I know none of you care but ........ (the Baseball thread)

[UK Redsox]

The line ups have been announced for the All Star Game to be held at Yankee Stadium next week (voted for by the fans)

American League

Pos   Name, Team              Bats/Throws

C    Joe Mauer, MIN            L/R       
1B    Kevin Youkilis, BOS    R/R       
2B    Dustin Pedroia, BOS    R/R       
SS    Derek Jeter, NYY    R/R       
3B    Alex Rodriguez, NYY    R/R       
OF    Josh Hamilton, TEX    L/L       
OF    Manny Ramirez, BOS    R/R       
OF    Ichiro Suzuki, SEA    L/R       
DH    David Ortiz, BOS    L/L (injured, will not play)

National League

Pos   Name, Team              Bats/Throws

C    Geovany Soto, CHC            S/R       
1B    Lance Berkman, HOU       S/L       
2B    Chase Utley, PHI            L/R       
SS    Hanley Ramirez, FLA            R/R       
3B    Chipper Jones, ATL            S/R       
OF    Ryan Braun, MIL            R/R       
OF    Kosuke Fukudome, CHC    L/R       
OF    Alfonso Soriano, CHC    R/R

[UK Redsox]

More on a story I brought to you last week

Wow, baseball news making headlines in The Sun

I never thought that A-Rod's divorce would make the UK papers.

Is this singer he's accused of "seeing" someone famous ?  8-[


For those of you who don't know who Alex Rodriguez aka "A-Rod" is, he's not just "a" baseball star he's "THE" baseball star. The best and highest paid player in the sport. Last year he opted out of the final three years of his current 10 year contact totalling $252m and re-signed with the Yankees for another 10 years totalling in excess of $275m

[ADVILLAFAN]

I'm trying to find out more about the rivalry between Chicago Cubs and Chicago Whitesox fans. I go onto a Chicago Bears Forum and it's funny to see the 2 sets of Baseball fans have a go at each other.

I'm not sure if there's a particular area where one set of fans come from and the others come from a separate area or not?

[HTFCacc2007]

The line ups have been announced for the All Star Game to be held at Yankee Stadium next week (voted for by the fans)

American League

Pos   Name, Team              Bats/Throws

C    Joe Mauer, MIN            L/R       
1B    Kevin Youkilis, BOS    R/R       
2B    Dustin Pedroia, BOS    R/R       
SS    Derek Jeter, NYY    R/R       
3B    Alex Rodriguez, NYY    R/R       
OF    Josh Hamilton, TEX    L/L       
OF    Manny Ramirez, BOS    R/R       
OF    Ichiro Suzuki, SEA    L/R       
DH    David Ortiz, BOS    L/L (injured, will not play)

National League

Pos   Name, Team              Bats/Throws

C    Geovany Soto, CHC            S/R       
1B    Lance Berkman, HOU       S/L       
2B    Chase Utley, PHI            L/R       
SS    Hanley Ramirez, FLA            R/R       
3B    Chipper Jones, ATL            S/R       
OF    Ryan Braun, MIL            R/R       
OF    Kosuke Fukudome, CHC    L/R       
OF    Alfonso Soriano, CHC    R/R

Wow a lot of Cubs and Red Sox players in the sides. Disappointed not to see any Angels players in the starting lineups, had a feeling Vlad may have made it.

I can understand the cubs players in the starting lineup being so far ahead in the NL Central but the Sox havent been amazing and are 4 games down on the Rays in the AL East! They are really going to have to deliver in the second half of the season to stand any chance of winning the division

Not sure about the White Sox/Cubs rivalry. I was in Chicago last month and the ballparks are on opposite sides of the city, so I'm not sure if theres a split down the city on which team people support! I went to the White Sox game against the Twins (even though I support the Angels), and it had about 25,000 in there for an afternoon game in the middle of the week).

[Chicago_Villa]

I'm trying to find out more about the rivalry between Chicago Cubs and Chicago Whitesox fans. I go onto a Chicago Bears Forum and it's funny to see the 2 sets of Baseball fans have a go at each other.

I'm not sure if there's a particular area where one set of fans come from and the others come from a separate area or not?

I am a cubs fan, and I HATE the White Sox. Having lived in Chicago for 7 years, I know all about the rivalry. The divide is simple. If you live on teh north side of the river, you are a Cubs fan. If you live on the south side of the river, you are scum.

I am not so sure why I got into the whole rivalry thing, being English and all that, but it just happens once you attach yourself to one of the teams. Political candidates in the city have to be careful how they approach the rivalry too because if they show their colours to much they will lose votes. Mayor Daley and Governor Blagojovich did have a relatively friendly rivalry going on though at one time as the Mayor was a Cubbie and the Governor was a dumbass.

I never set foot in The Cell (The White sox stadium). I had the chance of free tickets on a couple of occassions, but I just could not bring myself to go there.

There is also another north / south divide in Chicago, and that is to do with how you prepare your hot dogs, but I will leave that for another time :-)

[Chicago_Villa]

I went to the White Sox game against the Twins.

Did you get disinfected when you left? I would make sure that you declare that at customs when you get back to the UK so they can quarantine you for 60 days or so.

it had about 25,000 in there for an afternoon game in the middle of the week).

