This is for home-field advantage baby! Despite that being the single dumbest thing I've ever heard of in all of professional sports, it's still important since the White Sox have a legitimate shot of being back there again this year.

So far, Brad Penny has owned the AL, striking out the side (Ichiro, Jeter, and Ortiz) in the first. ARod just grounded out.

Kenny Rogers gave up a 1 out double to Beltran, but got Pujols to pop out and Bay to strike out. This might be a pitchers duel.

Edit: Just as I sent this, Vlad hits a high, out of strike zone opposite field home run. He's strong.

vlad just took a 98 mph fastball around the shoulders out of the park.

impressive.

David Wright still in home run derby mode. 1-1.

I'm watching. this is going to be a fun game.

Everytime I hear Tim McCarver speak, I want to take my ball point pen and drive it into my eardrum so I no longer have to hear his dumbass, irrelevant comments....

After David Wright's homer "I know David Letterman is watching and that home run will be on David Letterman tomorrow night"....WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH THE GAME, MORON?!??!?! LETTERMAN ISN'T EVEN ON FOX, YOU DUMBSHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!

What a dickwad...Buck isn't much better, he's in the barely tolerable range...

Um, yeah, he is an idiot. If only Hawk and DJ were doing the game. It's amazing that we've put with McCarver for so long and we're still not used to him, nor can we at least tolerate him. He constantly grates. If there was another way, even a Spanish broadcast, I might entertain it. Maybe I'll just put some music on.

I didn't enjoy Halladay's wild pitch there.

it's raining here and my satellite just cut out

Well the NL just went scoreless in the 4th and for some odd reason they are going to delay the game and have some ceremony for Roberto Clemente. They probably could've done that in the already bloated pregame show.

Did Selig just say "Nicawogwa?"

I thought he had difficulty with that word. Joe Buck just asked the crowd if they were having fun tonight. Shut the fuck up and let's play baseball, this was ridiculous. If you wanted to do something dumb like that, do it pregame, or if anything the 7th inning stretch. I like Clemente as much as the next guy, but that was bullshit.

Alright, Bronson Arroyo doing a Kenny-G-ish-accompanied version of Wonderwall is the highlight of the night so far.

I wasn't looking at the TV and I was all like, is that Noel Gallagher? Nooo, it's Bronson Arroyo! Anybody got his CD to y'all send the thing?

Which jag did they have on before talking about how he liked pastel shirts and how "Virginia is for lovers"?

David Wright.

Satellite's jumping on and off on me. thanks for the updates

AL can't hit, that's about the only update you need right now. Konerko and Dye are in now though, so I'm sure that will change.

I love those TMBG Dunkin Donuts commercials.

Leadoff single for Paulie Walnuts. here we go...

Konerko with a base hit, starting the AL rally in the 7th!

Edit: Or not, Glaus with the 5-4-3 double play. Way to go!!

Double play. Dirty Sanchez.

yeah that sucked. and to top it off this game is a bore, no one's even trying to manufacture runs.

Last chance for the AL in the 9th against Hoffman. This has been kind of boring, unless you like good pitching, which I do. It's just that the wrong team is winning.

alright pauly! c'mon let's do this...




sonofabitch ground rule




9th inning save by young!

That's what I'm talking about, Ozzie won't let this team give up! Konerko starts it, that's great!! Let's hope Rivera holds it!

AL dominance continues, Ozzie outmanages Garner again, clutch hitting, Rivera nails it down. How sweet it is.

Goddamn American League.

WOOOOOOOOOOO

i'm pro National League too, but this format doesn't let me cheer for them.

So now that the AL won, that means Boston will have home field in the World Series?

Wrong.

Kinda screw the Cubs over, i'd say.

eh, i'm an NL fan, but it was a pretty exciting game. last inning, good stuff.

That was actually a good game, and what do you know, Paulie comes through with TWO hits (a small number, but everyone else had trouble coming up with one, and he got both of his in two at-bats).

I haven't watched an All-Star Game in a long time, but I was surprised Ozzie and Garner didn't go with more starters in relief. No Chris Carpenter, no Buehrle, no Liriano...and it kind of sucks that Garner stuck with his starting line-up longer (can't blame him, he was trying to win, plus you gotta watch for extra innings) so no Nomar.

