Bored

Hey did I mention Barry Zito sucks? Just checking. He's the new Pete Vukovich.

And that he's starting to back up the hype. Oh and Barry Zito still sucks.

#65: Magic wins Game 4 of 1987 NBA Finals #64: Leonard sinks 45-putt to win 1999 Ryder Cup

ESPN went out of there way to make sure no one would give a shit when the announcement was made. They went to Barry Bonds levels of overkill covering this story.

#66: Duran says 'no mas' vs. Leonard in title fight

Although I don't have the up-to-date numbers, Young leads the A.L. in win shares through June 25th making him a legit MVP candidate to this point. He also leads all A.L. shortstops in runs created. Guillen on the other hand has a better OBP and SLG than Tejada.

Belliard was the best choice as back-up second baseman so him making the team had no impact on Mora. BTW Orioles fans Michael Young and Carlos Guillen are having better years than Tejada.

Texiera isn't that great and Giambi might not play because of his parasite infection. Frank Thomas should take his spot since I don't think he'll win the 32nd man ballot. Hell Scott Hatteberg, Paul Konerko > Giambi as well.

Another thing, why is Aramis Ramirez on the 32nd man ballot and Adrian Beltre isn't? It just doesn't make sense, maybe not as much as Pierre over Dunn but still.

32nd Man ballots. A.L. Lew Ford Travis Hafner Paul Konerko Hideki Matsui Frank Thomas N.L. Bobby Abreu Steve Finley Jason Kendall Juan Pierre Aramis Ramirez Thomas and Abreu are my picks. Matsui though is probably lock to get voted with the Yankee and Japanese internet vote. N.L. is a toss up. Where's Melvin Mora? Adam Dunn? JUAN PIERRE?

N.L. Reserves Johnny Estrada Moises Alou Sean Casey Barry Larkin (Jack McKeon old man pick) Todd Helton Miguel Cabrera Mike Lowell Lance Berkman Jim Thome Jack Wilson Mark Loretta BOBBY ABREU SNUBBED AGAIN! Al is going to kill Jack McKeon.

Carlos Beltran is named to the team but can't play. Lame. A.L. Reserves Miguel Tejada David Ortiz Ronnie Belliard Matt Lawton Victor Martinez Carlos Guillen Ken Harvey Gary Sheffield Carl Crawford Hank Blalock Michael Young Frank Thomas and Jorge Posada are the biggest snubs although can't complain about Victor Martinez over Posada as that was the close call for me. Matt Lawton the most undeserving to make it all be it a weak year for A.L. outfielders. Players still think batting average means something too which is why Crawford makes it over Curz as the Deil Ray rep. Oh forgot about Lew Ford too. Hell he was the easiest reserve outfielder for me to pick but guess the players never heard of him either.

N.L. Pitchers Randy Johnson Carlos Zambrano Danny Graves (ya know he racks up saves) Armando Benitez Carl Pavano Roger Clemens Eric Gagne Danny Kolb Ben Sheets Livan Hernandez Tom Glavine Jason Schmidt Except for Graves, these were great picks.

A.L. Pitchers Francisco Rodriguez Curt Schilling Esteban Loaiza C.C. Sabathia Joe Nathan Tom Gordon Mariano Rivera Tim Hudson Mark Mulder Francisco Cordero Kenny Rogers Ted Lilly TED LILLY? Oh please Halladay and Batista both were better options for the Blue Jays. Five relievers, bleh. Loaiza was a bit of surprise although it is a weak year for A.L. starters. If Radke didn't have a 4-4 record he'd have made it. Pedro is snubbed as well but he probably would have sat the game out.

N.L. Starters Mike Piazza Albert Pujols Jeff Kent Scott Rolen (leading vote getter) Edgar Renteria Barry Bonds Ken Griffey Jr. Sammy Sosa No surprises. No idea who bats lead off. Guess maybe Renteria but he's easily the worst hitter in the group.

A.L. Starters. Ivan Rodriguez Jason Giambi Alfonso Soriano (leading vote getter) Alex Rodriguez Derek Jeter Manny Ramirez Vladimir Guerrero Ichiro Suzuki Japanese vote helps Ichiro out yet again although this time it knocks out his fellow countryman in Matsui. Guess we know who's more popular there.

