“This Time It Counts”

Reads the promos for

the 74th All Star Game

this tuesday July 15 at

US Celullar Field (actually

New Comiskey Park)Chicago.

By Amaury Pi-González

San FranciscoIf Major League Baseball

keeps trying to make-up

for the tie game during

last year’s All Star Game

with such “ideas”like this

of making this exhibition

game into a “real game”

I think they’re headed in

the wrong path.

So, a family of 4 travels

from Minnesota to Chicago

by car and buy tickets to

see the All Star Game.

They are real baseball

fans and want to see the

best of the best. But, the

American League manager

Angel’s Mike Sciosia, is

managing to win the game

like It was a regular game

for this Angels. And then

he orders Barry Bonds to

be walk intentionally 3 times

because (said Sciosia):

“I want to win this game so bad”.

The American League wins

the game in the bottom of

the 9th inning with a sacrifice

fly from the bat of Melvin Mora

to left field that scores Seattle’s

Ichiro Susuki. Wow, what a

finish, what an All Star Game,

they’re going nuts in Chicago

If the White Sox are in the

World Series they will open

the Series here October 12th !

The All Star Game is a game for

the fans and a game where all

the great players get together

in one town at the middle

of the season, it is almost

like a fraternity thing for

players and a real delight

for baseball fans. Who PAY

TO SEE THEIR STARS PLAY.

NOT TO SEE MANAGERS

PUTTING IN THE HIT AND RUN.

However, this season the

league that wins the All Star

Game will host the World Series

during the first two games and

last two(if it goes seven).

Therefore, manager must

manage wisely. Already

Scioscia said that he doesn’t

believe in the current system

were each of the 30 MLB teams

have to send at least one player.

I am sure Lance Carter, reliever

of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and

the only player in this All Star game

for the Tampa Bay team wants

the American League to win, so

that the World Series opens in

Tampa Bay this October.

I can see it: It is 2014 the All Star

Game at Miami’s brand new stadium

“Carnaval Cruise Park” the

American League has 8 Yankee

players and 1 Oriole among it’s

9 starters. The National League

has 8 Braves players and one

Cardinals player(the Cards player

is Albert Pujols) who the

previous season drove in 245

runs and hit 87 Homeruns to

brake all the records left.

The reason we play the

All Star Game is to get the

home field advantage to

our league, so we must send

our very best players. The hell

with sending one player from

each team. Who needs that?

Let’s win this important game,

this is as important as the other

162 games from April into

October…

Bud Selig never ceases to amaze

me. He tied the game last

year in Miller Park and now

he wants to tell everybody

that he(and Lou Piniella)

do care.

Remember the great line

in that funny movie:

“Stripes”. When the sergeant

tells one of his recruits after

the recruit threatens anybody that

touches him to kill him, the

sergeant said: “ease up Francis”.

Well….”easy up Bud”.

All-of-a-sudden Commissioner

Selig is trying to repair whatever

integrity he had left after last

year’s All Star fiasco by

making this game count ?

Please, spare me…

The more things change, the

more they stay the same, said

some philosopher. And the

more baseball tries to change

things, the more they will stay

the same.

One of the last conversations

I had with Mr. Leonard Koppett

at Pac Bell Park Pres Box

when I asked him: -Why are all

these writers concerned with

the lenght of the games- ?

LK repplied: “Do not be concerned

for the lenght of the game, you

can have a short game that is

not very eventful or a long

game that is very very exciting”.

The truth is that baseball is a

real game. It is a game for the ages

it is a game for kids, it is a game

for the players(although a business

also of course)and it is a game

that has survived throught the

decades.

Why must man keep trying to

change baseball? Because of

the Fox or ESPN network ? Or

because we need more revenue

to pay the players? Or just

because the ego of some

executives are bigger than

Cooperstown?

I sure do not have the answers

to all these questions. Nor I

aspire to be a Commissioner

but I do know that I love this

game and I hate to see

stupid moves like this one;

of making the All Star Game

count.

Next, Bud Selig will hire UN

Inspectors to check bats for

cork, but Bud will die without

seen any results, since…they’re

UN inspectors and they will

always ask for more time to

look for cork and more time

and more time…

Adios amigos, enjoy the break !

——————————————————–

Amaury Pi-González is handling duties

as Play by Play Announcer in Spanish

for two different Major League teams

this season. On his first year as the

Spanish Voice on the New Spanish

Mariners Radio Network with 6 stations

including KKMO 1360 AM Seattle-Tacoma

and on his ninth season as the

Play by Play Announcer for the

National League Champion San

Francisco Giants.