Exercising my Right to Vote

Every year I cast my virtual ballot (or ballots, since we can vote more than once) for the All-Star Game.  Voting has come a long way since the days when you had to go to a ballpark to get a paper ballot- now you can vote online up to twenty times per email address at http://www.mlb.com/ (last year I voted sixty times; this year I don't know that I'll have the time for that!).  One feature I like in this year's online ballot is that when you click on a player, his stats show up (batting average, home runs, and RBI).  That helped with my decision-making, but unfortunately, not everyone is going to vote for the player who actually deserves to be there.  For many, it is a popularity contest, which is the biggest complaint from baseball die-hards like me.  I don't want to see a player representing his team in the All-Star Game just because he's cute or just because he USED to be good (although I don't mind looking at the cute ones!).  Sometimes fans vote for players who are or have been on the disabled list, and they end up winning even though they can't play (if Chase Utley wins for second base, I'm going to scream.  You see, he's been a great player in years past, but he has not played in a single game this year due to a knee injury).  So here is my list of the players I voted for this year, with the reasons why I voted for them and whether or not I think they're actually going to be in the starting lineup at this year's All-Star Game:

AMERICAN LEAGUE
1B - Miguel Cabrera (Detroit Tigers) got my vote because of his 7 home runs and 24 RBI.  I did not want to vote for Teixeira, though he will probably be the starter at first base.
2B - Robinson Canó (NY Yankees) is the best second-baseman out there, so why not vote for a Yankee?  My hatred for the Yankees is shifting to the Phillies; I actually voted for TWO Yanks this year!
SS - Asdrubal Cabrera (Cleveland Indians) won't be the starter (Derek Jeter will be), but he got my vote because he has a batting average of .270 (better than Jeter's) and because he has a cool first name.  Plus, that's two "Cabreras" in the same ballot.  I know; not as important as the stats, but I'm being honest!
3B - Maicer Izturis (Los Angeles Angels) got my vote because I did NOT want to vote for A-Rod.  I've seen Izturis play a few times, and he's just fine.  He's batting .330 with 2 HR and 11 RBI, so I think I picked a respectable guy.  A-Rod will undoubtedly get the job though.  Whatever.
Catcher - Russell Martin (NY Yankees) already has 20 RBI, so he gets my vote.  Plus the fact that there aren't any Puerto Rican starting catchers in the American League ballot.  He will probably get the most votes for AL catcher.
DH - This was a tough one!  I wanted to vote for Jorge Posada, but his batting average is not all that.  Then I wanted to vote for Adam Dunn, because he used to be a National and I liked him back then, but his average is a crappy .180!  So my vote for Designated Hitter went to Vladimir Guerrero (Baltimore Orioles).  Everybody loves Vladi, and his .267 average, 4 HR and 13 RBI are respectable.  Hopefully he'll get the start.
Outfield (choose 3) - Melky Cabrera (Kansas City Royals), Adam Jones (Baltimore Orioles), and Ichiro Suzuki (Seattle Mariners).  I have voted for Ichiro every year in every ballot since I can remember.  His arm is amazing, and he's just one of those all-around good guys.  Cabrera got my vote because I needed a third "Cabrera" (and because he deserves to be an all-star), and Adam Jones, well, he's the sentimental favorite.

NATIONAL LEAGUE
1B - Joey Votto (Cincinnati Reds) got my vote because I was not going to vote for Albert Pujols or Ryan Howard (though I'm sure Pujols will get to start).  Votto has a .333 batting average, and his name is fun to say in a "New York Italian 'how you doin'" kind of way).
2B - Rickie Weeks (Milwaukee Brewers) has been with the Brew Crew his whole career and deserves to be an all-star with his 7 HR and solid defense.
SS - Ryan Theriot (St. Louis Cardinals) is batting .287.  I could have voted for the Nationals' Ian Desmond, whose offense is pretty solid, but he is such a lousy shortstop that I would have been embarrassed to see him play in that position at an All-Star Game.
3B - Placido Polanco (Philadelphia Phillies) is my pick for third base.  Yes, I voted for a Philly; but Ryan Zimmerman is on the Disabled List, David Wright is not playing that well this year, and Chipper Jones, sigh!, is just not as good as Polanco anymore.  Polanco does not get the attention he deserves (since he is teammates with Ryan Howard, Roy Halladay and others), and if he's not named to the all-star team, I am gong to boycott the game.  Yes, I've done this before; spent the night of the All-Star Game watching something else on TV.  I did it one year when Nolan Ryan was not named to the all-star team, and one year when Kirby Puckett was left out.  This year, no Polanco, no game for me!
Catcher - Iván Rodriguez (Washington Nationals) is the only player I voted for who doesn't really deserve to be there this year.  He's only batting .210, though his at-bats are very productive since he has 10 RBI.  But he doesn't play every day, and there are other catchers out there who are playing better (I think Yadier Molina will get the start, or maybe Buster Posey); but I had to vote for one Nationals player, and "Pudge" was it.
Outfield - Carlos Beltrán (NY Mets), Matt Holliday (St. Louis Cardinals), and Justin Upton (Arizona Cardinals) all got my vote.  Beltrán has surprised everyone this year with a .289 batting average, 5 HR and 18 RBI.  He didn't know if he would have a job this year, and has proven that he can still hit.  Holliday has been on a tear since his appendix tore earlier this year, batting .398, and I voted for Upton because he's batting .260 with 7 HR and 18 RBI.

