Official 2005 All-Star Game thread...
 

Home Run Derby is starting up in a few hours. Any predictions? And whats this I hear about them representing their countires instead?

Does this one count also?

This is probably the least excited I have been for an All-Star game in a while. Lol, Gammons is a great though. I'm really not too against the international format thing. It brings out different people and gives it somewhat of a storyline, its not like I care a tonn if I Pujols and Tejada aren't in it. This is featuring guys in markets that I haven't seen much, like Philly, Pittsburgh, Texas etc. No problem with me.

That montage in the beginning was pretty cool though

lol @ Piazza jamming out

where's Zito? he can play a mean guitar

Abreu is killing it...

steroids :roll:

wow, he broke it

jesus christ, he's a fucking machine

:lol: This isn't smart though he is going to wear himself out and lose.

20

LOL traded for a guy named Nightstalker...

oh shit, he had a corked bat

why even play anymore. Game Over

I feel like I'm watching a practice scenerio for like All Star Baseball for Gamecube

his name was Stocker.

Berman was making up nicknames like he always does.

I don't have cable and MLB.com is being a dick. Whats happening?

Abreu hit 24 (new record), Bay hit 0, Carlos Lee hit 11, Hee Sop Choi hit 5. Oritz, Jones, Pudge, and Teixeira left in the first record.

http://tpww.net/forums/showthread.php?t=32598 you dick

Yeah. Abreu had a corked bat. Nah, he was killing it though.

best Derby in quite some time.

An All-Star thread 2 weeks before the all-star game? MADNESS.


Also, who won?

Roberto

I'm glad Abreu did that, not there is a legitmate record that will stand for a while. I remember being shocked that the single round record was only 15 last year. This way the record is really impressive and will definately last for a while.

Also, how long as the home run derby been held for?

2005 Bobby Abreu Comerica Park
2004 Miguel Tejada Minute Maid Park
2003 Garret Anderson U.S. Cellular Field
2002 Jason Giambi Miller Park
2001 Luis Gonzalez Safeco Field
2000 Sammy Sosa Safeco Field
1999 Ken Griffey Jr. Fenway Park
1998 Ken Griffey Jr. Coors Field
1997 Tino Martinez Jacobs Field
1996 Barry Bonds Veterans Stadium
1995 Frank Thomas Ballpark in Arlington
1994 Ken Griffey Jr. Three Rivers Stadium
1993 Juan Gonzalez Camden Yards
1992 Mark McGwire Jack Murphy Stadium
1991 Cal Ripken SkyDome
1990 Ryne Sandberg Wrigley Field

I dunno, but I think its kind of a travesty that D-Train or Clemens aren't starting this game.

Yeah fuck LaRussa

Wanted Pudge to win. Hometown boy + the tiniest guy in the derby

WOOOO Starting sooon. Well in about 2 hours after the line-ups.

OMG THE GAME HASN'T EVEN STARTED AND I WANT TO SHOOT CHEVROLET AND BAD NEWS BEARS

Also, I don't think Bad News Bears looks all that terrible. It might be my number 2 baseball movie behind Sanlot.

Why the hell is a pregnant lady calling in the pre game? I dont wana see that shit, bring out John Madden instead . :|

I like Jeanie Zelasko.

The prego just completely cut off the old dude too. Kind of a bitch

I wonder whose decision it was to make Pujols the DH and have Lee play 1st. Hmmm...

Well no shit, she is fucking pregnant. She'll be coughing up attitude with every guest she interviews. Bring out Madden and let her breast feed him at least. BOOM.

Shut up. Theres nothing wrong with her.

the coaching staff maybe? lee deserves to start.

You missed my point.

wow it's actually starting. Was that Sosa singing the anthem? he was pretty good.

ok. so whats wrong with the DH? he's the second best player there.

The fans...who voted Derek Lee the National League starting first baseman...

No. I'm saying it's not that shocking that LaRussa would pick Pujols to DH instead of Lee and give his member of his team a night off practically.





Good DP by the O's

:?: I thought the managers could make changes to lineup though?

pay more attention. the reason pujols is DH tonight, is so later in the game (6th/7th inning) he can come in to play first and then just use bench players for the pitcher spot at bat, since they lose the DH after that.

plus Pujols might be the best player out of both leagues. the fans just voted Lee in.

hell no. fans vote in the starters and that is locked unless a player drops out (ex. Rolen at 3rd isn't playing so Ramirez from the Cubs is in)

Just thought about that. No they can't. Stupid. Only the rotation. :o


-1 for me.

