Written by: Andrew Wittry
There is no shortage of bad blood in the Cincinnati Reds v. St. Louis
Cardinals rivalry. On August 10, 2010, a heated exchange between Reds
second baseman Brandon Phillips and Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina turned
into a bench-clearing scrum between the N.L. Central rivals. Reds pitcher Johnny Cueto ended up getting pinned up against the net behind home plate
and was kicking away Cardinals players for protection, which lead to a
seven-game suspension for the Dominican pitcher.
Tony La Russa was managing the Cardinals at the time and even though he
retired after St. Louis won the World Series last season, he has the honor
of managing the National League All-Star team on July 10th at Kauffman
Stadium, home of the Kansas City Royals. As the manager of the N.L.
All-Star team, La Russa was able to name nine players of his choice. He
chose Clayton Kershaw, Wade Miley, Cole Hamels, Ian Desmond, Carlos Ruiz,
Jay Bruce, Giancarlo Stanton, Jonathan Papelbon, and Huston Street.
Similarly to Selection Sunday of the college basketball season, every year
there are basketball teams and baseball players who have valid arguments to
be in the NCAA Tournament and MLB All-Star Game, respectively. It's just
how the sports work-there are more candidates than spots available. That
being said, the two main Cincinnati Reds players involved in the 2010
skirmish were conveniently left off of the N.L. All-Star roster. While La
Russa can't be charged as completely anti-Cincinnati since he selected Reds
outfielder Jay Bruce, he still passed on two deserving players in Phillips
and Cueto. Cueto is 9-4 with a 2.26 ERA, 86 strikeouts and a 1.14 WHIP.
Phillips has a .283 average along with 10 homeruns, 46 RBI's, a .327 OBP,
.441 slugging percentage, and a .768 OPS.
To make a point of comparison, let's take a look at the players at the same
positions as Cueto and Phillips.
Starting Pitchers
La Russa's Picks
Clayton Kershaw 6-4 Record 2.65 ERA 112 Strikeouts 1.05 WHIP
Wade Miley 9-4 Record 2.87 ERA 66 Strikeouts 1.06 WHIP
Cole Hamels 10-4 Record 3.08 ERA 111 Strikeouts 1.10 WHIP
MLB Player Vote
Matt Cain 9-3 Record 2.53 ERA 114 Strikeouts 0.95 WHIP
R.A. Dickey 12-1 Record 2.15 ERA 116 Strikeouts 0.88 WHIP
Gio Gonzalez 11-3 Record 3.01 ERA 112 Strikeouts 1.12 WHIP
Lance Lynn 10-4 Record 3.62 ERA 98 Strikeouts 1.25 WHIP
Stephen Strasburg 9-3 Record 2.81 ERA 122 Strikeouts 1.08 WHIP
Middle Infielders
La Russa's Pick
Ian Desmond (SS) 0.279 Average 14 HR's 47 RBI's .309 OBP .491 SLG
Fan Vote
Dan Uggla (2B) .229 Average 11 HR's 43 RBI's .359 OBP .400 SLG
Rafael Furcal (SS) .274 Average 5 HR's 32 RBI's .340 OBP .366 SLG
MLB Player Vote
Jose Altuve (2B) .303 Average 5 HR's 25 RBI's .345 OBP .443 SLG
Starlin Castro (SS) .291 Average 6 HR's 40 RBI's .315 OBP .418 SLG
If given the two lists of All-Stars with Johnny Cueto and Brandon Phillips
added to the appropriate list and asked to choose the player from each who
isn't an All-Star, there is no way of knowing that the two Reds are the
snubs. Only two starting pitchers have better records than Cueto and he has
the second best ERA of the starters named to the N.L. All-Star team. In
terms of "DatDudeBP" getting left of off the National League roster, he is
hitting .054 points better and has a slugging percentage .041 points higher
than the current starter, Dan Uggla. He has double the amount of homeruns
as Jose Altuve, the second baseman who Major League players voted in, and
has 21 more RBI's as well.
