****Official 2016 All-Star Game Thread****

[Dinny Bossa Nova]

Go AL.

Beat The Cubs.

Dinny

[KChiefs1]

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/tu...ll-about-them/

Turns out Royals and Cubs fans were right as the All-Star Game was all about them

SAN DIEGO -- To all you haters and critics who cried foul when Chicago Cubs and Kansas City Royals fans stuffed the ballot boxes and filled this year's All-Star Game with two shades of blue:

Scoreboard.

Not the one that read 4-2 Tuesday night after the American League won yet another Midsummer Classic.

The one that read Royals 4, Cubs 1, Everyone Else 1.

Sure, the boldness -- and effectiveness -- with which fans of the defending champions and the lovable losers rigged the system was pretty impressive. The Cubs started their entire infield in this year's game, a mostly murderers' row of Anthony Rizzo , Ben Zobrist , Addison Russell and Kris Bryant . Dexter Fowler , whose injury kept him from the game, would also have started. Cubbies pitchers Jake Arrieta and Jon Lester were also All-Stars.

The Royals, who turned heads last year when they utterly fixed the voting, boasted four All-Stars this time around. There was top-vote getter Salvador Perez , plus Eric Hosmer and Kelvin Herrera . Wade Davis was also honored but out with an injury. And as defending champions, the Royals had Ned Yost in the dugout.

Yep. The 2016 All-Star Game was largely about Chicago and Kansas City, and the outcry over the Cubs and Royals was loud, old-fashioned, out of touch and, it turns out, wildly misplaced. Those two teams dominated the game.

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Eric Hosmer was named MVP of the 2016 All-Star Game. USATSI
Perez and Hosmer combined for two homers and drove in all four of the American League's runs. Hosmer had a solo shot and Perez had a two-run homer, both in the second. Hosmer took home the game's Most Valuable Player Award.

Added bonus, at least for Royals fans? Both long balls came off Johnny Cueto , the former Royal who booked it for San Francisco in the offseason.

Royals fans will be quite familiar with the excuse Cueto offered up to reporters after his 1 2/3 innings pitched yielded three earned runs and five hits, including those two home runs versus his former teammates.

"I'm not trying to make excuses, but sometimes you get up and you don't feel well," Cueto said. "This morning I got up and didn't feel well. That is not an excuse. I wanted to go out there and pitch and do the best I could."

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Johnny Cueto (right) was far from his best on Tuesday. USATSI
Trust me: That quote also felt like a big win for Kansas City fans.

Bryant did his part to represent the Cubs, getting the scoring started with his own first-inning home run, the only one the National League had all night.

So to recap: The two teams whose fans stuffed the ballot boxes hit three home runs and drove in five of the game's six runs. They hit the only homers of the night.

Maybe, just maybe, the fans know what they're doing. Especially the ones passionate enough to game the system and get their guys here in the first place.

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Kris Bryant repaid voters with a first-inning homer. USATSI
And maybe it's a very good thing, as the game inches toward its next incarnation. Commissioner Rob Manfred said this week baseball needs to walk that line between evolving as a modern sport and appeasing the old guard. What better place, as baseball has said goodbye to Derek Jeter and just watched its final All-Star Game with David Ortiz , than at an event voted on by a lot of young fans and represented this time around by so many young, wonderfully promising players?

The future of baseball, at least based on the raw and emerging talent that was here in San Diego Tuesday night, is bright: Bryant, Mike Trout , Bryce Harper , Manny Machado , Jose Altuve , Mookie Betts , Corey Seager .

The future is now. Fans vote. Teams with loyal following stuff the ballot. And the guys they send -- Bryant, Hosmer, Perez -- prove that a game designed for the fans is in fact best left at their discretion.

They got it right. So to all of you still yelling from your lawn: Simmer down, and next time just enjoy the show.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Fairplay]

Cubbies have a solid team this year I must say and the team to beat in the NL.

[Prison Bitch]

The Giants were always the team to beat there, with their pitching.

[Anyong Bluth]

I had no idea that the ASG balls were tweaked with I'm going to assume some Royal flair with blue and gold stitching.


Oh, and Cueto seriously might have some of the worst excuses in the history of poor sports performances.

I almost in a weird way kinda have sympathy for the guy. He's a great pitcher whose dominated. Look at his numbers and accomplishments over at least the last 6 years, and he's in some truly rarefied air. The Royals are his kryptonite for whatever reason. Facing them, like he did last night or even when he was with the Reds. Even with the Royals, he became a mere mortal pitcher surrounded by the Royal kryptonite. It's got to be maddening for a guy who dominates to have no explanation for why KC is his ultimate foil.

