Bill. Plaschke. All-Star Game. Again.

Before I get to Bill Plaschke's article for the day about how much the All-Star Game sucks, even though the game didn't really suck (even though it got horrendous ratings), I wanted to talk about two things. First, I enjoyed Bill Simmons' mockery of LeBron James "decision." I was wondering who would be the first to do that and I am glad it was done fairly well. I thought it could have been done a little better, but I still give him kudos for what he did.

Second, I try to write on this blog 5-6 days every week and try to post something Monday through Friday. I enjoy writing here, but lately there hasn't been enough time for me to write the kind of posts I want to write. I am not shutting down the blog or anything, though I don't know if there is really anything to shut down, so keep visiting. I am just saying I don't know if I will be able to post something every day during the week for a while due to time constraints brought on by other shit I have to do during the day. So if the expectation is I post every day and I am not able to, don't fear I have been kidnapped. I have two staples I do every week. I do MMQB every week Peter King writes it and I do TMQ/Joe Morgan depending on whether it is baseball or football season. I don't want to stop doing that, but I also don't want that to be the sum total of what I write, so I still plan on posting frequently.

In conclusion, nothing is going to change, other than I may not be able to write everyday, but I just wanted everyone to know if I don't post something one day then I haven't quit writing here. I love writing here and enjoy the positive and negative comments I get, I just have to do a better balance in writing here and everything else I have going on right now. Basically, my mom is really hassling me to get the hell out of the attic and find a real job, so I have to make time to do that.

Okay, now that is out of the way, let's get to Bill Plaschke's latest whining about the All-Star Game that seems to stem from the fact he doesn't know all of the players who participated. Rather than figure out who these players are, he will just bitch they don't deserve to make the All-Star Game.

Two years ago, on a May day so full of promise, baseball Commissioner Bud Selig reverently announced that the 2010 All-Star game would be played at Angel Stadium.

It was a day of promise. Birds were singing, thousands of virgins were roaming the streets of California waiting to meet that special someone to share their life and love with, people smiled more, everyone shook hands and hugged when greeting each other and only "real" baseball players Joakim Soria, Joe Crede, Kosuke Fukudome, Carlos Marmol, Cristian Guzman, and Nate McLouth had been selected to the All-Star Game.

Times were much more innocent two years ago.

He fibbed.

What? But I just watched part of the game on Tuesday night. I thought the game took place at Angel Stadium? How did Bud Selig lie about the All-Star Game taking place at Angel Stadium. My life is changed forever. I am a person born anew.

(Bengoodfella emails apologies to Jay Mariotti and Peter King for all the things he has written about them...but still thinks Apolo Ohno is a son of a bitch who shouldn't have been on "Dancing with the Stars" dancing to shitty oldies music with a fourth-rate country singer like Julianne Hough)

I'll be a rally monkey's uncle before I'll believe that disparate group of 68 players coming to town next week is completely worthy of an All-Star game.

Plaschke is closer to a monkey's ass rather than in any other way related to a monkey.

Two years ago, Selig filled us with visions of Pete Rose crashing into Ray Fosse.

Instead, we could be getting Omar Infante crashing into John Buck.

Omar Infante crashing into John Buck at the All-Star Game doesn't count as real baseball in Plaschke's book. I think Plaschke took two of the names he didn't know on the All-Star roster and tried to make a comparison. I have $100 that says Plaschke thinks John Buck is related to Joe Buck in some fashion.

John Buck is having a decent year at the catcher position, so he may deserve to have been an All-Star Game.

Two years ago, Selig gave us the image of Reggie Jackson going off the light tower, Ichiro going inside the park, and Cal Ripken Jr. going deep into history.

I wish I knew what Plaschke was talking about here. I have no idea when Bud Selig said or indicated any of this stuff.

Instead, we're getting Michael Bourn going for . . . what exactly?

Being the "best" player on the Astros team. I'm not going to say I like that each team gets a representative or anything like that or that every player elected to the All-Star Game deserved it. This isn't the first year a player who didn't deserve to be on the team made it. It happens every year and will happen as long as MLB insists on having an All-Star Game played halfway through the season and having each team be represented.

A game once famous for Fernando Valenzuela and Dwight Gooden's six consecutive strikeouts is now populated with Evan Meek and Matt Thornton.

