Liveblog 20: 2009 Home Run Derby

So the Yankees have played pretty well since that last travesty, and actually managed to completely catch up with the Red Sox before getting swept by the Angels and dropping back three games right before the All-Star break. It's not the end of the world, it's just frustrating to lose that progress. They really haven't played the best teams very well at all, but the sample isn't that big and they're still leading the Wild Card race, so I feel pretty good going into the second half.

This year I'll blog the annual overlong and often boring home run contest, seeing if it will be more fun without the rooting interest. No Yankees are playing again so I'll just be watching eight guys hit balls really hard. This is also won't be posted until a day later, so it's sort of an experiment, especially since I've never liveblogged something that wasn't a regulation baseball game before. Yup. Hittin' balls. With a bat. St. Louis.

Round 1

Introducing the players now. As always, the AL crop seems kinda weak. It's not quite the same without all the old steroid users. Frowny face. Quick question: what's the only way to make Joe Morgan look like a smart baseball analyst? Answer: stick him in a booth with Steve Phillips. Lord is that a dumb group of people sitting at that table. I like how they changed the rules so homers carry over from the first round to the second. The finals should be pure, but it's not fair when a guy who hit 20 in the beginning can't get to the last round because he wore himself out. Before the contest starts, Albert Pujols fails to hit a home run in two swings to win a car for some guy from Philadelphia. If I was him, I'd be pissed. If I was picked out of thousands of people for a contest, I should get a damn prize, regardless of whether some millionaire can hit the ball where I tell him to.

Nelson Cruz

Cruz has had a good year, and I think he was a late addition to the AL roster this year. He's got some power, some of his home runs look like pop ups that just keep going. Maybe it's the crappy camera angle. He's doing a good job. It's always fun when they get on a roll with one out left. He finishes with 11, which historically is unspectacular but should get him to the next round easily. And now they're taking a break from the action to educate us young people on Stan Musial. He was pretty damn great back then, but is going to be surpassed as the greatest Cardinal ever by Pujols as long as he stays on the team.

Prince Fielder

Prince has already started without them telling us. What a lack of respect. First homer is almost to dead center. I don't understand why the break isn't directly in the middle of the season. It skews first and second half numbers slightly. Oh well. Pujols is still talking about stuff while Prince has twice as many dingers as outs. I like Pujols' accent. He talks like a native speaker would, with a complete understanding of the syntax, he just says every word slightly incorrectly. Better than what a lot of latin players can do. Man, Fielder's hitting some monster shots. Another couple gold ball homers with no outs left and he matches Cruz' effort with 11.

Brandon Inge

Seriously, Inge? I realize he's having a really good year but this is a contest for the top sluggers in the game, not utility players. He's proving he doesn't belong with four swings and no home runs to show for it. He's doing so badly that he doesn't even get the full screen as Erin Andrews is interviewing Derek Jeter in the corner. Inge has eight outs and now I know he's just thinking, "Please let me get one before I lose." He almost gets it, but just yanks it foul and finishes with zero. It happens, and I can't imagine he's too disappointed participating in the All-Star festivities.

Adrian Gonzalez

The Padres hit decently on the road, but Gonzalez is the only thing that keeps them from being completely pathetic in their cavern of a home park. His first few swings don't generate anything. Oh, great. It's not enough that Joe Buck calls games all year long for FOX, now I have to hear him as a guest on ESPN. We get it! He was raised in St. Louis! Whoopie! Adrian gets his first dinger with six outs. A bit later and it's gold ball time. Unfortunately, he has to finish with two. After a good start with the first two guys, the last couple have been disappointing.

Carlos Pena

This guy shouldn't be an All-Star. He was a late replacement for Dustin Pedroia who stayed home with his pregnant wife, and like aways he was chosen by his manager over someone probably more deserving. Such as Ian Kinsler, who just barely lost the fan vote against Pedroia and is now sitting around while I think Aaron Hill is the only real second baseman on the whole roster. He gets his first homer on the fourth swing. A bit later and he's got five hits and five outs. Unfortunately that's all he gets as the next five swings don't quite connect, so all Pena does is officially eliminate Inge.

Ryan Howard

Hey guys! It's Ryan Howard! He's pretty darn good at hitting home runs. You know, it's sad that Chris Berman must think he's so damn clever. And we all have to sit here listening to State Farm "farmed out" puns. Howard's up to seven, having eliminated Gonzalez a while ago. And that's the number he finishes with. He'll probably make the cut, because both Mauer and Pujols would have to beat him. Cruz and Fielder are definitely in.

