Baseball

The Colorado Rockies are used to it. They are the lone team that plays in the Mountain Time zone. Therefore, games on the east coast are wrapping up when they start, and games on the west coast are underway shortly after the Rockies start.

In my “10 things we learned about baseball in June” post, I referred to June as the “Month of the Injury.” In June we saw star players such as Dustin Pedroia, Victor Martinez, Chase Utley, and Jason Heyward, amongst others, hit the disabled list.

Now it looks like July is picking up right where June left off. Though the first four days we have seen a lot of quality players hit the DL. Let’s take a look.

Earlier I went over the American League All Star Game roster, so let’s now cover the National League. Here is the roster for the National League, which is led by Philadelphia Phillies’ skipper Charlie Manuel.

Starters

C: Yadier Molina, St. Louis Cardinals

1B: Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals

2B: Chase Utley, Philadelphia Phillies – Injured, will not play

SS: Hanley Ramirez, Florida Marlins

3B: David Wright, New York Mets

OF: Ryan Braun, Milwaukee Brewers

Yesterday Major League Baseball announced the rosters for the All Star Game in Anaheim on July 13. Let’s take a look at the American League Roster.

Starters

C: Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins

1B: Justin Morneau, Minnesota Twins

2B: Robinson Cano, New York Yankees

SS: Derek Jeter, New York Yankees

3B: Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay Rays

OF: Carl Crawford, Tampa Bay Rays

OF: Josh Hamilton, Texas Rangers

OF: Ichiro, Seattle Mariners

DH: Vladimir Guerrero

Reserves

Unless you're new to Major League Baseball, you know the American League has been unbeatable against the National League in the All-Star Game for the last 13 years.

Excluding the 2002 contest that ended in a tie and featured the infamous Bud Selig shrug, the Junior Circuit has won every game since being shutout in 1996.

Obviously, a 12-game winning streak that spans over a decade has a litany of explanations. For example, the AL has been quite a bit stronger at times during the run and Lady Luck has played her role as she always does on the diamond.

The Mets had an excellent opportunity to guarantee at least a series split, maybe even a series win last night, but Francisco Rodriguez couldn’t hold it for them.

He, along with the Mets, try to rebound. Courtesy of NewYorkMets on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/NewYorkMets/status/17724997077 here is this afternoon’s lineup, with comments and notes from me:

If absence makes the heart grow fonder, it is patience that gives a baseball team confidence.

Finally, New York fans get to see Stephen Strasburg. I have been waiting a while to see him face the Mets MAJOR league team. I actually saw his last minor league start against the Buffalo Bisons. He was pitching with the Syracuse Chiefs and went five innings, allowing three hits, no runs, one walk, and five strikeouts. Three words. He looked awesome.

Dorothy “Dottie” Kamenshek was the Babe Ruth, so to speak, of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, the only women’s professional baseball league in baseball history. 

She passed away on May 17, 2010 at age 84.  The Gina Davis character in A League of Their Own was named after Dottie and loosely based on her.

The AAGPBL lasted 12 seasons from 1943 through 1954.  At its inception, the “girls” played a game that was closer to fast-pitch softball than what we think of as baseball. 

Remember Brian Bruney? He is well known in New York for his comments about Francisco Rodriguez last year. If you don’t remember, this is basically what happened:

After K-Rod blew his first save last year, when Luis Castillo dropped the pop up against the Yankees, Bruney said, "It couldn't happen to a better guy on the mound, either. He's got a tired act."

Because of this comment, the two almost fought before a game a couple of days later.