When questioned about Johnny Cueto and Brandon Phillips being left off of
the roster, Tony La Russa then tried to shift the blame over to Cincinnati
Reds manager Dusty Baker, who had his own thoughts about two of his
deserving players being excluded from the All-Star Game. Baker had this to
say about Cueto and Phillips not making the team,"A snub like that looks
bad, Johnny and Brandon were at the center of a skirmish between us and the
Cardinals. Some of the Cardinals who aren't there anymore are making some
of the selections." The N.L. All-Star team's manager said, "If Dusty had
been more interested in Cueto being on the team, then he wouldn't be
pitching him on Sunday, Cueto probably would be on the team if he wasn't
pitching Sunday." Whether or not there was any malice behind La Russa's
decision to not include the two players in his nine All-Star selections,
his reasoning is completely invalid. In fact, according to the the new
Collective Bargaining Agreement, a pitcher cannot be left off of an
All-Star roster on the basis of starting a game the Sunday prior to the
All-Star Game. To further the La Russa conspiracy theory, Milwaukee Brewers
starting pitcher Zack Greinke, who has a 9-2 record with a 3.08 ERA, 106
strikeouts, and a 1.18 WHIP, was also left off of the National League's
roster. In a press conference last postseason, he criticized Cardinals
pitcher Chris Carpenter. Greinke said, “They think his [Carpenter's]
presence, his attitude out there sometimes is like a phony attitude. And
then he yells at people. He just stares people down and stuff. And most
pitchers just don’t do that. And when guys do, I guess some hitters get
mad. Some hitters do it to pitchers. But when you do that some people will
get mad. There’s other pitchers in the league that do it, but, I don’t
know, a lot of guys on our team don’t like Carpenter.”
Do I think that La Russa has some animosity towards some members of
the Cincinnati Reds organization, including Johnny Cueto and Brandon
Phillips?
Yes.
Do I think that La Russa's nine selections deserve to be named All-Stars?
Yes.
All of the "evidence" is on the table but it neither incriminates nor
acquits Tony La Russa. I tend to believe that the skirmish two years ago
remains fresh in La Russa's memory and it definitely hurt the All-Star
chances of Cueto and Phillips but no one, other than
himself, knows if La Russa let past events and stormy relationships in the
N.L. Central get in the way of making impartial All-Star Game selections.
However, the situation certainly puts him in a bad light, makes him an even
more disliked figure in Cincinnati and Milwaukee, and even raises the
question if All-Star Game managers should have the complete authority to
decide nine All-Stars per league each year.
Why the Cincinnati Reds should host the 2015 All Star Game
Written by: Andrew Wittry
Great American Ballpark was constructed in the early 2000's to replace Cinergy Field and was first used during the 2003 Major League Baseball season as the new home of the Cincinnati Reds. Cincinnati has gone ten seasons without hosting the game in the Reds' new home and the city has not held the Mid-Summer Classic since 1988 at Riverfront Stadium. …
Blockbuster Trade Will Shift Power to the National League and the West Coast
Written by: Andrew Wittry
The Boston Red Sox have been in the news countless times this season and usually it is negative publicity. Bobby V's comments about Kevin Youkilis. Josh Beckett playing golf on his off-days but unable to pitch. Once again they are making the headlines but this time it is 100% baseball related. The BoSox are finalizing the biggest deal of the year with the Los Angeles Dodgers that would send Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford, and Nick Punto to the West Coast for James Loney, Rubby De La Rosa and a trio of minor leaguers-right handed pitcher Allen Webster, infielder Ivan De Jesus, and outfielder Jerry Sands. …
Nats' Bryce Harper becomes youngest position All-Star
Written by: Kevin Early
On the same day Ian Desmond withdrew from the 2012 NL All-Star team with an oblique strain, Bryce Harper has been selected by Tony LaRussa as the replacement for Giancarlo Stanton, who will have knee surgery. Youngest position player in an All-Star Game ever.
"I don’t have words to explain it right now. It’s exciting to go. …