Joe Mauer

Here's another guy who doesn't quite belong. He's an absolutely great hitter, even not account for him being a catcher, but this is the first season he's shown real power and it's not a huge sample. He's not doing too bad, though. Apparently Morgan thinks that if Mauer somehow gets "really hot" he can manage to eliminate the current two best performers with only one other unresolved player to go. His ignorance went past depressing and is back to amusing now. Mauer finishes with five also, so Howard is in, and Pujols needs six to qualify without a three-man tiebreaker scenario. Morgan comments that Cruz and Fielder are definitely in the next round now. They were in before Mauer picked up the bat, moron.

Albert Pujols

The hometown guy's in. Ryan Franklin's goatee is quite freakish. Third swing and we see his first homer. Looked farther than it ended up being. A bit later and he's up to seven outs before getting his second. Please, get either at least four more or fewer than three. He just barely muscles out a third, maybe with some fan assistance. Still at three and down to his final out. Clutch performance to get two more, but that's all and we're headed for a three-man "swing off". They could use a catchier name than that.

Swing Off

Pena's up first. These runs don't count towards the total for the round, it's just an elimination thing. I didn't catch the rules because of the blender in the next room, I think they get five outs. Apparently it's five swings, not outs. Pena only gets one, so his night is probably over. Mauer next. Berman keeps calling it a bat off, which is even worse. Mauer gets none, so it's up to Pujols to hit two out of five or none, lest we repeat this again. He gets the second on his third swing, making it to the next round.

Round 2

Here we go. Pujols and Howard go first to see if Cruz and Fielder need to even bother batting this round.

Pujols

He's clearly not in his best form after a double-header yesterday. He hits six more to bring his total even with the leaders before they even take a swing. Decent job, but he's most likely done.

Howard

He doesn't look that fresh either, although before the eighth out he manages to surpass Pujols' total. There must be something in the air slowing these guys down. He manages to finish the round with an impressive eight, and a two round total of 15. I bet he makes it, because the other two guys have been sitting for a while, and so far this has been a fairly tepid derby.

Cruz

Cruz wastes no time eliminating the local boy. He actually seems surprisingly rust-free. He hits five, which isn't great, but still places him in the final round regardless of what Fielder does.

Fielder

Prince is still putting his whole weight in every swing. I think he wants to win this. He's staying up there swinging even after he has six and not benefiting from standing there. And that's what he finishes, with him and Cruz in the final. I'll take Prince to win.

Final Round

To be fully honest, right now I'm more interested in this essay dissecting why Battlestar Galactica's ending blew than the derby.

Cruz

He's really killing the ball, though. Well, he was. He gets five in his first five outs, but that's also what he finishes with. Prince has a chance to put it away.

Fielder

It's funny to watch the length of these paragraphs peter out over time. There's only so much you can say about national broadcasters being idiots and guys hitting the ball into the seats. Fielder's still crushing the hell out of it though. He ties Cruz with six outs left. A bit later and he smacks one to deep center to clinch it. Nice job in a somewhat forgettable derby. It was actually pretty competitive, but unlike most recent years there was no amazing single-round performance to remember. Not than we're likely to see anyone top Josh Hamilton in Yankee Stadium last season for a while. Well, that wasn't a complete waste of three hours. See you later.

Liveblog 14: 2008 All-Star Game

It's the All-Star Break, and the Yankees once again find themselves several games out of playoff position. Their offense has really been bad this year, with one or two key bats always seeming to be injured and a complete failure to hit well with runners in scoring position. My optimism for the season has been dwindling, although I still think they have another second-half run in them. But right now is the All-Star Break, and the final Midsummer Classic to be played at Yankee Stadium before the new one opens next year. Last night was an interesting Home Run Derby, with Josh Hamilton hitting a mind blowing 28 homers in the first round, several of which were absolutely crushed, but losing in the final round to Justin Morneau, who seems to have a knack for undeserved accolades. Tonight is the game itself on FOX, with Cliff Lee and Ben Sheets starting for their respective leagues. I'll try to blog the whole thing, so here's hoping it's not too boring.

