How about Adam Jones! I think he learned about situational hitting tonite. That was a great at bat that won the all-star game.

Way to go Adam, really battled in the lat AB...stay down to earth.

Way to go, Adam! In your first All Star game you bang the ball hard to the gap in your first at bat (hauled in by Hawpe), catch a couple fly balls to right (hey, you're ready to play wherever they put you) and then fight off several 0-2 pitches and drive the ball to right for the game-winning RBI sacrifice fly.

Way to make all of us Oriole fans so proud!

Another Orioles helps the AL win the AS Game. Last year Sherrill ruined himself for the rest of the season. Few years ago Tejada was the All Star MVP. Few years before that Cal hit himself a HR and I think won AS MVP.

Woo O's, boo everybody else!

Peter,

You came through for me in spring training when I asked to see Luke Scott's grizzly man beard.

I'm coming to you again since I'm all the way down in Texas with no O's on TV asking for a picture of Aubrey Huff and his Ron Jeremy 'stache. I just clicked through 100 pics in the Sun's Recent O's Photos section, and there was only one of Aubrey, and he 'stache-less.

Pretty please?

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Pete's reply: I'll try, but I don't know if my luck will be better.

Here;s the winning lineup from here on out

Roberts 2b
Mora 3b
Markakis rf
JONES cf
Huff 1b*
Scott dh
Reimold lf
Weiters c
Izturis ss

That's Huff until he's traded - after that it changes - move scott up and implant wigginton / salazar

I'm assuming that we can trade Huff for at least ONE decent prospect - he is not a part of a winning team in my opinion

Best record in interleague play? Please. Half of interleague play is determined by the identity of one's alleged "rival" and the other half is determined by where in the rotation you happen to be, i.e. which of the three parts of the opposing league you're facing off against. The Dodgers look good this year because they get to tee off against the mediocre Angels, A's, Mariners, and Rangers, while the Mets, Phils, & Braves all have schedules full of Yanks, Red Sox, Rays, and of course the always dangerous O's. I think the All-Star compromise is as good as anything else. Now if they'd only actually base decisions on who gets to the playoffs based on fair criteria....

The Odd Couple: Felix and Oscar

why trade either of them? one makes a mess and the other cleans it up...

I think that having the winner come out of the all star game is not a bad idea, it does make it more interesting. I for one and not a fan of nterleague play, but I also hated the DH since its conception, so I am an old school guy. But it may help the attendance of those games, it is all about money sometimes. About the tie game, how many times did it happen in All Star history? And the reality is do you think during last years All Star game they would have pitched George Sherriill so many innings if the home field advantage was not on the line? That is a good argument on its own, when I was a kid, I always looked forward to the all star game when it meant nothing because of the lack of TV coverage back then. Now you can see any of your fan favorites in every game, if you have the MLB package. Things have changed a lot over the last 40 years and most of the changes have been successful.

Why not just give home field advantage to the team with the best record, like every other major professional sport. Why is that such a hard concept for baseball to grasp?

Kuddos to you! Excellent letter to Derrick Mason in today's paper on his announcement to retire. Hope he reads your letter/comments and steps back and rethinks his decision and follows your advice.

Major league baseball does give home field advantage up to the world series. Just like in football where you have home field until the Superbowl.

I've always felt that the AL or NL Winner with the better winning percentage should have the home field advantage.

Dawgtech, Great one on Oscar and Felix. Your right on how the Orioles shouldn't trade them; unless, of course, they're dealt together as part of a mismatched set!

I know you can say the ASG is just a glorified exhibition, but as someone who was a kid in the '70s - when the game seemed like a big deal and the NL always won (often by scores like 6-0 or 7-1) - I've gotten a real kick out of seeing the AL turn the tables over the last 20 years. After the NL went 33-8-1 from '50 thru '87, the AL is 18-3-1 since '88.

It's not like home field advantage matters as much as you'd think it would- since 2003, the World Series has been won by 3 NL teams (FLA, STL, PHI) and 3 AL teams (BOS 2x and CHI). The AL had home field advantage each time, and that's been the result.

