Monday, July 4th - The MLB All-Star Rosters

The rosters for the MLB All-Star Game were announced yesterday, with a vote for the "extra" (34th) member of each team still pending.  As usual, the roster announcement brings a mix of fanfare and criticism.  I won't go into great depth today, as a sprained wrist is making typing difficult, but I wanted to keep my daily update in and make some quick notes on some selections.

First, congratulations to all 24 first-time All-Stars, including Detroit's second-year catcher, Alex Avila, and Atlanta's Jair Jurrjens.  For the most part, I think the rosters look good.  Barring a couple people, almost all are deserving.  Two notables in the AL I'm less sure of are Derek Jeter and Josh Hamilton.  Jeter's been hurt and having something of a down year, yet is an All-Star starter.  Detroit homer bias aside, I feel Jhonny Peralta was a more deserving choice.  I'm also unsure how Hamilton got in; he's doing well enough, but missed almost half of the season up to now.  One shocker to me, though, is how C.C. Sabathia didn't get in.  Absolutely ludicrous; he's one of top-3 pitchers in the AL.  Although the Yankees always end up with too many All-Stars anyway, he was one who was truly deserving.  Then again, he's scheduled to start on Sunday and wouldn't likely play, anyway.

I'll delve into this a little deeper later this week when I can type comfortably at length again.

Around the Leagues - MLB:

Detroit 6, San Francisco 3 - Five runs in the sixth and after spur the Tigers to victory after a big loss the night before.

Toronto 7, Philadelphia 4 - Cliff Lee's scoreless innings streak ends at 35 as the Jays save themselves from a sweep.

Cincinnati 7, Cleveland 5 - The Reds get their first season win against the Tribe in the finale, avoiding a season sweep against their in-state rival.

NY Mets 3, NY Yankees 2 - Tying it in the ninth, the Mets win on a Jason Bay RBI single in the tenth inning.

Baltimore 5, Atlanta 4 - Mark Reynolds followed up his 2-HR effort yesterday with another that ultimately provided the game-winning runs in the eighth.

Pittsburgh 10, Washington 2 - Kevin Correia pitches strong to join the rest of the league leaders with 11 wins.

Tampa Bay 8, St. Louis 3 - The Rays finish strong with 2 runs in the sixth and 3 in the eighth to clinch the win.

Boston 2, Houston 1 - Josh Beckett dominated for eight innings, throwing 11 strikeouts and allowing only one run.

Minnesota 9, Milwaukee 7 -  After starter Nick Blackburn struggled through four, the Twins righted the ship with a seventh-inning rally to take the series.

Chi. Cubs 3, Chi. White Sox 1 - Rodrigo Lopez threw a two-hitter through eight and Aramis Ramirez belted a two-run HR to lift the Cubs.

Kansas City 16, Colorado 8 - The Royals put up a season-high 21 hits, 12 of which were for extra bases, as they routed the Rockies.

Oakland 7, Arizona 2 - Gio Gonzalez, a newly-named first-time All-Star, pitched seven innings of one-run ball, fanning seven along the way.

Seattle 3, San Diego 1 - Rookie Blake Beaven won his first Major League start, allowing one run and three hits over seven innings.

Florida 6, Texas 4 - Four runs in the top of the eighth put the Marlins back into this game and picked them up the series win.

LA Angels 3, LA Dodgers 1 - After five scoreless innings, Russell Branyan's first career HR - a two-run shot in the seventh - put the Angels over the top.

Around the Leagues - NBA:

The lockout is in effect and many are projecting that at least part of the season, if not all, will be lost.  No news to report on this front.  Both sides are ready for a showdown.  

Free agency is on hold while the lockout is in effect.

Around the Leagues - NFL:

Still locked out here, too, although both sides have been talking at length over the past couple weeks.  Negotiations are scheduled to resume tomorrow as the deadline nears for getting an agreement in place before preseason games get axed.

Around the Leagues - NHL:

Free agency is moving players all over, but the biggest news was Brad Richards signing with the New York Rangers for 9 years and $60M.  Jaromir Jagr is a Flyer, somehow extorting $3.3M out of them for the coming year.

The Sharks and Wild, who made a surprising draft-day trade, joined again, this time trading Danny Heatley for Martin Havlat, as the Sharks sought to replace some of the speed they lost when they traded away Devin Setoguchi.  Havlat waived a no-trade clause to join a team that made it to the Western Conference Finals the last two years.  I believe this trade favors the Sharks, as Havlat was a bright spot for the otherwise anemic Wild offense last season.  However, Heatley and Setoguchi could make up for that.  Much their previous trade, I believe this makes both teams better.