wins, 2.40 ERA, 123 K, 120.0 IP, .933 WHIP. Dickey has been the story of 2012, tossing back to back 1 hitters just topped it off. 


Rookie of the Year: 


Bryce Harper: 8 HR, .282 AVG, .354 OBP, 25 RBI, 10 SB. Harper is a 19 year old sensation that everyone loves to watch. 

All Star Snubs

Every year there are a few players that really deserved to make the all star team, but don't. This year it is the same. Fans continue to elect the players on their favorite team rather than selecting the best players. Some of the blame can be placed on the managers of the All Star Game. The managers of the two teams who made it to the World Series the previous year get to manage the All Star Game and get to select the pitchers and reserve players.

Johnny Cueto

The biggest All Star Game snub is Johnny Cueto. The manager of the All Star Game for the National League this year is Tony LaRussa. LaRussa managed the Cardinals in 2011, but the Cardinals and the Reds had some turmoil in years previous to 2012; one incedent including a bench clearing brawl. Cueto is on the Reds and wasn't selected by LaRussa to pitch, but yet Lance Lynn was selected, and 'coincidentally Lynn is on the Cardinals. Lynn is 10-4 with a 3.62 ERA over 97 innings pitched. Cueto is 9-5 with a 2.35 ERA over 114 innings pitched. It is without a question that Cueto is the better pitcher of the two, but will not be in the 2012 All Star Game.

 The fans did a terrible job of selecting the players. Ryan Braun, Carlos Gonzalez, and Andrew McCutchen weren't selected by the fans, but the injured Matt Kemp did. Also Dan Uggla made it to the All Star Game batting .230 with 11 home runs. I would rather have the defense of Brandon Phillips who is hitting .283 with 10 home runs.

The thing that made me the most disappointing in the selections by the fans was Pablo Sandoval over David Wright. Wright is playing a gold glove third base and hitting .351. Sandoval is no where as good defensively and is hitting 49 batting average points lower at .302.

The voting for the American League and Ron Washington did a pretty good job putting together their team. A few players had the stats to make it, but there are other players were just a little better. You also have to remember that every team needs to have a representative. Edwin Encarnacion could have easily been chosen over Billy Butler, but the Royals didn't have a representative.