Best NFL Second Helmets

As we get set for the start of football season and the Arizona Cardinals' inevitable march to a Super Bowl victory, there's one thing that has me genuinely excited about the NFL in 2022.  The return of second helmets!  The NFL has removed its rule requiring teams to use the same helmet shell for every game.  Which meant no throwback uniforms.  Now that the rule is gone, however, Pat the Patriot and Bucco Bruce are back!

While we'll have to wait until 2023 for Bucco Bruce to make his return (as well as the Eagles' Kelly green), 13 teams will take advantage of the rule change and wear a second helmet this season.  The only criteria were that they couldn't create a new logo for the second helmet.  It had to be something that they've worn at some point in their history.  Which still led to plenty of variations!

There are really two camps when it came to the second helmets.  Teams either did a reverse/third color to match their color rush uniforms or brought back a throwback design.  Most of them are downright awesome!  Others are, well, not.  Here's how I rank them from 13-1...

13. Chicago Bears: No.  Just no.  Maybe it's because the Bears' helmet is so iconic.  Or maybe it's because the orange-on-orange look is just plain ugly.  Whatever it is, these are a massive miss for me.

12. New York Jets: If the Jets were going to jump on the second helmet bandwagon, going back to their 1980s logo would've been much better!  Instead they opted for a black helmet to go with their black uniforms, which already seemed out of place on a team whose color is green.  Although, the one thing I will say in their favor is that they're better than when they wore the New York Titans throwbacks (and, yes, that's Brett Favre playing quarterback in them)!

11. Washington Commanders: When the NFL starts allowing second helmets again the same year you launch an entire franchise rebrand, including a second helmet in the uniform set right off the bat makes complete sense.  While the black would look weird if they still had their old name, I don't mind them for the "Commanders."  The logo in front is a unique element, too, but I'll have to see it on the field before I decide if I think it works or not.

10. New Orleans Saints: Throughout their history, the Saints have only ever worn a gold helmet.  That'll change this season when they introduce the reverse version with a gold logo on a black helmet.  That part looks fine, but what's with all the fleurs-de-lis going down the middle?

9. Arizona Cardinals: Believe it or not, Arizona is the only NFC team with a white helmet.  The Cardinals have had an all-black third uniform for a while, though, so it makes sense that they'd introduce a black version of the helmet to go with it.  I'd actually kinda like to see how they'd look in a red helmet too!

8. New York Giants: I have mixed feelings about these.  On the one hand, this is the Giants logo that I remember seeing Lawrence Taylor and Phil Simms wear as I was growing up, so it'll be wonderful to go back to those glory days of the Super Bowl championship years!  I'm confused, though, because there's no reason why the Giants needed to wait until now to introduce the throwback look.  Their regular helmet isn't too much different, so they easily could've swapped one logo for the other the way the Broncos did when they wore their orange throwbacks for that game against the Chargers a few years ago.

7. Dallas Cowboys: The Cowboys' silver helmet with a blue star is one of the iconic looks in the entire NFL.  Still, the white throwback they'll wear against the Giants on Thanksgiving is a classic in its own right.  And it's easy to see why!  For some reason, Dallas will wear this helmet with both the throwback design and the current version of their logo this season, but the throwback is definitely better.

6. Philadelphia Eagles: We'll get the return of the iconic Kelly green made famous by Reggie White and Randall Cunningham next season, but the alternate helmet the Eagles will give us in 2022 aren't too bad either!  I've always liked their black jersey, and the black helmet looks just as sharp!  (Unlike the Jets, the NFL's other primarily-green team, whose black uniforms don't make any sense and are ugly.)

5. Cincinnati Bengals: To be honest, when it was first unveiled, I wasn't as blown away by the Bengals' white tiger helmet as some others.  But it's grown on me.  To the point where I think it's one of the better alternate looks.  Is it as good as their regular orange helmet?  No.  The total lack of orange actually drops them down a peg.  Is it a look I'm excited to see on the field, though?  Yes!  (Plus, white tigers are really cool!)

4. Carolina Panthers: When the Panthers came into the league, I thought they would/should have black helmets.  Now, nearly 30 years after their debut, they finally will!  And, I must say, they're well worth the wait!  Could they use a little more color?  Maybe.  But otherwise, I have absolutely no complaints.

3. Houston Texans: Call me crazy, but I think these look really sharp!  I may be in the minority, but I love the Texans' "Battle Red" jerseys, and I'm just as big a fan of the "Battle Red" helmet!  They've only worn the navy since coming into the league, so this look is quite a departure for them.  It totally works though!

2. Atlanta Falcons: You know how all those baseball teams (the Blue Jays, the Brewers, the Padres, the Astros) have gone back to an updated version of their classic logo in recent years and fans absolutely ate it up?!  That's exactly what the Falcons are doing here.  And, like the baseball teams, they've hit a home run!  Extra credit for one little detail, too.  The original version of this uniform didn't have gold.  They've added it on the stripe, acknowledging Georgia Tech, to go with the red-and-black of the University of Georgia.

1. New England Patriots: Pat the Patriot lives!  There's only one throwback uniform that possibly could've topped this, and we won't see Bucco Bruce and the creamsicles until the 2023 season.  So it's the Patriots' red uniforms that claim the No. 1 spot.  And, frankly, it's not even close.  I'm not advocating Pat the Patriot's full-time return, but it'll be so nice to see him again moving forward!

Paris 2024 Schedule Out

Back in April, the initial Paris 2024 competition schedule was released, and fans got understandably excited by the middle weekend, which will see medal rounds of track & field, swimming and gymnastics on both Saturday and Sunday form the first time.  Now the complete, event-by-event schedule is out, having been released the other day as part of Paris' two-years-to-go celebration.  And the detailed schedule gives fans even more reason to get excited.

One of the reasons the swimming program was expanded from eight days to nine was to make it easier on the swimmers who do multiple events.  Last year in Tokyo, for example, the finals for the women's 200 freestyle and 1500 freestyle were both in the same session.  Katie Ledecky swam both events, winning gold in the 1500, but dropped the 200 from her program at this year's World Championships because of a similarly-tight schedule.

In Paris, Ledecky will be able to swim both events if she chooses.  In fact, she'll be able to enter each of her four individual events (200, 400, 800, 1500 freestyle) and the 4x200 freestyle relay without having to swim more than once in any single session.  And she'll only have to swim twice in a day twice (on the first two days).  Instead, she'll have a race every day except for the final day.

Assuming she swims the 200 free in Paris, Ledecky's schedule would look like this:

• Day 1: 400 Free Semi (AM), 400 Free Final (PM)
• Day 2: 200 Free Prelim (AM), 200 Free Semi (PM)
• Day 3: 200 Free Final (PM)
• Day 4: 1500 Free Prelim (AM)
• Day 5: 1500 Free Final (PM)
• Day 6: 4x200 Free Relay Final (PM)
• Day 7: 800 Free Prelim (AM)
• Day 8: 800 Free Final (PM)
  
  

Likewise, there's been a lot of speculation about whether Sydney McLaughlin will try her hand at the open 400.  I, personally, think she may do both the 400 and 400 hurdles in Paris.  And the schedule would allow just that.  Assuming she stays out of the repechage round, the 400 and 400 hurdles are staggered so that she wouldn't have to run a round of both events on the same day.  So why not give it a try?

