Archive for Albert Pujols
Pitchers and Catchers Report: National League
Posted by: | CommentsIf you missed last week’s American League preview, click here to catch up.
Ever since the Yankees and Red Sox engaged in an arms race of epic proportions to dominate their league, the National League has received a bit less love and mainstream attention. But unlike its counterpart, the National League has fostered a bit more parity over the years, and features far more teams with a chance to contend. This is not to say that the league doesn’t have some serious big market teams, with the Mets, Cubs and Phillies sporting payrolls near the $140 million mark lately. But when you look at the first two on that list, it’s clear that the investment doesn’t necessarily result in a trip to the playoffs.
Because this division has a lot more contenders and possibilities, we’ll go by division.
National League West
This is not the National League West you used to look down on. It seems like only yesterday when our local San Diego Padres made the playoffs with a mere 82-80 record in 2005, but those days are long gone. In 2010, this will be the most competitive division in the league, bar none. To be more specific, the Padres are the only team that doesn’t have a realistic shot at winning it (and they’re at least rebuilding properly).
The Dodgers haven’t added much over the winter thanks to the financial issues caused by the ownership couple getting divorced. However, they still have one of the best young cores in the game featuring Kemp, Ethier, Broxton, Billingsley and Kershaw. They’re down Randy Wolf and would probably like a bit more help in the rotation; they still have a solid chance to win the division again, but it won’t be as easy as 2009.
If I had to name a favorite at this moment to win the division, it would have to be the Rockies. We saw the run they went on last year, reminiscent of their legendary late season tear en route to the 2007 World Series. I have to say, even without Matt Holliday, this 2010 Rockies team is better than three years ago. In fact, it was Holliday who netted the Rockies Huston Street and Carlos Gonzales in a trade, setting them up with a reliable closer and a very talented young outfielder for years to come (at age 23, he already started to live up to his prospect hype). The rest of the diamond is filled with some of the top young talent in the game: Dexter Fowler gives the team a legit speedster, Ian Stewart is another player who looks to finally be living up to his potential, Seth Smith has great OBP and power, while veterans Hawpe and Helton round it out. And of course, the Rockies have the immensely talented Troy Tulowitzki, who may be the most underrated player in the game today.
Unlike past Rockies teams that were all bats and no arms, this incarnation has a formidable rotation. Ubaldo Jimenez has emerged as an ace who produces serious strikeouts, and #2 starter Jorge de la Rosa does the same. Jason Hammel provided solid innings you’d want to see from a #3 style starter, while Aaron Cook also provides steady innings to go along with his experience. Jeff Francis had been the ace of this team in their 2007 World Series run, and is coming back from injury. The minor league roster is stocked with arms too, featuring Greg Smith, who was the third player to come over from Oakland in the Holliday trade.
Where pitching is concerned, it’s of course hard to beat the Giants and their 1-2 combination of Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain. Jonathan Sanchez harnessed a bit more control in 2009 to go along with his strikeout talent, and it’ll be interesting to see if he can build on last season’s accomplishments (highlighted by a no-hitter). If Giants fans have been spoiled by their nucleus of talented young pitching, things are about to get even more ridiculous once top prospect Madison Bumgarner joins the mix. If Bumgarner lives up to the hype, Lincecum and Cain continue to put up great seasons and Sanchez can put it all together, we may be looking at one of the best top-to-bottom rotations in recent memory (one where veteran Barry Zito is a #4-5 starter).
Of course, the issue for the Giants remains offense. They did add Aubrey Huff and Mark DeRosa this winter, but are still lacking some serious bats to build up what has been an anemic offense at best. Top prospect Buster Posey is waiting in the wings, but I have a feeling Giants fans will look at the line scores and lament missing out on free agents like Holliday and Bay by the time the summer rolls around.
Rounding out the division is another team with serious frontline pitching talent in the Arizona Diamondbacks. If Brandon Webb can come back from last year’s injury and regain some of his Cy Young form, he’ll combine with Dan Haren to give the team the 1-2 punch it envisioned when it traded for the latter a few seasons ago. Edwin Jackson comes over from Detroit (at the expense of the departed Max Scherzer) to give the team a legit #3. Offense has also been an issue for the Diamondbacks in recent years, but things are looking up for 2010: Justin Upton and Mark Reynolds have emerged as premium talent, while additions in Adam LaRoche and Kelly Johnson should provide the team with more ways to get runs on the board.
