It is about time that MLB and Commissioner Bud Selig stop this horrible charade of giving meaning to the All-Star Game. This is not a novel idea. Many people have already expressed their dislike for the fact that the winning league in the All-Star game receives homefield advantage in the World Series.

The only reason for giving this meaning to the All-Star Game is to try and increase ratings. From 2001 to 2006 the ratings for the All-Star game fell each year. Then there was the embarrassment that happened in 2002 in Milwaukee when the All-Star Game was called a 7-7 tie. The next year the game first started to “count,” but the ratings were not affected much until 2006. That was the first year since 2001 that the ratings increased. The ratings reached a decade high in 2008 when 14.5 million viewers tuned in for the first nine innings (11.6 million for innings 10-15). (more…)

Tonight is the 2009 MLB Homerun Derby, so it is only natural to remember what Texas Ranger outfielder Josh Hamilton did last year in Yankees Stadium. In the 2008 Homerun Derby Hamilton mesmerized the sports world with his performance by setting a new single round record by hitting 28 homers in the first round. It was not just the number of homers Hamilton hit but the story that was behind Hamilton that almost everyone knows by now.

This is not meant to be another glorification of how Hamilton turned his life around to get back to playing baseball after almost ruining his life. Too many of those articles have already been written. My issue is how much love Hamilton got after the Homerun Derby. There is something wrong when people have to first almost ruin their lives before people with love them. Hamilton’s story is a great redemption story and can inspire almost anyone who hears it. But it was Hamilton who ruined his own life in the first place. No one else made him use alcohol and drugs the way he did. (more…)

So what do the top-10 active homerun hitters all have in common? None of them will be going to St. Louis to participate in the All-Star Game. That was pretty much made official today as the last few replacement players were added to the NL and AL rosters.

Detroit Tiger third baseman Brandon Inge and Philadelphia Phillie outfielder Shane Victorino were added to the rosters on Thursday via the fans’ final vote. Then it was announced early Sunday that Boston Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia would not be traveling to St. Louis because his wife is in the hospital because of complications with her pregnancy. There was a chance that Yankee third baseman Alex Rodriguez would replace Pedroia on the roster because he is an infielder just like Pedroia and he has been on the All-Star roster every year since 1999. Instead Tampa Bay Ray and AL manager Joe Madden selected his own first baseman Carlos Peña to fill-out the roster. (more…)

By now most people have made up in their minds everything they need in regards to Lance Armstrong. Some find him an inspirational figure who has battled the odds and French anti-doping officials to be the best cyclist ever−all without the help of performance enhancing drugs (PEDs). Others find him a creep who has lied to the world about never using PEDS. I still just cannot decide where I fall in the matter. (more…)

Now that Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer has enough at-bats to qualify for the league lead seems like the best time to make his case for the MVP. First off it is amazing that Mauer is performing at the level he is. He missed the first month of the season with a strange lower back injury that is very rare in athletes. The sacroiliac joint in his back became inflamed and the inflammation caused tremendous pain in Mauer’s back throughout Spring Training and the early part of the season. (more…)