Pre-Game - They're introducing the teams and stuff. There are always some overlooked players who don't get to go and less worthy guys getting in on reputation, but man, I think Jason Varitek could be the least deserving All-Star ever. Terrible offensive season, and even sub-par defense. The players for the Mets and Red Sox get lusty boos from the crowd. There's a lot of members of the Hall of Fame here. They're predictably making a hoopla of the final game at the Stadium. They're introducing the starters for each league along with pretty much every living HOFer at that position. It's kinda cool. Taking a long time, though. George Steinbrenner's being brought to the mound on a cart to give the ball to the Yankee HOFers. He looks pretty terrible. They're throwing the first pitch to the current Yankees involved in the game. It's half an hour into the runtime and I'm ready for the actual game to start.

Top 1 - Why does Joe Buck still cover baseball games for FOX? He doesn't like baseball and nobody likes him. It's a complete waste of everyone's time. The balance of starting pitchers to relief pitchers for both teams is really... dumb. Starting Pitchers are intrinsically better players, and you don't really get a benefit from half a dozen closers when the game's still nine innings long. Oh well, complaining about All-Star rosters is pretty played out. I just hate it when people still cite appearances in the game as arguments for or against a player's body of work. Cliff Lee's on the mound. I don't know how much of his amazing start to the season was real, but his numbers have come down a bit by this point. They're still excellent, though. Hanley Ramirez leading off. He has a good hack at the first offering but strikes out three pitches later. Chase Utley up next. His teammate Jimmy Rollins won the MVP last year but except for a stint on the disabled list, I thought Utley had the better season. He looks at a called third strike on the inside corner. It seems like Lee and Joe Mauer have a good rapport. Lance Berkman flies out to Hamilton in center to end the first.

Bottom 1 - Commercial for the new Mummy movie. It looks like the same sort of stupid fun as the first two, but it's disappointing when the actor who plays a major character (Rachel Weisz in this case) doesn't return for a sequel. Ichiro Suzuki pops out to Matt Holliday in right. Sheets usually gets injured, but he's been a rock for my fantasy team this year. Derek Jeter up second, and he smacks a ball to second which Utley fails to turn into an out. I guess it's a hit. Jeter steals second easily. Hamilton strikes out on a nice breaking pitch. A-Rod pops out to the catcher Geovany Soto to end the inning. What a choker.

Top 2 - Lee is still pitching, and gets Albert Pujols to ground out. Pujols has more extra-base hits than strikeouts in his career, about a 3:2 ratio. Just so you know, that's completely ridiculous. Chipper Jones singles up the middle for the NL's first hit. Holliday grounds out to Kevin Youkilis, who tags him. Ryan Braun has also been a beast for my fantasy team. He strikes out here though, and Lee did a good job.

Bottom 2 - They're seriously pimping JJ Abrams' new show, Fringe. It looks interesting, although I still can't tell what it's about. Manny Ramirez up. Would you want to throw to the catcher of your chief rival in the division? I wouldn't, but that's what Sheets is doing. He strikes out Ramirez after a lengthy at bat. Milton Bradley up, replacing injured (and also undeserving) David Ortiz in the starting lineup. Bradley gets a full count and draws a walk. Youkilis at the plate. Bradley manages to steal second as well. Looks like he took out Utley with the slide, although he was already falling over. Youkilis is out on a foul tip. Mauer hitting. He walks on another full count. The Brewers manager (Yost?) probably isn't happy with all the pitches he's throwing. Dustin Pedroia is up. He's quite the little imp. He pops out to center to end the second.

Top 3 - Joe Saunders now pitching. Kosuke Fukudome grounds out to first. The graphic with his name and stats was in Japanese, which was kinda funny. Geovany Soto flies out. Ramirez hits a solid single to right. Utley grounds another one to Youkilis, and we're moving on.

Bottom 3 - Quick inning for Carlos Zambrano - Ichiro singles, but Jeter grounds into a double play and Hamilton also grounds out.

Top 4 - Roy Halladay pitching, his first game after shutting out the Yankees in embarrassing fashion. Berkman strikes out. Pujols hits one down the right field line, and gets called out at second on a nice throw by Ichiro, although the replay showed he was safe. Jones grounds to Jeter for out number three.

Bottom 4 - Zambrano still pitching, he strikes out A-Rod. He accidentally throws a curveball at Manny's head, but he ducks under it. He then grounds out. Bradley grounds a ball to Ramirez, but the throw is high and he reaches on an error. It doesn't matter though, as Zambrano picks him off first without throwing another pitch.

