MLB at the Break: Let's knock some Dingers - Part one
by Dan Salem and Todd Salem (7-08-13)
TODD:
Oy, this is embarrassing.
The 2013 MLB All-Star game rosters were announced over the weekend and they are, to be honest, pretty perfect.
There are so few mistakes it's just picking nits to go through them. Sure Carlos Gomez should be starting. I mean, he leads all of baseball in WAR. But he still made the team. As did your boy Andrew McCutchen and my two shortstops, Everth Cabrera and Jean Segura. And everyone's favorite flash in the pan, Yasiel Puig is going to make it as well. Putting him in the final five fan vote was kind of brilliant. It takes all the pressure off of the manager to select him, while knowing he is still going to make the roster. There isn't a major problem with anything on the entire National League roster.
On the AL side, things look pretty clean as well. The starting lineup is fine, considering the steady decline this past month exhibited by Alex Rios. My only beef comes in the form of the AL outfield reserves. Torii Hunter did not deserve to make this team. Ben Zobrist has been okay this season; same goes for Alex Gordon. I would have much rather seen Jacoby Ellsbury or Brett Gardner or both in a couple of those spots. But if the only thing we can gripe about is the reserves of one position of one league, the rosters are pretty damn excellent. Other than, you know, the fact that the American League final roster spot to vote on is between five middle relievers. How lame is that?
Two important questions come to mind. First, can we go back and edit last week's post to make it seem like we were aiming for a reverse jinx here? By exclaiming where America was going to mess up, we were really just trying to align the baseball gods to give us a great set of teams. Drop the "Mission Accomplished!" banner!
Secondly, which team looks better, i.e. who is going to win this thing?
DAN:
Reverse Jinx baby! It worked and I'm totally taking credit for our tag team reverse fan voting jinx. The fans did a good job! I'm disappointed that neither Ellsbury or Gardner made the team (especially Gardner), but when we only have reserves to complain about you know something got done right. Only having a slew of middle relief pitchers to pick from for the American League final roster spot is a result of the stellar fan voting. David Robertson all the way baby! Puig is our National League guy. He better be. I'm flying the "Mission Accomplished" banner proudly outside my front door.
About the men on the field and who will secure home field advantage for their league come championship time. That honor will belong to the team from the American League.
It's all about pitching baby. Both leagues have stellar offenses to showcase, but the All-Star arms for the AL are kind of amazing. King Felix Hernandez, Yu Darvish, Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer and Clay Buchholz (to name more than a few) handing things over to Mariano Rivera is lights out. Sure, sure, the NL offense will grab a run or three, but this rotation is shut down. Two innings per guy is more than one game, so doing some rudimentary math leads to an American League victory. AL wins five runs to three.
I feel like the All-Star game always falls second fiddle to the real deal derby the night before, the Home Run Derby. I LOVE this event! Its stayed fun and fresh year after year. The NBA should take a page from Major League Baseball to fix its dunk, read stunk, competition. What makes the HR derby so great is each participant is playing for charity. You have one fan per player sitting and cheering their guy on in the hopes of winning a new house. How awesome! They are beyond super fans, with a new home for their family at stake. Add to that the players' kids running around and high fiving their dads after a dinger. The excitement is palpable. Oh, and "Back, back, back" still makes me smile. Can't wait!
Got any requests for Robinson Cano and David Wright? They have yet to pick their teams, which is another tremendous idea in itself.
TODD:
Hold on, let me first disagree with your All-star game pick. I actually think the AL has slightly better bats, but the National League has the loaded starting pitching. You can take those five from the AL; I'd rather have Clayton Kershaw, Matt Harvey, Adam Wainwright, Cliff Lee and Madison Bumgarner. Put it this way, if the managers run this thing like past years where the starters are rotated out by the third inning and they try to play as many guys as possible, the NL is going to win. The only chance the American League has is if Miguel Cabrera, Chris Davis, Trout and some of those other starters play nine innings. The AL reserves are not scoring against that pitching staff. Mark it down.
I'm with you though on the Home Run Derby. It is the main attraction. Just like the NBA, MLB's excitement showcase is the event before the All-Star game. I think the dunk contest is getting a bad rap though. Is it really that bad? 'We've seen every dunk imaginable so dunks get repetitive.' That is the main argument against it. How can anything be more repetitive than a home run derby? It is literally the same thing over and over. And sure they play for charity and they have the specific fan for each guy. That's all well and good. But you missed the biggest draw. The reason people still love the derby but are down on the dunk contest is because the top tier stars still do the derby! The dunk contest is low-name and no-name athletes who won't be ridiculed if they miss. There is no such fear from the Major Leaguers that they might get a goose egg. That's what I like.
Cano has it easy here picking the AL squad. He has to pick Chris Davis and Miguel Cabrera. No-brainers. With his final slot, I'd personally love to see Jose Bautista. Wright does not have it so easy. The NL field is wide open. At the moment, the top guys in the NL in home runs are Carlos Gonzalez (24), Dominic Brown (23), and Pedro Alvarez (22). None of those guys tip my interest all that much. Here's the trio I would personally like to see: Bryce Harper, Joey Votto and...Yasiel Puig! Sure, I didn't want him on my starting roster but I sure as hell want to see him sock a few dingers! Make it happen Wright.
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