The View From the ASG

But first... exciting news! I was finally able to find an old friend of mine from NAU whom I have not seen or talked to since he went into the armed services about five years ago. I did some sleuthing online and his name came up on a Myspace page that must have been blocked or something when I did a search previously. I created a Myspace account for the sole purpose of sending him a message, and now I wait to see if he responds. For all I know he might be in Afghanistan or something. So I am now quite happy tonight to have completed that quest. Okay... the 2009 80th Major League Baseball All-Star Game! First, I have to begin with NL Manager (and Phillies manager) Charlie Manuel's decision to snub the best pitcher in the National League for the starting spot. I'm talking of course about Dan Haren. Instead, he started Tim Lincecum, a great pitcher in his own right, but Dan Haren should have started the game. Period. Hands down. No more discussion. Therefore, from this moment on, until either Charlie Manuel leaves Major League Baseball for good or I die, I am putting a Curse on him and any team he works with/for. Good luck getting the W's now, Charlie! Mwahahahahahahaha! Yes, that was my Evil Laugh. The game itself was actually nothing really special. Dan Haren pitched the 4th inning, and Justin Upton got in two at-bats and played left field for a few innings to close out the game. The NL was once more beaten by the AL, despite solid play. The NL starting pitcher was what did them in... no names here of course COUGH*Lincecum*COUGH*... The AL beat him up for two runs in the first inning on some sloppy pitching and a nasty error by Albert Pujols. The AL also had one error leading to an NL run, but aside from that, there were no home runs hit by the big sluggers in the lineup, few extra-base hits, a couple strikeouts here and there, and was (I believe) the quickest game time-wise in All-Star Game history at 2 hours, 31 minutes. I guess the biggest highlight of the night was watching the President of the United States Barack Obama throw out the quinticentially American first pitch to Pujols in his Chicago White Sox blazer (no doubt padded with a large bulletproof vest). Getting to hear his interview in the broadcast booth was also fun. Despite what I would call "dangerous" policy decisions by the President, it's nice that he's such a fan of the American Pastime. AL 4, NL 3... 13 years in a row that the AL has won the All-Star Game, and will have home field advantage in the World Series.