Top 5 - Ervin Santana throws some nice looking pitches to Holliday, but ends up giving up a homer for the first run of the game. Braun grounds out. Grady Sizemore replaced Manny to start the inning, and after one out Joe Crede replaces A-Rod. Weird move until they explain the reasoning of giving fans a chance to cheer him as he leaves. Santana strikes out Fukudome and Soto to end the frame, but the damage was done.

Bottom 5 - My mom makes a weird breathing noise when she's sleeping. It's not snoring but it's about as annoying. Nate McLouth and Russell Martin replace the two struck out Cubs, and Dan Haren takes the mound. He gets Youkilis to fly out to right. Mauer bounces an infield single over his head. He actually deflected the ball with his glove, which may have prevented an infielder from getting the out. Ian Kinsler pinch-running, which is a waste of his mad hitting skills. After a throw over, he gets the AL's third stolen base. Next pitch is ball four to Pedroia. Two on for Ichiro. Unfortunately, he strikes out, leaving it up to Jeter, famed pumpkin eater. Gotta love sign holders pandering to the station showing the game to get screen time. Full Of eXcitement. Great. Jeter grounds out to Haren to end the threat. He won't be the hero tonight.

Top 6 - Morneau at first, Kinsler at second, JD Drew in right, Varitek catching, Justin Duchscherer pitching. Ramirez smacks a single to left. Utley singles with Ramirez running, runners at the corners with no outs. Berkman hits a sac fly to score Ramirez, two runs for the NL. Michael Young replacing Jeter mid-inning. Pujols singles up the middle. Jones strikes out swinging. Holliday pops out to second to wrap it up.

Bottom 6 - Adrian Gonzalez at first, Dan Uggla at second, Miguel Tejada at short, Aramis Ramirez at third, Corey Hart in right, Haren still pitching. Hamilton singles to start it off. Crede pops out. Why's he an All-Star? I have no idea. Sizemore up. Hamilton steals second and Martin throws it in to center, but not badly enough to move him to third. I don't know why Hurdle is using all the pitchers for two innings, it seems stupid. Sizemore watches strike three with a full count, two down. Bradley pops out to center on the first pitch, and we go to the seventh.

Top 7 - Carlos Quentin in left, Joe Nathan pitching. Come on, Buck. Nathan isn't underrated. Braun quickly strikes out. McLouth flies to center. No, he doesn't. He hits a pop fly there. Martin does the same. The AL has three more chances to make up this deficit.

Bottom 7 - Ryan Ludwick in left, Edinson Volquez pitching. Morneau doubles to right-center. Kinsler moves him to third with a ground out. Dioner Navarro batting for Varitek before he ever got an at bat. Even his own manager knows he sucks. A nicely moving fastball catches Navarro looking at strike three. Drew up. He hits a game-tying, two run homer. I'm not sure how I feel about that. That's probably the only time you'll ever see a crowd in New York cheer JD Drew. Volquez strikes out Young, but now it's anyone's game.

Top 8 - Jonathan Papelbon pitching. I don't really feel the need to go over the crap he said recently, so I won't. He gives up a bloop single to Tejada. Uggla strikes out swinging. The New York crowd is really giving it to Papelbon. It's pretty funny. The FOX guys vehemently defending him are pretty nauseating, though. Tejada steals second and Navarro throws it away, moving him to third. Gonzalez hits a sac fly to Quentin, and the NL has the lead again. Can't blame that on Papelbon, though. David Wright hitting for Pujols. Called third strike, end of the frame.

Bottom 8 - Brian Wilson's pitching. Not the Beach Boy, just the Giants' closer with a bad ERA who's somehow leading the NL in saves. Quentin flies out to center. Carlos Guillen pinch hits for Crede. This is the second time Buck's claimed he was the AL's last position player, at the same moment they show Evan Longoria watching from the dugout. Not the Desperate Housewife, just the Rays' third base rookie sensation. Guillen K's. Billy Wagner comes in to relieve Wilson. "Oh, shit!" Clint Hurdle exclaims. "I forgot that this is an exhibition and I should use as many players as I can to please the fans instead of using three pitchers in six innings!" Sizemore singles. Longoria pinch hits for Bradley. Sizemore snags second base. Longoria auto-doubles to score the tying run as Wagner blows another. Morneau grounds out, but we got us another tie.