While Reynolds and Upton have come into their own as major league players, the jury is still out on Stephen Drew and Chris Young. The former has at least shown the ability to hit and field well at times, but Young provides negative value in the field, and has yet to learn how to take a walk at the plate. For this team to really take a step forward and provide offense to supplement the rotation, these two guys are going to need to put it all together. Based on past performance, I think Drew will get there, but I’m not convinced at all by Young. He’s clearly a great athlete, but I’m not sure he’s a great baseball player.
National League Central
As has been the case for the last few years, this division will be all about the Cardinals, Cubs and Brewers. After locking up Holliday, and knowing Chris Carpenter is back and healthy to form a strong tandem with Wainwright, St. Louis is looking strong. Top prospect Colby Rasmus showed some value with his glove immediately, and scouts expect his bat will follow. The main issue with the Cardinals though is the same one that hurt them down the stretch, and made their playoff run short lived: a lack of depth on offense beyond their superstars. Pujols and Holliday are always intimidating, but the supporting cast doesn’t have a ton of depth. The question for 2010 then, is whether or not the likes of Ludwick, Schumaker and Lugo can provide adequate support to get the job done again.
The core for the Cubs is getting older, and time is running out on this team before the veterans start to age and under-perform while being overpaid. Specifically, Soriano is locked up through 2014, Zmbarano through 2012, and Aramis Ramirez is on the team for another two seasons. These are all players who can still contribute, but one has to wonder how much longer they can do so at a high level; the team is also stuck with Carlos Silva for the next two years, the price that was paid to get the unpopular Milton Bradley out of town.
Their only major moves this winter involved upgrading the outfield with the likes of Marlon Byrd and Xavier Nady; not exactly marquee names, but solid players who you can more or less count on (assuming Nady returns to form following last year’s injury). The rotation has veteran depth, but also features players who have had their share of injuries, and ups and downs. If Lilly can come back from injuries and Dempster can put together another reliable 200 IP season while Zambrano, Soriano and Ramirez stay on the field, the Cubs will take the division back and make one more run at that World Series championship Chicago so desperately wants.
The third contender in this division is the Brewers. Unlike past seasons where the offense wasn’t a question, but defense and pitching were, this is the most well-rounded Milwaukee team we’ve seen in a while. Taking advantage of a slower free agent market than in years past, the Brewers brought Doug Davis back to Milwaukee, while signing the underrated Randy Wolf to round out the rotation. Last year’s rotation was more or less “Gallardo + a bunch of guys putting up 5.00-6.00 ERAs”. It was pretty ugly, and while I don’t expect Wolf and Davis to be All-Stars, they’ll give the Brewers quality innings and a chance to win when they take the ball.
Helping matters will be Alcides Escobar at shortstop, and Carlos Gomez in center (who was obtained for J.J. Hardy to make room for the former). These two players don’t hit much, but bring some great defensive skills to the field in the two positions you want them most. Whereas Brewer teams a few years ago had some serious issues defensively, this year’s incarnation is taking a step in the right direction, while still getting power contributions from Braun and Fielder.
National League East
As a Mets fan I hate to say it, but the Phillies are clearly the top team in the NL. This time around, they’ll have a true ace in Roy Halladay for the entire season, and I expect Cole Hamels to bounce back to what we saw from him in 2008 (he threw a ton of innings that year for a guy his age, and was due for some regression in 2009 as a result). The only major change to the lineup is Placido Polanco returning to Philly to man third base, giving the team a good contact hitter to supplement an offense that gets on base and hits for lots of power, but is prone to strikeouts. Aside from catcher, this team has a premium offensive player at each position; to give you an idea, Chase Utley is the best of them all, and should contend for his first MVP title this season. Teammates Howard and Rollins already have their own from past years.
Philly’s only weakness is their bullpen, and the closer situation. Brad Lidge was remarkably perfect in 2008, but followed that with a horrible 2009 campaign. The team is hoping he can bounce back, but the rest of the bullpen isn’t looking terribly strong either. It remains to be seen if the Phils will be able to consistently win close games.
The Braves have rebuilt with pitching strong #1-5, and have young ace Tommy Hanson front and center. The 22 year old posted a 2.89 ERA last season, and there’s plenty of reasons to think he’ll be a dominant starter for years to come. Follow that with Hudson, Lowe, Kawakami, and you’ve got guys who will take the ball and give you a chance to win each day (and often enough, will put the team on their shoulders). Jair Jurrjens is the key at the moment; he’s fighting through some injury issues, but outlook is positive.