So that's my lineup for this year's All-Star Game.  I've always been disappointed that fans can't vote for pitchers, but I'm hoping that the coaches and managers make good choices there (speaking of managers, Bruce Bochy, who will manage the Natinal League all-star team, has chosen Nationals' manager, Jim Riggleman, as his bench coach for the game.  Pretty cool!  Although I must admit, I never understood what a bench coach really did other than sit at the bench).  It should be a good game this year; let's hope the National League wins it!

By the way, last night the Nationals beat the Braves and pitcher Jason Marquis got his 100th career win.  The Marlins beat the Phillies and Roy Halliday (yeay!), and the Indians won their 14th game in a row.  If only my son's Little League team had done as well last night...

Happy Mothers' Day!

We have a tradition in our family that we started three years ago.  On Mothers' Day, we go to 9:00 Mass, then we have lunch at a local Mexican restaurant, and we take in an afternoon baseball game.  Our local team, the Frederick Keys, are an affiliate of the Orioles and always draw good crowds to their home games.  So this year was no different - we went to church, had a delicious lunch, and then went to the game.  Minor league games are very fun for the whole family, and my kids (who aren't huge baseball fans), love going to see the Keys.  Aside from the game itself, they have a moon bounce, a merry-go-round, and other games and activities for the kids.  And in between innings, they always have some sort of contest on the field to keep the crowd engaged.  We had front-row seats today right behind the Keys' dugout, so I was able to say hi to their manager, fellow Puerto Rican Orlando Gomez.  He was very friendly, and even talked with us a little bit after the game.  The game itself was fun to watch, with the Keys winning 3-2 in 13 innings.  The one thing I did not like was the number of times both teams used the intentional walk.  The Wilmington Blue Rocks (my kids agreed that this was a dumb name for a team - what does their mascot do; just sit there?), well they intentionally walked players at least four times.  Like I've said before, I can't STAND the intentional walk, and it's the first thing I am going to eliminate when I become Commissioner of baseball.  But the game moved pretty quickly, and despite going into extra innings, was finished in a little over three hours.  The weather was great, the kids had fun and got some autographs, my son got a bat from center fielder Miguel Abreu (also from Puerto Rico), and most importantly, we got front row seats for only $11 a piece.  Please support your local minor league team; you will have a great time with your family!

In the Majors, Justin Verlander threw his second no-hitter yesterday, walking only one Blue Jay.  You've heard me talk about his first no-hitter several times before, so I won't go into how Iván Rodriguez caught that one.  That's old news.  But I was happy for Verlander, whose no-hitter was the second one in the Majors this week.  The not-so-good news involved Andre Ethier, whose consecutive-game hitting streak ended at 30 games.  His batting average is still great; he has nothing to worry about.  As far as the Nationals, they beat the Marlins yesterday but were shut out by them today; the Phillies and Braves play this evening (now I know what I'll be doing tonight instead of the laundry!), and the Orioles were swept by the Rays.  Oh, and the Yankees beat the Rangers 12-5 today with Derek Jeter hitting two home runs.  He's now at 2,956 hits, number 30 on the all-time hits list.

What else?...Oh, Willie Mays turned 80 yesterday (George Clooney had a birthday yesterday too!), but he no longer likes being called "The Say Hey Kid."  I guess if you're Willie Mays, you can decide what you want and don't want to be called. 

I hope all the moms out there had a wonderful day, and may you all have a fantastic week!

"Friends Don't Let Friends Drive Drunk!"