I'm not saying that it's a trajedy, just that I think people can identify with things in life that no matter what they do seem to always have their number. Any Chiefs fan should be able to relate if you suffered the through watching Elway go up against us throughout his career. Marty specifically, if you take into account his Cleveland days. Either way, I have nothing but gratitude for Cueto's contributions to helping our team win the WS.

As a Royals fan, it's awesome. Last night was orgasmic. The 2 homers, MVP, Herrera's 1-2-3 6th, Yosted, but for some reason I'm most impressed by the fact that the Royals players singularly scored all 4 runs to carry the AL to a win and secured home field advantage once again for the WS.

To me, last night almost feels like a 2nd opening day. With the 2nd half about to start, it's time to dial it up, make some moves to round out the roster, specifically the starting rotation, and get this playoff train steaming on an express route to the playoffs. October is where these guys shine and where they belong.

[Anyong Bluth]

Originally Posted by Fairplay

Cubbies have a solid team this year I must say and the team to beat in the NL.

I'm not exactly going out on a limb saying that they look like they're poised to be in the WS. It's amazing how stacked with talent they are and could be for quite some time.

[Dartgod]

Originally Posted by Anyong Bluth

...I'm most impressed by the fact that the Royals players singularly scored all 4 runs to carry the AL to a win..

We did not score all 4 runs. Betts scored on Salvy's 2-run bomb and Encarnacion scored on Hosmer's RBI single.

We did, however, drive in all 4 runs.

[Jerok]

Originally Posted by Dartgod

We did not score all 4 runs. Betts scored on Salvy's 2-run bomb and Encarnacion scored on Hosmer's RBI single.

We did, however, drive in all 4 runs.

Dammit don't take away my fantasy. The royals scored all 6 runs and Omar Infante even pitched!

[Anyong Bluth]

Originally Posted by Dartgod

We did not score all 4 runs. Betts scored on Salvy's 2-run bomb and Encarnacion scored on Hosmer's RBI single.

We did, however, drive in all 4 runs.

Okay, I worded it incorrectly.

[KChiefs1]

Ned the genius!

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/ne...all-star-game/

Ned Yost, Terry Collins, and the two ways to manage the All-Star Game

Tuesday night in San Diego, the AL beat the NL in the 2016 All-Star Game (AL 4, NL 2), and clinched home field advantage in the World Series. That's a pretty big deal. The AL has now won four straight All-Star Games and 16 of the last 20. This rivalry has been very one-sided of late.

As always, the All-Star managers were the pennant-winning managers from the prior season, meaning Royals skipper Ned Yost was at the helm for the AL while Mets manager Terry Collins called the shots for the NL. They displayed two very different managerial styles Tuesday night. Simply put, Yost went all-in to win the game and Collins was a bit more laid back. Here are some examples.

The Starting Pitchers

Yost tabbed White Sox lefty Chris Sale as his starting pitcher, which was a fine choice. Sale did allow a solo homer to Cubs wunderkind Kris Bryant, but that was all. He threw an inning and was replaced by the next pitcher, Cleveland Indians right-hander Corey Kluber , in the second.

Collins went with Giants righty Johnny Cueto , and again, Cueto was a fine choice to start the game. Cueto pitched around a single in a scoreless first, then went back out to pitch the second inning. In that second inning he allowed three runs on two homers: a solo shot by Eric Hosmer and a two-run shot Salvador Perez . That gave the AL a 3-1 lead.

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The decision to let Johnny Cueto pitch a second inning backfired. USATSI
Allowing the starter to go two innings is an old school All-Star Game move. Being the starter was an honor -- it still is an honor, to be clear -- that came with the privilege of bring the only guy on the staff who got to throw two innings. That's why Collins sent Cueto out for the second inning. He earned the starting assignment and that came with the two-inning stint.

Yost didn't bother with that. He sent Sale out for one inning so he could "let it eat," as the players say, meaning air it out and not hold anything back for the next inning. Baseball is a marathon, but Yost had his pitching staff go through a series of sprints. No multi-inning appearances. Let it eat for three outs, then go to the next guy. Collins paid the price for letting Cueto go two innings.

Early Substitutions

Changes usually begin take place in the middle innings, around the fourth or fifth. Yost got the substitutions started by lifting David Ortiz for pinch-runner Edwin Encarnacion in the third inning. That was ceremonial more than strategic. Yost let Ortiz leave the field in the middle of the inning to get a big ovation. It was a cool moment.

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David Ortiz was the first player removed from the All-Star Game. USATSI
By time the AL made another position player substitution, eight of the nine NL starters were out of the game. Only Wil Myers , the DH, remained the game because he was the hometown San Diego Padres player. Wilson Ramos and Corey Seager took over at catcher and short in the fourth inning, respectively. The other six starters were swapped out to start the fifth.