Top 9 - Francisco Rodriguez pitching to Ramirez. I do not approve of this decision, unless Rivera relieves him mid-inning. Mariano should pitch the ninth regardless of situation for the symbolism in the Stadium's final All-Star game, because if the AL wins in the bottom of the ninth he will not have gotten to pitch at all. Ramirez walks. Christian Guzman pinch runs. Hart flies out to Drew. With Ludwick batting, Mariano is brought in. If he loses the game, I will feel silly. Ludwick works a full count, but strikes out as Guzman is caught stealing to end the inning. First double play turned in this game. It's kinda cool to see cooperation from three different teams to make a play, so I wish it happened more.

Bottom 9 - Starting Pitcher Ryan Dempster in to relieve late. Weird. He has a strange-ass Jazz hands delivery. Kinsler strikes out as Tim McCarver idiotically pontificates on the rivalry between the Yankees and Red Sox. Seriously, the thing Dempster does with his hands during his windup is bewitching. It fucking freaks me out. Navarro strikes out as well. They mention Tim Lincecum being unable to play in the game after being hospitalized with "dehydration and flu-like symptoms". I'm not saying anything because being in the hospital is pretty serious, but what does that sound like to you? Drew strikes out looking to move it to extra innings. Shit.

Top 10 - Rivera still pitching. He punches out McLouth. By striking him out. Not actually hitting him. Martin has a nice, long at bat before singling. Another hit-and-run and a single by Tejada puts runners on first and third with one out. But a groundball double play from Uggla keeps the tie intact.

Bottom 10 - Please win the game here. Aaron Cook pitching. Young hits a groundball on the first pitch, but Uggla flubs the play. He's screwing up left and right. Quentin up. He lines a ball under Uggla's glove, and now runners on the corners with no outs. He is gonna get raped in the clubhouse after the game. Ken Rosenthal adds insult to injury, telling a story about it being Uggla's father's dream to see his son play in Yankee Stadium. Oy. They're walking Guillen to face Sizemore. He grounds it to Uggla of course, who throws it home to get the force. Longoria with the chance to be the hero. He grounds it to Guzman, who again gets the out at home. Now it's up to Morneau. He grounds it to Tejada, who makes a great play to get the third out. That's not the way I wanted the game to end, but man, I still wanted it to end.

Top 11 - Joakim Soria is pitching. Gonzalez punches a single through the infield. Wright goes down on strikes again. Guzman hitting. He pops out, but just think about this. He could have hit a double to score Gonzalez, and the NL could have gone on to win in the bottom of the inning. You would have had Padres and Nationals hitters scoring against a Royals pitcher to determine which league gets homefield advantage in the World Series. Three teams that won't come close to the playoffs having a say in what happens there. How fucking stupid is that? The tie a few years ago was lame, but forcing postseason ramifications into a silly game that's supposed to be meaningless fun is one of the worst ideas ever, coming from a commissioner's office full of them. Hart flies out, and it's time for the bottom of the 11th.

Bottom 11 - Cook's still going. Kinsler singles to center on a bloop. He tries to steal, but is caught on a pitch out. Great. He was safe, but the umpire blows the call. I guess he doesn't want to go home. Navarro walks. Drew singles up the middle. Without the bad call, this game's probably over. Young singles up the middle, but being a catcher, Navarro can't run and is thrown out at home. Fucking umpires won't let the game end. They show the replay. He was safe. This is unbelievable. Please end this, Quentin. He grounds out to third. I seriously can't watch anymore. If this game isn't proof we need to replace human umpires with robots, I don't know what is. I'm going to bed.

Wrap-Up - They played on into the night, and the game didn't end until Young drove in Morneau with a sac fly in the bottom of the fifteenth inning. Once again, the AL has earned homefield the dumb way. You ever have a dream where you get free stuff that you wanted? I hate waking up from those. In any case, that was a doozy of a final All-Star Game at the Stadium.

Liveblog 5: 2007 Futures Game

I'm not that interested in the All-Star Game this year, to be honest. As the season goes on and the Yankees continue to be inconsistent and mediocre, the playoffs continue to slip away, and I start thinking of the team's future. Not just the team, but the whole league. I'll watch the game and hopefully see some good baseball, but what I'm actually looking forward to is the Futures Game, where a lot of the top prospects in the minor leagues get a chance to pitch in front of a national audience, and we get a chance to see what they have. Isn't that a little more compelling than watching a bunch of guys who are already famous play in an exhibition that most of them probably don't care about?

