The Raging A's

Wow.  I haven't felt this much rage this the first time I saw the Tuck play with my own eyes.  This morning, July 6, the A's are one of only 5 teams with more than 50 wins, yet only one, 1, o n e, player was chosen to the All-Star team.  Congratulations to Bartolo (Jaba the Hut) Colon who has a had a great first half of the season.  Colon's teammates Josh Donaldson and Grant Balfour should be joining him--and if not both of them, at least one!  How Balfour did not make, after converting 22 of 22 Save opportunities is a real mystery, and quite frankly, a bogus decision.

(Now there is a real possibility that if Colon pitches Sunday, he won't be eligible to pitch in the All Star Game.  In that scenario, Balfour could theoretically replace Colon.  Oh great, so one A's player, again, can actually play.  I would love to see Bartolo and the A's simply boycott the classic.   Why not?)

It starts with AL Manager Jim Leyland.  He was nice of to choose 5 of his own Tigers.  Might as well bring the whole team.  A sixth, Miquel Cabrera was voted in by the fans.  You would have thought the Tigers won the World Series with so many All-Stars!  Perhaps getting swept in the Fall Classic causes long-term traumatic issues.  You would think would have a better system in place to choose their team, but this is Bud Selig's league after all!

Then, there is the write in candidate.  For the AL, the choice is among 5 relievers, and not one of them is named Grant Balfour.  You would think the write in ballot might include Evan Longoria, or Adrian Beltre, or Josh Donaldson.  Nope.  Here are the names:  Steve Delabar, David Robertson, Koji Uehara, Tanner Scheppers, Juaquin Benoit.  No Mr. 22 for 22 here either.  What a farce!

I just get the feeling Green Envy (or perhaps Beane Envy) is spreading throughout MLB.  The A's just keep winning.  It makes you think Bud's boys don't want the A's in San Jose because they know Beane and the A's would be very good year after year after year.

(Speaking of Moneyball, for a little fun, check out the website Baseball Reference.Com.  A common sybermetric tool is WAR, or Wins Above Replacement.  Look for Josh Donaldson, you will find his name just about everywhere!)

I posted yesterday that the A's played like crap in their 4-3 loss to the Royals, the O.Co had an issue with sewer flooding the locker rooms, the entire San Jose/MLB/Antitrust/SF Oger Giants issues, and then this All Star Game matter, that is a whole lot of crap in Oakland!

Flipping the Remote:

*Djokovic and Murray in the midst of an epic match.  Having the Englishman in the final, sure gives the crowd an extra jolt of electricity!
*Congratulations to Ladies Champion Marion Bertoli.  She is actually quite a story--here is one nugget, her dad, who taught her how to play, well, literally got the boot by Bertoli.  There is quite a story to be written in Bertoli!
*The Giants and Dodgers play an interesting game this afternoon.  Although it is still very early in the season, this particular game might be a real momentum swing for one of these two teams.  Beware of the Dodgers, they are smelling snake blood.  They just went and traded for Ricky Nolasco of the Marlins, and I am sure the $$ will keep rolling in LA!
*Puig not in the All-Star game either, my money says he gets voted in by the fans--hey someone got this right by putting Puig on the ballot.
*The Angels have heated up and are lurking at 8.5 games back in the AL West.  They scored 4 in the 9th, then won in extras last night against the Red Sox.  I envision the Angels spending some dough on pitching here in the next couple of weeks! Their game with Boston today could also be a bit of a momentum swing.
*Despicable Me 2 a great family movie--hilarious and a decent moral.  
*The plane crash landing in San Francisco yesterday just terrible.  Our thoughts and prayers to all persons and their families!