Tony La Russa's wrongheaded All-Star decisions have unfairly penalized not just R.A. Dickey, but also David Wright, and they have rewarded Giants fans for stuffing the ballot box.
Buster Posey did not deserve to start at catcher over Carlos Ruiz and Yadier Molina. But because Giants fans voted Posey in, La Russa names another Giant who shouldn't be starting, Matt Cain, as starting pitcher, citing Posey's familiarity with Cain, as if that was ever an All-Star battery consideration before.
At least Posey is having a very good year. Giants fans also voted in Pablo Sandoval at third over Wright, even though Sandoval missed over a month with a broken hamate bone.
La Russa had the opportunity to put Wright in the starting lineup as designated hitter, but passed over the Met third baseman for Colorado's Carlos Gonzalez.
If Wright ends up playing much of the game at third, the move could make sense. But it would have been nice to see Wright introduced with the starters, as he should have been.
And it would have been great not just for Met fans, but for all of baseball, if Dickey had gotten the start. Even Squawker Lisa is outraged by the snubbing of the Met pitcher. Bud Selig makes the game decide home field advantage in the World Series in a pathetic attempt to increase ratings, then praises the Giants fans for making a mockery of the All-Star Game being more than an exhibition. And when baseball actually has a reason for casual fans to tune in, they leave Dickey on the bench.
Maybe La Russa is thinking about the 2004 All-Star Game, when his Cardinals did not end up with home field advantage in the World Series. The game was decided in the first inning, when the American League scored six runs. Some blamed bad feelings between the National League battery - Mike Piazza and Roger Clemens.
In 2004, it might have made sense to pick a different starting pitcher to go with the catcher. But it was the best choice for fan interest. And even though I'm a National League fan, I enjoyed seeing Clemens get lit up.
Cain is no Clemens (even if he also once beaned the Mets' best player). Cain deserves to be in the game, even if awarding him the start because of his body of work makes a lot less sense than it would be for AL starter Justin Verlander. But while I want the NL to win, I hope they do so without much help from any of the Giants in the game, or any moves by Tony La Russa, who should have stayed retired.
Showing posts with label Matt Cain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Matt Cain. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Thursday, June 14, 2012
On Bryce Harper, A-Rod, R.A. Dickey, no-hitters, and clown questions
As a note in preparation for the upcoming Yankees-Nationals series, I have to say that I'm digging Bryce Harper as a player, and as an interview. He gave that idiot Canadian reporter's question about drinking a beer the answer it deserved: “That’s a clown question, bro.” I'm going to start using that phrase as an answer to everything. Hear that, Squawker Jon? That's a clown question, bro!
Here's the thing. Reporters ask those kinds of questions not to get a good story, but to drum up controversy. How was Harper, who is a non-drinking Mormon teenager, supposed to answer that? If he had said yes, there would have been a whole story about how Harper, age 19, thinks he's above it all. It was a total gotcha question. So Harper gave an obnoxious question an obnoxious answer. Good for him. Frankly, I wish A-Rod would do that sometimes, with some of the clown questions he gets.
Speaking of which, I heard some Yankee "fans" devalue A-Rod tying Lou Gehrig on the all-time grand slam because Alex took PEDs. Everytime I hear a Yankee fan complain about that, I ask them how they feel about Andy Pettitte taking PEDs, and if that devalued his career achievements. Every single time, the fan goes into contortions to explain that Pettitte only did it once (not true!) to recover from an injury, blah blah blah.
If you are going to criticize A-Rod for PEDs, then you have to do the same with Andy Pettitte, even if Andy is part of the Core Four, has five rings, etc., etc. To do otherwise makes you a hypocrite.
In other news, I noticed that R.A. Dickey should have gotten a no-hitter last night, but an obvious error by David Wright was ruled to be an infield hit. That's the perfect rejoinder for those who complain that Johan Santana's no-hitter doesn't really count, due to the Carlos Beltran hit being called a foul ball. Because even though the Mets are appealing the infield hit ruling in the Dickey game, there is very little chance they will win that appeal. And Dickey will not get the no-hitter he earned last night.
Speaking of which, Squawker Jon sent me an email last night about Matt Cain's perfect game, and I was about to write him back that Cain pitched a perfect game, while the Mets still do not have a no-hitter, only to remember that they do now! So thanks to Santana, something I loved to mock Jon about is done. Oh well.
What do you think? Tell us about it!
Here's the thing. Reporters ask those kinds of questions not to get a good story, but to drum up controversy. How was Harper, who is a non-drinking Mormon teenager, supposed to answer that? If he had said yes, there would have been a whole story about how Harper, age 19, thinks he's above it all. It was a total gotcha question. So Harper gave an obnoxious question an obnoxious answer. Good for him. Frankly, I wish A-Rod would do that sometimes, with some of the clown questions he gets.
Speaking of which, I heard some Yankee "fans" devalue A-Rod tying Lou Gehrig on the all-time grand slam because Alex took PEDs. Everytime I hear a Yankee fan complain about that, I ask them how they feel about Andy Pettitte taking PEDs, and if that devalued his career achievements. Every single time, the fan goes into contortions to explain that Pettitte only did it once (not true!) to recover from an injury, blah blah blah.
If you are going to criticize A-Rod for PEDs, then you have to do the same with Andy Pettitte, even if Andy is part of the Core Four, has five rings, etc., etc. To do otherwise makes you a hypocrite.
In other news, I noticed that R.A. Dickey should have gotten a no-hitter last night, but an obvious error by David Wright was ruled to be an infield hit. That's the perfect rejoinder for those who complain that Johan Santana's no-hitter doesn't really count, due to the Carlos Beltran hit being called a foul ball. Because even though the Mets are appealing the infield hit ruling in the Dickey game, there is very little chance they will win that appeal. And Dickey will not get the no-hitter he earned last night.
Speaking of which, Squawker Jon sent me an email last night about Matt Cain's perfect game, and I was about to write him back that Cain pitched a perfect game, while the Mets still do not have a no-hitter, only to remember that they do now! So thanks to Santana, something I loved to mock Jon about is done. Oh well.
What do you think? Tell us about it!
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