If that had of been Wrigley Field you would have been lucky to get a ticket. The Cubs sell out EVERY game. It does not matter whether it is an 11am first pitch on a wet Thursday, or a 6pm start. The last few years they have had over 3 million people through the turnstiles just for their home games. Imagine what Villa could do with the revenue that generates :-)

[Chicago_Villa]

I have purposely not commented on the Cubs storming start to the season for fear of putting a curse on them, but what a start they have had.

We had a little slump the last couple of weeks with Soriano and Zambrano out, but now they are both pretty much back, we should be able to reaffirm our superiority, nnot only in our division, or our league, but over all of the MLB.

[cdbearsfan]

As a fan of most sports (except bloody basketball) I have tried to give baseball a chance. However, I have noticed that all the fielders wear giant mitts! I thought it was just the wicket-keeper (bat stop?) but they all do it, cheating bastards!

Where's the skill in catching and do any baseball players ever drop a catch?

Please PM me when they have banned the cheating gloves and I will start trying to watch it again!

[Tucson Villain]

I have purposely not commented on the Cubs storming start to the season for fear of putting a curse on them, but what a start they have had.

We had a little slump the last couple of weeks with Soriano and Zambrano out, but now they are both pretty much back, we should be able to reaffirm our superiority, nnot only in our division, or our league, but over all of the MLB.

I was going to mention to you how well they were doing, but I know that  Cubs fans will blame anything, and I didn't want to be the target if the season goes pearshaped. :smt002

[Tucson Villain]

Rich Harden is a nice pick up for the Cubs.
They are going to take some stopping in the NL.

[UK Redsox]

Rich Harden is a nice pick up for the Cubs.
They are going to take some stopping in the NL.

A quick reaction by Hendry to the Brew Crew's trade for CC Sabathia. However, Harden is really just Prior redux being has he's only pitched around 270 innings over the past four season. A great pitcher when he's fit but that's not very often.

[UK Redsox]

Wow a lot of Cubs and Red Sox players in the sides. Disappointed not to see any Angels players in the starting lineups, had a feeling Vlad may have made it.

I can understand the cubs players in the starting lineup being so far ahead in the NL Central but the Sox havent been amazing and are 4 games down on the Rays in the AL East! They are really going to have to deliver in the second half of the season to stand any chance of winning the division

Remember that the starting line ups are voted for by the fans. Therefore, those teams with the largest fan base (ie Yankees, Red Sox and Cubs) tend to have the most selections. A fan vote means that the All Star selection process is more of a popularity contest than a recognition of current excellence.

The majority of the reserves are selected by the players and they make errors as well. I'm a Red Sox fan (no kidding !!) but even I can't understand why the players voted in Jason Varitek as the reserve AL catcher.

The teams are managed by the skippers from the previous year's World Series. Therefore, Tito Fancona is the AL manager and can use his final picks to reward his players (just like any other All Star manager of the past).

Although All Star selection should recognise both historical and current form and not normally be awarded for having a hot start to the particular season, I was disappointed that Evan "Desperate Third Baseman" didn't make the original roster. He is however one of the players up for election in the fan vote for the final player in each squad.

Longoria currently leads the AL vote with Corey Hart of the Brewers leasing the NL vote.

As for Vlad, the Angels have one of the worst performing outfields in the sport and Vlad's been part of that. His numbers suggest that his career may now be trailing off. In this post-steroids era the days of players continuing to perform at superstar levels into their mid/late 30's may be over.

[ADVILLAFAN]

I'm trying to find out more about the rivalry between Chicago Cubs and Chicago Whitesox fans. I go onto a Chicago Bears Forum and it's funny to see the 2 sets of Baseball fans have a go at each other.

I'm not sure if there's a particular area where one set of fans come from and the others come from a separate area or not?

I am a cubs fan, and I HATE the White Sox. Having lived in Chicago for 7 years, I know all about the rivalry. The divide is simple. If you live on teh north side of the river, you are a Cubs fan. If you live on the south side of the river, you are scum.

I am not so sure why I got into the whole rivalry thing, being English and all that, but it just happens once you attach yourself to one of the teams. Political candidates in the city have to be careful how they approach the rivalry too because if they show their colours to much they will lose votes. Mayor Daley and Governor Blagojovich did have a relatively friendly rivalry going on though at one time as the Mayor was a Cubbie and the Governor was a dumbass.

I never set foot in The Cell (The White sox stadium). I had the chance of free tickets on a couple of occassions, but I just could not bring myself to go there.

There is also another north / south divide in Chicago, and that is to do with how you prepare your hot dogs, but I will leave that for another time :-)

hmm - I can watch baseball, although I can't really say I support anyone (tend to support whoever's playing the Yankees at the time)

It's not just irritating waiting for Villa's Season to start - I'm also looking forward to September when The Chicago Bears are playing again

[UK Redsox]

I can watch baseball, although I can't really say I support anyone (tend to support whoever's playing the Yankees at the time)

 =D>

[UK Redsox]

Twelve in a row for the American League in the All-Star Game

Link

This means that whoever wins the American League has home field advantage for this year's Series