All-Star Game Observations

Ball One Obama, Strike Fifty Fox

I like Barak Obama as much as the next guy does, but did he really need Fox Sports to protect his pitching reputation? With sports talk shows atwitter about whether he'd throw a strike with his ceremonial first pitch, or even reach home plate, Fox focused its cameras only on the President and never showed where the pitch landed. Even in replay, they refused to broadcast to the nation that its Comander in Chief came up short.

(Ironic, isn't it, that Fox would cover up for a lefty [in every sense of the word] like him.)

Just another piece in the giant jigsaw puzzle of ignorance that is Fox Sports.

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Strike One NPR
Day-after radio headline:
A sacrifice fly by Baltimore outfielder Adam Jones scored the go-ahead run in the 8th inning as the American League defeated the National Leage for the seventh straight year...

A far more accurate accounting that doesn't overstate the importance of an RBI:
Detroit outfielder Curtis Granderson tripled and scored the go-ahead run in the 8th inning and...

That said, get used to hearing Adam Jones's name in connection with All-Star Games.

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A Microcosm
Of course, the real story was Carl Crawford's catch, which single-handedly saved a critical run and Jonathan Papelbon's bacon. How appropriate that defense by a Ray helped win the game when defense is what catapulted the Rays from the basement to the World Series last year.

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The Man Deserved Better

Remember that great All-Star moment a decade ago when an aging Ted Williams came out to be mobbed by adoring modern-day players? That was great.

MLB dipped its foot in that very same water in St. Louis last night with Stan Musial...and it created no ripple. They needed to be just a bit creative for it to work a second time.

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And She's Yummy Too
Man, Sara Evans can punch out a tune.

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If That's A HBP, I'm A '73 AMC Pacer

Note to umpiring crew and Fox broadcast team: Wrists do no make a "bonk" sound when hit by baseballs. It was clear from the initial view that Tim Lincecum's first-inning pitch to Derek Jeter hit the knob of Jeter's bat. But it was really obvious for all to see on the two replays. Jeter himself made no pretense about being hit.

That the home plate arbiter, with only one obscured view, blew the call is defensible. That Joe Buck and Tim McCarver, with multiple replays at their service, covered it up, is unconscionable. I know that they're racked by orgiastic euphoria everytime Jeter appears, but they should at least open their eyes during the convulsions. It would help them to report the game fairly.