There's more than just Ledecky and McLaughlin's chances to double that I noticed on the Paris schedule, though.  One of them involves track & field.  The men's marathon, which is traditionally held on the final day of the Olympics, won't be the last track & field event.  Instead, for the first time since 1984, it'll be the women's marathon.  The men's marathon is on Saturday.  (Both start at 8 am local time, which is 2 am ET)!

Speaking of 2 am Eastern, since the Games will finally be leaving Asia, there won't be a crazy amount of overnight events.  They also won't have to schedule finals in the morning for U.S. TV.  There will obviously be some daytime finals, but the marquee sports of track & field, swimming and gymnastics will go back to their normal schedule of prelims in the morning/afternoon, finals at night.

Of course, the one "problem" with an Olympics in Europe is that NBC won't be able to show any live event coverage in prime time.  But, with Paris only 6 hours ahead of New York, as opposed to the 12 hours in Beijing and 13 hours in Tokyo, the morning and daytime coverage can be all live.  And the events they do show in prime time will only be a few hours old instead of a half-day later.

The Paris Games will be the first Olympics that are completely gender-balanced, with an equal number of men's and women's events.  And they made it a point to feature the women just as prominently as the men.  The men's soccer final traditionally takes place on the final Saturday.  In Paris, it'll be on Friday night.  The women's final is Saturday.  Likewise, the men's basketball gold medal game won't be the last event of the Games.  The women's basketball gold medal game will be.

They did save a couple men's team finals for the final day, as well, but those were planned strategically, too.  Men's handball, where France is the defending champion, is one of them.  Meanwhile, they haven't announced whether the men's or women's volleyball final will be first.  But...France won the gold in men's volleyball in Tokyo.  So, if I had to guess, I'd say the men will likely be on the final day.

While I've been talking about the end of the Paris Olympics, let's take a look at the beginning.  In Tokyo, the first event to get started was softball, which won't be on the program in Paris.  In Paris, it'll be rugby.  The men's tournament begins two days before the Opening Ceremony and will hand out the medals on Day 1.  There will also be finals in swimming, synchronized diving and skateboarding on Day 1, with the first medals of the Olympics being awarded in shooting.

Because of the Olympics, the 2024 Tour de France won't end on the Champs Elysees.  They're talking about having the final stage be in Nice.  I bring this up because the men's and women's road races won't be held on the opening weekend as usual.  There'll still be road cycling.  They've just reversed the order and will have the time trials first.  I wonder if this is to give the riders a bit of a break after the three-week race by having the longer event second.

As for the new event, breaking, we won't see its Olympic debut until the end of the Games.  The women's ("B-girls") final is on Day 14 and the men's ("B-boys") final is on Day 15.  And surfing, which will ridiculously be held in Tahiti, will take place over the first four days so that the athletes can get to Paris for the Closing Ceremony.

Details about the Closing Ceremony are still hush-hush.  Will it be inside the Stade de France (track & field competition will have ended by then)?  Or will it be outside in the city center like the innovative Opening Ceremony that will be out in the open and end in front of the Eiffel Tower?  That plan appears to be a full-go.  It promises to be a spectacular opening for an Olympics that will take place at so many spectacular sites in one of the most beautiful cities on the planet!

Track Repechages In Paris

Believe it or not, the Paris Olympics are just two years away.  As a part of the two-years-to-go celebration, they unveiled the entire Olympic competition schedule.  More on that tomorrow, but there's one particular aspect of that schedule that I want to touch on now.  The introduction of a repechage round to track & field.

This news first came out on Monday as the World Championships were ending.  The repechage rounds will be added to the track & field program in all events from 200-1500 meters, including the hurdles.  There's already a preliminary round in the 100, so there won't be repechages in that event.

So, in the events with repechages, there will now be four rounds instead of three.  The automatic qualifiers out of the first round will only have to run three rounds, though.  They'll advance directly to the semifinals.  Everyone else, meanwhile, will have to run the extra race.  Which obviously puts a huge emphasis on being an automatic qualifier.  Which may be the point.

To make room for the repechage round, they've gotten rid of the time qualifier, aka the "small q," which would round out the field after the automatic qualifiers.  It varied by event and the number of heats, but there were typically anywhere between three and six athletes who advanced on time, which gave those athletes a safety net if they were in a tough heat and didn't get an automatic spot, but still posted a good time. 

The time qualifier is actually important, too, since there's inevitably that one heat that's much stronger than the others, meaning someone who otherwise would can't automatically advance out of it.  At least with the "small q" in play, they know that a good time should be enough to get to the next round.  It's a sort of fail safe.

When I first heard about the repechage round, I actually thought it, too, could be a sort of fail safe.  I look at Nia Ali and Daniel Roberts, who both fell in the first round of their respective hurdle events at Worlds.  Both were potential medalists, but both were eliminated because of their fall.  With the repechage, the fall wouldn't mean the end, though.  They'd get another opportunity to advance.

While new to track & field, the idea of a repechage isn't a novel concept.  Every combat sport except boxing has the repechage tournament that gives everyone who lost to the two finalists a second chance to compete for the bronze medal.  The survivors of the tournament face the semifinalist from the other side of the bracket for one of two bronze medals.  (I still have no idea why they give out two bronze medals in the combat sports or why they have two bronze medal matches...why not just have those two winners fight each other for one bronze, like in every other sport?)

Of course, the difference with track & field is that the athletes who come out of the repechage will still have the chance to win gold.  So, it's really more like rowing, which has the opening heats, then repechages, semifinals and finals.  In rowing, the heat winner moves directly into the semifinal, while everyone else goes to the repechage for the remaining semifinal berths.  That's the format track & field will use.

I can actually see the benefits of the format.  It gives TV and fans another round to watch and, theoretically, makes the first round more competitive since everyone will be gunning for the "big Q" to avoid the repechage.  No time qualifiers also makes it a lot more straightfoward and, thus, easier to follow (no trying to remember what the bubble time is).  It also takes away the advantage those in later heats have by knowing what time they need. 

Most importantly, it guarantees everybody at least two races.  You put in all that work to get to the Olympics, which only happen once every four (or five...or three) years, and, in many cases, it can be over in an instant.  With the addition of the repechage round, a men's 200-meter runner's Olympic racing experience doubles from 20 seconds to 40.

However, there's one group that isn't too keen on the idea of repechages, and it's a pretty important one.  The athletes.  This article from Athletics Weekly, a British publication, found some of the critical tweets from athletes and conveniently put them all in one place.  And, I must admit, all of the points they made are valid!  They had one common argument, and it's a pretty good one: the athletes who have to run the repechage will be at a tremendous disadvantage in the later rounds!

At the end of the article, they suggest that all this negative feedback may force World Athletics to reconsider the idea of repechages.  That, however, seems unlikely.  Once World Athletics finds an idea it likes, it sticks with it, what everyone else thinks be damned!  (Yes, I'm talking about the convoluted world rankings here.)

Besides, the aforementioned Paris 2024 competition schedule already has the repechage rounds listed, so the planning for this has obviously been going on for quite some time.  Now, that Olympic competition schedule is nowhere near final and subject to change, so it's still possible that they could eliminate the repechage rounds and adjust accordingly.  But, again, that doesn't seem likely.

