What's Wrong With This Picture?

                                                                      

One Sentence Reviews

Ehhh...I got nothing...so here come some one sentence reviews en tu cara!!!

Inception (2010 Movie): A bit watered down, in a way, but overall a great movie.

inFamous (PS3 Video Game): You get to climb around a metropolis with electric powers being a superhero...the only thing that could make this game better is lesbian sex.

BioShock 2 (X-Box Video Game): More of the same from the BioShock series, but that's not a bad thing.

Friday Night Lights (TV Series): I'm only into the first season, but even a non-football fan would love this show....it's got everything.

The Last Airbender (2010 Movie): I just hope the "Airbender" in the title is a code word for: M. Night Shyamalan Movie.

Minnesota Twins (2010 Season): Mark my words, whether in the regular season or the first round of the playoffs, this season will end in disappointment.

Jersey Shore (TV Series): I think it's safe to say that this show is the pinnacle of humanity.

Mysteries of Baseball

We're a month into baseball season. The Twins are doing well in the regular season, my fantasy team is breaking my heart and we're months away from seeing the Twins get swept out of the first round of the playoffs. All seems right in the world.

But getting back to watching baseball reminds me of all its oddities that make no sense and just leave me scratching my head confused. So here are my top five mysteries of baseball:

Twins Sign Joe Mauer

After much teeth gnashing and worrying by fans, Joe Mauer has finally been signed. Many people close to the situation expected this to happen. It was a matter of "when" not "if." What has surprised everybody is the relatively small size of the contract: $15.25 Million over four years. In fact, this contract even surprised the Twins' front office.

"I was really shocked," Twins General Manager Bill Smith said. "I actually made the offer as a joke to bring a bit of levity to the negotiations. Imagine my surprise when he jumped at the offer! Ron Gardenhire, the Pohlads and I had a big celebration after this contract was signed."

I caught up with catcher Joe Mauer at Twins spring training in Fort Meyers, Florida and asked him about the signing.

"What the heck are you talking about?" He asked.

Joe Mauer, known for his good sense of humor and biting wit, was obviously joking with me. But I played along and explained the terms of his new contract.

"What?" Joe Mauer still joked. "I can't believe that. I need to talk to my agent."

Joe Mauer then walked away in a faux huff. He obviously took magic lessons from amateur magician Michael Cuddyer because nearly seconds after he left the room he returned by coming through a different door. I was reasonably impressed with the trick and then told Joe Mauer that, along with his illusions, I was looking forward to his catching and hitting prowess for the next four years.

"I'm not Joe Mauer!" He yelled. "I'm Nick Blackburn. I don't catch. I pitch! I signed the contract! Not him! Stop confusing me with him! Why do you think I grew this beard? Imbeciles...all of you!"

After that Joe Mauer stormed out of the room. That Joe Mauer...always the kidder.

Bitter Thoughts About Baseball

I was at game 163 on Tuesday. You can say what you want about the fact that it's just two 86 win teams fighting for the chance to be swept by the Yankees. In my opinion, it was awesome!

It was so crazy that I think you could do a 12 episode miniseries breaking down each inning. It would be riveting. I never knew watching other people play sports could be so exhausting.

I was so excited after the game I promised myself not to let the upcoming loss to the Yankees in the post season ruin my memory of that game. Well, after Friday night's Game 2 against the Yankees, my promise was broken.

Brief Thoughts About Baseball (08/28/2009 - 09/04/2009)

1. You see, even as the season is winding down, awesome things can happen...like THIS! (I love those sound bytes way more than I should.)

2. Cleveland fired their manager on Wednesday. Really? You couldn't wait 5 days later to deliver the news at the end of the season?

3. Everyone likes a good foul ball catch or two!

4. The Twins announcers this weekend were talking about how great outdoor baseball will be next year. And then I see a commercial about how the Twins will play under the same sunshine as Harmon Killebrew. Then I look outside and see that its gray, cloudy, rainy and about 50 degrees out. Awesome.
5. Well, the Twins made it interestng, but ultimately they didn't have the pitching to come through. I mean, when you're relying on the likes of Carl Pavano then you know you're in trouble...wait, the Twins did what? They even managed to beat Zack Greinke? The Tigers choked? DELMON YOUNG ACTUALLY CONTRIBUTED?!?!?! I don't believe it...

