2008 MLB All-Star Game Thread

[GB-Hack]

Whoever suggested Sherrill as the MVP, 2 1/3 innings pitched, his longest outing of the season, made a lot of sense to me.

 

[spikechiquet]

If Sherrill had pitched the final part of the game and got the 'W', I could see that, but it's hard to make a case after they moved on to the next guy. Heck, maybe Cook for getting out of that jam had the NL won?

 

[GB-Hack]

If Sherrill had pitched the final part of the game and got the 'W', I could see that, but it's hard to make a case after they moved on to the next guy. Heck, maybe Cook for getting out of that jam had the NL won?

Cook would have been an excellent choice if the NL could have gotten him a run.

And I'm not too hung up on the guy getting the W or not. Sherrill was excellent, winning pitcher or no.

 

[Beaker]

If Sherrill had pitched the final part of the game and got the 'W', I could see that, but it's hard to make a case after they moved on to the next guy. Heck, maybe Cook for getting out of that jam had the NL won?

Cook would have been an excellent choice if the NL could have gotten him a run.

And I'm not too hung up on the guy getting the W or not. Sherrill was excellent, winning pitcher or no.

You could definitely make a case for Sherrill. The guy pitched very well and kept the game tied in what wasn't a normal situation for him, to say the least.

 

[spikechiquet]

Uggla owes Cook dinner and a case of beer for all the shirt he put him in regardless

 

[Mystery_Meat]

Don't know if this was touched on and there's no way in 8 hells that I'll read through every page of the thread to find out, but I've an idea for a contingency plan should this happen again and they run out of pitchers.

Pick two hot-shot Triple-A pitchers for each team -- one from the IL, one from the PCL. If the game gets to the 14th inning, the Triple-A guys go in and pitch like it's a regular start. Sure, it forks up the minor league team's rotation, but too forking suck my ass bad. Minor leagues teams don't exist to win minor league titles. It gives the pitchers a look at a big-game experience and saves the big-team arms.

i like that idea. i didn't read all 45 pages either but i don't think anyone else suggested
that. the IL and PCL are mixed though (each has NL and AL teams).

Yeah, that's what I was trying to say, but couldn't all that well. Basically: 1 AL pitcher from the IL, 1 NL pitcher from the IL, 1 AL from the PCL and 1 NL from the PCL. Or something like that.

 

[GB-Hack]

If Sherrill had pitched the final part of the game and got the 'W', I could see that, but it's hard to make a case after they moved on to the next guy. Heck, maybe Cook for getting out of that jam had the NL won?

Cook would have been an excellent choice if the NL could have gotten him a run.

And I'm not too hung up on the guy getting the W or not. Sherrill was excellent, winning pitcher or no.

You could definitely make a case for Sherrill. The guy pitched very well and kept the game tied in what wasn't a normal situation for him, to say the least.

Maybe the only interesting thing McCarver said all night was pointing out Sherrill's longest outing of the year was coming in the All-Star game.

 

[a_rosenthal]

Here's a solution: HF advantage goes to the team with the better record.

How forking crazy.

 

[Beaker]

If Sherrill had pitched the final part of the game and got the 'W', I could see that, but it's hard to make a case after they moved on to the next guy. Heck, maybe Cook for getting out of that jam had the NL won?

Cook would have been an excellent choice if the NL could have gotten him a run.

And I'm not too hung up on the guy getting the W or not. Sherrill was excellent, winning pitcher or no.

You could definitely make a case for Sherrill. The guy pitched very well and kept the game tied in what wasn't a normal situation for him, to say the least.

Maybe the only interesting thing McCarver said all night was pointing out Sherrill's longest outing of the year was coming in the All-Star game.

That's one more interesting thing than he usually says.

 

[Walter_Sobchak]

Here's a solution: HF advantage goes to the team with the better record.

How forking crazy.

Can't really do that because the teams play such different schedules that it's comparing apples to oranges.

The better solution is to give it to the league with the best record in interleague play.

And Drew or Sherrill should have been MVP. Young would have been an awful pick.

 

[shotglass]

Don't know if this was touched on and there's no way in 8 hells that I'll read through every page of the thread to find out, but I've an idea for a contingency plan should this happen again and they run out of pitchers.

Pick two hot-shot Triple-A pitchers for each team -- one from the IL, one from the PCL. If the game gets to the 14th inning, the Triple-A guys go in and pitch like it's a regular start. Sure, it forks up the minor league team's rotation, but too forking suck my ass bad. Minor leagues teams don't exist to win minor league titles. It gives the pitchers a look at a big-game experience and saves the big-team arms.

i like that idea. i didn't read all 45 pages either but i don't think anyone else suggested
that. the IL and PCL are mixed though (each has NL and AL teams).

Yeah, that's what I was trying to say, but couldn't all that well. Basically: 1 AL pitcher from the IL, 1 NL pitcher from the IL, 1 AL from the PCL and 1 NL from the PCL. Or something like that.

You know, I actually love that idea.

But just pick two pitchers, one for each league -- the top hot-shot prospect who hasn't made it to the majors yet. Make it understood that if they have to throw nine innings, they have to throw nine innings. If the kid's organization doesn't agree, go on to the next one on the list.

Would bring a whole new angle to the ballgame.

 

[D-Backs Hack]

The whole rotation thing is so overblown anyway. EVERY non-All-Star pitcher coming out of the All-Star break is fresh, especially since Thursday has become a fourth off day for most teams. So an All-Star pitcher has to push his start back a day, big forking deal. Treat the All-Star Game with respect.

Of course if dipshirts like Francona wouldn't try to get everyone to play, we wouldn't be having this conversation.

Bubbler, let's stage a coup, become co-commisioners and make this the first change in the ASG. The biggest reason for the deterioration of the ASG is how it has become managed, not played.

I couldn't stand it when Buck and McCarver were talking about how relieved Francona must be and what the solutions could possibly be when a game goes this long and the bullpens dwindle. Well, how about not managing yourself into the situation to begin with? Here's where Francona got into trouble:

J. Saunders 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0.00
R. Halladay 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0.00
E. Santana 1.0 1 1 1 0 2 1 9.00
J. Duchscherer 1.0 3 1 1 0 1 0 9.00

Two of those guys couldn't have gone a second inning? Saunders threw 12 pitches, Halladay nine.

heck, Lee threw only 20 pitches. Why couldn't he have gone three?

Give Hurdle credit for using Sheets, Zambrano and Haren for two innings apiece (a situation he was kind of forced into by Lincecum's absence and Webb, Dempster and Volquez limited). Hopefully, those guys and Cook have shown managers and GMs that, as was the case before the 1990s, a pitcher can work two or three innings in an ASG without his arm falling off.

They'd better realize it. Because if the ASG pitching continues to get managed like this, there is going to be another scare like tonight. And there might not be a rare Brad Lidge hiccup to save the game from itself.

Like everyone else, I'm no Joe Morgan fan, but he is dead on here:

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/allstar08/news/story?id=3482389

"If you had Willie Mays and those guys with the attitude that they had playing now, you'd have that same awareness," Morgan said. "I don't say the players don't play hard. Don't misunderstand what I'm saying here. I'm saying that before, Willie Mays might play the whole game. Hank Aaron might play the whole game. Now it's, you know, two innings, three innings and everything is changed. By the sixth inning or something, you do not have the same type of stars in the game that you had before."