Of course Plaschke hasn't heard of these players so they must automatically be terrible baseball players. Everyone knows if Bill Plaschke hasn't heard of you then you are a complete nobody.

Evan Meek plays for the Pirates and has put up a 1.11 ERA, 1.84 BAA, 0.95 WHIP and a 3.2 K/BB ratio. He deserved the spot if every team gets a player on the squad.

Matt Thornton, though he gave up the winning runs, may have also deserved it. He has put up a 2.70 ERA, .200 BAA, 1.04 WHIP, and a 4.1 K/BB ratio.

Traditionally set-up guys didn't get a spot on the roster, but because they play such a large part in the games they appear in (or as much as a closer does), why shouldn't they be represented on the All-Star team?

If you don't know where those two guys play — heck, if you don't even know what position they play — don't feel bad.

Don't feel bad if you don't know where these guys play or what position these guys play, really don't feel bad...but also don't bitch and moan these players don't deserve to be in the All-Star Game. Your complete ignorance about the baseball players who made the All-Star Game does not mean these players didn't deserve the honor of making the team. I don't know the names of some of the players who make the NHL All-Star team, but that doesn't mean they aren't good players.

As I tell people at times and will tell Bill here, don't always assume people are as stupid as you are.

They were among three All-Stars whose names I announced Tuesday to a friend who is a longtime baseball fan. He whiffed on all three.

Again, this doesn't mean these players don't deserve to be in the All-Star Game. The attitude that "a player can't be good if I haven't heard of them" is a really bad way to think. Evan Meek deserved to be the representative for the Pirates, or at least deserved to be among those who merited consideration for the All-Star Game.

If there are people with baseball photos on their office walls unable to identify three players in the baseball All-Star game, then baseball is picking the wrong team, and, yeah, they've really mucked it up this time.

Absolutely incorrect. If there are people with baseball photos on their office walls unable to identify three players in the baseball All-Star game, then those people should pay more attention to baseball. The mere idea that because some players don't have name recognition also means they don't deserve to be on the All-Star team is stupid, dumb, retarded, backwards thinking.

Not only is it egotistical to assume that any player worth a shit is someone you have heard about. It is also the sign of a person who is just overall ignorant to believe he can't pay attention to the game of baseball during the season and everything will stay the same.

Thanks to a convoluted, ever-changing selection process that tries to make everyone happy, nobody should be happy with what may be the worst collection of All-Stars in the history of this once-proud game.

I don't believe the selection process is ever-changing over convoluted at all. I don't agree with the "super utility" position that has been created, but it very much disturbs me that Bill Plaschke being a member of the BWAA and the PFWA finds the All-Star selection process convoluted. His ability to vote for major baseball and football awards should be taken away if he can't understand the All-Star selection process.

The National League's leading power hitter, Cincinnati's Joey Votto, is thus far not on the team.

It doesn't matter if Joey Votto didn't initially make the All-Star team because he isn't a star nor a player that will turn the game into a carnival.

Neither is any San Diego pitcher, even though the Padres have the league's top staff.

Bill Plaschke from the column he wrote before this one:

Maybe it's not fair to the players, but it's not their game. So maybe San Diego's Clayton Richard or St. Louis's Jaime Garcia are left off the team to make room for Strasburg. No offense to those emerging talents, but so what?

So on July 3 it was perfectly fine to leave off a San Diego pitcher when it comes to Stephen Strasburg making the team because the All-Star Game isn't about statistics or which player is having the best year. On July 6, it is a sign the All-Star Game is stuck in a downward spiral that a San Diego pitcher hadn't been named to the team because the Padres have the best pitching staff in the National League.

Plaschke can't have it both ways. Is a Padres pitcher necessary for the game to be relevant as a showcase of the best players in MLB or is the All-Star Game about which players will get the best ratings?

The top strikeout pitcher in the American League, the Angels' Jered Weaver, is thus far not on the team.

Now Plaschke is just arbitrarily picking different statistics and saying the player that leads MLB in that statistic should be in the All-Star Game. Where is the MLB leader in holds? How did Mike Adams not make the All-Star team? It's a travesty!

Can you imagine how much Plaschke would bitch if Mike Adams had made the All-Star team? Not only doesn't he bring in great ratings, I bet Plaschke nor Bill's friend, who has a ton of baseball memorabilia on the wall of his office, have heard of him.