What I'm curious about is what the ultimate solution will be.  World Athletics claims that athletes were consulted in the decision-making process, but who knows if that's actually true or not?  Will they listen to the athletes' concerns and make changes to the qualifying system?  And, if so, what will those changes be?  One thing seems for sure, though, whether the athletes like it or not, the "small q" is out and the repechage is in for Paris 2024.

Oregon Recap

You know how, more often than not, when you go on a trip and it gets near the end that you're just ready to go home?  That wasn't the case for me in Oregon.  I left with four days left in the meet, but easily could've stayed the whole time.  (If I had stayed, I wouldn't have missed all the world records!)  The trip was that great!  (At least the Oregon portion was.  Houston, not so much!)

Once I got home and finally went thru all the pictures on both my phone and camera, I had nearly 1,000!  Don't worry.  I'll pare that down to a more reasonable number when I put them on Facebook.  And I'll only put about 15 or so here.

I also wasn't sure at first how I wanted to recap the week without making this post, which already figures to be long, even longer.  Then it dawned on me.  I was there for 10 sessions (two on each of the first four days, only night sessions on the final two).  So why not break it down session-by-session?  So, that's exactly what I'm gonna do...

Actually, I'll start before that.  I'll start at the airport in San Francisco, where I'd say 95 percent of the people on my flight to Eugene were headed there for the same reason.  That included Frank Shorter and several members of the German team.  Then, once we landed, it was clear that Oregon was ready to welcome the world.

Session 1: Friday Morning
Since this was the first session, it took me a little while to figure everything out with the bus and within the stadium.  But, as soon as I sat down, the U.S. champion in the men's hammer throw got the automatic qualifying mark.  The best part of this session, though, was the men's 100 preliminary heats.  Why?  Because only the small countries that didn't qualify compete in those preliminary heats, so I got to see athletes from places like Kiribiati, Nauru, Paraguay, Bhutan, and so many others that you only ever hear about at the Olympic Opening Ceremony.

There were a few things in addition to the competition that I wanted to make sure I saw.  One of them was the exhibit by the Museum of World Athletics in the Oregon Student Union.  It was small (only a few display cases), but worthwhile, featuring things like a Jesse Owens singlet from his Ohio State days, one of Michael Johnson's gold shoes from Atlanta and the singlet that Mike Powell wore on that memorable night in Tokyo when he set the long jump world record.

Session 2: Friday Afternoon
My ultimate goal for this trip was to get a selfie with Sandi Morris!  That's why I got a front-row seat for both nights of women's pole vault.  Well, not only did I get my selfie with Sandi, I got one with Katie Nageotte, too!  Mission accomplished!  On night one!  It was also cool to be so close for what we all thought was Allyson Felix's final race, and I had a great view of the DR holding on to win the mixed relay, as a surging Femke Bol ran out of track.

Session 3: Saturday Morning

Of all the different places I sat, this is the one that had, by far the best view.  Second level, on the first turn, just past the finish line.  It's one of the few places where you can see absolutely everything.  It's no surprise, then, that they decided to put the media right there.  This session also featured the women's 10k final, which might be the first time in my life I ever watched an entire 10k from start to finish.  And what a finish it was!  (And, yes, the Ethiopian woman who won definitely threw an elbow and should've been DQed.)

Session 4: Saturday Afternoon
A U.S. sweep in the men's 100 final.  Need I say more?  Actually, I do.  Because right before that, Chase Ealey won the women's shot put for the first American gold medal of the meet.  This was the first time the home crowd really was electric!

Session 5: Sunday Morning
After watching the men's marathon on Peacock (I made the decision to skip since the stadium session was so heavy), I got to see another American gold in the women's hammer.  It was an American 1-3 actually!  Then the men's 10,000, which wasn't as close a race as the women, but was still pretty close.  This session also included the men's 100 medals ceremony, so I got to see all three American flags on the scoreboard and sing the "Star-Spangled Banner."

Session 6: Sunday Afternoon
So, as it turns out, the front row seats for pole vault weren't as great as I thought they'd be.  Because, you see, qualifying for men's discus was right next to the pole vault runway, and those were some large men going to talk to their equally large coaches rather frequently (my view was also partially cut off by the video board with the sponsors).  Still, I can't be too upset about seeing Katie and Sandi go 1-2 and Ryan Crouser get his world championship as part of a seven-medal session (and nine-medal day) for Team USA.

Session 7: Monday Morning
Believe it or not, getting up at 5 am and walking two miles to the marathon course proved to be well worth it!  The women's marathon was awesome, with the three Americans all finishing in the top 10!  And I was able to set myself up right by the finish line!  Then, I went to Hayward for the heptathlon and got to meet Jackie Joyner-Kersee.  So, yeah, I'd say that morning session, as light as it was, was well worth it.

Session 8: Monday Afternoon
Another light session, so I swung back over to the temporary seats underneath the main scoreboard.  Watching Mutaz Essa Barshim and Yulimar Rojas do their thing was super cool though!  Anna Hall closed out her bronze in the heptathlon, too.  And I actually had a pretty good view of the men's and women's 200 heats since I was sitting right on that final turn towards the home stretch.

Session 9: Tuesday Afternoon
No day session, so I got to sleep in (which meant like 9:00 since I never fully adjusted to Pacific time).  Then, as I was coming back from getting lunch, I randomly ran into U.S. 400-meter runner Champion Allison, who was coming back from Target.  On the track, I got to see a really competitive women's high jump final and a great men's 400 hurdles final (as well as Sydney McLaughlin in the first round of the women's 400 hurdles).  The men's 1500 final was really cool, too.  It was won by Jake Wightman of Great Britain, whose dad, Jeff, was the in-stadium announcer and got to call his son's victory.

Session 10: Wednesday Afternoon

This was the last session I attended before leaving Eugene the following morning, and it featured the women's discus final.  Which was actually a phenomenal competition!  Valarie Allman, the Olympic champion from the U.S., took the lead with a really good 68-meter first throw, only to have Croatia's Sandra Perkovic respond with a throw that was about 20 centimeters further.  Then China's Feng Bin, out of nowhere, throws over 69 meters on her first attempt to go ahead of both of them!  Allman and Perkovic tried in vain to match her all night, but couldn't.

Before heading to Hayward that final time, I wanted to make sure I made a pilgrimage to Pre's Rock, the memorial to Steve Prefontaine alongside the windy road where he died in a car crash.  On the way back, I also wanted to get another look at the beautiful Willamette River, which cuts across the University of Oregon campus.

While I was out there, I did get to watch some of the TV coverage (one of the benefits of tape delays and separate West Coast feeds).  During one broadcast, Ato mentioned how he and Sanya had to budget extra time getting in and out of the stadium to take pictures with fans.  And, wouldn't you know it?  I ran into Sanya on my way out...and she stopped for a picture.  I also randomly ran into Karsten Warholm on my way back to the bus, asked him for a picture, and he agreed.  Such a great way to end the trip!