6. Apparently the Twins still have at least one more game to play. The Twins have a chance to accomplish a couple of firsts. They are already the first team to play in a one game playoff for the division two years in a row. If they win they would be the first team to win their division after trailing by 3 games with 4 games to play. They would also become the first team to make it to the post season when playing the last year at a stadium.
You know my opinion, I'm results orientated. If the Twins don't win their game on Tuesday then all these heroics will be for naught. But it's fun for now...

Brief Thoughts About Baseball (09/21/2009 - 09/27/2009)

For multiple reasons this will be a shorter edition of my brief thoughts. I'll assume you're all devastated.

1. It's everyone's favorite part of baseball...THE STUPID INJURIES!!!

2. The Twins won two of three against the Royals, which was expected when they went against Greinke. But I still feel that the Twins need a sweep of Detroit (all 4 games) to pull off the division win. I'm still not feeling it.

3. I can't find the article, but I know Yankees GM Brian Cashman said that Joba Chamberlain will need to "step up" if he wants to be on the post season roster.
How about the Yankees stop babying Joba and allow him to pitch more than 4 innings and then he might be able to step up? The Yankees have no one to blame but themselves for the Joba mess.

4. I'm amused by this Ian Kinsler clip because of how excited they get. It's amusing how much we get caught up in "mile stone" numbers. Sure, 30 home runs and 30 steals is a good season, but would it be a bad season if he has 32 home runs and 29 steals? Or 35 steals and 28 home runs? It's silly, but we all get caught up in it.

5. Give the White Sox some credit for continuing to play hard...sometimes.

Brief Thoughts About Baseball (09/14/2009 - 09/20/2009)

1. So Morneau is out for the year due to a back injury. But franky, he seemed to be gone from the team for the last month. A lot of people think this is final nail in the coffin of the Twins. But right now it seems that anyone who is in the lineup over Morneau in Septemeber is an improvement.

2. If you build it, Torii will come.

3. Joe Nathan gave up a home run on Wednesday and nearly cost the Twins the game. I'm not liking what I've been seeing from Nathan lately.

4. Everyone likes a good brawl, right? But why the hell are the Yankees even bothering with Toronto?

5.Magglio Ordonez got enough plate appearances to kick in a clause in his contract which guaranteed him a 18 million dollar one year extension. I wish I could get 18 million dollars by making an out...or by making out!

6. Well this was ugly for both teams!

7. The Twins won two of three from the Tigers (with a little help from the dome). I hate losing the last game of series when you have a chance to sweep. That being said, I did believe going into the series that if they win two out of three they still have a chance at the division. (I still can't believe the Twins got back into the race, but it's thanks to the Tigers' ineptitude.)
Anyway, now that the Twins did win two out of three, that three game lead the Tigers have is looking a bit more daunting than I thought. But if the Twins can make up one game this coming week and then win three out of four against the Tigers, they would be tied for the division. This could get interesting...

Brief Thought About Baseball (09/07/2009 - 09/13/2009)

1. Twins won in Toronto on Monday. It shouldn't be too surprising since Toronto is bad. However, that was the Twins first win in Toronto since 2006.

2. Of course, the Twins ended up splitting the series in Toronto 2-2. Because that's what the Twins do.

3. On Monday, Chris Carpenter pitched a complete game shut out with 10 strike outs, 1 hit, and two walks. On ESPN's Baseball Tonight, the host said "It may be the best pitching performance of the year." Ummm...is he aware this happened this year? Hell, this was better too!

3. Sure the Twins are floundering. but it could be worse. This season will mark the Pirates' 17th losing season in a row. Ouch.

4. Not that I'm a Tigers apologist, but this suspension was kind of lame.

5. Carlos Gomez hasn't given up on the season, apparently.

6. The Tigers lost 5 of 6 games this week and were simply begging, BEGGING the Twins to get back into the divion race. But the Twins absolutely refused to do so. The Twins lost 4 of 7 to the likes of Toronto and Oakland. If you can't win 5 of 7 against those teams, then you don't deserve to win the division.