Last year, Phil Hughes (Who'll hopefully be pitching in the bigs again by the end of the month) and Jose Tabata were selected to represent the Yankees. Phil actually got lit up a bit in the inning he pitched, which included Tabata smacking a single just past his head. How much would it have sucked to have our #2 prospect take out our #1 with a line drive to the face? Anyway, this year, only Joba Chamberlain will be representing the Yankees organization, but he could be worth it just by himself. Picked in the Supplementary Round of the draft last year, he has great talent and would have been picked earlier if there weren't concerns about his arm soreness and weight problem, but so far he's kept those at bay and been dominating hitters with a K/9 rate of over 13. I haven't been this excited about a Yankee pitching prospect since... Phil Hughes. Anyway, I'll be back to blog this game as it happens starting at 4.

Top 1 - The Yankees just beat the Angels 12-0 after losing 2-1 in 13 innings the day before, and winning 14-9 the day before that. What a weird sport. Michael Saunders reaches on an error off a pitch by Jeff Nieman and steals second. Chin-Lung Hu doubles down the line to score Saunders, then steals third and scores on a sac fly Wladimir "Misspelled Name" Balentin. Nieman has a really nice fastball and strikes out Joey Votto. Max Ramirez pops out on a ball that gets away from a fielder before being saved by another.

Bottom 1 - Boston's Jacoby Ellsbury leads off against Rick Vanden Hurk and grounds out. Justin Upton, brother of Tampa's BJ, is next. He strikes out looking. Evan Longoria, not to be confused with the Desperate Housewives star, doubles to center. He moves to third on a wild pitch. Ian Stewart squibs a grounder to the pitcher and the inning's over. Vanden Hurk had a good fastball too. I think we'll see that a lot today.

Top 2 - Chuck Lofgren of the Indians starts the inning, and I'm not sure why he's here, with an ugly ERA, and a good strikeout rate but a fair amount of walks too. German Duran launches a deep fly out to left. Robinzon Diaz (What the fuck is with these names?) bloops a single to center. Carlos Gonzalez pops out to third. Lofgren's fastball is surprisingly mediocre, but he has a good changeup. A wild pitch moves Diaz to second. Freddy Sandoval goes down on strikes and we're moving on.

Bottom 2 - Stephen Pearce pops out against Carlos Carrasco, but I wouldn't know that without the internet because Erin Andrews was interviewing World Team manager Juan Marichal. He was a great player, but this game is about the young, not the old, damn it. Brent Lillibridge fans on a breaking ball. Jay Bruce wallops a triple off the right field wall, the second Team USA hit that would have been a home run in most parks. Chris Coghlan (this is like an unusual name convention) draws a four pitch walk. Bryan Anderson opts for the completely generic name instead, and pays for it with a strikeout.

Top 3 - This is what I'm here to see, Joba the Hutt. He walks Saunders on 5 crisp fastballs, maybe a bit jumpy with the nerves. Saunders steals second. Hu singles to score the runner. Chamberlain gets ahead of the batter with a change and a curve before blowing a fastball by him, as Hu gets thrown out at second. The next hitter lines an out to first base and the inning's over. Disappointing - not the run, Hughes gave up three last year; rather, on the replay, Hu was safe at second, and I wanted to see some more of Joba.

Bottom 3 - Hey, Joba got an interview with Erin! I like the guy, what can I say. Fautino De Los Santos takes the mound and quickly strikes out Ellsbury. Of the saints indeed. Upton takes him deep on the very next pitch. Longoria gets hit by a pitch and takes his base. The next batter pops out. I've just been informed that he was the first positional player ever drafted in the first round by Colorado. Really? The team known for good hitting and terrible pitching? Okay. The next batter walks. Foul tip strikeout to end the inning, 3-1 World.

Top 4 - Kevin Mulvey is now pitching. This game will only be seven innings, which seems weird since they have ten pitchers, I think. Ramirez slugs a double to left. Duran whiffs. Diaz singles on a play that could have been made, and runners are on the corners. The US defense has been rough today. Replacement Colby Rasmus makes a nice running catch in center as Ramirez tags up easily, and the next batter grounds out. 4-1.

