Know Your Foe: NL Looks To Retain World Series Home Field Advantage

by Andrew Martin on Jul 11, 2011 3:00 PM MDT in Know Your Foe

American League All Stars (38-40, 2 ties)

Last All Star Game: L 1-3 @ Angel Stadium

After 13 straight All Star Games without a win for the National League, the 2010 All Star Game had a different end result in mind.

Colorado's own Ubaldo Jimenez squared off against David Price of the Tampa Bay Rays. Both pitchers pitched 2 scoreless frames apiece, and fans from both sides feared that we were looking into another zillion inning stalemate.

After Josh Johnson, Andy Pettitte, and Cliff Lee pitched 2 scoreless innings per side, the AL struck first in the 5th with an unearned run off of LA's Hong-Chih Kuo. This is about the point where the NL had a whole bunch of defensive replacements, including Matt Holliday replacing Ryan Braun, Marlon Byrd replacing Corey Hart and moving to CF, Andre Ethier moving from CF to RF, etc etc. You know how these things work.

Anyhow, to start the bottom of the 5th, Kuo walked Evan Longoria. Never what you want to see in a tied All Star Game. After that, Joe Mauer grounded back to Kuo, who promptly botched the throw to 1B, advancing Longo to 3B and moving Mauer to 2B. Robinson Cano drove in Longoria on a sac fly to LF. Kuo induced a FC to Carl Crawford on the ol' 6-5, snagging Mauer at 3B. So runners at 1st and 2nd, 2 outs, and Charlie Manuel decides to go to Heath Bell. Bell forced a flyout to Torii Hunter, and luckily, as that inning had all of the makings of a nasty one.

After another inning and a half of scoreless play, the NL finally struck back. Joey Votto grounded out to begin the inning against Phil Hughes. 1 down. Scott Rolen and Matt Holliday both singled, putting runners at the corners with 1 out. Matt Thornton was then called upon to clean up this mess, and after inducing an immediate popup to Arizona CF Chris Young, it looked like the AL was going to wriggle out of this mess.

Thornton walked Matt Holliday, to load the bases with 2 outs. All appeared lost until Brian McCann took a 98mph fastball right down the pipe and deposited it into the RF gap, clearing the bases and giving the NL the 3-1 lead.

No more runs scored past that , and Roy Halladay, Matt Capps, Adam Wainwright, Brian Wilson, and the Good Jonathan Broxton finished the game in scoreless fashion.

"Rosters" past the jump.

Ok, so here are the changes...well, most of them. I'll probably miss something between the writing of this and the actual game.

On the AL side, Felix Hernandez is ineligible for play, as he pitched on Sunday, so he was replaced by Boston's Jon Lester. But Lester is injured, so Toronto's Ricky Romero has been named in his stead.

James Shield was also intended to be on the roster, but he's ineligible as he pitched on Sunday as well. Enter Yankees' Ace CC Sabathia...who also pitched on Sunday. Texas' Alexi Ogando will take his slot.

Justin Verlander ALSO pitched on Sunday, so he's out. David Price was also supposed to pitch, but he's out with turf toe. David Robertson from the Yankees will take a spot, as will Seattle's Michael Pineda.

Oh, and Alex Rodriguez is out, putting Kevin Youkilis on the roster. Considering that Youkilis is having a somewhat better season than ARod, this is a bad thing.

For the senior circuit, we've seen the following:

SS Jose Reyes and 3B Placido Polanco are both out with injury, and replacing them will be San Francisco's Pablo Sandoval and Arizona's Miguel Montero.

Cole Hamels and Matt Cain, both excellent additions to the NL staff, are both out due to having pitched on Sunday. Seriously, who scheduled this thing? Atlanta's Craig Kimbrel and Pirates' Kevin Correia will take their places.

So here's the AL Roster, per Wikipedia:

Position	Player	Team	All-Star Games
C	Alex Avila	Tigers	1
1B	Adrian Gonzalez	Red Sox	4
2B	Robinson Canó	Yankees	3
3B	Alex Rodriguez^#	Yankees	14
SS	Derek Jeter^#	Yankees	12
OF	José Bautista	Blue Jays	2
OF	Curtis Granderson	Yankees	2
OF	Josh Hamilton	Rangers	4
DH	David Ortiz	Red Sox	7