And, just to show you how awesome track & field people are, Katharine Merry, the other in-stadium announcer, saw me taking some shots around the stadium before I left that might.  She stopped what she was doing and asked me if I wanted her to take some so that I could be in them...then kept moving around to find the best angle!  I said that I, of course, also needed to take a picture with her, too.  Which she was more than happy to do!

An Awesome All*Star Broadcast

I finally got a chance to watch the All*Star Game this morning, and it was quite possibly the best All*Star broadcast ever!  FOX always tries different things during the All*Star Game, to varying degrees of success.  But this year, everything they did worked!  All of it was enjoyable.  Ump Cam.  The miced up players.  The in-game conversations.  Letting Big Papi loose.  All of it!

My favorite thing might've been the inning-long dialogue between Gerrit Cole and Max Fried.  They talked about how much they don't miss hitting and got into their favorite hitting moments (which allowed Joe Davis to gush about Shohei Ohtani).  Throwing some barbs at John Smoltz didn't hurt either!

Then there was Nestor Cortes and Jose Trevino being miced up and letting us listen in as they went over the pitch sequence.  We got to hear the thought process that went into every pitch.  That's a level of insight you're not going to get otherwise.

What made it better was that Trevino was still miced up when he was hitting the following half inning, and he flat out said, "You guys can keep talking to me.  I don't care."  So they did.  Then, after he singled, they kept the conversation going the entire time he was on first base.  It was also cool to hear Trevino ask for the ball after his first All*Star hit...a half inning after he made sure Cortes kept the ball from his first All*Star strikeout.

They weren't the only Yankees who got in on the fun.  Both Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton were on live mics during the bottom of the third, when Stanton explained that as a kid, he would go to Dodger games and sit in the left field bleachers, right behind the spot where he was playing.  Stanton, of course, would go on to crush a two-run homer to that same area in the top of the fourth, which earned him MVP honors.

Stanton's interaction with Big Papi was also, for me, the highlight of the Red Sox legend and newly-minted Hall of Famer's takeover of the AL dugout.  Actually, everything about Big Papi's visit to the AL dugout was amazing!  From asking Dusty Baker to put him in to his man-love for Miguel Cabrera to asking Alek Manoah how he'd pitch him...only to let Manoah know that he'd take him yard!

Speaking of Manoah, he's the one who started all of the fun when he entered the game in the bottom of the second.  The ongoing dialogue between him and both Joe Davis and John Smoltz was great!  Davis and Smoltz were giving him a (usually wrong) scouting report, and Manoah was taking us through his thinking as he was thinking it.  He was also working with his own catcher, Alejandro Kirk, so, had Kirk also been miced up, it could've been similar to what we got from Trevino and Cortes.  The fact that the one-sided version came first actually served as a perfect set-up.

In the eighth inning, after they showed a graphic with the stats of everybody who'd been miced up during the game, Smoltz lamented the only thing that hadn't happened yet.  Nobody had made a play while they were talking to them.  Enter the Mariners' Julio Rodriguez!  Rodriguez made another catch to end the inning, when White Sox pitcher Liam Hendriks was also miced up.  And Rodriguez, who knew Hendriks was listening, playfully acted like he was going to toss the ball into the stands just to mess with him!

As an umpire, I also loved the perspective that we got from Bill Miller's mask.  Now, the pitches that I see are nowhere near as fast as a Major League fastball, but the view is the same.  What I think it did most, though, was make people appreciate how difficult it was for hitters early in the game when the sun hadn't set yet and they had to deal with the shadows, as well as everything else.

Hopefully it also gave people some idea of how difficult an umpire's job actually is.  Fans love to complain about balls and strikes and how "awful" certain umpires are, but having a split-second to determine whether a pitch is over the plate or just missed isn't exactly easy.  It won't stop the complaints or the calls for robo-umps (BTW, there would still be a home plate umpire since you'd still need a person to call everything else that happens, so please stop acting like there wouldn't be!).  Maybe it at least gave an appreciation for the job, though.  (I do realize that it probably didn't.)

One of the things I found interesting about FOX's in-game interviews is that it was all American League players.  Was that just a coincidence?  I'm not so sure.  I'm also not entirely sure it was a complete coincidence that the AL won for the ninth straight year.  The side that's had All*Star success didn't have any reservations about doing it, and will probably agree to again next year in Seattle. 

Although, you'd have to think the NL might want to do something different just to change it up.  Nothing else has been working, after all!  It's also great exposure for whoever does it and a chance to show a little personality.  Sure, it's different than what they're used to doing, but this is the All*Star Game.  That's exactly when you do stuff like this!

The one exception to the no-NL rule was Clayton Kershaw.  The Dodgers legend was (finally) making his first All*Star start.  In his home park.  And he talked with Ken Rosenthal right before stepping on the mound.  (Of course, Tom Verducci was on the other side talking to Shohei Ohtani, who basically called his first-pitch single, a sign of things to come.)

There's obviously no way we'd ever seem something like this in the regular season!  Sure, they have the in-game interviews with managers and miced up players, but they'll never show something like a detailed pitch-by-pitch discussion of the pitch sequence.  For an exhibition game, though, it's perfect.  And it made for a highly entertaining broadcast.

That's what annoyed me so much about the people who are obsessed with dissecting the viewership numbers and how "only" 7 million people watched the game on TV.  These are the same people who say broadcast TV is dying as viewers are moving to streaming!  You can't have it both ways!  You can't say people aren't watching TV anymore because of streaming, then criticize the numbers that a TV broadcast draws.  Especially when 7 million on a Tuesday night is actually pretty good!

Would MLB like those viewership numbers to be higher?  Of course!  But those who did tune in (or DVRed) were treated to an absolutely phenomenal broadcast!  For all the gimmicky stuff FOX has done at the All*Star Game in the past that didn't work, everything they did this year worked.  Hopefully we see some more of it in 2023.

Upper Left, United States

I'll post a full debrief on my trip to Oregon for the World Athletics Championships in the next day or two after I finally go through all the pictures on both my phone and my camera.  But today I want to talk about some of the things that I saw while I was out there.  Specifically, I want to address some of the criticisms that journalists weren't shy about making, some of which were justified, some of which weren't.

One of my favorite criticisms was regarding Eugene's remote location.  Actually, I liked what they called it: "Upper Left, United States."  Which is an accurate description.  Because if you look at a map of the U.S., that's exactly where Eugene is--the upper left!

That's a fair critique.  Eugene isn't the easiest place to get to.  I was lucky enough to get a flight into Eugene itself, but I had to change in San Francisco.  And I was coming from a major city in the U.S.!  I can only imagine how difficult it was for some of the foreign teams and fans to get there!  (I was talking to a British fan who managed to get a direct flight from London to Seattle, but Seattle to Eugene is a four-hour drive!) 

There were also plenty of complaints about Eugene's size.  The feeling was that a small college town wasn't the appropriate setting for an event of this stature.  It "should" be in a big city where there are plenty of hotel options and things to do outside of just the track meet.  That's also fair, especially when you consider the next two hosts are Budapest and Tokyo and the three editions before Eugene were in Beijing, London and Doha.

The lack of hotels was something the athletes didn't particularly like.  They're used to staying in nice hotels.  Instead, they're being housed in University of Oregon dorms.  They don't exactly like the dorm life, especially the big shot putters and discus throwers sleeping on those small beds.

