MLB All-Star break news and notes

MLB all-star break is here and the lineups for the 78-Th mid summer classic looks pretty good. The story of the first half to me are the Milwaukee Brewers. They are leading the NL central by a healthy 4.5 games with the World champs Cards a good 9.5 games behind. They are 49-39 and are just half a game behind the Padres for the best record in the NL. Their first baseman Prince Fielder is fast becoming one of the best young sluggers in the league. He is a legit MVP candidate of the first half with 29 home-runs, 70 RBIs. Lets see how they finish with the Cubs hot on their heels.

There was a lot of chatter about Barry Bonds missing the home run derby. I think it is one of the biggest waste of time. The event itself is played and tired - may be the only event thats even more played than the NBA's dunk contest. At least the dunk contest is surrounded by a couple of other events like the 3-point shooting contest and the whole setup with Barkley and the TNT crew and their discussions and ranking of the dunks make it marginally interesting. But what's even worse than talking about the home run derby is all this discussion about Bonds missing it. Who cares? It's his call and to be fair to him or any other guy who wanted to miss it, it can't be easy swinging like a wind-mill at 40/50 pitches. I think it takes a whole lot out of these guys, especially a 43 year old guy like Barry. I understand it's still 100 times easier than working for a living, but if you think from their perspective, it's a lot of effort and strain on their body and for what? Giants owner Peter McGowan's criticism of Bonds for missing the derby got a lot of national attention too. Whatever.

As for the derby itself, Vlad Guerrero won it with 17 total homers. His monster shot that went 503 feet was a beauty. I can't believe how violent this guy's swing is. That can't be good for his back. He had a huge entourage cheering for him, which looked a little amusing. I like the starters for the all-star game. Being an A's fan in AL and the D'Backs in the NL, I would have liked a Dan Haren - Brandon Webb match-up, but I will take a Dan Haren (10-3, 2.30 ERA) - Jake Peavy (9-3, 2.19 ERA) face-off. Those are some sick ERAs. Peavy is all the way back after a miserable, injury plagued year. The AL lineup is just ridiculous. This is their 1 through 6. Suzuki, Jeter, David Ortiz, A-Rod, Vlad and Magglio Ordonez. Talk about a murderer's row.
MLB All-Star break news and notes

MLB all-star break is here and the lineups for the 78-Th mid summer classic looks pretty good. The story of the first half to me are the Milwaukee Brewers. They are leading the NL central by a healthy 4.5 games with the World champs Cards a good 9.5 games behind. They are 49-39 and are just half a game behind the Padres for the best record in the NL. Their first baseman Prince Fielder is fast becoming one of the best young sluggers in the league. He is a legit MVP candidate of the first half with 29 home-runs, 70 RBIs. Lets see how they finish with the Cubs hot on their heels.

There was a lot of chatter about Barry Bonds missing the home run derby. I think it is one of the biggest waste of time. The event itself is played and tired - may be the only event thats even more played than the NBA's dunk contest. At least the dunk contest is surrounded by a couple of other events like the 3-point shooting contest and the whole setup with Barkley and the TNT crew and their discussions and ranking of the dunks make it marginally interesting. But what's even worse than talking about the home run derby is all this discussion about Bonds missing it. Who cares? It's his call and to be fair to him or any other guy who wanted to miss it, it can't be easy swinging like a wind-mill at 40/50 pitches. I think it takes a whole lot out of these guys, especially a 43 year old guy like Barry. I understand it's still 100 times easier than working for a living, but if you think from their perspective, it's a lot of effort and strain on their body and for what? Giants owner Peter McGowan's criticism of Bonds for missing the derby got a lot of national attention too. Whatever.

As for the derby itself, Vlad Guerrero won it with 17 total homers. His monster shot that went 503 feet was a beauty. I can't believe how violent this guy's swing is. That can't be good for his back. He had a huge entourage cheering for him, which looked a little amusing. I like the starters for the all-star game. Being an A's fan in AL and the D'Backs in the NL, I would have liked a Dan Haren - Brandon Webb match-up, but I will take a Dan Haren (10-3, 2.30 ERA) - Jake Peavy (9-3, 2.19 ERA) face-off. Those are some sick ERAs. Peavy is all the way back after a miserable, injury plagued year. The AL lineup is just ridiculous. This is their 1 through 6. Suzuki, Jeter, David Ortiz, A-Rod, Vlad and Magglio Ordonez. Talk about a murderer's row.