Reserves
Position	Player	Team	All-Star Games
C	Russell Martin	Yankees	3
C	Matt Wieters	Orioles	1
1B	Miguel Cabrera	Tigers	6
1B	Paul Konerko	White Sox	5
2B	Howard Kendrick	Angels	1
3B	Adrián Beltré	Rangers	2
3B	Kevin Youkilis^[A]	Red Sox	3
SS	Asdrúbal Cabrera	Indians	1
SS	Jhonny Peralta^[B]	Tigers	1
OF	Michael Cuddyer	Twins	1
OF	Jacoby Ellsbury	Red Sox	1
OF	Matt Joyce	Rays	1
OF	Carlos Quentin	White Sox	2
DH	Michael Young	Rangers	7

Pitchers
Player	Team	All-Star Games
Josh Beckett	Red Sox	3
Aaron Crow	Royals	1
Gio Gonzalez	Athletics	1
Félix Hernández^#	Mariners	2
Brandon League	Mariners	1
Jon Lester^#^[J]	Red Sox	2
Alexi Ogando^[M]	Rangers	1
Chris Perez	Indians	1
Michael Pineda^[N]	Mariners	1
David Price^#	Rays	2
Mariano Rivera^#	Yankees	12
David Robertson^[C]	Yankees	1
Ricky Romero^[K]	Blue Jays	1
CC Sabathia^#^[L]	Yankees	5
James Shields^#	Rays	1
José Valverde	Tigers	3
Justin Verlander^#	Tigers	4
Jordan Walden^[D]	Angels	1
Jered Weaver	Angels	2
C. J. Wilson	Rangers	1

Following them, the NL:

Position	Player	Team	All-Star Games
C	Brian McCann	Braves	6
1B	Prince Fielder	Brewers	3
2B	Rickie Weeks	Brewers	1
3B	Plácido Polanco^#	Phillies	2
SS	José Reyes^#	Mets	4
OF	Lance Berkman	Cardinals	6
OF	Ryan Braun^#	Brewers	4
OF	Matt Kemp	Dodgers	1

Reserves
Position	Player	Team	All-Star Games
C	Yadier Molina	Cardinals	3
C	Miguel Montero^[E]	Diamondbacks	1
1B	Gaby Sanchez	Marlins	1
1B	Joey Votto	Reds	2
2B	Brandon Phillips	Reds	2
3B	Chipper Jones^#	Braves	7
3B	Scott Rolen^[F]	Reds	7
3B	Pablo Sandoval^[G]	Giants	1
SS	Starlin Castro	Cubs	1
SS	Troy Tulowitzki	Rockies	2
OF	Carlos Beltrán	Mets	6
OF	Jay Bruce	Reds	1
OF	Andre Ethier^[H]	Dodgers	2
OF	Matt Holliday	Cardinals	5
OF	Andrew McCutchen^[I]	Pirates	1
OF	Hunter Pence	Astros	2
OF	Justin Upton	Diamondbacks	2
OF	Shane Victorino^#	Phillies	2

Pitchers
Player	Team	All-Star Games
Heath Bell	Padres	3
Matt Cain^#	Giants	2
Tyler Clippard	Nationals	1
Kevin Correia^[O]	Pirates	1
Roy Halladay	Phillies	8
Cole Hamels^#	Phillies	2
Joel Hanrahan	Pirates	1
Jair Jurrjens	Braves	1
Clayton Kershaw	Dodgers	1
Craig Kimbrel^[P]	Braves	1
Cliff Lee	Phillies	3
Tim Lincecum	Giants	4
Jonny Venters	Braves	1
Ryan Vogelsong	Giants	1
Brian Wilson	Giants	3

Annnnnd the footnotes, if you're following:

Kevin Youkilis replaced Alex Rodriguez on the roster due to injury.
Jhonny Peralta replaced Derek Jeter on the roster due to injury.
David Robertson replaced David Price on the roster due to injury.
Jordan Walden replaced Mariano Rivera on the roster due to injury.
Miguel Montero replaced Placido Polanco on the roster due to injury.
Scott Rolen replaced Chipper Jones on the roster due to injury.
Pablo Sandoval replaced Jose Reyes on the roster due to injury.
Andre Ethier replaced Shane Victorino on the roster due to injury.
Andrew McCutchen replaced Ryan Braun on the roster due to injury.
Jon Lester replaced Felix Hernandez on the roster due to Hernandez's ineligibility to pitch.
Ricky Romero replaced Jon Lester on the roster due to injury.
CC Sabathia replaced James Shields on the roster due to Shields' ineligibility to pitch.
Alexi Ogando replaced CC Sabathia on the roster due to Sabathia's ineligibility to pitch.
Michael Pineda replaced Justin Verlander on the roster due to Verlander's ineligibility to pitch.
Kevin Correia replaced Cole Hamels on the roster due to Hamels' ineligibility to pitch.
Craig Kimbrel replaced Matt Cain on the roster due to Cain's ineligibility to pitch.

