We were fortunate to have a good friend in Minneapolis the last few days, Corey; who has written for the site before. Next year we figure to be part of the entire All-Star experience from start to finish in Cincinnati, or die trying. For now – enjoy the awesome camera work on these original photos you can’t see anywhere else. This is the famed rainbow that appeared during the home run derby before Todd Frazier starting taking his first round cuts. So I just learned that these guys are known as ‘Minnie’ and ‘Paul’, and they’re exactly 500 feet from home plate. It was mentioned during the game that they have never been reached. Yasiel Puig during All-Star workout day. Here are the contestants of the Home Run Derby. The Captain taking some cuts during batting practice of All Star workout day. A great shot of Jeter during the parade. When you think back to the 2014 All Star Game in the Twin Cities, you’ll think of two main things: Jeter…. And Mike Trout. Who looks like he’s signing a ball for a fan here in the middle of the parade. What a great dude. Lots of respect for Miguel Cabrera, who admitted over the past few days that he isn’t fully healthy. Giancarlo Stanton rides alone. Andrew McCutchen didn’t go without accumulating some stats in this All-Star Game, he singled to lead off the game. You know, the play that Jeter almost made right off the bat. Here’s another one of our favorites Jose Abreu, aka Big Cuban Stud. Jose Bautista in his salmon-colored sports coat. One of the most talked about arms in the game today, Clayton Kershaw. Up close and personal. Paul Goldschmidt Yasiel Puig had a ROUGH couple of days in Minneapolis. This is a great and symbolic shot, really. Puig is such a kid that you figure he was in awe of everything and having such a great time (kid in a candy store) the focus just wasn’t there. And that’s okay. He will have more All Star Games.

In about an hour, the 2014 All Star Game takes center stage as a celebration of the baseball season’s midway point. It’s actually kind of sad that the season is half over (and if we’re being honest with you and ourselves it’s more than halfway over). This year’s All Star emeritus is Derek Jeter, so the game will be centered around cameras nobbing him and rightfully so.

ESPN had a cool article the other day about some of the different personalities and their favorite All Star Game memories titled ‘Midsummer Memories’. It had us re-living some of our favorite moments of All Star’s past, and if asked to pick just one moment it’s really hard to do. Every midsummer classic from our youth is special in it’s own way.

We really loved that 1992 game when Ken Griffey Jr. homered and was named the MVP. It was special to see it live, as that was the moment that Junior really kind of announced his presence on the grand stage. That was the moment when he started to come into his own. He was pretty dominant for the next decade.

The All Star game is neat, and tonight will have it’s share of epic moments. There are a nice collection of the game’s best players that serve as a great snapshot for where the game is at today. That’s the best part about every All Star game; you look at the names that dot the roster and I think it says something about the game at that particular moment.

The last two games have featured shut-outs. Tonight, we’re fairly sure both teams will score and we’re fairly sure the starters (Felix Hernandez and Adam Wainwright) of the game will be going full-bore as their teams have a shot at the playoffs and they want the opportunity to host that extra game. I think it’s going to be a terrific display of the game’s greatest players tonight. I can’t wait. The only bad part is soon after this game the season will begin to melt away like sand through an hourglass. There’s nothing about that which is positive.

But it’s been a remarkable and fulfilling first half of baseball. If the second half is this much fun, we’re in line for one of our most entertaining finishes ever. Good for our favorite sport!

In past years, we voted a lot and had a lot of homer picks. Guys like Jay Bruce and Bryce Harper would still be getting votes even though they’re among the least deserving players in baseball for this season. Hell, we would even give Jeter some sentimental votes.

This year – we don’t have time to vote several hundred times. One ballot of integrity is above. These are the guys we think are most deserving.

It’s hard to believe we’re already technically past the midway point of the Major League season. The next few days are always a celebration of the season gone by, with a collection of stars and infinite possibilities of exciting match-ups that you don’t usually get to see. There will be one or two memorable moments during the All-Star break that live on forever as part of 2013 All Star Game history.

The summer is officially half done and it’s going to be a dogfight second half for a lot of teams. But over the next few days we’re going to try to enjoy the best that the respective leagues have to offer and hope to see some new memories carved out. Sure, it’s just an exhibition game. But there’s always something special about the Home Run Derby and All Star Break that makes us feel like a kid again. There’s still an innocence to it. And for all the criticism that the baseball world undertakes for being too old and too traditional, that’s one thing we don’t mind remaining innocent and old-fashioned.

We’ll still keep things rolling here through the week as best we can while trying to find a few nuggets in the game and All Star Monday. The worst part about the All Star week is of course, there’s no baseball again until Friday. What the Hell are we going to do all week? Wednesday and Thursday are shot.

I made sure I watched the nationally-televised All Star Game Selection show on FOX which was shown before Baseball Night in America.

How obvious is it that the MLB is trying to think of ways to make the grand old ballgame a little bit more like the conglomerate National Football League?

Tonight you could watch a cartoonish at-best cast of Matt Vasgersian, Harold Reynolds, and Dan Plesac tell you who our 2013 All Stars are. This was a show that was quietly done on Sunday evenings in the past and when I was a kid in the mid and early 1990’s there was no show. You read about the All-Star vote leaders in the paper and the final selections on the Monday before the game took place. You might have heard the night before on Baseball Tonight if you were one of those lucky kids who grew up with cable television (I was not).