Brief Thoughts About Baseball (08/31/2009 - 09/08/2009)

1. I don't know how many more of these I can do. Really, the only races in questions is the two Wildcard races. And I just feel like the Red Sox are going to pull out the AL Wild Card. I'll get to the death of the AL Central Division race later. But honestly, I was busy this week and missed a lot of baseball. But we'll see what I come up with.

2. I went to the Twins game last Monday. (Feels like months ago.) I saw Jim Thome play for the White Sox. I got home and saw that he was traded to the LA Dodgers. It was weird on many levels. One level is: Why would an NL team want Jim Thome? He can barely walk. Since moving to the Dodgers Jim Thome went 1 for 3 and then injured his ankle.

3. The Twins wanted to trade for Rich Harden but the Cubs were apparently asking for too much. I don't know what "too much" really means but on the surface I can't rip the Twins. You shouldn't give away too much for a one month rent-a-pitcher.

4. No "hip hip" for Jorge after this.

5. I suppose he made up for that embarrassment, though.

6. Here's a pet peeve of mine. David Wright came back to play after getting a concussion from getting beaned in the head by a pitch. (I'm not sure why he came back to play since the Mets' season is essentially over, but that's neither here nor there.) But Tim Kurkjian said that an ordinary person would never be able to get in the batter box again. (The implication was that most people would be too traumatized.) He said that's why they're baseball players and we're not or something like that. Well, you know what? BS!!!
During my High School Archery, Golf, and Bowling class I took a golf club too the forehead. I had a gash down to my skull and needed forty stitches. You know what? After a weekend I went back to the class and still golfed. It's really not a big detail. The human brain is very good at disassociating and filtering things. I'm not bragging either. I'm just an average person. In fact, a lot of people would consider me below average. I'm just saying it's not that impressive to get back into the batter box after taking a pitch to the head.

7. The Twins playoff hopes are all but dead. And it's a bit surprising who drove the final nail into the coffin though...Joe Nathan. One out from sweeping the White Sox and he gives up back to back home runs to tie the game? Unacceptable. I'm not saying he should be cut, but it was painful. And you know, Matt Guerrier has been decent this year, but you can't bring into the game with runners on base. They'll score, seemingly every time.
Anyway, back to the brutal loss the Twins took on Wednesday. Teebore predicted that they'd lose two out of three the following series against Cleveland and that's exactly what happened. The Twins are now a weeks worth of games out of first place. So you could argue that that White Sox game didn't mean much. I mean, if they won that game then they'd still be 6 games out of the division which isn't much better. You're right, but I feel like that blown save had a snowball effect on the Twins.
If the Twins win that game and sweep the White Sox, it really puts the heat on Detroit. I'm not convince the Tigers win their game that night or the following day. And if that was the case the Twins would only be 2 1/2 games out going into the weekend and on a hot streak. At that point, they may have pulled off a sweep of Cleveland which would really would put the Twins in the thick of things.
Now I could be overestimating the momentum the Twins would gain from that win and really there's no way to know either way what would have happened if Nathan could have gotten that final out. But I would have liked to have found out. As it stands, the Twins are hopelessly behind the Tigers and simply left with a whole bunch of what-ifs.

Brief Thoughts About Baseball (08/24/2009 - 08/30/2009)

1. It's getting harder and harder to find stuff to talk about. Almost all playoff races are forgone conclusions except AL Central and the NL Wildcard. But we'll see what I can come up with.

2. Regarding the NL Wildcard, San Francisco took a big loss to Colorado on Monday when, after leading by 3 runs in extra innings, this happened.

3. But the Giants got their revenge on Sunday.

4. As of Sunday the 30th, Tampa Bay Ray Carlos Pena has 37 home runs on the season. He also has just 36 singles on the season. Just thought you'd like to know.

5. This happened last week but I missed it! I figured I still had to link to it though, since everyone loves a good stupid baseball injury.