Yeah, beat me to it.

Product placement is only going to get worse as we grow older :(

hah. right on.

scary.

Nice shot by Tejada.




He was an A, you know

and a damn good one too.

Man I'm usually a big Joe Buck fan but he is swinging and missing quite a bit tonight.

"Manny Ramirez and Johnny Damon are out which means all the hair stylists are turning off the game."

No, Joe, no.

Noooooo

Vlad and ARod can both hit as good as Pujols but they can also play D and run a lot better than our boy Albert. Best player in the NL yes but not both leagues.

<font color=goldenrod>Eh fuck it, NL is never gonna win one of these again</font>

American League > your mother

ICHIRO

But Manny and his .275 average was a much better selection

LaRussa is weak for starting his own dude tonight. NL is gonna lose now just because of that

KARMA IS A BITCH

$20 says Macha didn't warn Ichiro about that pickoff.

NL is terrible

Gotta put Felipe in the game. Fuck Rollins. He sucks

Rogers gives up a 2 run homer to Andruw Jones.

HAHAHAHA YES FUCK YOU ROGERS

If there are any Rangers fans out there get used to that, Rogers will be lucky to have an ERA under 7 the second half

FELIPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

wow Brad Lidge should've got in the game a long time ago. That was impressive.

Where is Gonzo?

:(

Lopez is wearing a Napolean Dynomite shirt? :nono:

He lost a point in my book.

AL winning means my White Sox start the World Series at home. nice.

what was the deal with the banner that someone put up, hrrya.com or what

I'm pretty sure it's a Chevy thing since they put it over the Chevy sign and the announcers commented on it which I doubt they would do if it wasn't.

it's a "fan" site for the HHR

Just a hunch but it probably had something to do with his 22 homeruns, 53 runs scored and his 80 RBI

So yes, Manny's .275 average was the better choice.

A corvette as a prize? I don't know how I feel about that.

So he puts up good power numbers, big whoop. Manny has been a one dimensional player this year. He's slow as shit and one of the worst outfielders in baseball. Ichiro is one of the best outfielders in baseball, is among the AL's leader in steals, and has .35 points higher BA. This season manny has just been a power hitter who K's all the time, put Adam Dunn or somebody in his spot and he'd put up the same numbers.

Big whoop? lol

He's 3rd (maybe 4th?) in the AL in homeruns, and leads the AL in RBIs. Those aren't just "good power numbers" those are great power numbers. As a lead off hitter Ichiro is suppose to be around the tops in batting average, this year he is probably the 3rd best lead off hitter in the AL.

Comparing Manny to Adam Dunn is laugable aswell, Dunn does have 23 dinners but has way less RBIs (52 to Manny's 80 and his batting average is a kot lower than Ramirez's (.239 - .275)

Manny is a terrible fielding outfielder but he does lead the league in outfield assists

That's why I said put Adam Dunn in his spot. If Adam Dunn or a similar power hitter had Johnny Damon, Edgar Renteria, and David Oritz in front of him he'd have a few more RBI's, no? RBI numbers are overblown because of the team, Pujols is probably gonna have more RBI's than Derrek Lee by the end of the season, but that's because the Cubs suck, Pujols almost always has someone on base when he hits.

It doesn't matter what rank Ichiro is among leadoff hitters because that's not how the team is selected, it's by defensive positions. Let's look at how they compare on the 5 tools used to determine a player's overall abilities.

Hitting for avg: Ichiro
35 points higher BA no contest.

Hitting for power: Manny
23 (I think) homers to 6, no contest

Arm: Ichiro
Sure Manny has more assists but that is because nobody even thinks about running on Ichiro. Manny has an above average arm and Ichiro has one of the top 3 or 4 arms in baseball. Ask Terrence Long.

Glove: Ichiro
Manny is a joke with the glove and Ichiro has played 4 years in America and has won 4 gold gloves.

Speed: Ichiro
Ichiro has stolen more bases this season than Manny has in the last 8 years

Ichiro > Manny

I dunno, Ichiro didn't deserve to start this year IMO. He's not doing bad, but it has been an off year for him.

I don't see how Dunn would 80 RBIs if he was on the Red Sox if he was batting .240 but I guess so.

They don't pick the all star off talent either, people are going to look at all the assists Manny has and take that into account. He may have a better arm but so what, Manny has more assists this year.

