Which Yankee Ruined the All-Star Game more?

I’m starting to change my mind.

I’ve always thought it was Joe Torre. After all, he’s the one who selected players for the team not because they deserved to be there, but because they were Yankees. (His answer, not mine) He’s the one who had to come up with creative ways to get his Yankees players into the game, and the starters out of the game. (Again, his answer, not mine.) So, that really accelerated the whole “starter plays maybe two innings so the scrubs can play too” problem baseball has. It’s because of that style that Torre actually ran out of players, making a game end in a tie. It’s because of that that the best All-Star game in professional sports is weakened every year because players who have no business being there are playing most of the game. It’s awful.

But, I’m starting to change my mind.

I think it might have been Nick Swisher.

Remember when Swisher won the final vote for the team, beating out Kevin Youkilis in 2010? He was credited with winning because of his social media presence. Every report after his selection said the reason he was selected was his massive twitter following. He was able to reach 1.3 million people telling them to vote for him. That’s why he won. Every article about his selection credited his stats. Not his baseball stats. When they talked about Joey Votto winning the vote in the NL, they mentioned his baseball stats. No, when they talked about Swisher, it was all about his Twitter stats. MLB couldn’t have been more proud of him for making the team based solely on his popularity.

Now I see the mess that is the 2015 All-Star selection process, and think…this is all Swisher’s fault.

Everyone kept complaining that the Royals were stuffing the box. They were getting too many players on the team. Baseball needed to fix it. But, they were ignoring the real problem. The problem wasn’t the Royals fans voting too much. They problem is that it’s exactly what MLB wants. That’s why they still let fans vote. That’s why they opened up internet voting. They don’t care about the quality of the game. They only care about the buzz around the game.

Which is why they’ve come up with that annoying hashtag voting that is clogging up my timeline a full four days before the votes even count. That’s why MLB doesn’t care that the worst SS in the AL is starting the game while the best one didn’t even make it. Would the twitter buzz be anything close to what it is now if Xander was inserted as the starter? Would my timeline have been all Sox all the time on a Monday off day if the team was selected properly using numbers and talent?

If that’s what MLB wants, I guess that’s their call. If they want the All-Star game to just be about buzz, it’s their decision. I wonder if they’ve noticed that it doesn’t work for the other leagues. The NFL is the most buzz-centric sport in history, and nobody watches the Pro Bowl. But, if that’s what MLB wants, I can’t stop them.

Just stop telling me Jeter should be in the Hall of Fame because of his all-star game appearances. They don’t mean a player is any good anymore.

God help us if the Hall of Fame ever goes to hashtag voting.

From the Pedro Binder

2001 UD Ovation

This card blows my mind for one simple reason. Look at that foil usage!

This might be the first time in the history of metallic foil that it is used in the correct places. Pedro’s name? Wonderfully clean and unfoiled. Pedro’s position? Right there clear as day. The team Pedro plays for? Crisp and prominent. The card company logo? Beautifully obscured in impossible to read foil. The card’s brand name? Also hidden away unless you tilt the card 36 times in the light. It’s amazing.

Oh, sure the Red Sox name is in foil, but as repeated information that’s just fine. Pedro’s number is also in foil. But, in this case, it’s printed right next to the picture displaying a very large #45. For this card, that works out perfectly.

The rest of the card is about what you’d expect from Ovation. There’s the baseball textured background. Ovation sure loves to incorporate a baseball into its cards. There’s the clean what to contrast with the smaller picture. That contrast sure does make Pedro pop out of the card. I actually like the semi-circular sepia for that very reason. It makes it look like Pedro is pitching in front of a brown disk. It allows the card to have some depth that is lacking in most other offerings.

All that comes together to form a very nice card. Even if my scanner seems to think that the right edge is nothing impressive. We all know better. Well done, Upper Deck.

I don’t get to say that very often.

Hanley or De Aza?

Last night, I got in a little bit of a Twitter discussion about the left field situation for the Red Sox.

Jared Carrabis tweeted out that De Aza should be playing left field. He never wanted to see Hanley there again, and he didn’t care about Hanley’s bat.

I responded that it sounded like a foolish plan, and that Hanley’s defensive woes were vastly overrated.

The response from Mr. Carrabis? That he could think of four or five plays in the game last night that De Aza made that Hanley wouldn’t have made.

That’s not an uncommon response. People are under the impression that Hanley’s defense is killing the Sox in left. That if even an average outfielder were out there, the Sox would be winning a lot more games. As you know if you visit here a lot, I think defense is generally overrated. I would expect that an adequate athlete should get to most balls. Sure, the superior defenders get to more. But, they don’t get to enough to make up for any loss of production at the plate. Basically, Hanley’s bat makes up for the few balls he can’t get to in left. If that weren’t the case, Jackie Bradley Jr would be the Sox starting center fielder. Would have been for quite some time. But, even his superb defense couldn’t make up for his lack of hitting. And, he only had to make up the difference between himself and Brock Holt. Or, Rusney Castillo. If he can’t bridge that gap with a once in forever type glove, why can De Aza make up an even bigger difference with his glove?