6. Apparently, Denard Span is itching to be a reliever. Heck, the Twins can use all the help they can get!

7. Some claim this is the greatest play of the season. I'm not so sure...but it was good.

8. Is Milton Bradley now trying to be labeled the most unlikable player in baseball?

9. Sunday was a interesting day for Twins fan. First, Detroit was losing and, thanks to Jason Kubel, the Twins were in line for a win. Then this happened...followed by this. Detroit ended up winning and a Twins loss would really hurt their chances at the division. But thanks to some small ball the Twins retook the lead! (However, anyone who still calls that "Twins baseball" hasn't been watching them this season.) The Twins won and kept pace with Detroit...which was big for them.

10. Oh, and we also saw something on Sunday that hasn't happened in 6 years!

Getting It Wrong Shouldn't Be Alright

You know what really grinds my gears? When baseball umpires make a bad call and neither the umpires nor Major League Baseball seem to care. And it seems to be happening a lot lately.


This season has seen a handful of high-profile, and in some cases game-deciding, blown calls by umpires. Here's one. Here's another. And a third. This one didn't blow the game but, while the ball is clearly caught, the umpire ruled it a dropped ball, thus robbing us of what would otherwise be one of the most spectacular catches of the year. Even Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci has noticed the increase in botched calls, at least in terms of close plays leading to managerial ejections. He says, "through Aug. 11, there were 128 ejections, which at this rate would mean a 14 percent increase from last year" and that, "[t]he big jump is from arguments regarding plays on the bases. Such arguments have led to 33 ejections, already more than such ejections in any of the previous five full seasons."

What bothers me about this trend isn't just the fact that the Minnesota Twins have been, essentially, robbed of arguably two victories as a result of bad umpiring, but that nobody seems to mind that the umpires are just plain wrong.


Last season, after an abundance of poor calls pertaining to home runs, Major League Baseball initiated limited instant replay for boundary calls (disputes over whether or not a potential home run is fair or foul, or a home run or ground rule double). Yet this season, no one seems to care about the rise in obviously-wrong calls. The umpires are simply not held accountable for their poor calls.

Most people argue, in the case of games that get decided by a call that is later determined to have been wrong, that the team that lost should never have put itself in a position where one bad call would affect the outcome of a game. From an individual team standpoint, those people are absolutely right. What I'm saying, though, is that umpires themselves, and to a greater extent baseball as a whole, should want to get the call right for its own sake. Their desire, at all times, should be to get it right as much as possible. If there's a close call at the plate and there's any doubt, in anyone's mind, be it the players involved, the umpire himself, or the managers or coaches, then the umpire should have the ability, and at all times the desire, to review the play in order to ensure they got it right.

As it stands, the manager can come out and argue a close play, but only in extremely rare cases does the umpire change his mind. Usually the manager just gets thrown out.


What's really frustrating is that the absolute first person who should want to make sure the play was called correctly is the umpire. They, of all people, should be pushing for the implementation of instant replay, because it's their job to get it right. Most umpires though, it seems, either don't care or believe that they define reality, such that regardless of what the replay shows, whatever they called is what really happened (this was the case of the home plate umpire in the clip from the Twins/Tigers game).

The other argument people like to use in favor of bad umpiring is "that's the way it's always been", meaning umpires have been blowing calls and not caring since the dawn of baseball. Yeah, well, there was a time when scuffing the ball was "the way it's always been" or a time when having the pitching mound raised higher was "the way it's always been" or a time when everyone rode in horse-drawn wagons instead of cars was "the way it's always been." Just because something has "always" been done a certain way doesn't mean it shouldn't change if a better way comes along.


The fact is, for many years, umpires and Major League Baseball did the best they could with what they had. Bad calls got made, but there wasn't much in the way of technology to rectify that. Nowadays, there are tools available to aid umpires in making their calls. Back in the day, there were no TV baseball viewers, and when games started to be broadcast on television, the broadcasts did little to give audiences at home an advantage over umpires on the fields. But in today's day of hi def flat screen home televisions and DVR recording technology, the average fan watching from home can see close plays better than the umpires. If an untrained fan at home can clearly see something an umpire on the field can't, then we have a problem. It's that simple.