So I would make arm a wash this year atleast. Meaning they would be tied. If it wasn't Mannys little first half slump this year with his BA it wouldn't even be debateble. Also RBI numbers can misleading but you can't just totally erase them and say they are worth nothing. I like how Manny is known for HRs and RBIs while Ichiro is known for singles and stolen bases so you just totally erase his RBI numbers since the people infront of him are good. For the majority of the year he was batting 3rd anyways, so he had Damon (who does get on base) and Renteria who isnt exactly tearing it up this year infront of him. Not to mention Manny has 2 grandslams already this year, a ton of 2 out RBI, and a higher batting average with runners in scoring position - gotta take clutch hitting into account here.

Yes the Red Sox are 15 times better than the Mariners, but Manny shouldnt be penalized for that. Its not his fault the Mariners don't know how to spend money.

Oh no, they know how:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ABP...2002221109.jpg

Even if arm is a push Ichiro still takes 3 of 5, either way you can't argue that Manny is a better all around player than Ichiro. It's not like any of the morons who vote look at defense but all I'm saying is Ichiro is a more well-rounded player and he deserves to be a starting outfielder for the American League. It isn't Mannys fault the Mariners suck and it isn't Ichiros either. But thats cool that you had to take a cheap shot when I'm not attacking you and trying to have a civilized debate.

Yeah Sexson only had 18 homers at the break. CHOKE JOB. If you hadn't noticed (which I'm sure you haven't because I don't think you even watch baseball) Beltre is starting to hit. Every single hitter who goes from NL to AL has a decline in numbers, the AL is just better. Nobody expects Sexson to hit 45 again. Nobody expects Beltre to hit 45 again.

http://www.derok.net/derok/images/sp...20playoffs.jpg

39-48

Way to go, you spent millions of dollars to sit in the cellar. Stupid me, I thought they were really helping your team.

So bringing in 2 big players is going to make a team win? Look at our pitching staff and all the rookies we have. Moron.

Ichiro over Manny... Manny over Ichiro.. That's a great debate. Both players are super valuable and if I had to choose one... well it would depend on what type of team they'd be going on.

Manny is clutch, no doubt about it. He normally hits for a better average than he has this year. And his power is as good as anyones'. Ichiro is the best hitter in the league, he's not far behind his record breaking pace of last year. Speed, he's got tons of it and his defensive abilities are awesome.

Sexson is doing exactly what, if not more than they expected. Beltres been a bust SO FAR, but his #'s are climbing. Now no disrespect to the Mariner's front office, but they shouldn't have signed Beltres for the amount of money they did, because I don't think he's worth it. What Seattle needed and still needs is top a starter. They keep placing too much hope in Franklyn, Pineiro, Meche and Moyer

Is Manny better all around? No. Manny isn't a wizard in the field. Ichiro is a better all around player because he can field it a lot better than Manny. Ichiro is a better "all around" player than Ortiz too though and I would much rather have Manny or Ortiz on my team instead of Ichiro. I'd much rather have a guy with 22 homeruns, 80 rbis, 2 grandslams than a lead off hitter with a .311 average and 20 stolen bases at the break.

I guess it's really a toss up but I just think Manny is a bigger impact player. He he is having a down year with the average but he usually he puts up a great average with great power numbers. He is one of the best RBI guys of all time but I guess those don't matter because his team is good.

Don't get all teary eyed though, that wasn't a shot at you personally. That was a shot at everyone who thinks teams win just because of their money. You have to know what you are doing with it to be successful, you can't just throw it around like idiots - I agree with you about players going from the NL to the AL though. Look at Renteria.

So Sexson has been doing well, Beltre is coming around, your team isn't winning. I don't know what point you are trying to make.

"Hey, look at how shitty the rest of our team is and it makes these high priced veterans justified."

I didn't mean for you to take it so personally, but the Mariners were obviously planning for this year to go differently then it has. I call that a failed business venture.

As for Latrell Sprewell.

1. I am not denying that the Timberwolves poorly spent their money.

2. Sprewell and Cassell actually did win for a year, just like they were supposed to. Nobody promised it would last.

Nobody expected the Mariners to win the AL West. Obivously I didn't expect them to be this bad but it's not like they have a team of all stars and still suck coughnewyorkmetscough. I don't know if you saw the team last year but they were unbelievably awful, they weren't a team that was one or two pieces away from being a contender. You post a picture of Beltre and Sexson as an example of money not being spent well, so I guess by your logic that any team that sucks that signs 2 big free agents is misusing their money if they aren't immediate contenders. Beltre and Sexson were both signed to multi-year deals, they weren't brought in for 1 year to try to do something like the Yanks always do. This is a long term project, Seattle was not built to win in 2005 and no one here expected them to