Yost made his second position player change in the bottom of the fifth, when Francisco Lindor hit for Xander Bogaerts . He left his starters in longer than Collins, which allowed Jose Altuve , Mike Trout, and Manny Machado to get an extra at-bat. Granted, that extra at-bat didn't amount to anyone, but it's the thought that counts. Those three guys are basically the three best hitters in the AL. Yost knew that and gave them the extra at-bat.

Collins removed his starters pretty early, which mean only two at-bats for his starters, including Bryant and Bryce Harper , arguably the two best power hitters on the planet. Yes, this is an All-Star Game and everyone is really good, but guys like Altuve and Trout and Machado are a cut above, so they batted one extra time. Bryant and Harper did not for the NL.

Late Substitutions

Every single position player played for the NL and that's cool. I'm sure the players loved that. That was not the case in the AL. Oakland Athletics catcher Stephen Vogt did not play. Why? Well, Collins showed why Yost held Vogt back.

In the top of the eighth, New York Yankees lefty Andrew Miller had an uncharacteristically bad outing and loaded the bases with two outs. By time that happened, every NL player had come off the bench except one: St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Aledmys Diaz . Diaz pinch-hit against Houston Astros righty Will Harris and struck out in the most important at-bat of the game.

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Aledmys Diaz struck out in the most important at-bat of the All-Star Game. USATSI
Yost, meanwhile, held Vogt back in case he needed a pinch-hitter in a big spot. The entire NL bullpen was right-handed, so Yost knew Vogt would have the platoon advantage no matter what. Furthermore, Minnesota Twins shortstop Eduardo Nunez was held back too, just in case a pinch-runner was needed. Vogt did not play in the All-Star Game. Nunez took over at second in the top of the ninth and played defense with a two-run lead.

Again, getting every player into the game is an old school move, and that's what Collins did. Yost left himself some strategic options on the bench in Vogt (a lefty pinch-hitter for the all-righty bullpen) and Nunez (pinch-runner) in case a big spot arrived. When that big spot arrived for the NL, Diaz was their only available option.

Bullpen Usage

Collins used four pitchers to get the final six outs of the game. Jon Lester got two outs in the bottom of the seventh and Mark Melancon got the third. Fernando Rodney got the first two outs in the bottom of the eighth and Kenley Jansen got the third. Because the AL, the home team, won the game, there was no bottom of the ninth.

Yost, on the other hand, used four relievers for full innings. Well, he intended to do that. Harris had to bail out Miller in the eighth. With Wade Davis hurt, Baltimore Orioles stopper Zach Britton was the most experienced closer in the AL squad, so he got the ninth inning. Yost used Kelvin Herrera in the sixth, Dellin Betances in the seventh, and Miller in the eighth. Go over to FanGraphs and check out the AL WAR leaders among relievers:

Well look at that. Yost used the three best relievers in the AL in innings 6-8, and he held the fourth best reliever back in just he was needed to bail one of those guys out. Sure enough, Harris had to escape Miller's mess. Britton, the closer, then got the ninth inning.

Now, did Yost go to FanGraphs and look at the top AL relievers according to WAR? No, probably not. But he knew who the best relievers are his roster were, and he used them accordingly. He didn't try to get cute with partial innings to get more players into the game. Yost used them for full innings because it was the AL's best chance to win.

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Ned Yost had his best relievers close out the All-Star Game. USATSI
Yost and Collins employed two very different approaches to the All-Star Game. Yost strategically used his pitching staff (one inning each, best relievers protect the lead) and made sure to leave himself some late-inning options on the bench (pinch-hitter Vogt, pinch-runner Nunez). Collins took a more laid back "it's an All-Star Game and let's get as many guys in as possible" approach.

Back in the day, when the All-Star Game was nothing more than an exhibition, the old school approach worked great. Get as many guys in as possible and who cares about matchups. Let's just have fun, you know? Nowadays the game is different because home field advantage is on the line. Yost did all he could to get as many players into the game as possible, but he also put his club in the best possible position to win.

Remember, Yost is the experienced All-Star Game manager here. He was the AL skipper in 2015 too. He knows firsthand how important home field advantage can be in the World Series. The All-Star Game is a spectacle and fun for the fans, but home field advantage in the Fall Classic is truly an advantage. Yost wanted it and managed accordingly. Collins treated it more like an exhibition.

[ct]

Originally Posted by Buck

Yep. They could be good for 6-8 years in a row. Lucky fans.

Lucky Cubs fans, HA

[ct]

Originally Posted by C3HIEF3S

Something like this, probably: