Winner Winner at the All-Star Game

Disclaimer: The current time tells me that the NL just closed out the win about 10 minutes ago. Also, I've had caffeine. I'm a little hyper. This could be awesome.

The last time the NL won the All-Star Game, I was 9. Despite my steadfast dedication to watching the All-Star game (which includes the year a storm knocked out the power and I freaked out in the dark for about two innings), I am fairly certain I didn't really watch the game until around 1998. Therefore, I am really really excited about this win.


I was talking to my grandpa before the game started, and he ended the conversation the same way he always does - by saying, 'Go Cubs!' He's the lost soul in my family. I laughed and said I didn't think I'd be able to cheer for Marlon Byrd, even if it was the All-Star Game.

Then, the seventh inning rolled around. Even though Cardinal fans had been treated to a Yadier Molina single in the third, which was only the second hit of the night for the National League, there hadn't been much to cheer for from the NL side of the stands. No NL batter had even made it safely into second base before the seventh began. It was then that the NL 'Comedy' Central took matters into their own hands (with a little help from the East).

After a quick groundout by Joey Votto (Reds), Scott Rolen (also Reds) came up and fought Phil Hughes (Yankees) in a 7 pitch at bat for a single. After watching Rolen for the past two days*, I remember all the things I loved about him as a Cardinal. He works his butt off, has a fun personality, and the man can flat out play third like no one I've seen. Anyway, after Rolen gets on, Matt Holliday lined a single up the middle and Rolen scampered all the way to third. Chris Young (D'Backs) popped out, and Marlon Byrd walked to load the bases with 3 members of 3 different teams in the Central. Then, NL fans everywhere watched with glee as Brian McCann (Braves) hit a double to the right field corner that cleared the bases. This was the scene at home:

cardinals.com

Yeah. You're looking at a picture of a Cardinal, a Red, and a Cub high fiving and cheering together. I'm confused too. I even received a tweet from a Cub fan that was addressed to a Reds fan, a Cubs fan and myself that said, 'The one night we can get along. Go NL!' I couldn't have said it better myself. I almost called my grandpa to apologize. Almost.

My other highlight of the night was the bottom of that same seventh inning: seeing Adam Wainwright take the mound. It was his first relief appearance since the last game of the 2006 World Series, and we all know how that ended! Adam was definitely pumped, hitting 96 MPH on his first pitch. Despite a botched catch in left field that I won't go into detail on, Adam pitched a dominant inning, striking out two and making several batters look silly with their swings and misses. Torii Hunter (strikeout victim #2) said after the game that Wainwright's stuff was flat out nasty, and I agree!

I love some of the fun insights you see at the All-Star game. Interviews (#chickcomment), anecdotes, and it's never the player you expect to get the job done. After the game, Matthew Leach (mlb.com) and BJ Rains (foxsportsmidwest.com) had interesting tidbits to note afterward:

Food for thought...

I can't wait to see it!

One last thing - today is literally the most boring day in the sporting world. No baseball games, the World Cup is over, and no other major sports are in season. That's just sad. You'd think someone would have come up with some gimmicky thing to do every year on this day. Oh wait, the ESPY's are on tonight. Leave it to ESPN...


*For those of you that missed it, Rolen was on MLBNetwork Monday during the media frenzy, and after basically conducting the interview himself by making fun of Kevin Millar ('Why are you 40 with highlights? Why do your shoes look like that?!'), he described a priceless moment with AJ Pujols. Yes, 9 year old AJ was tearing up the media yesterday. Sign him up now! Anyway, Rolen walked into the room where the players were being interviewed, and after Albert pointed him out to AJ, the kid looks over at Scotty, opens his arms wide and goes, 'How did YOU get here?!' Amazing.
UPDATE! I found VIDEO!