Hank Aaron

I get it.
There's always a sense of exhaustion when so much happens in so little time, and we just want our time off to be away from it and not think about things that are going on and have happened. In most of what passes for life, it's all good, and it's the way it should be...
Unless the fans are voting for you to be an All Star, and they expect to see you giving your all amongst the other great players from your generation.
Which brings us to Derek Jeter.
He's been doing it since 1996, which might seem old hat, but consider that he plays in the Big Apple. He plays for the Yankees. He's a "bi-racial angel" (at least according to the movie The Other Guys). He just got to 3,000 hits (in a 5-5 game against the Tampa Bay Rays' David Price in which hit 3,000 was a home run - oh, and he had the game winning hit). He does have a super hot gal pal (Minka Kelly) who he most likely wants some time with to get a little bit of lovin', but he is one of the pre-eminent baseball players of his generation and his fans invited him to the game (to start no less!), so shouldn't he be there?
He was 6 for 9 in his last 2 game with a double, home run, 2 RBIs, and a stolen base. He had the game-winning hit when he came through big on Saturday. That's what he does. That's why the fans love him. And even a certified Yankee hater like myself who self hatingly has to admit that he doesn't hate Jeter anymore but somehow feels a degree of respect for him is now forced to think back on the days of old and sum up that old A-Rod style hate for Jeter (and we all know what the chances of sending a get well soon card to A-Rod is going to be for his surgery).
This whole All Star sit out thing has me upset to the point that I now have to wonder about Jeter's situation (so convenient because it allowed for him to get the hit at home instead of on the road). And I'm not here to make conspiracy theory seem real because that isn't what this is about, but it is about a man who should be giving the game a chance to celebrate it's past, present, and future, but instead, he thinks that he's above the fans. Hopefully, they'll leave him off the ballots in his final 2 years. We'll see if the Yankees feel obligated to him beyond the contract he's in now.
Hank Aaron said it best:
“There is a commitment I think that players have. At least it ought to seem like it’s a commitment. It is a game that belongs [to the fan]. I was privileged to play in 23 [All-Star Games] in the first one as much as I was the 23rd one. So I feel like these players should deem it’s a privilege. It’s their game; it belongs to them. And it’s a privilege when you can go out there when you can stand next to stars that you performed against and with. … Sometimes I think that some of the players take for granted that these things are going to go on forever.”

In response to stepping up to speak to the players about their attitudes towards today's game:
“I would be willing to speak and tell them the importance of this game … sure I would. It matters to me that baseball keeps going in the direction that it’s going in and I think that the All-Star Game is one part of baseball that we need to keep improving on. … The only way you’re going to improve upon them is if these guys are going to take out of their busy schedules and come here in play in these games.”

In response to making pitchers who were picked show up at the game:
“I don’t know so much about that. … But I do know one thing, if he pitched in the game on Sunday but was nominated to come to the game, he would come here just to show his face. … The fans appreciated when his name was called and he walked or ran out on the field.”

Once again, baseball's most outspoken former player (Willie Mays also has a lot to say, so it's not like Aaron is the only one) puts it exactly as it needs to be. If Jeter listens, he'll understand. It's all straight forward. This may be a high-paid profession, but at the end of the day, it's a kids' games that adults get the right to play and be idolized for. If he'd rather sleep with Russian models that run, hit, catch, and throw, then so be it, but then he needs to retire and do that 24/7 instead of this. There are tons of players that would love to take his place.