After a bad call cost the Twins a win, manager Ron Gardenhire proposed a system in which the manager of each team has a red flag he can toss whenever he wishes to review a play. Should the review go in his favor, he keeps the flag and can use it again in the game. Should the review uphold the initial call, then he loses that flag. It's not a perfect solution, but it's the best I've heard this far. It's certainly better than the current solution, which, in a sport notorious for fearing progress, ranges from a stubborn refusal to admit there's a problem on the part of the umpires to Major League Baseball shrugging it's shoulders and essentially saying "we're okay with getting it wrong." And it should never be alright to get it wrong.

Brief Thoughts About Baseball (08/17/2009 - 08/23/2009)

1. I suppose we should start with some positivity. Joe Mauer has been awesome. Check out this story.

I'd like to point out this paragraph:

"According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Mauer is one of five American League players to have at least 25 home runs and at least a .380 batting average this late in the season. The others were Ted Williams (1941 and 1957), Joe DiMaggio (1939), Lou Gehrig (1930 and 1936) and Babe Ruth (1931)."

That's a jaw-droppingly crazy list of names for Joe Mauer to be associated with.

2. Thursday's game snapped the Florida Marlins' steak of 15 straight games with at least 10 hits. That's pretty impressive. (Unless those games were all against Twins pitchers, but they weren't.)

3. Drew Stubbs hit his first home run on Thursday and it just so happened to be of the walk-off variety. But, if a walk-off home run is hit but there's no one in the stands to see it, did it really happen?

4. This clip is best watched with the sound off and imagining the Benny Hill song playing as soon as Denard Span's bat hits the ball.

5. I was trying to come up with a pun involving Pujols and jamming the bases or something, but it just didn't work out. But what I really like about this play is the catcher's heads up reaction in just booking it out to second base.

6. Speaking of things you don't see every day, this is the first time a Twins player hit two home runs in the same inning.

7. And this is definitely something you don't see everyday. In fact, the unassisted triple play is more rare than a perfect game. Sunday's was only the second time in baseball history an unassisted triple play ended the game.

8. But if we're talking baseball history, then we MUST reference the Red Sox and the Yankees, right? Friday's Red Sox/Yankees game featured the most runs scored in Red Sox vs. Yankees history. The Red Sox lost that game and that pretty much ended their chances at an American League East championship.

9. Speaking of Red Sox/Yankees, why does Sports Center recap the Yankees/Red Sox game mere minutes after the game ended? Wouldn't you think that anyone watching Sports Center at that time was watching the game? Why don't you give it a half hour.

10. Well, the Twins managed to win 5 of 7 games this week which was just enough to keep them relevant in the AL Central. I'm still not optimistic. Although it should be noted that they won those games without Justin Morneau. Maybe he's been hindering the team? I say the Twins should cut him.

Brief Thoughts About Baseball (08/10/2009 - 08/16/2009)

1. Is it just me or has there been a lot of cycles this year?

2. Some people get stuck on milestones, but when Valdimir Guerrero hit his 399th home run he decided to just go ahead hit his 400th in the same game.

3. White Sox are still in the hunt for the Division and obtained Alex Rios, who was an All Star and is still young. I'd be more upset but the Twins have enough outfielders as it is.

4. Ouch

5. Double ouch

6. Triple ouch

7. As for some updates, David Wright (5) may be out for the rest of the season with a concussion (continuing the Mets epidemic of injuries). Hiroki Kuroda (6) was released from the hospital on Monday but will miss his next start. It sounds like he may come back after that. Ian Kinsler (4) seems to be doing just fine.

8. The Angels did something similar to the Twins a week or two ago. On Sunday, when the Angels faced the Orioles, the Angels ended up winning the game in what at first glance looks like a 17 to 8 blowout. However, the game was much closer that that. It was an extra inning game that just happened to have a 9 run top of the 13th.

