Minor Details: Games of July 10

A solid game for Dereck Rodriguez.  A better game for Sean Poppen.  Eduardo Del Rosario tries to gain consistency.  A big day for Brent Rooker.  A bigger day for Benjamin Rodriguez.  Royce Lewis has a fine game, too.  Four of the Twins' affiliates combined for four runs and eight hits.  The other two combined for twenty-six runs and thirty hits.

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2017 MLB All-Star Game

Marlins Park

The AL squad shoots for five in a row, and a win will tie up the all-time series.

Starting lineup:
American League
C Salvador Perez, Kansas City Royals: 18 HR, 57 RBI
1B Justin Smoak, Toronto Blue Jays: 23 HR, 56 RBI
2B Jose Altuve, Houston Astros: 25 doubles, two triples, 13 home runs
3B Jose Ramirez, Cleveland Indians: 16 HR, 46 RBI
SS Carlos Correa, Houston Astros: 20 HR, 65 RBI
OF Aaron Judge, New York Yankees: 1.139 OPS, 30 HR, 66 RBI
OF Mookie Betts, Boston Red Sox: 16 HR, 15 SB, 53 RBI
OF George Springer, Houston Astros: 27 HR, 61 RBI
DH Corey Dickerson, Tampa Bay Rays: .903 OPS, 17 HR

National League
C Buster Posey, San Francisco Giants: .325 BA, 10 HR, 35 RBI
1B Ryan Zimmerman, Washington Nationals: .969 OPS, 19 HR, 63 RBI
2B Daniel Murphy, Washington Nationals: .342 BA, 64 RBI
3B Nolan Arenado, Colorado Rockies: .905, 17 HR, 70 RBI
SS Zack Cozart, Cincinnati Reds: .316 BA, 35 RBI
OF Bryce Harper, Washington Nationals: 1.021 OPS, 20 HR, 65 RBI
OF Charlie Blackmon, Colorado Rockies: .319 BA, 20 HR, 61 RBI
OF Marcell Ozuna, Miami Marlins: 23 HR, 69 RBI

Time and Place: Books Edition

The topic of "Time and Place" songs and albums has come up around these parts a couple of times, but today it struck me that certain books fall into this category as well.

When I think of A Four-Sided Bed by Elizabeth Searle, I recall eating Reese's Pieces while sprawled my bed--a mattress on the floor of an unair-conditioned* apartment--in the summer of 1999.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows brings to mind a trip up north in the summer of 2007 when I could hardly tear myself away from the book to do anything else (including speaking to my family) until I'd finished it.

I love those books read during long hours in the summer when I could read with barely an interruption. There's little opportunity for that at the moment, but I trust that someday I'll be able to read that way again.

Are there books that take you back to a certain time and place? And what are you currently reading?

*I had no idea how that word was spelled until I looked it up just now.

Happy Birthday–July 10

Jimmy McAleer (1864)
Bobby Lowe (1865)
John Heydler (1869)
Wayne Blackburn (1914)
Paul Pryor (1927)
Gene Alley (1940)
Hal McRae (1945)
Bob Bailor (1951)
Andre Dawson (1954)
Buddy Groom (1965)
Lee Stevens (1967)
Marty Cordova (1969)
ByungHo Park (1986)
Ryan Wheeler (1988)

John Heydler was the president of the National League from 1918-1934.

Wayne Blackburn was a minor league infielder from 1936-1956.  He drew over 1,400 walks in his career.

Paul Pryor was a National League umpire from 1961-1981 and is an alumnus of the author’s alma mater, the University of South Dakota.

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