I wanted to post this in the other All-Star thread started by canmark, but I had to start a new thread for this poll, consisting of two questions.

[ July 12, 2004, 03:51 PM: Message edited by: pat125 ]

Don't forget: homer derby tonight!

Contenders: Sammy Sosa, Lance Berkman (replacing Griffey Jr.), Barry Bonds, Jim Thome, Rafael Palmeiro, Miguel Tejada (replacing Giambi), David Ortiz, Hank Blalock

I'm going out on a (Viagra-induced) limb and picking Palmeiro to win. wink

[ July 12, 2004, 03:23 PM: Message edited by: canmark ]

Well, Tejada not only won but got the record with 15 bombs in the second round, plus I think he had the longest at 493'.

The two replacement hitters, Tejada and Berkman, make it to the final with impressive performances in round 2 (15 and 10, respectively). Tejada sets a single-round record of 15 and a 3-round record of 27 (with 5 outs still left to go) to win the homer derby title.

My pick Palmeiro won round one with 9 homers, then the Viagra wore off and he only went deep 5 times in round 2.

[ July 12, 2004, 08:16 PM: Message edited by: canmark ]

Huh?? I assumed I was watching the Home Run Derby live on Sportsnet, not on tape delay, as Houston is only one hour ahead of Calgary. Right now, I'm watching Round One, and Barry Bonds is leading with 8 HR's. After reading the above posts, some of the drama has been spoiled! frown

Sorry, Marc. Why is it being shown on tape delay out there?

But keep watching. Tejada's performance is worth it.

Miguel Tejada won the home run derby. He knocked 15 out in the second round, which is a record.

[ July 13, 2004, 07:13 AM: Message edited by: pat125 ]

Canmark wrote:

I'm not sure, Canmark. But I should have clued in...the telecast started here at 8 pm my time, which means it would have been 9 pm in Houston and 10 pm in the East...a rather late start for all you guys in the most populous time zone. It sure gets late early out there! (used with Yogi's permission). It would have been nice for the fans in Houston if Lance Berkman had won the derby.

GO NATIONAL LEAGUE!!!!!

Um.... did I miss something... or, Where was the Canadian national anthem?! :mad:

Does any else think Piazza is calling for pitches to make Clemens look bad? Or I am just starting to imagine consipiracies everywhere?

I like the Clemens-Mike "I'm not gay" Piazza conspiracy theory. Whatever Piazza can do to get a prime on-camera interview after the game, he'll do it!

Incredible start for the AL! Luscious Mark Mulder pitching now.must.go.watch.

OK, one hour of the All-Star game and my thoughts so far are:

1. Why on Earth did they have the starters walking out from the stands rather than the dugouts?

2. Who is this God-awful woman who sang the national anthem? Someone needs to remind her it's not Carmen .

3. Is Sammy Sosa the worst fielder to ever start an All-Star game?

4. I think the AL got into Barry's steroid stash. Either that or Roger Clemens got so distracted pitching to the heterosexual catcher that he forgot to bring his fastball.

[ July 13, 2004, 06:16 PM: Message edited by: Munson Man ]

It was Fox's "American Idol" winner Fantasia that sang the Natinal Anthem. I have always thought she was godawful and this confirmed my worst fears. I bet Piazza just kept throwing kisses at Clemens before each pitch. eek!

All I know is I was watching a movie I taped and at 8:40 pm I put on Fox and the game STILL hadn't started, and Joe Buck said "We're moments away from the first pitch..." It's 8-friggin-40! Start the game!!! Oh look, there's a CAMERA in the dirt! Wow!

At 9 pm I turned on "I Love The 90s" on VH1. At 10 pm I began watching the "Queer Eye" UK Version that Bravo is showing tonight, and became disinterested so I've just been clicking the remote and reading the board since.

Did anyone see who caught David Ortiz's home run? It was none other than Jamie Campbell of Rogers Sportsnet.

(Yes, I know you Americans don't know what I'm talking about. But I'm still p*ssed that FOX failed to show the Canadian national anthem. Such disrespect... )

Why would they show the Canadian National Anthem when it wasn't sung by an American Idol hack/hackette?

Can anyone--ANYONE--just sing the g-ddamn National Anthem in a reasonably normal tone of voice?!? I know it's not an easy tune, but please--enough of these people who sing like they're scratching their f**king nails on chalkboards.

And can someone please, PLEASE just shoot Tim McCarver?

And waste Joe Buck while they're at it!

FOX Sports has been running commercials during the Canadian anthem for several years now during the All-Star Game. I wrote them either last year or the year before telling that this was disrespectful, and it only proves Canadians correct that Americans only think about Americans.
I also felt that it was important for young American kids to see the anthem of another country--if only to get an understanding that baseball is not only played in the United States.
FOX Sports never replied to me...

As far as the American anthem, that has to be one of the worst, off-key, disgusting performances I have ever heard. I don't watch "American Idol", but if this is the best talent that they had, then I feel sorry for the other singers. I will never understand why someone has to drag out every note to a scream. It really made me long for 1984 when Huey Lewis and the News did a very classy version at Candlestick Park.

