MVN - Most Valuable Network

Josh Hamilton Wins Fans But Not Derby

Well, the crew of BBTN sure was Up Set that Hamilton was too tired to out-homer Justin Morneau (who, by the way, is one FINE lookin male human being) in the last round.

But it surely wasn’t the first time - I remember McGwire hitting balls over the Monstah in 99 and not winning.

Somehow, though, they need to re-do it because it lasts too long. Well, not when you are in the stands. I remember the Derby in 04, watching Lance hitting baseballs righty over the trax - it was just great. And yeah, I was astonished to see him batting lefty last night after him talking about how batting lefty at the 02 Derby messed up his swing. But even though he hit 8 in the 1st round, he didn’t really seem to look as if he was in a groove, as he did in 04.

And I didn’t miss A-Rod’s purple lips one bit, and I didn’t miss Giambi’s stache neither. I know The Media grumbled about no Pujols, no A-Rod, no whoever else they wanted to see, but the guys last night acted as if they WANTED to be there, not like Bud was blackmailing them into showing up and I think it made it a lot more fun - like when it started back in the 90s and wasn’t as long or as hyped.

And Josh - well, he is an inspiration to addicts everywhere - heck, to those who been down so long looks like up to them. He had what it took, when he hit bottom, to decide that he was gonna do what it took to not be there no more, as the saying goes. Amazing that the Reds didn’t want him on their team - no, it wasn’t just that they wanted a pitcher more. I hear tell that some veterans didn’t like him or the attention he was getting from the media or even his 24/7 chaperone - NOT an entourage, mind, a chaperone - a person he WANTED to be with him to help him stay out of trouble.

Interesting that we sure haven’t read too much from the Cincy media about this, hunh? Guess they too busy hating on Adam Dunn for striking out instead of grounding out.

I’ve always found it interesting who see who fit where in the world of baseball clubs. Carl Everett, who was apparently difficult, had absolutely no trouble here in Houston as he did in Miami or Boston or Seattle. Milton Bradley is doing great in Dallas, but couldn’t get along with Jeff Kent in LA - gee, who gets along with him anyhow? I know stat geeks sneer at “chemistry” but not me - it is hard to do your best when you are with a bunch of guys that closely for that many months if there is a lot of hostility, especially if it has to be kept out of public. Then again, I think that most beat reporters keep their mouths shut about a whole LOT of stuff…

All Star game tonight. And again, I know a lot of people complain about who is in, who is out. I personally am glad that the rule about each team must send a representative is in effect because otherwise it would been mostly redsox/yankees/cubs/mets, just as the networks want.

And I would remind everyone that the game is played like a Little League exhibition - everyone must play, no pitcher can throw more than 2 innings/40 pitches. AND that Phil Garner did a terrific job back in 06 - and that Trevor Hoffman lost the game in the 9th… The thing that really irritates me is that even IF the NL wins tonight, we’ll still be hearing the media go on and on and on about how this proves that the reason that the AL has always been superior since 1973 is because of the DH. Oh? The Al basically kept losing the ASG for 20 years after the DH was instituted? Even in AL parks? And the AL didn’t dominate interleague play until 2005 after 32 years of DH usage? Imagine that…

It would be nice though if the ASG could start before like 10 PM EST because of Bud Selig needing to get like 90 minutes of face with a whole lot of stuff before the actual GAME starts, then interrupting it every few innings for some trophy or something. Me, I just hope Lance is MVP. And also, I hope Pujols isn’t busy talking him into trying to get traded to the Cards…

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 15th, 2008 at 8:04 am and is filed under Berkman, MLB. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.