All-star week…the good, the bad, and the Ortiz!

At long last, All-Star festivities are upon us and have taken Kansas City by storm! Let’s set the scene for tonight’s epic clash of MLB Titans. Kauffman Stadium…a beautiful ballpark filled with beautiful ladies, baseball fans, and MLB superstars itching to showcase their skills on the grandest of stages! Wait…let me rephrase…MLB superstars itching to get the hell out of there and get some much needed R&R.

While the disinterested attitude isn’t prevalent across the board, surely there are some players soaking it all in but for many of the players, this is old news…simply showing up is a formality to acknowledge a flawed fan voting and selection system. This post is dedicated to the all-star week…what’s good, what’s not…and my two cents.

The good:

-          David Ortiz: It is undeniable that this guy is having a good time whenever he’s at an ASG. Watching him last night involved in the derby, in which he wasn’t even competing, was highly enjoyable. Let me preface my next sentence by noting that I am a staunch heterosexual but Ortiz has a smile that’s infectious…you can’t help but feel all warm and cozy inside. Watching him last night brought back memories of watching Shaq at the dunk contest where Vince Carter put on an absolute clinic.

-          Kauffman Stadium: Looks like a real good place to take in a ballgame.

-          The effort: I like that in MLB, unlike pretty much every other sport, the players TRY TO WIN. This definitely enhances the enjoyment of the game. I have no problem with awarding the winner home field advantage in the playoffs…it’s an interesting solution to add some spice to the game.

-          The trade rumors: gotta love this time of year for good ol’ fashioned speculation. Gotta love how everyone, myself included becomes a qualified general manager…makes for great reading and false hope (Yu Darvish anyone?)

The bad:

-          The Yankees: The source of all evil. I hate that, because their market is so gigantic, they get their players voted into the game…deserving or not. If we look at the numbers should Granderson be in the game over our beloved Edwin Encarnacion? NO! EE has a better AVG (.295 vs .248), OPS (.947 vs .854), RBI (58 vs 48) and they are tied at 23 HRs…I guess Granderson has 11 more runs scored but an All-star that does not make.

-          Berman: Watching the HR derby gets tiring real quick. While I give the panel some credit for being able to sustain their feigned excitement for HRs, listening to Berman say “back back back back back” is worse than forgetting to wash the suicide wing sauce off your hands prior to using the mens room.

-          The hiatus: I get that there needs to be an ASG and that the players can definitely use the break. The problem is that there is nothing going on in the world of sports and I have to go 3 days without any action in my fantasy league. BRUTAL!

-          Kansas City…Missouri…how does that make sense?

Moving on…let’s look forward to a solid wrap up to the season and let’s hope that the Jays can turn some heads at the trade deadline that will carry them to the Promised Land. This city is yearning for a winner!