I'd prefer just going back to the old way of doing it- just alternating World Series home field advantage b/t leagues each year and then doing away with interleague play. If interleague play must stay, then I like Schmuck's idea- winning league of interseries play during the season gets homefield advantage.

If the All Star game must mean something, how about whatever leagues wins means that the AS Game is played in that league's city the following year? I know that that would screw up the plans where AS game locations are determined years in advance, but you could get around that problem by just going w/that list and whatever city of the winning league pops up first on the list is where the next AS game is being held. At that point, the city would have a year to get things together; a lot to ask of a local gov't I know (joke) but it could be done.

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Pete's reply: The interleague record thing wasn't my idea, but I'm in favor of it.

DaveR -

I totally agree. Home field should be given to whoever has the best record like every other major sport. If you have won more of your 162 games than the other team, you deserve the advantage.

One argument you hear is that the teams play different schedules against different opponents. This is always true, and you don't hear any NBA or NHL teams complaining about how they do it. It also would make some late-season games relevant that would have been otherwise meaningless if you have a first place team fighting for the best record.

-Jeff

or how about giving home-field advantage to the TEAM WITH THE BEST RECORD!! why does it seem like this is such a bad idea? why do people keep trying to find cute new ways to give away home-field advantage?

I could understand these stupid little ways to give away home-field if it were basketball, football, or hockey. There isn't a tactical advantage for the home team in those sports. HOWEVER, the home team in baseball gets to bat last, and that is a major tactical advantage.

And people want that advantage to be doled out in some un-earned way? Let's say the Yankees go to the World Series. Now they have home-field because the AL won an exhibition game? stupid. And you want them to have home-field advantage because the AL won more interleague games, even if they were to have gone 0-20 in interleague?! What if their WS opponent went 20-0 in interleague. Does THAT make sense? NO!!

Give home-field advantage to the team that deserves it: THE TEAM WITH THE BEST RECORD.

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Pete's reply: Baseball has refused to do that because it makes it doubly hard to schedule the World Series Experience stuff that goes along with the World Series. If you want to book a Convention Center, you have to do it in advance. By knowing which league gets home field advantage, that reduces the variables by a lot.

I wish they'd end the gimmick of interleague play. Make baseball pure again (leagues only play each other for the Series championship.) Heck, they should bring back the balanced schedule with the wild card - as it is, the O's, Jays, and Rays have to play the Yankees and Red Sox 18 times a season, while the rest of the league plays them 8 times each. A definite disadvantage for the East.

Switching WS home field advantage between the leagues every season worked fine Giving it to the team with the best record is unfair, as the NL and AL teams face different competition.

We are paying for Seligs guttless decision to call the 2002 All-Star game a tie under pressure from the team managers. Here is the transcript of their conversation.

Managers "We are out of pitchers...we did not plan ahead...we never imagined a baseball game would go into extra innings(hello!)...I wanted every availablepitcher to get a chance to pitch because players feelings are more important than happy fans...we never thought it might be a good idea to save a couple pitchers for this unusual occurance(extra innings?, what are the chances)...or when picking the staff to look at were they are in their respective rotations(i.e. have enough pitchers available to play the game)...I have only been in this game for 50 freaking years and this is a complex game...blah blah blah...now since we did not plan ahead we will need you to bail us out of this jam. You have no choice but to call the game a tie and tick off our paying customers. You will then need to conduct damage control and put in some stupid rule were the All Star game will decide home field advantage in the World Series."

Selig, "sounds good, I have no idea what is good for the game and I have no conviction so I will defer to your opinions. I will tell the 50,000 fans who paid 500 bucks to bring the family in for the All Star game (and the millions at home) that this game will not be finished because I do not have enough confidence in myself to hold the managers accountable for their mistakes. Screw the paying customers, they will keep coming back regardless."

Fan, "thank you Mr. Selig, may I have another?"

I feel better now...