However, staying the dorms was also a lot more convenient for the athletes.  Their rooms were literally steps away from Hayward Field, so it only took a matter of minutes to go to the training track, watch the other events, etc.  And, it was actually really cool to walk out of the venue as the session ended and walk past all the different shirts from all the different countries and see the athletes just hanging out.  (The athletes, BTW, couldn't have been more gracious with autograph and picture requests.)

Attendance has been another source of constant criticism.  Specifically, the number of empty seats in a 13,000-seat stadium.  Some of that criticism is unfair, though.  Because there were morning sessions that were never going to be sold out no matter how big the stadium was!  And, what looks worse?  A 13,000-seat stadium that's 2/3 full or a 50,000-seat stadium that's half full, even with banners blocking off sections?

Eugene is also the only place in the United States that can get 10,000 people to attend a day session!  And the evening sessions were all mostly full!  Those "small" crowds, by the way, were knowledgeable and enthusiastic, cheering not just for every country, but getting into it for field events!  The marathon course was packed, too, and the marathons started at 6:00 in the morning Pacific time!

Had these World Championships been held in a larger (and less remote) city, the crowds might've been bigger.  They also would've been met with extreme apathy by those in attendance.  That's the one advantage Eugene has over any other American city.  It's called "Track Town USA" for a reason.  Anywhere else, it would've just been another event going on.  In Eugene, it was THE event.

And, just as I suspected, the small crowds at NCAAs and U.S. Nationals were no indication of what the crowds for Worlds would be like.  Fans from all over the world aren't coming into town for NCAAs or U.S. Nationals.  And fans who live in Oregon and Washington who couldn't afford to go to all three meets were saving their money for the most significant one.

Another thing worth noting is that the "evening" sessions started at 5 p.m. and ended at 8 (which was obviously done for East Coast TV).  The hottest part of the day in Oregon in mid-July is 4:00 in the afternoon, and the stadium is open, so a good percentage of the seats are in the sun.  Meanwhile, sunset isn't until around 8:45, so even the evening sessions were held in broad daylight.  It also meant that some fans had the setting sun in their eyes if they were sitting in the wrong section (happened to me twice).

So, all things considered, was it a mistake to choose Eugene for these World Championships, as some have suggested?  Absolutely not!  The whole point of having the World Championships in Eugene was because they'd never been held in the U.S. before.  While that may not be enough of a reason to justify the location, if you want to have a World Championships in the United States, there's really no other place that could've been chosen than Hayward Field.  It just wouldn't feel right somewhere else.

This meet was all about giving American athletes a chance to perform on a World Championship stage on home soil.  And they have more than delivered!  Getting to compete in front of a home crowd has raised their level, and the result has been some extraordinary performances!  Which has only served to delight the home crowd even more!

How will the Oregon 22 World Championships ultimately be judged?  We won't know that for quite some time, but I don't think anyone who was in Eugene left disappointed.  Sure, there were some technical and logistical issues, but that's true of any major event, and it wasn't enough to overshadow anything (although, that thing with the visas was bad).  And that, for me, is the biggest takeaway.  Was the trip to Eugene worth it?  Absolutely!

Trade Deadline Deals to Make

Now that the All*Star Game is in the past, it's time to get back to thinking about the regular season.  Specifically, it's time for contenders to think about what they need before the trade deadline, which is rapidly approaching on August 2.  That means they have less than two weeks to figure out who they want and who they're willing to move in order to get him.

One of the most interesting aspects of the trade deadline this year, of course, is the extra playoff berth in each league.  An extra playoff spot means more teams in the mix, which it great for competition.  But it also means more potential buyers and fewer sellers.  Even if you don't consider yourself a legitimate contender, it's hard to justify being a seller when you're only a handful of games out of a playoff berth.

There are a few obvious sellers, though.  And they've got the valuable pieces that the sellers will definitely want at the deadline.  It's really more a matter of who's gonna strike first.

The obvious names are difference-making All*Stars Juan Soto, Josh Bell and Andrew Benintendi.  They won't be the only players to move, though.  Not even close.  Here are 10 I think will be wearing a different jersey once the deadline passes, and which jersey they'll end up in:

Juan Soto: Mets-Yesterday, I did a whole post listing all of Soto's potential suitors.  Yet I still have no idea where he's ultimately gonna end up.  I have a sinking suspicion that it'll be the Mets, though.  They obviously know him and will be willing to give the Nationals whatever prospects they want...even if it means sending them to a division rival.  I'd say the fact that they're in the same division is the one thing that could make this not get done, but I don't think that's as much of an issue for teams now as it was in the past.  Especially the team looking to unload its star.  They really don't care where he goes.

Josh Bell: Twins-With the Nationals likely set to unload everything that isn't bolted down, expect Bell to be on the move, too.  Minnesota needs to add a bat.  Having somebody who can play first base/DH is something the Twins could use, especially with Miguel Sano out.  Even when Sano comes back, Luis Arraez can move to second and they'd still be able to have both first basemen in the lineup.

Andrew Benintendi: Padres-Benintendi couldn't travel with the Royals to their recent series in Toronto because he's not vaccinated.  That ended the Yankees' pursuit of him, and will likely knock several other potential AL suitors out, too.  Which limits him to National League teams.  He'd make a lot of sense in San Diego.

Bryan Reynolds: Astros-Reynolds was a hot name last year at the deadline, and this year I think he actually will move.  He's only a 27, a switch-hitter and a pure center fielder, all of which makes him an obvious fit for several teams.  The fact that he's signed thru 2023 adds to his value, too.  I can see Houston moving on Reynolds just so the Yankees don't get him.

Luis Castillo: Red Sox-Boston's supposedly getting all of its starting pitchers back at some point in August, but can they count on that?  Meanwhile, in Luis Castillo, you know what you're getting.  He's a proven commodity who's managed to be successful for several years on Cincinnati teams that haven't been very good.  The fact that he just had a really good start at Yankee Stadium doesn't hurt his case, either.

Frankie Montas: Mets-Oakland's biggest (only?) asset is its starting pitching.  Which means we're likely to see multiple A's starters traded at the deadline.  And don't be surprised to see one of them go to the Mets, the one team that has proven the adage "You can never have too much starting pitching."  Adding Montas would give them a buffer if there are any more injuries in their rotation.

Sean Manaea: Braves-Last year, Atlanta won the World Series because of its trade deadline acquisitions.  This year, they don't need to do nearly as much, but adding a starting pitcher wouldn't hurt.  Enter the Trading A's and their best arm.  While Manaea may not help them catch the Mets, he'll be nice to have in a playoff series.

Willson Contreras: Astros-I'm not 100 percent convinced the Cubs will trade Contreras.  If they do, though, I can see them sending him to Houston, which gets absolutely no offensive production from Martin Maldonado.  Although, the Astros' pitchers really like working with Maldonado, so Houston may be willing to deal with his bat to keep his glove instead of going for the obvious offensive upgrade in Contreras.

Hunter Strickland: Dodgers-While not the splashy trade deadline acquisition the Dodgers are known for, Strickland would help with their most glaring need.  The Dodgers have so many injured relievers it's ridiculous!  And it's not just random relievers, either.  It's guys they count on!  So, Strickland, somebody who's won a World Series before, would plug in those gaps, and he's somebody they could use in a lot of different roles, giving them flexibility as some of their high-leverage arms come back.

