I Guess They Don't Know Him From Adam

The baseball players heading to this year's All-Star Game in Phoenix were announced yesterday, and I was mostly happy with the outcome.  Although not all the players I voted for were elected (and I knew they wouldn't be), it was nice to see players who really deserved to be picked, like Curtis Granderson, Ricky Weeks, and José Bautista.  Notably absent, however, is the Orioles' Adam Jones, who is an excellent all-around player and truly deserves to be an all-star.  Fortunately, Major League Baseball is allowing fans to vote for the final player to be included in each league's roster, so please go to http://www.mlb.com/ and vote for Adam Jones as the American League player.  You can vote a ton of times, and while you're there, vote for Michael Morse of the Nationals to represent the National League.  He's not as good a player as Shane Victorino, but if you're a Philly Hater like me, you'll vote for anyone else so Victorino does not get selected.  Thank you!

Another thing I don't like about this year's roster is that Giants' manager, Bruce Bochy, selected like twenty pitchers from his own team.  Yes, the Giants have good pitchers, but there are plenty of other guys out there who deserve to be all-stars.  The rosters are full of Yankees, Red Sox, and Giants players; good thing each team in the Majors has to be represented by at least one player!

I do like the fact that CC Sabathia was not voted in by his teammates or selected by Rangers manager Ron Washington.  Some say it's because he is slated to pitch on the Sunday before the All-Star Game and will not be available to pitch that day; I like to think that people just don't like him. 

Oh, and hey, I actually get to watch the game this year, because Placido Polanco was voted as the starting third-baseman for the National League!  Now I don't have to do like that one year when Nolan Ryan was not selected and I boycotted the game.  I will be rooting for the National League, especially since Puerto Ricans Carlos Beltrán and Yadier Molina will be in the reserves.  Other notable players who will be in this year''s All-Star Game include Robinson Canó, Adrián Gonzalez, Lance Berkman, and two of the three Cabreras I voted for (Asdrubal and Miguel).  The Orioles will be represented by Matt Weiters - please vote so his teammate can join him!  Representing the Nationals will be middle reliever Tyler Clippard, which was somewhat of a surprise (since I thought starting pitcher Jason Marquis would have been selected), but it made me happy because this means I have actually had my picture taken with an all-star!  And I must add that Clippard has some rock-hard biceps! 

Have a wonderful Fourth of July celebration, my friends (we'll be going to watch some fireworks soon), and enjoy your week!

This was me last year with all-star Tyler Clippard.