All-Star announcements in 30 minutes on ESPN. On the A's/Giants game, the Giants announcers were saying that Carlos Beltran would be on the A.L. team if he makes the team because he was on the A.L. player ballot. I can't imagine they wouldn't just work something out where he'd be on the N.L. but that would bizarre if that scenerio played out.

The Bronco/Packer Super Bowl was great but the moment of the Elway touchdown didn't really belong on the list IMO. The Twins/Braves '91 World Series was one of the greatest ever but the series winning hit in Game 7 just barely cracked the list at #100. On a side note can't believe there hasn't been one college sports moment yet and they're a third of the way through the list.

As of last year the All-Star manager doesn't pick the reserves on his own. Was able to dig up the rule changes as they were put in last year:

And my final N.L. All-Stars: Mike Piazza, New York Johnny Estrada, Atlanta Albert Pujols, St. Louis Jim Thome, Philadelphia Sean Casey, Cincinnati Todd Helton, Colorado Jeff Kent, Houston Mark Loretta, San Diego Scott Rolen, St. Louis Mike Lowell, Florida Edgar Renteria, St. Louis Jack Wilson, Pittsburgh Barry Bonds, San Francisco Ken Griffey Jr., Cincinnati Sammy Sosa, Chicago Bobby Abreu, Philadelphia Lance Berkman, Houston Adam Dunn, Cincinnati J.D. Drew, Atlanta Jim Edmonds, St. Louis Jason Schmidt, San Francisco Ben Sheets, Milwaukee Randy Johnson, Arizona Roger Clemens, Houston Tom Glavine, New York Carlos Zambrano, Chicago Carl Pavano, Florida Livan Hernandez, Montreal Matt Clement, Chicago Armando Benitez, Florida Eric Gagne, Los Angeles Danny Kolb, Milwaukee

Not gonna bother bumping the old thread so here are my final A.L. All-Star selections. Of course the starters are the current voting leaders before the official announcement tommorrow. Ivan Rodriguez, Detroit Jorge Posada, New York Jason Giambi, New York Frank Thomas, Chicago David Ortiz, Boston Ken Harvey, Kansas City Alfonso Soriano, Texas Ronnie Belliard, Cleveland Alex Rodriguez, New York Melvin Mora, Baltimore Hank Blalock, Texas Derek Jeter, New York Carlos Guillen, Detroit Michael Young, Texas Vladimir Guerrero, Anaheim Manny Ramirez, Boston Hideki Matsui, New York Lew Ford, Minnesota Gary Sheffield, New York Jose Cruz Jr., Tampa Bay Mark Mulder, Oakland Curt Schilling, Boston Tim Hudson, Oakland C.C. Sabathia, Cleveland Brad Radke, Minnesota Kenny Rogers, Texas Pedro Martinez, Boston Javier Vazquez, New York Roy Halladay, Toronto Mariano Rivera, New York Joe Nathan, Minnesota Eddie Guardado, Seattle

#67: Pine tar nullifies home run, so Brett goes ballistic

#68: Elway's gutsy run inspires Broncos to victory

Hmmm...so would the Yankees of '98, '99, and '00 (even '01) be considered "random" champions? Arizona with the best 1-2 pitching punch in '01? Everyone loves to scream "Angels!" and "Marlins!" when talking about random, unpredictable champions. But everyone forgets that the Angels won 99 games in 2002 and that the Marlins were the best team in all of baseball from late May to the end of last year. Not exactly "random" teams in my book. If the baseball playoffs were best of 3 or even a single game, I'd buy into the theory that the playoffs are random as all the Moneyball-brainwashed people believe. There is some merit to that theory, but when you win 4 of 7 from a particular team, it's almost always a good indicator of which is the better team. Luck can win you one or two games...it's unlikely to win 4 of 7, for two series in a row. Never heard of sample sizes, eh? Anyways since division play began in 1969 only eight teams who had the best regular season record in the Majors went on to win the World Series, the last being the '98 Yankees. The Yankees most recent title, 2000, they won only 87 games which was only the 5th best record in the A.L. and 9th overall. That seems pretty random. The last four World Series champs did not have one of the two best records in their league.

I'm pretty sure McClendon has a picture of Dave Littlefield sodomizing a goat or otherwise I can't figure out why he still has a job.