And don't even get me started about the arrogant snub of Stephen Strasburg.

We've heard Plaschke get started on Strasburg and he doesn't really have a point. How about this for arrogance? Bill Plaschke and his friend, who has a ton of baseball memorabilia on the wall, think that if they haven't heard of a baseball player then he isn't good enough to make the All-Star team. Isn't that pretty damn arrogant too?

Infante of the Atlanta Braves is an All-Star who doesn't even start for his own team.

I don't like the "super utility" position, but Infante can play 3B, 2B, SS, LF, and RF. He does fit the description required.

Bourn of the Houston Astros is an All-Star who doesn't hit for average (.260) or power (one homer) or run production (20 RBIs).

One Astros player had to be picked. Again, the rules of how the players are selected are the reason Bourn is on the team, not poor choosing by Charlie Manuel.

Meek of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Thornton of the Chicago White Sox are nice pitchers, but they are setup relievers in a game where the star power is in starters and closers.

No one gives a shit about "star power" when it comes to selecting an All-Star team. As I said in the last Plaschke column I took on, it doesn't matter when it comes to selecting the team if a player has star power or not. It matters whether that player deserves to be on the All-Star team for the first half of the 2010 season.

A Pittsburgh Pirate had to be chosen according to the rules and Evan Meek wasn't a terrible choice. Also, I don't understand how a pitcher who pitches one inning in the 9th inning (like a closer does) is incredibly more valuable than a pitcher who pitches one inning in the 7th or 8th inning (like a setup guy does). Sure, the closer is a sexier position, but closers also predominantly enter the game with no runners on base, while a setup guy doesn't always have this luxury. No offense to closers, but getting three outs in the 7th/8th inning is just as important as getting three outs in the 9th inning in many cases.

"We often talk about the importance of a sports property owning a day on the calendar," said Paul Swangard, managing director of the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at the University of Oregon. "Baseball owns the midsummer classic, yet I think they often un-deliver on the opportunity. They are happy with what they have, where, instead, a little creativity would go a long way to engage the casual fan the rest of the summer."

Earlier Bill Plaschke was railing against the convoluted process to choose All-Stars and how the game has lost its luster over the years because not enough stars appear in the game. I am not sure getting more creative with the selection process would fix these problems. Getting less creative by trimming the rosters down and choosing the ten best pitchers and the fifteen best position players would be less creative and could get the game back to its roots. Whatever these "roots" really are.

In relation to this guy's quote about how MLB can engage the casual fan for the rest of the summer...I don't think the All-Star Game is intended to gain the interest of the casual fan, I think it is more of a showcase for the best players in MLB. The All-Star Game is a marketing opportunity, but if MLB thinks out of 162 games during the year, the All-Star Game is the best chance to engage and convert casual fans then I think they may be thinking incorrectly. I don't see what happens in an All-Star Game that would entice the casual fan that the World Series or any of the 162 other games wouldn't do.

Baseball is happy to continue the tradition of picking at least one player from each team. This was a good idea back when fans didn't have televised access to every team every night, but it's a bad idea now.

This is a statement by Bill Plaschke that I agree with. It's the first and only time this will happen.

Forcing a guy from a last-place team with no good candidates to play in this game diminishes the credibility of everyone else.

I agree with this, but I do have to say that Evan Meek has had a pretty good year so far. If we are going to accept setup guys as the important part of a MLB team that they are he may have deserved to make the team.

How can you introduce Thornton and not Weaver, even if the Angels pitcher's appearance would be symbolic because, if he throws Sunday as scheduled, he'd be ineligible to play in the All-Star game?

Fine then. Jered Weaver is a symbolic All-Star, but Matt Thornton needed to be on the team so the American League had as many pitchers as the National League. Thornton wasn't a replacement, so this doesn't pertain to him, but there is a reason replacement pitchers are put on the squad and that is because if there are too many symbolic All-Stars there wouldn't be enough pitchers on each squad.

Baseball is also happy to continue the practice of having the manager pick some of the players. That's another dumb idea. It's not the manager's game, and it's no longer cute to hear how a manager snubbed a worthy player to take care of his own player.

Like how Joe Morgan was complaining Jayson Werth got snubbed by his own manager for Matt Holliday?

