Except for the occasional snarky comment in the recaps, I'm not going to have anything much to say about the All-Star rosters. This is mostly because I tend to avoid many of the standard evergreen column topics around these parts. You can always count on about 150 season previews and All-Star Game roster pieces from other sources each year. Many of those sources do a much better job than I ever could, and the ones who don't kind of lower the value of such things by their very presence. I don't want to do that, so I'll usually step aside.
For one of the many sources for better analysis than I can provide, check out Keith Law's piece over at ESPN. He hits on most of the things I noticed (Varitek and all of those AL relievers) and many things I hadn't thought about until I read his piece (John Lackey's inexcusable absence). That last one is particularly problematic for me. Yes, Lackey missed some time in the first half, but if we're really going to continue with this charade that the All Star Game Really Matters, don't you have to pick the players who give you the best chance to win rather than treat the game as a first-half awards banquet? If I needed to win a series against the Martians right now, I'd have Lackey in my rotation. Wouldn't you?
Anyway, despite Law's niche as the scouting/prospects guy over there, he used to write an awful lot of general baseball back in his Prospectus days. That stuff was always really good, and it's always a special treat when ESPN lets him talk about something other than the command some Southern Leaguer has over his breaking ball.
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3 comments:
Craig, a lookalike all star column from you would be way better than most on the market.
But I'm glad you didn't do more of the same anyway.
Amen. KLaw's specialty is scouting but he's got such a diverse skillset and interest in the game, it's nice to see him doing more.
Like you, I don't get too worked up over the ASG stuff. Until they either eliminate mandatory representation OR increase the rosters (as the league size has increase) ALONG WITH killing off the "this game counts" crap, it will just remain a picture of conflicts.
Yup...some topics really do get 'done to death' out there...
Then again, since your writing is so much better than 99.9% of what else is out there, maybe some of us would love to see your take on things...it would, at least, be entertaining (not to mention it would be nice to have a civilized forum in which to debate the topic).
When my mom always tried to talk me into going to law school and I would always retort that there are already too many lawyers...she would reply, "Yes, but there is always room for a GOOD one."
So there are too many articles about the All-Star selections (pre-season, post-season, steroids, etc.). Big deal...there is always room for a GOOD one.
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