As has been standard for the Braves since Teixeira left, the lineup is where the weakness lies. There isn’t much to be intimidated by when it comes to their bats, making phenom prospect Jason Heyward’s transition to the majors even more critical.
Unlike the past few years when the Mets entered the spring considered favorites (Sports Illustrated famously picked them to win the World Series this time last year), the 2009 disaster has brought down expectations considerably. The team did sign Jason Bay to add a power bat, but they failed to sign a reliable starter to back up Johan Santana. The result is that Maine, Perez and Pelfrey will need to all perform up to career bests for the Mets to contend. Of course, last year’s injured squadron of position players like Beltran and Reyes will need to bounce back to form as well.
Don’t count out the Marlins either. The low payroll wonder-franchise is set to contend again, featuring the game’s best young player in Hanley Ramirez. The rotation, bullpen and lineup are stacked with young, hungry players who have grown up in the big leagues together, and this time around it looks like the top talent will stay in Florida: Ramirez and staff ace Josh Johnson have multi-year extensions in hand.
Finally, I expect the Nationals to surprise a lot of fans this year. While I don’t have any expectations that they’ll be contenders, they’re much improved from past incarnations, and have a plan in place. They have a solid core lineup, and their pitching is vastly improved. They’ve also taken some low risk chances on guys like Chien-Ming Wang, Matt Capps and Brian Bruney, who could be significant arms for the team. I don’t think this is quite their year (that’ll happen once Strasburg and Storen are big league ready), but 2010 is when they finally take a strong step forward.
It’s going to be another great season, and I can’t wait for Opening Day. On a side note, I think it’s about time they just make it a national holiday. Most years it’s on a weekday anyway, and every stadium is still sold out. That tells me enough people are skipping out on work that we might as well add it to the national calendar; I know I’ve taken a vacation day to fully celebrate and enjoy past Opening Days, and plan to do the same this year too.
Here’s to the spring, and the promise and optimism it brings to every baseball fan.
Popularity: 20% [?]
2009 NL MVP: Pujols vs. Hanley
Posted by: | CommentsLast week, I made a case for Mauer deserving the AL MVP more than Derek Jeter. Judging by responses on our blog and the Upper Deck Facebook page, I’d say most of you agree with this. For the National League, things seem to be even more straightforward; after all, Albert Pujols is a monster, and widely acclaimed as the best player in the game right now.
And let’s be honest, it’s hard to argue against that. Pujols leads the league in runs, home runs, RBI, walks, OBP, slugging, OPS and total bases. He’s also doing this with a fear factor attached to him we haven’t seen since the glory days of Barry Bonds earlier in the decade. No one wants to challenge him, so he’ll probably only see one good pitch per at bat . . . which he’ll crush often enough. He plays very good defense, and has even stolen 14 bases this year. Any praise I heap onto Pujols is pure redundancy at this point, as we all know he’s the best player of this generation.
The only way I can possibly make an argument against Pujols is position scarcity. This is a concept you’ll be familiar with if you’re ever played fantasy baseball, even if you’ve never thought about it directly in these terms.
In a fantasy baseball draft, getting great players at premium positions like shortstop or second base is a huge advantage. For example, if I draft Chase Utley in the first round, as long as he stays healthy I know I can count on 30+ HRs and 100+ RBIs from my second baseman. That’s something no one else will have, and while I won’t have Pujols on my team, I can still draft a good first baseman who will put up big numbers like Adrian Gonzalez or Prince Fielder.
Of course, real baseball is not fantasy baseball, so this doesn’t translate perfectly to the real world. But it does illustrate a point that should be considered: when you get great production out of a position on the diamond that usually doesn’t generate that kind of offense, you’ve got a significant edge.
This is what makes Hanley Ramirez so great. He’s hitting .352 with an OBP of .416, 23 home runs, almost 40 doubles, and 26 stolen bases, all while playing shortstop (his defense, while not great, has shown improvement). What other shortstop can match up to this level of production? I can’t think of any in the league. He’s the kind of player any fan would love to have on their team, in some cases more so than Pujols. To frame this a bit better, I’d say the gap in talent between a contending team’s shortshop and Hanley Ramirez is going to be greater, more often than not, than the gap between their first baseman and Pujols.
But even considering this small detail, Pujols still deserves the MVP. He’s approaching 50 home runs and has an OBP of .447: which, by the way, is incredible. When you’re more or less coin-flipping to see if you get on base, you’re an extraordinary player (when he comes to the plate, he’s only making an out 55.3% of the time).
Most notable is that this will be Pujols’ third MVP (and could have very well been his fourth, as Ryan Howard barely edged him out in 2006). This marks his ninth season in the league, he’s put up monster numbers each year, and he’s remained healthy (634 plate appearances is his lowest career total). In other words, he’s already made a strong case for being a Hall of Famer before turning 30 years old. With no signs of slowing down, I’m sure he’ll continue to add to his resume.
Popularity: unranked [?]
Why I Collect Pujols Cards
Posted by: | CommentsWhen I was younger, it was my mission to build card sets: both complete ones and team sets. It made me feel like I accomplished something, and it felt good to put the final card into the box and put it in the closet with the rest. To this day, I keep two copies of each player card I like, one for the set and one for my binder. Now that I’m older my interests have changed a bit: I still collect small sets, but my main collecting focus is on a few players. One player in particular defines my collecting habits.
Think you know who it is? I can see your train of thought now. “Well, she’s a season ticket holder for the Yankees and a woman, so she must collect Derek Jeter, right?” Nope. “Well then it has to be A-Rod?” Wrong again.
Don’t get me wrong. I love Derek Jeter, and not because he’s “cute”, but because he’s a leader and he runs hard to first whether the team is down or up 10 runs in the 9th. As far as A-Rod goes, his stats speak for themselves despite the controversy, and he will end up being one the best players of all time when all is said and done. But despite my Yankee devotion, my heart lies in St. Louis with the Prince himself, Albert Pujols. Shocked? Most people are, so I’m used to it by now.
For anyone living under a collecting rock, Pujols rookie cards hit shelves in 2001; coincidentally and unfortunately, a time when I was in college doing other things and not buying baseball cards as much as I used to. From around 1999-2002 I bought some here and there, but not nearly as much as I bought after those years or even before. I really couldn’t have picked a worse time to take a break considering how expensive Pujols rookie cards are now, but what did I know? Once I got back into the hobby I decided that if I was able to complete a set then great, but my goal was to start collecting Pujols. The reason I picked him? Simple: I read the back of his cards, saw his stats, watched him play and knew that throughout his career, he’d be the best player on the field at any given time.
Over the years I have managed to put together a decent collection of Pujols cards: roughly 800 unique cards (including one triple relic autograph that I got for my birthday), a couple of rookie cards, and a 1/1 sketch card. I pulled the 1/1 Pujols out of a case, probably the best pull I’ve ever had. One of my rookie cards is the 2001 Upper Deck card, and it was actually sent to me months ago by a fellow card blogger who knew I collected Pujols. He sent it along with some cards that I knew were coming, though the contents were a surprise until they arrived at my door. Talk about a smile from ear to ear, I was ecstatic for days that someone would be that generous to little old me. The generosity of the hobby’s blogosphere truly is astounding. I could tell stories all day, but we’ll save that for another time.
Anyone who collects a player, or several players, knows how difficult it can be to track down all the different parallels (especially if you’re collecting someone like Albert Pujols or Derek Jeter). You can break pack after pack, boxes, and even cases, yet only end up with one single card of those guys. I say this from experience. For example, my friend Suzy and I broke a case of 2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces which yielded two Albert Pujols cards and two Derek Jeter cards. That gave me new meaning to the term “short print”, and more over a better understanding of why I end up paying more money for the base cards in some sets. To collect a player takes a lot of motivation, dedication, and discipline.
Did I just say “discipline”? I sure did, and I will tell you why. For many products it usually makes more sense to buy single cards of your player from the local hobby store, card shows, or the internet, rather than chasing down eight different color variants thinking you will actually get them on your own. Do I follow my advice? Absolutely not! It would take all the fun out of collecting. There’s nothing more alluring than those shiny wrappers just asking to go home with you in the store, so don’t feel bad: adopt a pack and take it home.
While I do purchase single cards online and at card shows, I find it more fun and more gratifying to open up a pack or a box and find the Pujols card I needed all on my own. For example, I was roughly on my 40th (not kidding) blaster of 2009 O-Pee-Chee Baseball, and last night in the fourth-to-last pack, there he was . . . an Albert Pujols #100 black parallel just for me. Coincidentally, I got another card I really wanted in the same blaster: the Face of the Franchise Derek Jeter insert. Two hard to find inserts that made me super happy; buying boxes of cards doesn’t get much better than this.