Major League Baseball officials are getting together with the MLB Players Union to come up with some sort of alcohol plan.  They have a plan for those who use performance-enhancing drugs, and they have a plan for those who use "drugs of abuse" like cocaine and marijuana, but they don't have a plan in place for the drunks.  You may not think it's an issue, but so far this season (and the season is only a little over a month old), six players have been arrested for DUI or other alcohol-related issues.  Wanna know who they are?  Here's the list so far:  Former National and current Indian Austin Kearns; another former Naional but current Mariner Adam Kennedy; former Red Sox and current Athletic Coco Crisp; Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers; Derek Lowe of the Braves (who had a no-hitter going last night until Shane Victorino of the Phillies broke it in the seventh inning); and the most recent drunk, Shin-Soo Choo of the Indians.  What does this say about baseball players?  Well, if you leave the Nationals for another team, please don't drink and drive.  Also, if you're named after a cereal, don't drink and drive.  Seriously though; these six players have been lucky in the fact that no one has been hurt in these incidents - they could have been a lot worse and could have impacted many more lives.  Just because you can play baseball and make a lot of money doesn't mean you have the right to drive after you've had a few drinks.  People who drive after drinking too much are stupid, whether they play baseball or pinochle.

On a lighter, note... Derek Lowe's good pitching performance last night allowed the Braves to beat the Phillies (yeay!).  The Nationals also won, with Iván Rodriguez having one hit and Adam Laroche  driving in the winning run in the tenth inning (I did stay up for the end of that one).  The Orioles lost to the Rays (boo!), the Yankees beat the Rangers (double boo!), and the Mets beat the Dodgers, but Andre Ethier went 3 for 5, so his hitting streak is now at 30 games.  He is 3 games away from tieing Rogers Hornsby, so we'll see how far he gets...

It's a beautiful day in Frederick, and my husband and I enjoyed a leisurely run this morning (with a sprint at the end for good measure).  I hope you can get out to enjoy the day, and to all the moms out there who read my blog, have a fabulous Mothers' Day tomorrow!

The First "No-no" of the Year!

Pitching a no-hitter in the Major Leagues is something that pitchers only dream of.  Unless you're Nolan Ryan, who tossed seven of them in his long career, chances are you're probably not going to ever throw one during your time in the Majors.  Last night, however, previously-struggling Francisco Liriano of the Minnesota Twins pitched the first no-hitter of the season, beating the White Sox 1-0 (I know; the guy tosses a no-hitter and the best his team could do was score only one run!).  I was able to catch the last out, whose victim was former Nationals first baseban-turned DH Adam Dunn.  While I like Dunn and would normally hope he gets a hit, I was really rooting for Liriano.  I loved watching the hugs, the high-fives, and the celebration that took place on the mound after Dunn hit an easy-to-field grounder.  It is moments like that one that make baseball so much fun to watch.  But let's remember that part of the credit for the no-hitter goes to Twins' catcher Drew Butera, who called the pitches and kept Liriano calm throughout the latter innings as he was starting to run out of steam.  (Baseball nerd fact of the day:  My man Iván Rodriguez has caught two no-hitters in his career; one for Kenny Rogers with the Rangers and one for Justin Verlander with the Tigers.  I may have mentioned this in a previous post, but it's one of those facts that I'm proud of knowing without having to look it up!  I won't bring it up again - I promise!).

Things weren't so rosy for our local teams last night, with the Nationals losing to the Phillies 4-1 (and who didn't see THAT happening?) and the Orioles losing to the Royals 6-5 in 10 innings.  The Tigers finally beat the Yankees 4-2 (Jeter added one more hit to his grand total); the Mets lost again (this time to the Giants, 7-6 in 10 innings); Cleveland won AGAIN beating Oakland 4-1; and Andre Ethier's consecutive-game hitting streak is now at 29 games (though the Dodgers lost to the Cubs 4-1). 

So it was an exciting night of baseball last night, with the same teams matching up tonight.  And for you hockey fans, let's hope the Capitals can win at least one game in their playoff series against the Tampa Bay Lightning!  While I can't watch hockey on TV for too long because it's hard to follow that little puck, I will be tuning in tonight during baseball's commercials.

A Star-Spangled Victory!

Without a doubt, the National League East is the toughest division to be a part of.  It seems like the only time a team can gain some ground on the Phillies is when the Phillies have a day off.  Last night, for example, the Marlins, Braves, and Nationals all won their games, but since the Phillies didn't play, each team moved up half a game in the standings.  Not bad for my Nationals, who are now 4 1/2 games back, but they start a 3-game series with those dreaded Phillies tonight, so they can quickly lose ground.  With their .500 record, if the Nationals were in any other division, they would be in second place (as opposed to being tied for third with the Braves).  After the Phillies series, they go on to face the Marlins and Braves, so the standings might look very different by the end of next week.  We'll see what happens...