Steve Cishek: Yankees-Brian Cashman loves his relief pitching, so, beyond solving the Joey Gallo problem, that's where I see him making his moves at the deadline.  The Yankee bullpen has been great so far, but there have definitely been blips.  Besides, why not take something that's already a strength and make it stronger with a quality veteran?

Juan Soto's Landing Place

Even though I've been in Oregon ensconced in track & field for the past week, I've still been paying attention to what's going on in baseball.  (For the record, there's no day session today, so that's why I have the time to blog.)  And one of the biggest stories in baseball heading into the All*Star Break was Juan Soto rejecting the Nationals' 15-year, $440 million offer, leading the team to listen to trade offers for the superstar.  And this was before he won the Home Run Derby!

Washington's been in rebuild mode for the past couple seasons, but they were unwilling to part with Soto, instead planning to build around him.  Now that Soto has shown no interest in being a part of that, though, it makes sense that they'll want to at least get something out of it.  And there will be plenty of teams willing to meet Washington's asking price for Soto, so the chances of him still being a National after the trade deadline are slim to none.

What I wonder is if we'll have a situation like Manny Machado to the Dodgers or Aroldis Chapman to the Cubs (or even Scherzer to the Dodgers last year), making the short-term splurge only to see him leave as a free agent after the season.  Or, will Soto and his new team try to figure out the details of a long-term deal right away?  My guess is it'll depend on the team.  Because only a handful of potential landing places will have the money to give Soto the type of deal he's looking for.

Some places also make a lot more sense than others for Juan Soto's services.  It's easy to say he'd be a fit on any team because he's such a dynamic player and an obvious upgrade on whoever they currently have in right field (with a handful of exceptions).  But that's not exactly true.  There are definitely places where he'd fit better than others.  Although, I'm sure every contender will inquire, so the Nationals will have multiple options and will be able to hold out for the best deal.

The two most obvious fits for Soto are both in the AL East.  The Yankees have had a Joey Gallo problem all season.  Soto would be an easy solution.  They obviously have plenty of prospects for the Nationals to choose from, too (Estevan Florial, J.P. Sears, Ron Marinaccio, Anthony Volpe).  However, they likely wouldn't want to part with those guys for a rental, and do they have enough to pay both Soto and Aaron Judge AND stay under the luxury tax threshold?

Toronto's got a pretty solid outfield with Lourdes Gurriel, George Springer and Teoscar Hernandez, but I don't think it's a stretch to see them adding Soto to that mix.  The Blue Jays could easily rotate the DH spot between the four outfielders (or just make Hernandez the primary DH).  I'm not sure they have the type of prospect haul Washington would be looking for, but if they can make it work, Soto makes their lineup that much deeper and that much more dangerous.

It seems highly unlikely that they'll trade him within the division, but if they do, the Mets would be the obvious candidate.  And Steve Cohen has no problem spending money, so you know he'll put a long-term offer on the table.  The Mets have a number of guys who can be slotted anywhere, too, so they can just move around if you put Soto in right field every day (and move Marte over to center).

While this one may seem out of left field (or right field), San Diego needs something if they're gonna hang with the Dodgers.  So, do the Padres pull the trigger?  The only problem is that their outfield is set with Jurickson Profar, Trent Grisham and Wil Myers, but they've also gotten disappointing production from their two first basemen, one of whom is usually the DH (Eric Hosmer and Luke Voit).  Putting Soto in right and Myers at DH solves that problem.

Out of nowhere, Minnesota ended up being the team that signed Carlos Correa after the lockout, so I can see them being a player in the Soto Sweepstakes.  The Twins have a pretty comfortable lead in the AL Central, but definitely need at least one more piece before their inevitable playoff defeat.  They're also one of the few teams that can immediately insert Soto into the middle of the lineup without having to figure out what to do with their current starter.  (Minnesota has no DH at the moment with Miguel Sano on the 60-day IL.)

Going out and getting Juan Soto also sounds like something the Angels would do.  They're working on yet another wasted, playoff-less season with the two best players in the game.  The fact that a lack of pitching is their problem still hasn't gotten through.  So, adding another bat to the lineup and trying to win 10-8 instead of 9-7 seems right up their alley!

With their current roster, the Red Sox aren't catching the Yankees in the AL East.  Thanks to the extra wild card, there's still a pretty good chance they'll make the playoffs, though, and Juan Soto would certainly upgrade both their outfield and their lineup.  Alex Verdugo in left is the only Boston outfield spot that's currently 100 percent locked up, so they can easily find a place for him.  (They had freakin' Kyle Schwarber playing first base last year and have Franchy Cordero playing first this season!)

In the NL Central, we've got our typical two-horse race between Milwaukee and St. Louis.  Trading for Soto could be what gives the Brewers the upper hand in that battle.  Milwaukee's lineup is already incredibly left-handed, but that's a minor problem that they can certainly deal with.  And having both Yelich and Soto in the middle of your lineup is a fun thing to think about.

He probably won't end up in Cleveland.  Not as a short-term rental and definitely not long-term.  But I wouldn't be surprised to see the Guardians at least inquire.  They're only two games behind the Twins in the AL Central and right in the middle of that muddled wild card mix.  They'd have to give up a lot to have Juan Soto for three months, but he'd immediately make them so much better that it might be worth it.

Regardless of where he ends up, whether it's on one of these nine teams or somewhere else, Juan Soto is, by far, the highest-impact player who stands to get traded in the coming days.  And, with the extra wild card keeping that many more teams in contention, there will be more potential buyers and fewer sellers at the deadline.  Which makes a player of Soto's caliber that much more valuable.

Hello World, Meet Oregon

It all starts on Friday night!  The World Track & Field Championships in Oregon, which were originally supposed to take place last year, will finally get underway!  It's the biggest international sporting event (in terms of athletes and countries) outside the Olympics, and it's being held on American soil for the first time!

In case you haven't been able to tell over the years I've been writing this blog, I love track & field.  So, needless to say, I'm a little excited.  So excited, in fact, that I'll be in the stadium for each of the first six days.  It'll be my first trip to Hayward Field, and I'll hopefully get the chance to explore everything else Track Town USA has to offer, too.

I went through a number of different ideas about how I wanted to do a preview.  For a while, I was thinking I'd do the 10 events I'm looking forward to the most.  But I had a hard time narrowing it down.  Then it dawned on me!  The meet's 10 days long!  So why not just do it by day!

Day 1: On Day 1, the only final in the stadium is the mixed 4x400 relay.  That's enough, though.  Because it'll likely be the last time Allyson Felix runs at a World Championships.  It's the only event she'll be contesting in Oregon, so she'll close out her legendary career on opening night.  I'm also psyched to see how far Oregon's own Ryan Crouser can throw.  Although, it's only qualifying, so I may have to wait until the final for him to really do something special.

Day 2: The men's 100 final is always the marquee event of an Olympics or World Championships.  That will certainly be the case here.  Lamont Marcell Jacobs won the Olympic gold, but all of the top performers this year are American.  The women's 10,000 final is during the day session, and I'm curious to see if that will have any impact.  (The marathons are at 6:15 am Pacific time, when it will presumably be at least a little less hot.)