Bottom 4 - Funny thing about this All-Star Game commercial with the players riding trolly cars through downtown San Francisco - it was filmed initially with just a bunch of good players, but a large number of them didn't turn out to be voted into the game. So they reedited the commercial to take out all those players while adding a few other incongruous shots of unexpected guys who got in. New pitcher Henry Sosa induced a ground out to start the inning. He quickly gets another. Steve Phillips quips that Jose Reyes could throw 95 MPH if he pitched. I strenuously object. 95 MPH is an elite fastball, just because a guy's got a strong arm at shortstop doesn't mean he's got a better heater than most of the guys who are actually paid to pitch. A third grounder to end the inning.

Top 5 - Pitching is last year's top draft pick Luke Hochevar. Kenny Williams, GM of a terrible team, tells the broadcasters that Mark Buehrle has verbally agreed to an extension to pitch the next four years for the White Sox, without a blanket no-trade clause. I have no idea why Buerhle agreed to this, he could have gotten more money and it's well known that he wanted to play for St. Louis. Unless he really doesn't care about that anymore. Hochevar gets two grounders before a fly ball to wrap up the inning. He was the first US pitcher not to get exactly one strike out.

Bottom 5 - Deolis Guerra gets a ground ball and then a pop out. He throws a crazy wild pitch, but no one's on base, so no harm done, ha ha ha! I hate this laptop, I've somehow managed to accidently publish this post twice in the last two minutes. John Whittleman clubs a homer, two run game. Pitching change? You know it! Commercial for Pan's Labyrinth. I'm disgusted with myself for not having seen it yet. Franco Morales takes the mound. He looks dominating striking out Stewart.

Top 6 - I don't understand Sam Adams' marketing angle of suggesting that everyone who works at their company is a drunk. Liking beer is one thing, but pointing out someone happily accepting a brew at 5:30 AM... little weird. Votto homers off Boston's Clay Buchholz. Phillips mentions him outdueling Roger Clemens earlier this year. Good job giving up fewer runs than a 44 year old making his second start of the year, Clay. Strikes out the hitter. Brian Bocock makes a nice play to get the second out. Geovani Soto strikes out and the inning's over.

Bottom 6 - MLB's Gameday claims Morales' name is Franklin, ESPN says Franco. Franco seems more likely. Matt Tolbert fans. Quick cut to Joba pointing to the US flag on his uniform and giving a thumbs up. You're a Native American, Joba, this country has been screwing your people since they got here over two hundred years ago. Bocock walks. Steve Phillips, you don't have to tell us that Jose Reyes has "elite" speed. We know, okay? The fact that it's a minor league exhibition game suggests that the average viewer knows a few things about baseball, and the fact that Jose is fast is the first thing they teach you when you sign up to be a fan after they tell you what a base is. Stop patronizing us. Morales strikes out Bruce and he's removed for a reliever. Pedro Beato takes the mound and a pop up falls in between three fielders for a hit. Phillips explains that to be a regular catcher, you have to have a good throwing arm. 2007 all-star Victor Martinez says hi. Beato finishes the inning with a K.

Top 7 - Awesome-named Clayton Kershaw will probably be USA's last pitcher today. James Van Ostrand hits a home run. They're gonna have to pick an MVP for this game, which is usually completely meaningless. It's very unlikely a player even stays in the game long enough to be significantly more important to a victory than anyone else, so what's the point? Ground out. The batter is Gorkys Hernandez. Yes, Gorkys. He draws a walk. You know names are crazy when Elvis Andrus doesn't make me bat an eye. The King strikes out. Ah, manager Dave Winfield removes Kershaw when in all likelyhood, this will be the last out their pitchers have to get. Collin Balester in. Double to the left-center gap. Strikes out Votto, 7-2 World.

Bottom 7 - Rich Thompson will attempt to close out the game. He gets Ellsbury after a long battle with the big hook. A fly out, and Emiliano Fruto is brought in to wrap this bitch up. He allows a walk. Stewart flies out, and that's the game.

Wrap-up - Not a bad game. Some of the players looked pretty good. I was annoyed by how ESPN went out of their way to point out all the great players who played in past Futures Games. Really, have a lot of good players in the minors, selected to play in an exhibition, gone on to have success in the majors? How wild! I didn't pay as much attention as I might have if I didn't watch the Yankee game, because six hours of baseball can start to wear on you.