Whoever said vacations were a time away from the daily grind hadn’t any idea what they were talking about. The festivities surrounding America's Midsummer Classic is anything but a break from the norm.
Back in 2003, Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig gave the game significance, as the winning league would gain home-field advantage in the World Series from there on out.
Along with interleague play, making the All-Star Game worthwhile is Selig's crowning achievement. He has helped restored the pride past players had for the game.
Both changes in policy were much maligned and are debated by purists still today, but it has helped speak to the MLB’s parity.
For most of my natural-born life, the American League has whooped its counterparts. It rattled off 12 straight wins until its National League foes won the first of three straight in 2010. Save, that is, the 2002 atrocity where the game was ruled a tie when both teams ran out of players.
Some say the ASG is worthless, and that being named to the game used to mean something. Players wanted to represent their teams and leagues.
Current players lost sight of that, opting to take the short reprieve rather than board another flight to another faraway city.
One particular dust-up occurred when N.L. manager Tony LaRussa made Cincinnati Reds ace Johnny Cueto an ASG “snub” this season. It can be debated as a misunderstanding of the rules (a player pitching on the following Sunday cannot pitch in the game, which was amended) or revenge for the deep-seeded ill will between LaRussa and Reds skipper Dusty Baker, and Cueto's part in the altercation two seasons ago.
Whether those situations are behind LaRussa's reasoning for snubbing Cueto is to be seen. Point is, Cueto was upset for not being included, telling me that he has the desire to be there and represent his team and his league.
Lift-off
Fans and viewers were treated to the raw power of hefty Detroit Tigers slugger Prince Fielder propelling cowhide spheres absurd distances in this year's installment of the Home Run Derby Monday night. Fielder became the event’s second multiple-time winner. Only Ken Griffey Jr. has walked away victorious more often — he won three titles in the 1990s.
George Brett's cameo appearance in the derby was odd, but got the crowd going, given he is Kansas City royalty. And who doesn’t like ESPN baseball analyst John Kruk goofing around and eating some barbecue during the whole Brett interview on the set?
The Midsummer Classic festivities went off as a great success.
Really?!?
United States women's soccer goalkeeper Hope Solo was warned that she tested positive for a banned substance Monday, but remains eligible for the 2012 London Olympics.
The United States Anti-Doping Agency has this backward.
How can it issue a free pass to Solo? She is, to my knowledge, not linked to anything prior, but if you are going to go after Lance Armstrong, who has undergone the strictest testing in sports today and never failed a test, how does one make that case stand up?
You either catch them all or catch none. No special exemptions.
nr225008@ohiou.edu