Day 3: Sunday night could end up being my favorite session of the entire competition.  Ryan Crouser vs. the world record in the men's shot put!  Sandi vs. Katie in the women's pole vault!  Grant Holloway vs. Devon Allen in the he men's 110 hurdles!  And the women's 100 final.  Can the Jamaicans sweep like they did in Tokyo?

Day 4: After the women's marathon in the morning, the rest of the finals are at night, highlighted by the women's 1500 meters.  Venezuela's Yulimar Rojas will also go for the world record in the women's triple jump, and men's high jump co-Olympic gold medalists Mutaz Essa Barshim and Gianmarco Tamberi will duke it out.  It's also the opening heats of the 200, so I get to see Abby Steiner and the Noah Lyles/Erryon Knighton rivalry.

Day 5: There's no day session for the four weekdays in the middle of the meet, which is probably a good thing since I'll likely be exhausted by that point!  Once action gets underway, it's the women's high jump final, where the Ukrainians are favored.  And what a story that would be!  The men's 400 hurdles final in Tokyo was one of the greatest races I've ever seen!  Karsten Warholm's been injured and Rai Benjamin had COVID, but I wouldn't put it past them to do something special again.

Day 6: My final night before heading home (with a stop in Houston for Yankees-Astros first).  And the final event I'll see live is the women's steeplechase final, starring Emma Coburn and Courtney Frerichs.  The only other final on the day is the women's discus, where American Valarie Allman is the Olympic champion and could easily back it up with her first World title.

Day 7: Too bad I won't still be around for the 200 finals!  Because that Lyles vs. Knighton showdown could be EPIC!  And I'm not even including Fred Kerley and Olympic champion Andre De Grasse, who both could definitely have something to say about that!  On the women's side, Abby Steiner has the fastest time in the world this year.  But we all know how those Jamaican women perform in global finals!

Day 8: Every time Sydney McLaughlin steps on the track, she sets a world record.  Not really, but it sure seems that way.  She blew away the field at U.S. Nationals, but has never won a World Championship in the event.  That should change.  Everybody else is racing for silver.  If she does get her hurdles gold, her coach, Bobby Kersee, has indicated a move to the open 400.  Shaunae Miller Uibo goes for gold in that event.

Day 9: Not surprisingly, there are a lot of finals on the final weekend of the meet.  The men's and women's 4x100 relays cap the night, but four others are also on tap--the men's 800, women's 5000, men's triple jump and men's javelin.

Day 10: While they're keeping with tradition by having the 4x400 relays close the meet, they did switch it up and put the women last.  Which makes complete sense when you consider what the U.S. women did in Tokyo!  Although, Athing Mu won't be available for that relay since the women's 800 final is also on the final night.  She'll be just one of the many stars on display.  Mondo Duplantis should put on a show of his own in the men's pole vault, and Jakob Ingebrigtsen will be in the men's 5000.

That's just a sampling of what's to come.  There are 49 events at the Track & Field World Championships, so there are plenty of stories to be written in Oregon.  Who will write them?  And how?  One thing I know for sure, though, is that it promises to be exciting!

MLB at Midseason

We've reached the midway point of the MLB season.  Which means it's time to hand out some awards for the best in the game over the season's first three months.  What's interesting about midseason awards, of course, is how often the "winners" aren't even in the discussion at the end of the season.  Some guys fall off after a great first half, while others snatch the awards away with a big second half.

But, every once in a while, the clubhouse leaders at the All*Star break hold that advantage all season.  Out of the 10 awards given out annually, I'd say one (AL Comeback Player) is already such a lock that they might as well start engraving the plaque.  As for the others, though, we'll see what changes between now and October...

AL MVP: Aaron Judge, Yankees-During the All*Star Selection Show, they said something that really bothered me.  Tim Kurkjain predicted that, since MVP has turned into "Player of the Year", he expected Shohei Ohtani to run away with it again.  He even went so far as to say Ohtani is the AL MVP right now!  Which is ridiculous.  I get that what Ohtani's doing is special, but you can't hold the fact that he also pitches against everybody else!  Especially after the first half Aaron Judge has had!  He's the best player by far on the best team by far and, oh yeah, he's on pace for 60 home runs!

AL Cy Young: Justin Verlander, Astros-In his first two full seasons with the Astros, Verlander finished second and first in AL Cy Young voting.  This year, he looks like he could be in line for another first-place finish (and his third career Cy Young).  We've seen vintage Verlander.  The future Hall of Famer leads the American League in wins, and is second in ERA, WHIP and batting average against.

AL Rookie: Julio Rodriguez, Mariners-The American League rookie class is very strong.  So strong, in fact, that an argument could be made for any of about six different guys.  But I'm going with the only one who made the All*Star team--Seattle's Julio Rodriguez.  He was the Mariners' Opening Day center fielder and has started virtually all of their games there while leading all AL rookies in hits, home runs and stolen bases (and he's just one RBI behind Bobby Witt Jr.).

AL Manager: Aaron Boone, Yankees-Boone has made the playoffs in each of his first four seasons, yet never sniffed Manager of the Year because the Yankees are always good.  But this season has been different.  Because they aren't just good, they're record-setting good.  They have a 15-game lead in a division that currently has four playoff teams!  Say what you want about all the talent on the Yankees' roster, but he's pushed all the right buttons so far.  (And, no, it's not lost on me that I wanted him gone when his contract expired after last year.)

AL Comeback Player: Justin Verlander, Astros-This one is no contest.  Entering this season, Verlander had thrown a grand total of one inning since 2019.  This season, he's not just back, he's just as good as ever.  While pushing 40!

NL MVP: Paul Goldschmidt, Cardinals-I wasn't entirely sure about NL MVP until I was watching the All*Star Selection Show and they were talking about how it's a runaway for Golschmidt right now.  Then I looked at his stats and saw that they're absolutely right!  He leads the NL in average, slugging, on base percentage and hits, and he's tied for first in doubles and runs scored.  Goldschmidt's not exactly slacking off in the homer or RBI department, either.

NL Cy Young: Sandy Alcantara, Marlins-There are so many starting pitchers having outstanding seasons!  But the Marlins' Sandy Alcantara stands out from the group!  He's second in wins, second in ERA, fourth in strikeouts, third in WHIP, third in batting average against, and, most importantly, first in innings (by a wide margin!).  In this era of starters only going five before the parade of relievers, Alcantara averages more than seven innings per outing!

NL Rookie: Brendan Donovan, Cardinals-Not surprisingly, the Cardinals have a rookie who I've never heard of tearing it up.  They have two, actually.  Donovan and Juan Yepez.  I went with Donovan, though, for a couple reasons.  First, his offensive numbers are better.  Second, he's played all over the field!  Donovan has started games at six different positions, making 14 or more starts at four of them.  When your utility guy produces, that gives you so many more options.

NL Manager: Brian Snitker, Braves-As usual, there are a number of candidates for this one.  But I'm giving Snitker the nod over Dave Roberts, Craig Counsell and Buck Showalter.  Atlanta got off to slow start and saw the Mets build a huge lead in the NL East.  Then the Braves got hot and are suddenly just 2.5 games back (while also holding a comfortable lead for the first wild card).  It looks like we might have a race in the NL East after all!