It was the four-five plays in last night’s game that really stuck with me. People really think there’s that much of a gap? Let’s take a look. I checked out the MLB summary to see how much action Alejandro De Aza got out in left field.

Bot 2: Pillar doubles to left with two outs. Martin out at “home” 7-6-5

Bot 5: Martin flies out softly to left with one out.

Bot 6: Reyes flies out to left with one out.

Bot 6: Donaldson doubles to left, scoring a run.

Bot 6: Bautista flies out to left center ending the inning.

Bot 7: Colabello grounds a single to left with one out.

Bot 9: Donaldson flies out to left with one out.

That’s it. Seven plays. Which four or five do you not think Hanley would have made? Can we agree that Hanley would have fielded the groundball single in the seventh? The others?

You could maybe argue that only De Aza makes the play to nab Martin. Maybe. Although, I could argue that Bogaerts probably nails him at home, instead of third. Maybe you could say he doesn’t get to Bautista’s flyball to the gap…although Mookie looked like he’d be in pretty good position if he knew that Hanley would have been there. Maybe you could say that Hanley doesn’t reach Donaldson’s flyball, and it falls for a double. Although, in the bot of the ninth in a two run game, De Aza is probably in there for defense anyway.

So, really. Look at the plays the left fielder had to make last night. Which ones get by Hanley? Do you think De Aza stopped Donaldson from getting a triple in the 6^th? Doubt it. Are there 4 or 5 plays? 2 or 3?

Any that cost the Sox the game?

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not suggesting that Hanley is a great defender. I’m not that crazy. I definitely think De Aza is a better one. That’s why I’d have him in left for the ninth. I’m just saying Hanley’s offense more than makes up for the plays he may not make in the field.

Otherwise Jackie Bradley Jr would be your AL MVP.

Pictures!

I keep saying it. I love looking at pictures! Don't you? That's why I keep asking people to send in pics for the 36 Pix page and all its features. I add new pictures all the time! But, are you still not checking those pages regularly? Here's a quick look at some of the great stuff you've been missing!

As you know, the Pix in 36 page shows people enjoying themselves in the greatest section in Fenway. Here are some of the most recent examples!

This one is from Elle

Matt sent in this great group photo

Another great group shot. This on from Anna.

Even Blue Jays fans know where the best seats are. Jane sent in this pic.

Some of my favorites are the Pix with 36. Since they can be taken from anywhere in the park, they offer a lot of variety! Here are some of the newer ones!

Here's one from Kimberly

Erin celebrated a big birthday by posing with the best Section

Here's one from the lovely Alicia with Section 36 just behind her!

Christina's back with another great pic, just in front of Section 36

Here's Lauren with a great angle on Section 36

Once again, even visitors know where to pose. Brad made sure to catch the best shot.

As always, I appreciate each and every pic that is sent in. So keep sending them! And, don't forget, that this isn't all the pics that are submitted. There are even more on the 36 Pix page, and even more than that are posted on the Section 36 Facebook pg.

Check them out!

Panda Hats

It started almost as soon as it looked like Pablo Sandoval was going to be leaving San Francisco. The kidding began. “I bet the Sox are drooling over being able to sell Panda hats.” “I bet Tom Werner is already grabbing stock footage of pandas for all his new TV shows!”

Of course, it showed up tenfold once they signed him. “That’s a big contract…hope they sell lots of hats.” It was a lot of fun. And, of course, the Sox did quite a bit of that. There was a panda (Or, at least I think it was a panda…might have been a lemur) at Pablo’s introductory press conference. His player tees can be found with “Panda” on the back. And, I think I’ve even seen a panda hat or two showing up at Fenway.

But, the more Pablo has struggled, the more people have been commenting that they can’t believe they signed this slug just to sell hats.

Saying it like they believe that’s what happened.

That the Red Sox signed a guy to a five year deal to sell a few thousand hats.

Don’t they see how ridiculous that is?

First of all, Tom Werner isn’t a complete moron. He didn’t make all his money and win all his awards because he was stupid. Even he knows that a show or marketing campaign based on a bad player won’t sell, even if he’s cute and cuddly.

The rest of the Sox know that too. They know that even with Pablo on the team, the most marketable players on the Sox are still Ortiz and Pedroia. They’re still the best ones to build a television show around. Ortiz’s player tees have “Papi” on the back. Heck, you can even get them with “Mookie” on the back. Besides, if the Sox wanted a readymade line of merchandise, there are plenty of cheaper players with fun nicknames. People think the Sox chose Pablo over Josh Donaldson because he was Panda. But, Donaldson goes by “BringerofRain” on twitter. You don’t think the Sox could come up with a way to sell some t-shirts based on that nickname? After all, this is the same organization that built a whole line of shirts and hats and everything else based on beards. Beards, for crying out loud.

So, why would they see the need to weaken the team in order to lock themselves into a fun name?

A fun name they can’t even trademark.

I promise you, they’re not that stupid.