9. Well, every year there are teams that look like they in contention after the All Star break but in August they fade and you soon realize that they just don't have what it takes. The Twins are one of those teams. They're still mathematically in the division race, but really, they've got no shot. It's just frustrating by how un-Twins-like this season is. The Twins offense is actually downright decent. But the pitching is so atrocious that no leads are held for more than an inning or two and 5 runs by the Twins offense rarely seems like enough. I'm not sure how the Twins will fix their pitching problem for next season.

Brief Thoughts About Baseball (07/20/2009 - 07/27/2009)

1....mumble...grumble...Twins historic collapse...grumble...against A's...bumble grumble....Cuddyer was safe...

2....mumble...grumble...Supid hated White Sox...grumble grumble...Mark Buehrle perfect game...bumble grumble....historic...grumble...

3....mumble...grumble...Joe Nathan blowing a save...grumble grumble...fourth Twins loss in five games...bumble grumble....

4. Obviously I'm bitter about the Twins...and I hate the White Sox. I'll just say this, I was thinking that the Twins can't win the division without making a trade. But this week has proven that the Twins have too many holes to fill via trading anyway. So the Twins are down to just hoping the division is so weak that they can win by default.

5. Anyway, on Monday a 100 year old woman attended a Texas Rangers game. During an interview she said that Michael Young was her favorite Ranger. Apparently inspired by this, Michael Young does this.

6. What's worse, the fact that I was surprised to hear that an old lady's favorite player was African American (basically saying that I feel that all old ladies are racist) or the fact that I simply assumed Michael Young WAS African American....when in fact he's Caucasian.

7. This wasn't any more exciting than Chase Utley's.

8. Manny Ramirez was out of the Dodger's line up when he pinch hit with the bases loaded. Mr. I-Take-Estrogen-Pills did this. An interviewer of Manny said that that might have been the greatest moment in Dodger Stadium history. Someone needs a lesson about Kirk Gibson.

Brief Thoughts About Baseball (7/13/2009 - 7/19/2009)

Well, it's All Star week, so things were pretty slow, so I'll first start with some retro thoughts not confined to this week.

1. First of all, remember Justin Morneau did this to the Brewers?

2. Some people love their reality TV shows more for the "train wreck" factor more than anything else. But frankly, the most entertaining train wrecks out there happen at Cubs game, where they have guest celebrities sing "Take Me Out To The Ballgame." Like this or this.

3. I think that it's imperative that everybody know about this story.

OK, onto this week...

4. The Home Run Derby starts out pretty fun but it gets really boring as it goes on. MLB needs to find a way to shorten it.

5. Speaking of the Home Run Derby, after hearing all about Josh Hamilton last year in the derby, it was as if Justin Morneau didn't even exist. I think Morneau should've entered the contest just to remind everyone that he was last year's champion.

6. The all Star game was lacking in excitement, but was played fast enough to not being boring.

7. The most entertaining part of the All Star festivities, for me, anyway, has always been the Celebrity Softball tournament. I enjoy it much more than I should.

8. Jim Thome had a big day on Friday.

9. Which should get a pitcher demoted to the minors faster, this or this?

10. I knew the Twins were in trouble Sunday when they were going for a sweep. They love to settle for two out of three. Add to it the fact that I have no faith in the Twins once the game hits extra innings, and I wasn't surprised to see Ian Kinsler hit a two-run bomb.

11. In Saturday's Twins game, the home plate umpire took a foul ball directly into the nuts. He was down for a while and then had to leave periodically during the game for...unknown...reasons. Naturally, this is hilarious to everybody who isn't that ump. But MLB, in an effort to have "integrity" and to "take the higher road" did not post this video. Luckily, the Gentlemen of Leisure have no such restrictions, so in honor of that umpire, here are some videos of shots to the nuts:

Brief Thoughts About Baseball (6/29/2009 - 7/05/2009)

Note: In honor of Mrs. Dr. Bitz's complaint, none of the links this week will feature a home run...except for this one.

1. First of all, congrats to the Twins finally getting over 2 games over 500. They are now a whopping 3 games over 500.

2. The Baltimore Orioles were down by 9 runs in the 7th inning against the Red Sox. Eventually this happened and secured an improbable victory for the O's. Hehehe..eat it Red Sox!