NL Comeback Player: Ronald Acuna Jr., Braves-Acuna missed the Braves' World Series run last season because of his gruesome broken leg at the All*Star break.  This year, he was the National League's leading vote-getter for the All*Star Game.  And he deserves it, too!  Acuna picked up right where he left off!

"Congratulations" as well to Least Valuable Players Joey Gallo and Robinson Cano.  It really is impressive how Gallo has been able to get away with being so bad on a team that's so good.  Cano, meanwhile, is on his third team this season (the Braves) after being released by the previous two (the Mets and Padres).  I think this is the end of the line for him.

And, last but not least, are my Cy Olds--Dallas Keuchel and Patrick Corbin.  Keuchel was also released and has since switched leagues, going from the White Sox to the Diamondbacks.  Corbin's not entirely to blame for his record because the Nationals are so bad, but still, a .310 batting average against and 5.70 ERA aren't pretty.  And they aren't a product of not getting any run support!

Headed For Hollywood

We know the starters, we know the two Commissioner's selections, and soon we'll know the full rosters headed to Dodger Stadium for the 2022 All*Star Game.  I've gotta admit, I love the new format with how the teams are announced!  There was no reason to hold off the announcement of the starters until the whole team was announced, especially since voting updates were being posted so regularly!

I also absolutely love the new wrinkle that gives the Commissioner two discretionary choices.  That was added in the new CBA, and it really is a great way to honor deserving players.  The All*Star Game is a celebration of baseball, so why not celebrate a pair of future Hall of Famers?  This is Albert Pujols' final season and he's a part-time player now.  But if there's any active player who should get the chance to say goodbye to baseball on the national stage (and vice versa), it's Albert Pujols!  (The fact that Albert spent last season playing for both the Angels and Dodgers really makes it a full-circle moment, too.)

It won't be Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn in 2001 or Mariano Rivera at Citi Field in 2013 or even Derek Jeter in 2014, but it's not meant to be.  It's more like Ozzie Smith in 1995.  And I, for one, have no issue with an extra spot on each All*Star roster as a sort of lifetime achievement award.  We won't have a retiring player of Albert's caliber every year, but this is exactly why this Commissioner's selection was created.

What I'm not sure about regarding the Commissioner's selections is if they count as their team representative.  The Cardinals obviously don't have to worry about that since Goldschmidt is starting at first, but does Miggy count as the Tiger?  If he does, that makes things a lot easier.  Then that frees up a roster spot for somebody else.

For the sake of constructing my AL team, I'm assuming he didn't.  Which means I had to pick another Tiger in addition to Miggy.  Although, I'm also assuming Ohtani, who's starting at DH, made the AL team as a pitcher, too.  Last year, they let the AL pick an extra pitcher since he's obviously just one person, so I did the same thing again.

The National League will also get an extra player because of its DH.  Bryce Harper was deservedly selected as the starter, but has a broken hand and obviously can't play.  So, the NL's starting DH will be announced on Sunday along with the reserves, which will include Harper's replacement on the active roster.

That Harper replacement spot actually turned out to be pretty important, too, since I had two position players I wanted to include (Pete Alonso and Tommy Edman) and only one spot after putting Josh Bell on there as the National.  No Harper means no choosing between Alonso and Edman.  They're both on! 

So, there you go.  That's three of my NL All*Star reserves.  Here are my full teams for both leagues...

AMERICAN LEAGUE
SP: Dylan Cease (CWS), Justin Verlander (HOU), *-Shohei Ohtani (LAA), Gerrit Cole (NYY), Paul Blackburn (OAK), Logan Gilbert (SEA), Shane McClanahan (TB), Alek Manoah (TOR)
RP: Jorge Lopez (BAL), Emmanuel Clase (CLE), Gregory Soto (DET), Clay Holmes (NYY), Jordan Romano (TOR)
C: Alejandro Kirk (TOR), Christian Vazquez (BOS), Jonah Heim (TEX)
1B: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (TOR), Luis Arraez (MIN), Ty France (SEA)
2B: Jose Altuve (HOU), Gleyber Torres (NYY)
SS: Tim Anderson (CWS), Xander Bogaerts (BOS)
3B: Rafael Devers (BOS), Jose Ramirez (CLE)
OF: Aaron Judge (NYY), Mike Trout (LAA), Giancarlo Stanton (NYY), Kyle Tucker (HOU), Andrew Benintendi (KC), Julio Rodriguez (SEA)
DH: *-Shohei Ohtani (LAA), Yordan Alvarez (HOU), Miguel Cabrera (DET)

NATIONAL LEAGUE
SP: Zac Gallen (ARZ), Max Fried (ATL), Luis Castillo (CIN), Tony Gonsolin (LAD), Sandy Alcantara (MIA), Corbin Burnes (MIL), Zack Wheeler (PHI), Joe Musgrove (SD)
RP: David Robertson (CHC), Josh Hader (MIL), Edwin Diaz (NYM), David Bednar (PIT)
C: Willson Contreras (CHC), Will Smith (LAD)
1B: Paul Goldschmidt (STL), Freddie Freeman (LAD), Pete Alonso (NYM), Josh Bell (WSH)
2B: Jazz Chisholm (MIA), Jeff McNeil (NYM), Tommy Edman (STL)
SS: Trea Turner (LAD), Dansby Swanson (ATL)
3B: Manny Machado (SD), Nolan Arenado (STL)
OF: Ronald Acuna Jr. (ATL), Mookie Betts (LAD), Joc Pederson (SF), Ian Happ (CHC), Starling Marte (NYM), Kyle Schwarber (PHI)
DH: x-Bryce Harper (PHI), Charlie Blackmon (COL), Albert Pujols (STL)

They haven't said how the new NL DH will be chosen.  It's normally whoever finishes first in the player ballot, but I'm not sure if that will be the case here.  And, with four first basemen on the roster (five if you include Albert), it would be so much easier if Brian Snitker could just go with one of them.  Which is what I think he'll do.  And I think it'll be a guy who helped Snitker win a World Series, but now plays for the home team.  He gets to write "Freddie Freeman" on a lineup card one more time.

There could actually be four Dodgers in the starting lineup if Tony Gonsolin gets the nod on the mound.  Seeing as the guy is undefeated on the season, that wouldn't be a bad call at all.  But he wouldn't be my choice.  My choice would be the Marlins' Sandy Alcantara, who may very well be the best pitcher in the National League.

Last year, Ohtani was the AL's starting pitcher, partially because that was just easier.  It wouldn't surprise me if he gets the start again for the same reason.  (Ohtani's pitching Wednesday, so rest-wise he'd be lined up for an All*Star start.)  I can just as easily see Dusty Baker going with his own guy, Justin Verlander, though.  (Verlander, BTW, could also be in line for a Commissioner's selection at some point relatively soon.)

Personally, I'd give the nod to Verlander.  Ohtani does play for the Angels, though.  So, in addition to once again acknowledging his truly unique talent, an Ohtani start would bring some more hometown flavor to the game.  And that may be too much for Baker to pass up.