Gerrit Cole

The draft is just what it is - unless we're talking about coming up unlucky with conscription, but all the same, Gerrit Cole has to be happy. His doubters look at his losing record and laugh, but as anyone with half a brain knows, wins and losses don't mean anything. Just because you're on a team with a crappy offense or because you have to apply for non-support doesn't mean that you're a bad player. It just means that you're unfortunate. That said, at least he'll be used to non support when he plays for the Pirates (although this year, they are a little better as they flirt with .500 at various points a few months into the season and they are only 2 games under at this point in time (28-30)).
We laugh at who goes first and second in pro sports. We laughed when the Houston Texans selected Mario Williams instead of Reggie Bush, but there were issues of who could afford Reggie Bush. A complete bust of a non-Kardashian career later, Bush is the guy who cost USC the National Championship (though in his defense, asking 18-24 year olds not to earn money JUST BECAUSE you've given them a full ride is asinine. If their parents are rich, they can give them beer and date money. If they're kids from the streets, well... suffer little children as you get caught for taking money and cars and jewelry and tattoos from rich donors everywhere (we feel your pain Ohio State).
And we can't blame Pittsburgh for what they can't afford or don't want to deal with heartache over. It's not like Pedro Alvarez and Scott Boras came through with an ability to match their holdout. Instead, they've got a guy hitting .208 and on the DL. One man can't change the culture of a team. At least not in MLB. Maybe in the NBA (and even then, Lebron isn't enough by himself - though he can make money at the gate). But for the Pirates scouting, they have 2 picks that had marginal talent in the Bonds-less past: Andrew McCutchen and Jason Kendall. Sure, McCutchen is touted as the 2nd coming, but he's not tearing up my fantasy league or the pros all that much. Jason Kendall is good and played for a while, but yeah... it's not like people are investing in his rookie card.
Looking at can't miss picks from number one of all of those who have played and had some degree of success, we have to look at the potential of our boy Stephen Strasburg (get well soon). We then find A-Rod, who despite hating his guts, we have to say that minus the steroids, he was the best can't miss prospect out of the league. Ken Griffey Jr. could have been great, but there were the injuries in the second half of his career. Joe Mauer could be be great as well, but he's injured so much that we don't really care what he can't do on MLB video games. Adrian Gonzalez has some upside, and we appreciate that - especially because he's finally earning his Boston Red Sox money. Josh Hamilton has a lot of upside as well - save the injuries, the smack, and the dalliances with drunken women who aren't his wife. Chipper Jones was really good too, but I never thought of him as the answer to the greatest player ever. He's a great player from an age who deserves to be remembered as being good in his age and being good for a great team during his age, but will he or should he be remembered longer than Dale Murphy was from his age?

And what of the ancients? Bob Horner? Harold Baines? Rick Monday? Tim Foli? Besides dressing up as Foli when I was a kid, there is no joy in Tim Foli land save a small town Pennsylvania Halloween parade. Baines is loved by the White Sox. Horner is pretty much forgotten outside Atlanta. Rick Monday saved the flag (we wrote about that). There are some 2 year wonders, and there is last generations Josh Hamilton (Darryl Strawberry) who always managed to blow his chances, but such is life. We can't all be perfect and this isn't about casting shame on those who aren't, but is there a possibility from number one. Can David Price continue to excel or will he end up being Floyd Bannister?
So many questions to wonder, but for now, we'll wish him and the class of 2011 the best and hope that they all end up great (same for Bryce Harper), but yeah... the minors aren't college ball, and they definitely aren't the majors. Keep working, though. The future will soon be here.

Matt Joyce

I know what you're saying.
Who the hell is he?
Oh, he's only leading the league in batting with a .370 average through the end of May. With his home run tonight, he only has 9 home runs for the season in the relative obscurity of Tampa Bay who don't seem to do anything wrong. They get rid of players, and new heroes spring up to take their place. Carl who? Let the fans throw money at Crawford since he seemed to let Boston throw money at him for such a pathetic average and performance until last week's player of the week award (kind of a back-handed compliment of "it's about time" after all of those weeks of crap play). After parts of 3 years in the bigs, Joyce is exploding in year 4.
Sure, there are whiffs, but there are also a lot of doubles, a few triples, and some stolen bases.
There is potential south of the baseball border (because nobody pays attention to baseball in Florida until the teams get it together for the playoffs - see the Marlins for that as well).
And maybe now, Evan Longoria won't have to call out fans for support. Maybe David Price won't have to shoulder the show on his own as he's actually the third best pitcher on the staff this year behind James Shields and Jeremy Hellickson. Maybe it doesn't matter if the Rays have a reliever going into game 1 (because Kyle Farnsworth has come to play). Maybe it's all going to go right as the 3 team scuffle for the AL East gets serious (and it's anyone's race with 3 teams this close).
Maybe we can forget the 0-6 start.
Maybe we can forget Manny Ramirez's downside and focus on Johnny Damon's unwanted self being the upside in Tampa Bay.
Maybe we can see a team struggling to get it together as a long hot summer is surely promised on East Coast. Maybe the Orioles and Blue Jays have a chance too (and maybe I have a chance at the $200million top prize on Powerball on Wednesday).

Bud Selig

Bud Selig, everyone's favorite first rate idiot in charge, is back with more dumbass decisions, which inevitably show no sign of intelligence or any forethought on anything other than money and keeping the best teams in the playoffs EVEN WHEN they're not the best teams.

So let's think about the idea of an expanded playoff roster for a playoff that already features 4 teams from each league in a best vs. wild card and then a face off between the 2nd and 3rd best (unless of course the wild card is from the same division as the best team, which results in a need for the following scenario to happen... The Beers beat Detroit and Denver beats Atlanta in the American Southwestern Division East Northern, then Milwaukee goes to the Denslow Cup, unless Baltimore can upset Buffalo and Charlotte ties Toronto, then Oakland would play LA and Pittsburgh in a blind choice round robin. And if no clear winner emerges from all of this, a two-man sack race will be held on consecutive Sundays until a champion can be crowned.)