3. Apparently the Texas Rangers somtimes wear red for their road jerseys instead of instead of their traditional blue. The problem is they played the Angels this week. So any highlight I saw from those game just greatly confused me. Was that Torii Hunter making that catch? Wait, no, it was Marlon Byrd!?

4. I suppose I'll steal a line from Sports Center and say that the Arizona/San Diego on game on Thursday had a delay that would have fans....buzzing! I'm sure PETA wasn't happy with the solution.

5. On Thursday the White Sox faced the Royals. In the 1st inning Billy Butler hit a pop up and for some reason Willie Bloomquist was running on the play and got doubled up. Then, in the second inning, Miguel Olivo hit a pop up and Mark Teahen decided to not learn a lesson from the first inning (or any little league coach) and ran on the play also. Not surprisingly, he got doubled off. And the Royals wonder why they are perennial bottom feeders.

6. You want to know what headline I hope is never written about me? "Big Unit injured!"

7. And of course the Natinals make another bid to be the worst baseball franchise with there own version of premature ejaculation when they lit off victory fireworks before the game was actually finished.

8. I suppose I should say few things about the All Star selections. There's not too much to complain about. Obviously, Justin Morneau should be starting over Mark Texeira since he leads the Yankee's 1st basemen in nearly every offensive statistical category. But Morneau will be playing as a reserve, so that's OK.
Ian Kinsler should be starting over Dustin Pedroia but Kinsler might not even get to play in the game...unless he gets voted in on the last chance vote.
I suppose the only egregious choice is Josh Hamilton, who missed about half his games due to injuries. But that's who the fan's voted in.
I used to not have a problem with fans voting for all stars, I mean, it's an exhibition game that's strictly for entertainment. So let's have the guys play who the fans want to see.
But I heard a counter argument to that that says that the MLB All Star Game is for home field advantage in the World Series. That's important, and with those kind of stakes we shouldn't have fans influencing the outcome. That argument made sense to me so now I'm against fans voting for the MLB All Star Game.
The real solution is to keep fan voting and do away with the stupidity of the game deciding home field advantage in the World Series.

Brief Thoughts About Baseball (6/23/2009 - 6/29/2009)

1. On Monday, Donald Fehr retired from being the chief of the Baseball Player's Union. Many people will remember his reign for making the players a lot of money. But because of when I grew up and when I became interested in baseball, I will simply remember him as a giant obstacle to getting steroids out of baseball.

2. Manny Ramirez was getting ready for coming back from his suspension by playing in the minor leagues. Does any one else find it ridiculous that a suspended player is allowed to play in a MLB sanctioned minor league game? (I also find it humorous that many sports analysts have no idea why a minor league team would name themselves the "Isotopes".)

3. On Tuesday, for basically the first time this season, Mauer is hitting under .400. He's slipping, I say the Twins should trade him.

4. Milwaukee Reliever Mitch Stetter had a streak of 15 strike outs "in a row". However, that just referred to a streak of strike outs against batters who were retired, so other batters got hits amidst those strikeout. Basically, that stat is meaningless and should be put right up there with the 4 strikeout inning and hitting for the cycle. (Also, I'm personally fond of this pitch thrown by Stetter earlier this season.)

5. Notice anything different about Magglio Ordonez? No? Well, this is how he used to look and I guess it had a reverse Sampson effect because that day he did this. It was his first home run in 40 games. (Longest home run drought of his career.)

6. It's always nice when you're wife sings the national anthem and then you do this during the game.

7. If you're the Tigers, how do you not argue this and get it reviewed?

8. Albert Pujols pretty much single-handedly beat the Twins on Saturday with this and this...he's good.

9. Hanley Ramirez nearly single-handedly beat my fantasy team this week with this and this...I lost the RBI category.

10. Something you don't see every day, one historic closer pitching to another historic closer...and he WALKS HIM WITH THE BASES LOADED!? K-Rod should be ashamed of himself. (Also, congrats on number 500, Mariano.)

