No Ohtani (pitching), no Judge, no Trout, no Kershaw, not much in the way of Twins players (rightly so)...but if you're like me and several of those starters' names aren't the most familiar, well, I guess there's that...
Post your running commentary below to preserve for posterity.
(Bonus points: Former Twins on the roster tonight? Arraez, Rooker, ...)
If you decide to watch, the two Twins' representatives this year are MLB BA league leader Luis Arraez and the AL starting centerfielder Byron Buxton (thank you, Mike Trout).
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The game within the game -- if at any time the announcers discuss the Yankees' first half using terms like...
...drink!
It's not in Atlanta, it's in Denver -- get over it. Coors Field last hosted the AS Game in 1998
Shohei Ohtani vs. Max Scherzer, but more importantly, us vs. Joe Buck and John Smoltz
AL has won the last seven AS Games, and are 19-3-[seligshrug.jpg] in the past 23 contests
Coors Field, a warm day, and no humidor. MLB is bringing back the late 90s for tonight. Many dingers will be hit and I'm hoping for some to leave the park.
Watch on ESPN for the regular broadcast or ESPN2 for the Statcast version.
Game in progress with Polanco taking on Kershaw. That's a less scary sentence these days than several seasons ago.
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
7 p.m. CDT
FOX
It's time for the World's Greatest All-Star Game! OK, that's not saying much given the state of other All-Star games. Still, it is the best one.
Our own intrepid Eduardo Nunez is the Twins' lone All-Star representative, which would have shocking to predict 3 months ago. There's certainly been criticism for the choice and for how deserving he is, but I certainly have no problem with it. Brian Dozier might have a good case to go to the game for a second time and Kurt Suzuki might have much less competition at his position, but Nunez has been far more consistent in the first half. Both Dozier and Suzuki had terrible numbers coming into June before both finally started to get red hot.
We'll see if Nunez gets into the game. Given he wasn't voted in, he's the lone rep of the worst team in the AL, he's clearly thrilled to just be at the game, he can play several infield positions and has plenty of speed with a bunch of steals to boot, I'm guessing he'll be held back by AL manager Ned Yost for late-game maneuverings because, you know, it counts!
Each year since 2004, in their fall Updates & Highlights release, Topps includes special game-used jersey cards of (almost) each of the participants, which are inserted randomly in packs. In honor of Perk's third AS Game and Dozier's first, here are all the Twins cards made...so far.
2004: Joe Nathan
2005: Joe Nathan, Johan Santana
2006: Joe Mauer, Johan Santana, Francisco Liriano (not included)
2007: Justin Morneau, Torii Hunter, Johan Santana
2008: Joe Mauer (starter), Joe Nathan, Justin Jason Morneau
2009: Joe Nathan, Joe Mauer (starter)
2010: Joe Mauer (starter)
2011: Michael Cuddyer
2012: Joe Mauer
2013: Glen Perkins, Joe Mauer (starter)
2014: Glen Perkins, Kurt Suzuki (not included)
Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati, OH 6PM on FOX
Tonight's starters: Houston Astros first timer Dallas Keuchel vs LA Dodgers 3-time All-Star Zack Greinke
For a safe bet, put your money on neither starter going more than three innings. Will Perk get a second consecutive save?
Here's pretty much all you need to know:
AL:
Kurt Suzuki, C, Minnesota Twins
Glen Perkins, LHP, Minnesota Twins
NL:
Carlos Gomez, OF, Milwaukee Brewers
Pat Neshek, RHP, St. Louis Cardinals
But the real Minnesota star? Target Field. You're freakin' awesome, girl -- strut your stuff.
Max Scherzer vs. Matt Harvey, Shea Citi Field, NYC
Continue reading 2013 MLB All-Star Game: Twins (and Ex-Twins) Über Alles