Are you a player collector eager to share who you collect and how you do it? I would love to hear about it.
Come back later to see some pictures from the Yankees vs. Red Sox series. I was given tickets on the field level for Saturday’s game, in the “moat” (aka the $1300 seats behind the dugouts) for Sunday. While I can’t say the surrounding crowd in the expensive seats was as much fun as the bleachers, it will probably be the only chance I get to sit in these seats . . . so I took advantage.
Popularity: unranked [?]
Catching Up With Collecting: Tim Doull
Posted by: | CommentsNext up in our series, I talk to Tim Doull, who works on autographs for our products. These signatures make up some of the most popular content we have, not just on cards, but some of the remarkably cool and creative products released by Upper Deck Authenticated.
But how do we collect these autographs anyway? Our interview was actually delayed a week, because Tim had flown out to do a signing session with Albert Pujols. Once he got back, I was eager to hear about how that went, and what it’s like to work with so many top athletes in person.
UpperDeckBlog: So what’s your official title?
Tim Doull: Athlete Relations Manager.
UpperDeckBlog: And that means autographs.
Tim Doull: Yes. For memorabilia and trading cards. Anything autographed for all Upper Deck product lines comes through us.
UpperDeckBlog: One thing I’ve seen from readers of the blog as we’ve picked up general sports fans is that people who haven’t followed the hobby for the last ten or fifteen years maybe weren’t even aware of autographs, or at least where they are now. What would you tell someone like that to catch them up?
Tim Doull: The variations we do are really impressive, and you’d be surprised at some of the uniqueness. I mean you said ten or fifteen years ago, there was maybe one standard autograph every few boxes, pretty basic stuff. But these days, we specialize in the pen, we have them inscribe special cards sometimes, like with the LeBron 08-09 MVP card you posted to the blog a few months ago. We’re definitely trying to stay unique and give the collector something new.
UpperDeckBlog: And you just got back from a Pujols signing last week! What was that like?
Tim Doull: With all of the top tier athletes we partner with, it’s really special to work with their foundations and product lines. A lot of the guys are really vested in and care about what’s going into the market. In Albert’s case, he may arguably be the best right handed hitter to ever play the game when all is said and done. This year he’s probably MVP.
We did the signing, and he hit two home runs the next day. It’s just really cool to be in the moment with these guys, and it’s something you can look back on, maybe tell your grandkids about it.
UpperDeckBlog: And how does that go? You show up where the athlete is, and what happens next?
Tim Doull: There’s a lot of preparation and rehearsal that goes into it. It’s a private setting, and we set everything up hours before he gets there, whether it’s memorabilia or trading cards. So when the athlete gets there, everything is ready. There’s nothing they need to do, other than to sit down and start signing.
So our Athlete Relations team, we make sure to take care of everything. Due to busy schedules, the athlete may be late from time to time, but we’re always prepared in the event they come early.
UpperDeckBlog: I’m sure a lot of collectors wonder what that’s like, I mean you’re sitting there watching Albert Pujols sign cards.
Tim Doull: It’s a professional setting, so I’m not asking for pictures or going “Wow, what a hit last night!” They get enough of that from the media and fans. I try to relate more on music and entertainment, golf, or something not related to their sport that they might be interested in.
UpperDeckBlog: Has there ever been one athlete where you couldn’t help yourself?
Tim Doull: Well, there’s some cool access you get. Like the Lakers, you might get the whole team together in one private room after they’ve won the championship, and get to hear some of the banter that goes on between them in that moment. So that’s very cool.
UpperDeckBlog: So once they sign the items, what happens next?
Tim Doull: Well, we all wear white gloves and handle the cards very carefully, we check them for quality, organize and store them until it’s time for the product release.
UpperDeckBlog: Do you have any cool personal stories about one of these signings?
Tim Doull: Well, you take a guy like Tiger Woods, after winning the 2008 US Open in June of 2008. He was kind enough to give us something called a quick turn signing, three days after winning his 14 Major Championship. And just to see him limping around right after winning, before surgery, and to see the smile and glow on his face even though he was in pain, that’s definitely a great memory.