Did you hear how the Phillies' Charlie Manuel explained taking Ryan Howard over Votto, who is having a better season? "He's my guy," Manuel said.

Wonderful. Baseball markets itself to the world on the basis of a back slap and a wink.

Based on Plaschke's article that was written on July 3 he should accept and love that Howard was picked over Votto because Ryan Howard has "star power" and that is what the All-Star Game is all about according to Bill Plaschke. Just three days before he wrote this article Bill Plaschke was arguing the All-Star Game should be about "stars" who will make the game a carnival and of immense important. The fans don't want to see Joey Votto play first base, they want to see Ryan Howard take big swings at pitches and try to hit home runs. That's what Bill Plaschke was arguing. Now he is jumping over to the other side of the argument and says the team should be chosen on merit and Ryan Howard didn't merit inclusion on the All-Star team over Joey Votto. It's not an incorrect argument necessarily, but it goes against what Plaschke argued before.

Manuel was even more impressive when he explained why he didn't pick the must-see phenom Strasburg, saying, ''What's he got, like five starts or something?"

At the time, Strasburg had six starts. Baseball is putting its showcase game in the hands of folks who aren't even paying attention, and that has to change.

Baseball is putting its showcase game in the hands of folks who aren't even paying attention? Plaschke from his July 3 column:

Then, can you imagine? Sixth inning, Strasburg on the mound, no American League hitter has ever seen him, the greatest bats in the world fearfully hacking like Little Leaguers, memory after memory.

Strasburg had pitched three out of his six starts against American League teams. Who isn't paying attention? Bill Plaschke certainly isn't.

Also earlier in this column, Bill Plaschke made reference to the fact he hasn't heard of some of these players selected to the All-Star Game:

A game once famous for Fernando Valenzuela and Dwight Gooden's six consecutive strikeouts is now populated with Evan Meek and Matt Thornton.

If you don't know where those two guys play — heck, if you don't even know what position they play — don't feel bad. They were among three All-Stars whose names I announced Tuesday to a friend who is a longtime baseball fan. He whiffed on all three.

I know the All-Star Game isn't in the hands of Bill Plaschke and his unnamed friend, but they don't seem to be paying attention enough to criticize some of the All-Star selections.

Allowing the fans to pick the starters is a wonderful idea. But get rid of the player voting, which is all based on reputation. Get rid of the manager selection, which is all based on fraternalism.

Let me get this straight...allow the fans to pick the starters because this is a "wonderful idea." The fans tend to vote the same players in year after year and stuff the ballot box for their favorite, potentially undeserving players. I have no problem with fan voting, and I think the All-Star Game is for the fans, but I wouldn't think keeping fan voting and getting rid of player voting and manager selection is a good idea. There isn't really a great way to put the players in the All-Star Game that merit inclusion without some sort of bias.

The perception of baseball's entertainment value is also at stake, which is more important considering it has fallen behind football and basketball as a national attraction.

I don't think baseball is going to be able to get past the NFL in entertainment value because they have improved how competitive and "worthy" the players in the All-Star Game are. I don't think MLB has fallen behind the NBA in popularity. I have no real proof of this, but I feel like MLB is more popular than the NBA. If MLB wants to increase it's popularity, I think there are other measures that can be taken that would have a great effect than improving the All-Star Game.

League officials should pick the reserves

That should fix the problems that Bill Plaschke sees in the All-Star Game...let MLB officials pick the players. This is a good way to ensure that the players are picked by people who probably have less knowledge than fans, managers, and players about which players are deserving of the All-Star Game.

and plan out the game like they plan out any other big marketing event.

But the All-Star Game is not a marketing event. It is a game that supposed to be an exhibition and for the fans. It's supposed to be fun, not another MLB marketing event.

Baseball's All-Star game is a midsummer classic, not a vacation frat party, and it needs to once again start acting like it.

I don't even understand how the All-Star Game as it is currently set up is a vacation frat party. Simply because Plaschke hasn't heard of some of the players selected doesn't mean the choices were bad. It's interesting to hear a person who gave out incorrect information about Stephen Strasburg having ever pitched to American League hitters and a person who admits to not knowing some of the 2010 All-Star's names give input on how to fix the All-Star game like he is an expert.

The MLB All-Star Game does have problems but simply because the players who were invited to play in the game aren't household names doesn't mean they didn't deserve to be in the All-Star Game.