By Joseph Dant
Well, let us go ahead and get this started. As was mentioned in Mr. Bramwell's post, I am the outsider on this blog, being a Cubs fan and all. I have worked over the last several years, with Ryan's help, to be less vindictive towards my fellow NL Central fans. Except the Cardinals. They are all bad people. Especially Molina. I digress. My posts in this area will mostly be maniacal rantings about goings in said NL Central.
Now that the introduction is out of the way, I shall commence with my first "unbiased" musings. Tony La Russa is a jerk and a liar. While I was pleasantly surprised that they didn't just throw out the "every team must be represented" rule to exclude the Cubs, several Reds got hosed.
For starters, Dan Uggla is starting at 2B for the NL. The man is batting .221 with 99 SOs. This one does not have a lot to do with La Russa being a jerk. I'm simply pointing out that Brandon is batting 60 points better, has higher slugging and OPS, and 61 less K's. I suppose that the fans are the jerk in this situation. This is one reason why fan voting is ridiculous, but that is neither here nor there.
Where La Russa being a jerk comes into play is with one Johnny Cueto. Anyone who pays any attention to the sport of baseball can tell you that Cueto is having a fantastic season. He has a better ERA than Lance Lynn, Stephen Strasburg, Wade Miley, Clayton Kershaw... You get the idea. The man is top 5 in the NL in too many statistical categories to list. Yet La Russa in all his baseball wisdom decided that Cueto wasn't worthy of inclusion on his All Star Team.
I am not a big Dusty Baker fan. I feel like the man must have adopted Corey Patterson at some point after seeing Dusty keep playing Patterson for so long in Chicago, and then dragging him along to Cincy and trying to play him some more. I do, however, appreciate his coming to the defense of his players. I almost laughed when La Russa said that if Dusty was really trying to get Cueto on the team, he would not have scheduled him to pitch Sunday. Yes, Tony, pitching rotations cannot be adjusted after All Stars are announced to accommodate the selection. At least have the decency to come up with a viable excuse.
So, if there is anything you should take from this, it is that Tony La Russa is a smelly jerk and a crybaby. Retired managers shouldn't be managing an All Star team anyway. Jerk.
Discussing, Analyzing and Debating Sports Among Friends In The Heartland.
Great article! I completely agree and can speak for Reds fans everywhere on this one. Maybe Jay Bruce should have been excluded, but Johnny Cueto should have definitely been included either way. And, yes, Phillips is again one of the top second baseman in the league on both sides of the field. And fan voting is a completely ridiculous way to select the league's "all-stars". Large markets in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, etc, will always play a bigger role in who makes the teams. Fans need to have some minor role in the selection. Nothing marginal. Have the baseball writers make the selections and have the fans vote count for the last-guys-in and the replacements and such. The LaRussa bungle and terrible excuse for the exclusion of Cueto was ludicrous.
ReplyDeleteI stand corrected. J and I do agree on something sports themed. Hatred of Tony Larussa and the Cardinals (whiny little bitches or WLB's). I was really hoping you would take some shots back at me, but you have become so wise and gentle in your old age. Great article man.
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