Another unique story from the signings was gathering signatures for our 2008 Boston Celtics team championship product lines. We had Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and others all in a room together signing. This was the first time some of the players were able to see images from the 2008 Finals games and you could see in their faces how proud they were of their accomplishments as a team.
UpperDeckBlog: Is there anything you think an average collector might not consider when they open an autograph in a pack, in terms of how it gets there?
Tim Doull: If you look at it from the athlete’s perspective, penmanship is something to mention. A lot of autographs you’ll see elsewhere look like a squiggle, or just a line. But most of our autographs, especially our exclusive partners, they take the time to give you a legible autograph. It’s great that they can be consistent, and give you a solid autograph every time.
Something else the average collector may not consider is the time commitment it takes for the athletes to sign. Outside of game days you can expect players in all sports to be regularly signing cards to hit our product release deadlines. They do their best to meet our dates even if it means signing during a playoff run, between playoff series’, or maybe they just had a child, etc.
We focus a lot on quality, like changing out pens constantly during a session to keep it fresh. We want to try and make sure every collector gets the same autograph, so we pay attention to details.
UpperDeckBlog: Anything else you’d want to add?
Tim Doull: I think one really unique thing we’re doing now is the inscriptions, like the LeBron card. We’re starting to think a bit outside the box with more items like that.
UpperDeckBlog: It sounds like a bit of evolution there, giving the customer something extra and unique, because they’re demanding more than just standard autographs.
Tim Doull: Yes, and I think the cards themselves have really evolved too. If you’re just coming back to the hobby, you should pick up a few packs and see what we have to offer. Autographs, game-used memorabilia, all kinds of added value and we’re always coming up with new ideas.
Favorite athlete: Tiger Woods
Favorite sport: Golf
Favorite team: San Diego Chargers
Popularity: unranked [?]
Another National League Loss
Posted by: | CommentsDespite my high hopes, the National League lost for the thirteenth season in a row last night, though it was a close and entertaining baseball game. Actually, it was remarkably normal, compared to last year’s extra innings epic.
At the end of the day, I think the game’s result came down to three things:
- The NL’s defense, while not embarrassing, had a few issues. The first inning was probably the most striking. Lincecum was struggling with navigating his way through the scary top of the American League lineup (and had some control issues), but still managed to get some ground balls that should have gotten him out of it with minimal damage. But Between Pujols’ error and Wright’s inability to accurately gun it to first for a double play (not an easy one to make, to be fair), the AL was able to take an early lead. I don’t know about you, but after that first inning I felt a little uneasy whenever a ground ball was hit to an NL infielder (though Pujols would redeem himself later with some great plays in the field). Justin Upton also had a bit of an adventure on an outfield play in the later innings, though I’ve seen worse. Then again, I’m a Mets fan, so my standards for “embarrassing defense” are at “Can you catch a pop-up?” and “Don’t trip and fall flat on your face while chasing down a fly ball” levels these days.
- Carl Crawford’s catch was the highlight of the night, and will be the lasting memory from this game. The guy is simply a remarkable athlete and player, and it was great to see him get some mainstream spotlight for a change. Let’s remember he’s been in Tampa Bay his whole career, and was one of the only bright spots on some horrible teams in that franchise’s past history.
- The American League bullpen is absolutely sick.
I mentioned it before the game, and it played out just as I predicted: the American League was playing a six inning game. When you can end with Papelbon, Nathan and Rivera, I don’t have much confidence in the other team’s ability to put runs on the board, no matter who has a bat in their hands. Think of it this way: it’s hard enough for American League players to hit Mariano Rivera’s cutter, so what do you think it’s like for a National League player who hasn’t seen it all year (and very well may have never seen it, period?)
At the end of the day, this had to be the key to the game, and to the American League’s overall success over the years. Chad Billingsley and Heath Bell are great pitchers who are having good years and will probably come back to the All-Star Game many times, but they got scored on in the later innings. And who can blame them, they were facing American League All-Star hitters.
But whether it’s exceptional talent, intimidation factor, or a little bit of both, it’s just hard to picture even the best National League team scoring runs off Papelbon, Nathan or Rivera. The starters like Pujols, Wright, Utley and Ramirez might have had a chance, but once you get to the late game substitutions, you’re a slight step down from there in talent level.
So, congratulations to the American League once again. Another year of home field advantage at the World Series, and another year of sighs from National League fans. There’s always next year in Anaheim.
Popularity: unranked [?]