#: Indicates player would not play (replaced as per reference notes above).

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Comments

Unfortunately, I'll need an ABC to 123 decoder ring to decipher the footnotes

"I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious." - Albert Einstein

by Andrew T. Fisher on Jul 11, 2011 4:08 PM MDT reply actions

Good bunch of guys

Yep — pretty hard to track. But the long and short of it is there is going to be an All Star game and a bunch of good players will take the field.

Very hard to say which side has the edge, as there are so many dynamics. But I suppose this is why they play the game in the first place.

by Real Perspective on Jul 11, 2011 4:20 PM MDT up reply actions

only 2 NL shortstops with reyes out, and bochy declines to add another, instead picking up his not-qualified-for-the-batting-title "third baseman"

the NL is a sad place for SS after tulo and reyes…. stephen drew should at least have merited some considering, and it’s surprising that media darling, huge douche, MVP-stealer jimmy rollins didnt sneak his way on somehow. i get the feeling that only having 2 shortstops may come back to bite the senior circuit in the ass in this one.

the only organization of humans responsible for more evil in the universe than the philadelphia phillies is the boston red sox

if it's not tracy's fault, it's not not tracy's fault, either

by papality on Jul 11, 2011 4:28 PM MDT reply actions

yeah that's concerning

I actually don’t mind Sandoval being on the roster, since he’s actually been the most valuable 3B in the league according to fWAR. But why was Scott Rolen chosen? He hasn’t been very good this season.

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by black_knight101 on Jul 11, 2011 4:39 PM MDT up reply actions

.241/.276/.398

and he’s starting

the only organization of humans responsible for more evil in the universe than the philadelphia phillies is the boston red sox

if it's not tracy's fault, it's not not tracy's fault, either

by papality on Jul 11, 2011 4:40 PM MDT up reply actions

i'd much rather Bochy be a homer and go with the Panda

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by black_knight101 on Jul 11, 2011 4:51 PM MDT up reply actions

Ty Wigginton deserved a spot over Rolen.

Really though, it should have been Chase Headley (130 wRC+).

Just an average guy with exceptional hair. Nothing more, nothing less.
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by Bryan Kilpatrick on Jul 11, 2011 5:29 PM MDT up reply actions

I'm pretty sure Scott Rolen ended up there because he was high on the players votes.

by holly96 on Jul 11, 2011 5:33 PM MDT up reply actions

Still doesn't make it right.

That guy sucks. Must have a TON of respect amongst his peers.

Just an average guy with exceptional hair. Nothing more, nothing less.
Bear Naked - My thoughts on sports, music, and life.

by Bryan Kilpatrick on Jul 11, 2011 5:47 PM MDT up reply actions

i mean, the dude has had a borderline HoF career

but good god, that’s a line clint barmes would struggle to achieve

the only organization of humans responsible for more evil in the universe than the philadelphia phillies is the boston red sox

if it's not tracy's fault, it's not not tracy's fault, either

by papality on Jul 11, 2011 6:16 PM MDT up reply actions

Just let Tulo play the entire game

Why not have the best SS out there the whole time?

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by RoxFan1701 on Jul 12, 2011 9:33 AM MDT up reply actions

Wait...what?

After another inning and a half of scoreless play, the NL finally struck back. Joey Votto grounded out to begin the inning against Phil Hughes. 1 down. Scott Rolen and Matt Holliday both singled, putting runners at the corners with 1 out. Matt Thornton was then called upon to clean up this mess, and after inducing an immediate popup to Arizona CF Chris Young, it looked like the AL was going to wriggle out of this mess.

Thornton walked Matt Holliday, to load the bases with 2 outs. All appeared lost until Brian McCann took a 98mph fastball right down the pipe and deposited it into the RF gap, clearing the bases and giving the NL the 3-1 lead.

So Matt singled, was on base, and was then walked to load the bases? So Matt Holliday was on both 1st and 2nd base at the same time? Okay I know he’s a good player but damn!

Andrew Stiff Photography - Portrait/Wedding/Event Photography

by RoxFan1701 on Jul 12, 2011 9:31 AM MDT reply actions