And Penny? WTF, 98, 99 MPH fastballs???

Yeah, Penny was sick that first inning, I pretty much forgot about him overall, since he's been plagued by injuries in the past, now here he is 10-2 at the break. What a resurgence.

Penny was nuts. I guess that's what happens when you don't have to pace yourself... Not to mention his history of injuries maybe holding him back at times.


out post ed

derek jeter 0-3, 2 k's
ha!

beltran stealing 3rd and scoring on a wild pitch while they were interviewing garner in the dugout was pretty funny. "you know what that is...good managing"
also humorous was both managers making no secret about the fact that they had no signs set for the game.
quick game, AL wins, good pitching, no complaints.

Damn. There goes the Cubs' home field advantage for the Series.

[cheap sarcasm]Hey, the Astros made a huge comeback! Why can't the Cubs?[/cheap sarcasm]

why did i just hear about this? i didn't see the game last night mind you.

Definitely give Ozzie credit for Vlad hitting a 98 MPH fastball out of the zone for a homer and Michael Young's 0-2, 2-out triple. He definitely out-managed Garner.


Why don't they make all 6 games of the geographic series hosted by the league who won the all-star game instead of home-field? Then compensate for other interleague games being at the losing league's parks. This would keep everyone motivated and not be ridiculously unfair in the World Series. I'd be mad because all the Brewers-Twins games wouldn't be close to home, but I think it's better.

Come to the dark side, darling.

if the All Star game is used to decide home field of the WS, then take the fans out of the equation. Let the players and coaches vote who gets on.

Why is this "ridiculously unfair"? Until 4 years ago, home field was determined by whether it was an odd or even year. They decided to make a game that had become SO much of an exhibition that no one, including the managers even cared if they won, and decided to have it determine something that otherwise was basically randomly determined.

Here's my idea:

1) have home field advantage in the WS be determined by whichever league has the better interleague record;
2) have the winning league in the All-Star Game get to pick one interleague game the following season (each team picks whatever game it chooses) in which to have their league's rules prevail in the other league's park. That would be sort of a fun thing because it would involve some strategy and it could be important, but ultimately it's only one game.

This way the AS game has some relevance beyond being an exhibition, the WS home field is determined by something somewhat related to team's play on the field, and there would be one more fun item for sports talk to talk about during interleague play.

It's simple, best team has home feild. NFL and NBA are doing all this bullshit so each team from a division gets home feild, fuck that, best team records get home feild, simple.

you two need to get a room with mccarver. sheesh. this happens every year. some flamethrower comes out and throws aspirin for an inning or two and then doesn't pitch again until the weekend.

although, striking out the side in the first was pretty awesome.

The DH is evil & will destroy the game if allowed to continue.

And I'm still pissed about Trevor getting bombed in the 9th.

Winning=outmanaging. For a game devoid of strategy or sign, it would be hard for either manager to truly outmanage the other, I was just making the point that Garner can't beat Guillen in a big game. Though Guillen's choice to add Konerko when he did, knowing that he would be up with two out in the ninth to start a game winning rally...well that's just pure genius, no coincidence whatsoever.

I hope he didn't reaggrivate that sore elbow he got from typing to much last season

Riiiiight, "typing" too much last season...

I'm very pro-DH. It makes for a more competitive and more defensively sound game that needs less reliance on HRs. I just think the anti-DH stance is fashionable and lazy. Hitting major league pitching is the most difficult task in the major American pro sports. It takes full time training that pitchers cannot possibly keep up with. Therefore, you have amateurs attempting the most difficult task in sports.

This is a flawed concept on the professional level that inflates pitcher's stats. It allows typically 2 weak hitters in a lineup because between the catcher, SS, and CF one is likely to be on the field for defensive reasons. Therefore an inning in which both these hitters hit is a cake walk for the pitcher and that's why Roger Clemens can post his best ERAs in his 40s.

You probably know more about baseball then I do, but aren't most DH usually big HR hitters and shitty defenders



steroids and HGH my freind

if you are on the field, you should bat.

Who wants to watch pitchers strike out? Besides, that means the umps and the batboy have to bat as well.

Why don't they just go back to pre-McGraw rules? You could foul out, hit the ball into the dirt right in front of home plate-- you get hurt, that's your problem. Game was more fun then. Or so I'm told.