Last night was Military Appreciation Night at the Nationals game, and they didn't disappoint.  Tom Gorzelanny pitched 8 scoreless innings and Drew Storen recorded a save as the Nats shut out the world-champion Giants 2-0.  They ended up winning 3 out of the 4 games in that series, which was surprising to everyone.  The Nats wore their new stars-and-stripes uniforms, and military personnel were able to attend the game for free.  Funny how the timing of that worked out, with the whole bin Laden thing happening just the night before. 

Also last night, Andre Ethier hit in his 28th consecutive game, getting him closer to the group of 19 players who have hit in 30 consecutive games (that group includes Nationals' third baseman Ryan Zimmerman, and hall-of-famers George Brett and Stan Musial).  The most recent streak was that of Jimmy Rollins a few years ago at 38 games, and Rollins, of course, is a Philly (sigh!).  Let's hope Ethier can continue his streak, because the Dodgers are in such an ownership mess right now that the fans need something positive to cheer for.

Speaking of ownership, the Mets are selling 49% of their ownership for $200 million.  Anyone out there interested?  If I paid $200 million for a team, I would want at least 51% of the shares; I would not like to be a "minority" owner.  Good luck to them trying to sell for that price!

Finally, the Yankees beat the Tigers again (man, those Tigers are playing some lousy ball lately!), by a score of 2-0.  I mentioni this because Derek Jeter had 2 hits, giving him a career total of 2,951.  If he keeps hitting that well, he may just reach 3,000 by the all-star break.  Stay tuned!

Philadelphia Freedom!

My alarm clock is set to go off every weekday morning at 5:45.  Instead of an annoying buzzer, I wake up to WTOP radio, which is Washington DC's 24-hour news station.  Since sports are always done at 15 and 45 past each hour, I always wake up to the latest sports scores.  However, this morning it was not sportscaster Dave Johnson telling me that the Washington Capitals had lost their NHL playoff game last night; it was some strange man talking about terrorism.  That made me perk up, because I figured something big had happened somewhere in the world overnight.  Sure enough, US Navy SEALs had killed AlQaeda leader Osama binLaden.  I said "Cool!", while my Navy-veteran husband said "About time the Navy did something!"  Despite the initial excitement, I still wanted to know who won last night's game between the Mets and Phillies.  I know; it's not very patriotic of me, but when I went to bed, it was going into extra innings, and since the Nationals, Braves, and Marlins had all won their games yesterday, I was curious to know how the other two NL East teams had done.  Why did I go to bed before the game was over?  Because I can't STAND extra-inning games!  One thing I like about baseball is knowing that the game is going to end after 9 innings; when that certainty goes away, I lose interest.  How do I know how much longer the game will go on?  Will it be 10 innings, or will it be 15?  Since there's no way of knowing, I just choose to not watch.  In this case, I wish I had, because after the Mets finally won the game 2-1 in the fourteenth inning, fans had already been notified of the breaking news from the White House and there was all kinds of excitement at the ballpark.  Sorry I missed it!

What else happened in baseball yesterday?  Well, Andre Ethier of the Dodgers continues his consecutive-game hit streak, which now stands at 27 games.  Ethier is no Joe DiMaggio, but streaks like that are always exciting to follow.  Let's see...what else... Oh, the Indians won their 13th-straight home game, beating the struggling Tigers 5-4.  The Yankees beat the Blue Jays 5-2, giving Mariano Rivera his 10th save of the year.  And how did the Nationals win over the Giants?  With the help of Iván Rodriguez, who drove in 2 runs in their 5-2 victory (he also used his "missile arm" to catch a runner trying to steal second base).  And one statistic from last night's game that I thought was interesting:  Ryan Howard of the Phillies finished April with 27 RBIs.  That's just insane!

I will finish today's post with a quote from Mets' third-baseman David Wright that I stole from mlb.com:  ""As proud and as great a moment as it was for me being on a baseball field, you multiply that by a million. That's probably what they're feeling at the fire houses, at the police stations, at the places like Walter Reed."  Have a good week, my friends!

OMGosh!

Hello, friends!  I know I said I would post an entry tonight, but I didn't know that the Phillies/Mets game was this evening, and I HAVE to watch!  Rest assured, I will give you my take on this weekend's games after the Phillies lose (hopefully!) from work tomorrow (did I just say "from work?"  I meant, ahem, after I get home from work!  Yeah!).  If you're looking for something to watch on TV tonight, tune in to ESPN, where the Phillies/Mets game will be shown.  It's the first year without Joe Morgan and John Miller doing the play-by-play, but it's still OK to watch (even though Bobby Valentine sounds like a Muppets character).  Go watch, and check me out tomorrow!  Thanks!!!