So you add a team to each mix, which basically says... hmm... the Yankees and Red Sox may not both make the post season because Tampa Bay is too good... hell... David Price threw another complete game victory and both the Sox and the Rays are surging after coming out of the gate with shoelaces tied, and Heaven forbid that one of those teams doesn't make the playoffs because we need an all East Coast World Series or we'll never sell advertising time... unless we can get the Cubs to play pro ball and actually want to compete for another World Series title. That might work, EVEN THOUGH it didn't work for the White Sox, the Giants, the Astros, the Angels...

Despite this, the unscientific poll at ESPN says that people want this. Yet all the same, in the words of Bill Murray in the awesome Groundhog Day, "people like blood sausage."

Haven't we learned... when Colorado rolled through all of the adversity (and Trevor Hoffman's non-clutch-ness) to make it to the World Series in 2007 only to sit waiting for Boston to finally want to win the ALCS, we should have learned. They rusted and went out in 4 straight.

Nobody wants November baseball. It's cold and miserible. The players look like they should be on an episode of Gold Rush Alaska with all of the clothes they were to bundle up from the cold.

In addition, no managers and owners want to risk their players to injuries if they play in more games than are necessary. Like we've learned with the extended NFL season argument, each additional game is another chance at taking out an oblique muscle, but maybe that's just the legal substances that players use since they can't use steroids.

If we can't get the commish to give us an All Star Game with a victor (or a Pete Rose slide into Ray Fosse), then what makes anyone think that he'll make more playoffs do more to bring the 2 best teams together than the current system already does?
Besides, this isn't the NBA with over half of the teams (even the crappy ones) in the playoffs. We want the best of the best. We don't want to go Wild Card on Wild Card for the battle of who wasn't decimated by fatigue and injuries.

But that said, baseball is a business, and with the walking skeleton from Wisconsin leading the charge, baseball will continue to fall in the ratings and the hearts of young, potential fans.

You can guarantee that.

Daisuke Matsuzaka

Baltimore went to New York last night to test their season against the Yankees and find out just how real that they are. They got rained out. Shame that Boston didn't get rained out. Once again, the Rays came in and whooped on them. It wasn't a 16-5 drubbing at the hands of Daisuke Matsuzaka, but losing a heartbreaker to David Price (3-2) is just as bad and does nothing to propel themselves up the division in any hope for contention. Thus, in honor of Daisuke's gyroball that doesn't live up to the hype of what we were all supposed to fear, I am going to create a list of 10 things that I really do fear more than the gyroball. 1. That monkey from Toy Story 3. Fantastic movie by the way... Lotso and Big Baby were pretty scary, too - as was Ken's handwriting. 2. Being in the attic alone. Ever since I was a kid and my dad convinced me that a ghost lived in the cooby hole (a crawl in closet that you store stuff in), I have been paranoid about the attic. Let's just say that it scared my nieces and nephews as well since they don't have attics in their houses. 3. Since said ghost was a guy who fell off the enclosed porch, I'm also deathly afraid of heights. 4. Noises in the night from downstairs... it might be Hazel (our resident ghost who threw up the blind in our bedroom at 2am the first night that we were in the house) or it might be thug kids breaking in. 5. Not having music to listen to. I wouldn't want to live in a world without music. 6. Having a daughter singing along with Ke$ha. Having a daughter someday and having her want to look like Ke$ha. Having a daughter and having her want to act like Ke$ha. Having a son impregnate someone like Ke$ha and to end up chained to her for life via child support payments and split custody for the rest of that child's natural life. 7. To lose my mental and physical faculties and be dependant on someone else for support the rest of my life. To have that person be an untrained slacker / loser making $10 or so an hour to pretend to care about me would make it even scarier still. 8. Knowing that Obama is in charge of security and economy and future for my country. Knowing that despite his incompetence, the best that people can do to create reason for him not to be there is that his birth certificate was supposedly faked, which is both assinine and desperate. 9. Losing my wife to a tragic accident or old age or just not having her around. It's hard to want to live in a world without the person that you truly love. 10. Having to eat broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, or any salad like vegetables. Let it be known that I can out wait any person trying or expecting me to eat any leafy vegetable that there is. Oh yes... it ain't happening. That said, I fear tsunamis on the Pacific Coast more than Daisuke's gyroball and I live in Pennsylvania. I fear the Care Bears more than Matsuzaka. In short, there is nothing I fear LESS than the gyroball, which will forever be linked to the most over-hyped foreign import in the history of sports - and I remember Hideki Irabu.