Here are the selections:

American League

Starters
C: Joe Mauer, Twins
1B: Chris Davis, Orioles
2B: Robinson Cano, Yankees
SS: J.J. Hardy, Orioles
3B: Miguel Cabrera, Tigers
OF: Mike Trout, Angels
OF: Adam Jones, Orioles
OF: Jose Bautista, Blue Jays
DH: David Ortiz, Red Sox

Pitchers
RHP: Clay Buchholz @, Red Sox
LHP: Brett Cecil, Blue Jays
RHP: Bartolo Colon *, A’s
RHP: Jesse Crain @, White Sox
RHP: Yu Darvish, Rangers
RHP: Felix Hernandez, Mariners
RHP: Hisashi Iwakuma, Mariners
RHP: Justin Masterson, Indians
RHP: Joe Nathan, Rangers
LHP: Glen Perkins *, Twins
RHP: Mariano Rivera, Yankees
LHP: Chris Sale, White Sox
RHP: Max Scherzer, Tigers
RHP: Justin Verlander, Tigers

Reserves
C: Jason Castro, Astros
C: Salvador Perez, Royals
1B: Prince Fielder, Tigers
2B: Jason Kipnis, Indians
2B: Dustin Pedroia, Red Sox
2B: Ben Zobrist, Rays
SS: Jhonny Peralta: Tigers
3B: Manny Machado, Orioles
OF: Nelson Cruz, Rangers
OF: Alex Gordon, Royals
OF: Torii Hunter, Tigers
DH: Edwin Encarnacion, Blue Jays

National League

Starters
C: Yadier Molina, Cardinals
1B: Joey Votto, Reds
2B: Brandon Phillips, Reds
SS: Troy Tulowitzki, Rockies
3B: David Wright, Mets
OF: Carlos Beltran, Cardinals
OF: Carlos Gonzalez, Rockies
OF: Bryce Harper, Nationals
Pitchers
LHP: Madison Bumgarner, Giants
LHP: Aroldis Chapman, Reds
LHP: Patrick Corbin, D-backs
RHP: Jose Fernandez, Marlins
RHP: Jason Grilli, Pirates
RHP: Matt Harvey, Mets
LHP: Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers
RHP: Craig Kimbrel, Braves
LHP: Cliff Lee, Phillies
LHP: Jeff Locke, Pirates
RHP: Adam Wainwright, Cardinals
LHP: Travis Wood, Cubs
RHP: Jordan Zimmermann, Nationals

Reserves
C: Buster Posey, Giants
1B: Paul Goldschmidt, D-backs
1B: Allen Craig, Cardinals
2B: Matt Carpenter, Cardinals
2B: Marco Scutaro, Giants
SS: Everth Cabrera, Padres
SS: Jean Segura, Brewers
3B: Pedro Alvarez, Pirates
OF: Domonic Brown, Phillies
OF: Michael Cuddyer, Rockies
OF: Carlos Gomez, Brewers
OF: Andrew McCutchen, Pirates

Final vote candidates:

NL
Yasiel Puig
Ian Desmond
Freddie Freeman
Adrian Gonzalez
Hunter Pence

AL
Steve Delabar
David Robertson
Koji Uehara
Tanner Scheppers
Joaquin Benoit

The All-Star Game I’ll always love for tradition’s sake. It’s baseball’s chance to grab the nation for a minute as it takes a short breath from the nightly NFL and NBA news. It’s my favorite sport taking center-stage at midseason.

But it’s logic is all fucked up. The MLB All-Star Game is a little bit of everything. “This time it counts” but at the same time there are open discussions of Mariano Rivera starting the game, and then they’re sending whatever future Hall of Famer is on his farewell tour to the game (Chipper Jones, Cal Ripken etc.) but it also showcases the game’s young stars like Bryce Harper last season and possibly Yasiel Puig this year. Guys like Andrew McCutchen get in this year over a guy like Jay Bruce and some guys like Grant Balfour who should be there are left off the roster altogether.

At the end of the day, the thing that makes the All-Star Game flawed is what makes it great. I still get amped over seeing a young talent like Yasiel Puig take on an old dog making his last uproar like Bartolo Colon. The thought of seeing Bryce Harper against Yu Darvish is a very tempting thing for a baseball fan. At the end of the day, I’m okay with how baseball handles the All Star Game. It’s flawed, but there’s no absolute way to get everything perfect for it.

Ah yes, and we almost forgot one thing.

MLB.com has released it’s All Star ballot, and if you have an official MLB account you received an email today with a suggestive image of who you should vote for.

For the most part, all of the guys pictured above will be in the midsummer’s classic. But there are a few sneaky characters in that shot, one particularly sneaky dread-locked man.

Are you telling me that in two calendar months plus that Coco Crisp is still going to have All-Star numbers? I know that Oakland is the king of claiming prized junk from the impound lot of baseball, but I don’t think Crisp gets there. He’s just hot.

I also don’t like Carlos Santan’s odds of being there – he’s from Cleveland so you can forget about him getting any type of fan vote to earn a ticket to the game. He can OPS .950 all he wants, he’s still from Cleveland and Cleveland players get snubbed.

The rest of these guys shouldn’t make any plans for that mid-July weekend. They’ll be occupied with exhibition. Except Cano. He’ll probably be suspended by then.

You can pretty much vote an unlimited amount of times each day. You want to see Alcides Escobar in this game? Knock yourself out. Stay up all night and experiment to see if you can make it happen.