Finally, I really enjoyed an ego-inflated Roger Clemens giving up six runs in the first inning. He looked bewildered and humiliated. I personally thought that Jason Schmidt deserved to start. However, I do thank Roger for ensuring that my Yankees get home-field advantage during this year's World Series.

On ESPN they showed a ball being caught by Harold Reynolds. What is it with these media people? Of course, Reynolds used to play the game...

It seems to me that if the only coverage in Canada is through Fox, they ought to show the Canadian anthem. Or else the CBC or some other network should be allowed to do their own separate telecast.

After the first inning, I drifted in and out of the game. This way, neither Joe Buck nor Tim McCarver gets too annoying (actually, McCarver gets annoying instantly, but in limited doses, Buck isn't as bad.)

What gets me is the post-game analysis focusing on how will Clemens overcome this one game and is his luster permanently tarnished by this game. Jeesh!! It's a freaking All-Star Game--a veritable exhibition game!!! When we talk about his career, this particular All-Star game won't even be an asterisk. Glad Eric Gagne got Blalock out this year.

~Adam

I flipped back and forth between the game and I Love The 90s as well ... still having a hard time following baseball this year, although the Braves have picked it up recently and that's been fun.

Fantasia was awful. But she's actually not a bad singer. I think she felt pressure to do too much with the anthem.

Agreed that it's disrespectful to run commercials during the Canadian National Anthem.

Why oh why can't the National League win an All-Star game? :confused:

Well, here's FOX's explanation for why the Canadian national anthem wasn't shown.

Yeah, and O Canada takes like, what, 30 seconds to sing?! That really cut down the show.

[ July 14, 2004, 05:03 PM: Message edited by: canmark ]

My not-so-smart VCR misunderstood my programming instructions to record the All-Star game while I was at work last night. Consequently I missed the anthem controversy and almost the entire game. Earlier in the day, I had seen a brief interview with Joe Torre who tactfully expressed his disagreement with the gimmick ("this one counts") of again giving home-field advantage in the World Series to the league which wins the All-Star game. I agree with Torre; I think it's completely unnecessary.

Just wondering, during the game was there any mention at all of the progress on the Expos' relocation? Before the season began, I remember reading that MLB planned to announce the new site at or around the time of the All-Star game, but I haven't seen or heard anything about it lately.

Apparently there was precedent for ditching O Canada. It had been done before, and I suppose it was better than the time the Americans flew our flag upside down.

Geez, you can't please everybody. Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller objects to Muhammad Ali's presence at the All Star game.

The reason he should've objected to Ali is because he has absolutely nothing to do with the sport of baseball!

That's why God invented TiVo, Marc. I got the whole shebang on my DirecTiVo, and I copied it to DVD's for some buddies of mine. We're going to put it on a big screen in a buddy's bar and whenever McCarver shows up on screen, we'll throw things at the screen a la Flounder in Animal House.

Not to mention it's a wonderful anthem to boot! I love the words and melody.

Even though this isn't the proper thread for this topic, since Marc raised the question I thought I'd respond here anyway....although Selig and Dupuy initially stated that they would have an announcement regarding the Expos relocation by the all-star break, they have postponed that decision yet again (shocking, I know )....according to several recent stories in the Washington Post (including this one) there is a good chance that a final decision will be made within the next 30 days and voted upon at the upcoming MLB's owners meeting, August 18-19 in Philadelphia, at which time the fate of the team will FINALLY be resolved.

Speculation now is that MLB will offer Orioles owner Peter Angelos a HUGE financial settlement in exchange for him agreeing not to sue baseball over the Expos relocation....all this is apparently an "olive branch" being offered to Angelos by the inept trio (Selig, Dupuy and Reinsdorf) in an attempt to appease the arrogant attorney, even though according to MLB bylaws he doesn't have any legal recourse over this move anyway since BOTH Washington and Northern Virginia are outside of Baltimore's "territorial boundaries".

Baltimore mayor Martin O'Malley recently stated that he was not opposed to a Major League Baseball franchise relocating to the DC area, which prompted Angelos to publicly blast the mayor, describing him as "someone who never really does know what he's talking about"....as I've stated before, perhaps if Petey spent more of his time focusing on ways to improve his OWN organization instead of constantly whining about another team moving 2 hours away (driving/commute time, at a minimum) then his ballclubs attendance and fan base in "charm city" would be back at the level it was throughout most of the 90s (not to mention the O's winning percentage and position in the A.L. East standings).

~Joe

[ July 20, 2004, 12:40 PM: Message edited by: gamecock ]

Thanks for the update, Joe. Unfortunately that link to the Washington Post article doesn't work. But the more I hear about this Angelos fellow the more I dislike him (heard some other comments about his tactics, see Orioles' thread). I've often heard that Baltimore is renowned for its crabs, and Angelos must be its most (in)famous one . Why MLB is compensating him for his whining and bullying is beyond me. If two NFL teams (Ravens and Redskins) can co-exist in the same region, why not two baseball teams?

[ July 21, 2004, 09:43 AM: Message edited by: Marc ]