11. I was going to say that Justin Morneau is officially in a slump, but then he did this on Sunday. He also hit the ball well two other times on Sunday. So maybe he's coming out of his slump? Only time will tell.

12. I suppose I'm should also alert you to this highlight. (If he was a Twin he would have just plowed into the catcher.)

Brief Thoughts About Baseball (6/15/2009 - 6/21/2009)

1. Here's a heads up play.

2. Not that people really want to hear about my fantasy team, but it was a light Monday as far as games go, so I only had one batter going and so did my opponent. I was excited when my player did this for the first time in his career. But then his player did this...and then this. I wasn't so excited anymore. But I ended the week well so I really can't complain...much.

3. Since we're in the middle of interleague play, I suppose I should make my opinion known. The NL's no DH policy is vastly superior to the AL. The Designated Hitter has never made much sense to me. The NL feels more pure.

4. Blackburn got a complete game for the Twins on Thursday. That's the first complete game for the Twins since 07/28/2008.

5. Kerry Wood came back to play against his former team, the Chicago Cubs. He apparently is still fond of them because he gave them a couple of gifts.

6. So Saturday night's Twins game started off with the opposing pitcher, Brian Moeller, taking the mound. Moeller then bent down and inscribed "FM" into the mound. The announcers commented that he does that in honor of his father Frank Moeller, who died before he could watch his son pitch in the major league. Then, on the second pitch, this happened. Good for the Twins (if ultimately meaningless), but still I had slightly mixed feelings. I just needed a few more buffer pitches.

7. I'm probably alone on this one, but I've always been for standardizing the dimensions of baseball fields. I know it's sacrilege and that it will never happen, but when this hit ends the game...something doesn't feel right. (And the fact that MLB referred to it as a "wallop" is just plain embarrassing.)

8. Thursday's Yankees game was the first game in the new Yankee stadium not to have a home run hit by either team. So the record of most consecutive games with a home run hit to start a new stadium ends at 35. And what juggernaut of a team had the pitching chops to shut out the vaunted Yankees offense on that day? Why, the mighty Natinals, of course.

9. I know Gardenhire has been wanting to rest Morneau more this year and I know Morneau has been in a minor slump lately. But with Denard Span out of the lineup, should they also be taking Morneau out? Especially after Kubel is taken out of the game for an illness?

10. Speaking of the Twins, they usually use interleague play to get on a hot streak. Not this year.. On their latest 6 game interleague homestand they went only 3 and 3, losing a series to the Astros. The White Sox, on the other hand, are doing extremely well. Not a good sign for the Twins.

Brief Thoughts About Baseball (6/8/2009 - 6/14/2009)

1. This is always scary.

2. On Tuesday the Twins win the game 10 to 5...but it was 10 to 0 going into the 9th inning. They bring in Baker and proceeds to not get an out. So they go to the bullpen, who can barely get an out themselves. Finally, Nathan has to come in up by 5 with the bases loaded and gets the save (because the tying run was on deck). I can't recall a 10-5 win feeling more like a loss than that game.

3. On Wednesday the Twins beat Oakland 6 to 3, but it felt like a better win than Tuesday's 10 to 5 victory. Go figure.

4. Milton 'Candyland' Bradley needs to learn a game called "Count The Number of Outs."

5. Last week I talked about that time Randy Johnson hit a bird with a pitch. Well, I guess that was some sort dark prophecy for birds.

6. And if that's tough way to lose a game, this takes the cake!

7. You know Mauer, Morneau, and Kubel are all great. But part of me thinks the player the Twins can least afford to lose is Joe Nathan.

8. Remember Torii Hunter?

9. Have rumors of Big Poppi's demise been greatly exaggerated? (Also, Boston...you can quit the curtain calls anytime.)

10. Since Tuesday Justin Morneau is 5 for 22 with 2 Runs and that's about it. Nothing to panic about just yet, but Morneau is more than capable of going into extended slumps and it looks like he's trying too hard to home runs right now. I'm getting a little concerned, but I'm no expert. So take that for what it's worth.