All Star Game Comments

[Frobby]

17 hours ago, deward said:

I wonder how much the pitch clock played into it. Manoah didn't have to worry about getting pressed for time.

Did they have the pitch clock in the ASG?  I didn’t see one on the screen. 

[deward]

46 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Did they have the pitch clock in the ASG?  I didn’t see one on the screen. 

I didn't see it on screen either, so I wasn't sure at first, but I did see the home plate ump make the "start the clock" signal a couple of times, so I think so. It stood out to me with Eovaldi how rushed he sounded when trying to participate in any conversation. They should probably turn it off for an inning if they're going to mic a pitcher for the audience.

[Ginger]

On 7/12/2023 at 8:45 AM, Frobby said:

This was the first time in years that I actually watched the All Star Game almost start to finish, including the player introductions.   Putting four Orioles in the game will do that.  

I liked the way they did the player introductions with the reserve players from the same team running out together.  Having them run through a line of kids was fun, but it was a bit awkward watching the single players trying to slap hands with kids on both sides.  I enjoyed watching the one kid run the bases in front of the crowd.  What a thrill for that kid.  

As to the game, I pretty much hate the announcers having conversations with mic’ed up players during the game action.  First of all, the conversations are almost necessarily inane, since the players have to be watching the game action.  Second, they get so busy with these conversations that the players who are actually doing something in the game get largely ignored.   Did Austin Hays even play in this game?   The first time he was up, the announcers were engrossed in a conversation with Corbin Carroll and never even mentioned Hays’ name until his at bat was over.   The second time, they were interviewing Luis Arraez in the dugout while Hays fisted a single into LCF, and they never even mentioned it.  Anyone watching who didn’t know anything about Hays going into the game, still doesn’t know anything about him.  And I could say the same thing about half the players in the game.  

As to the game, the way it started, with Garcia and Arozarena both making great catches at the wall, was fantastic.   There were several great defensive plays in the game, including two by Austin Riley, one charging a swinging bunt and another making a diving catch of a liner and then doubling up a runner at first with a throw from his knees.   

As to the Orioles in the game, Austin Hays held his own, grounding out and fisting a single.   Yennier Cano, I thought, looked the best he’s looked on the mound in weeks.  He struck out the first two guys on a series of nasty pitches, then induced a routine chopper to Vlad Jr. who made a comically bad lob over Cano’s head to extend the inning.  The next hitter grounded a single to RF and then Cano induced a chopper to 2B to end the threat.   Cano was ahead in the count to pretty much every hitter and everything he threw was at the knees.  

Adley Rutschman didn’t have a great day behind the plate.   He grabbed a swinging bunt and threw a one hopper that handcuffed Vlad Jr. (who isn’t exactly Keith Hernandez with the glove). He also let a high pitch from Felix Bautista tip off his glove for a wild pitch.   The scoring was correct but it’s a pitch Adley usually corrals.  At bat, Adley hit a sharp liner but it was right at the RF for a routine catch.

As to Bautista, the game was pretty much a disaster.   He was clearly nervous and didn’t have good command, walking two hitters, getting behind almost everyone he faced, throwing the wild pitch and a couple of other very errant pitches, and coughing up the game losing 2-run homer on a splitter that stayed a little too far up.  He eventually was pulled after throwing 28 pitches in the inning.   

Overall, I understand the announcers are trying to make this game feel a little different, but all the in-game chatter about things other than the players and game directly in front of them detract from the game in my opinion.  If Joe Blow has come in to pitch and is facing John Smith, I want to know what Blow and Smith did to get themselves into the all star game.  I don’t need an entire half inning of announcers going on and on about Ohtani, who batted the previous inning and did nothing remarkable.  And I definitely don’t need them chewing the fat with Ortiz, Rodriguez and Jeter and spending minutes on some story about how Ortiz dropped a chain down a sewer grate in London.  

Overall, it was a disappointing night for Bautista, and I wasn’t a fan of how Fox handled the broadcast.   But I did enjoy the game anyway, and you could tell that the players enjoyed it.  

technology overkill…choose judiciously…shut up for maybe two seconds…too much superfluous info…too much hype…just present the GAME…stop promoting showboating…I’ll stop there

[Ginger]

technology overkill…choose judiciously…shut up for maybe two seconds…too much superfluous info…too much hype…just present the GAME…stop promoting showboating…I’ll stop there