2011 Major League Baseball All Star Game

[Box Score]

There is one thing that came clear to me during yesterday’s All-Star Game, of which I watched the entire thing.

First off, the game was boring. It didn’t do a lot to showcase the sport’s midsummer classic. But there’s a reason for that. I felt the same way about this year’s game as I did about last year’s game. Pitching and arms are nastier and deeper than they’ve ever been before and on a lot of nights that equates to some really bland baseball.

Gone are the days where you have a Danny Darwin type arm sneak into the game or a guy who throws nothing but 86 and gets by on guile. You’ll never see that again. Baseball has a plethora of flamethrowers to choose from who have succeeded enough with their dynamite stuff in the first half of the season that you’ll virtually never watch another inning of All Star Game baseball that doesn’t feature a guy on the mound absolutely pumping 97 to 100 MPH.

Power arm after power arm last night trotted out and did their thing–and if you want to say Cliff Lee wasn’t throwing that hard–go ahead and notice that he got a bomb hit off him to allow the AL’s only run.

Prince Fielder hit the big majestic 3-run blast that salted the game away. The memorable plays I remember in the field were Hunter Pence’s assist at home plate that seemed to swing the momentum, along with Jordan Walden’s barehand play and Jose Bautista’s sliding catch against the right field wall.

But for nine innings, the display for all to see was the incredible arm that this league features. And the All Star Game was really a 9 inning sample of what we have going on all around baseball. Pitching is dominating everywhere you look and offense is down to 1992 levels for the second season in a row.

It’s neither good, bad or indifferent. It’s just how the game is today.

Click below for a few shots of the Reds.


Also, did anyone notice that Yahoo counted last night’s All-Star stats in all fantasy leagues? What a load of bullshit! When has an All-Star Game’s stats ever counted the same as in the regular season? Basically, the teams with the most All-Star representatives in your fantasy league took a huge punch to the gut last evening. Thanks Yahoo for slipping that one past everyone.