Wait 'til you see his ping pong ball trick!

We’re playing FanDuel fantasy baseball again this week, and one way or another I’ll end up feeling like Justin Verlander. If I win, I’m the Justin Verlander who gets to shack up with Kate Upton. If I lose horribly, I’m the Justin Verlander who ruined the All-Star Game.

We’re capping the league at 275 spots this week, so sign up as soon and as often as possible. We’re letting you register up to three teams, and the entry fee is only two dollars. Turning two bucks into 500 is a pretty sweet deal, especially if you do it by clicking your mouse what … 11, 12 times? Don’t be the guy who won’t do that.

As always, here’s how we’re playing:

So yeah, SIGN UP FOR THIS THING PLZ. It’s fun, cheap, and can win you a bunch of money. I’ll let you decide how many of those describe Kate Upton.

Major League Baseball can’t figure out what to do about steroids, the way their division are aligned, the way their playoffs are structured or declining attendance, but they can fix what’s important: according to MLB.com, league has announced that they will set up computer stations next to team clubhouses that will allow players to use Twitter and Facebook during the 2012 All-Star Game. So if you were wondering how you’d get through 4-7 hours of Josh Hamilton not immediately telling you what he thinks of the Wreck-It Ralph teaser trailer or throwing in on the latest #thingsblackpeoplesay trend, your concerns have been addressed.

The pitch, from NESN:

After the success of last year’s “Social Media Derby,” where players were allowed to tweet during the Home Run Derby, the league decided to expand its social media offerings to the actual All-Star Game as well.

“At its core, baseball is a social activity, so it’s natural that social media has become such a huge part of how fans enjoy the game today,” said Tim Brosnan, a MLB executive. “This initiative will bring fans closer than ever to their favorite players, resulting in what will no doubt be the most ‘social’ events in baseball history.”

Shorter version: Now ESPN won’t show you clips of players sitting on the field with their kids, they’ll show them standing at a computer kiosk and you can go to @therealmiketrout or whatever and read “having fun with my kids!”. Solid improvement, guys.

I’m more interested in the running tweet commentary for the players who didn’t make the All-Star Game. Can we get Tim Brosnan to set up an Internet cafe in Nyjer Morgan’s living room?

I thought the NHL’s All-Star Weekend was pretty weak compared to the Olympics, where the players realize that they’re actually representing something. But this year’s ASG actually has a chance of eclipsing that anticipation, as the NHL will help select a pool of 42 elite players, who will then vote the captains that will actually pick the teams in a fantasy draft. I think I just peed myself typing that.

• After the 42 NHL All-Stars have been selected, two captains will be chosen per team by the players.
• On Friday, January 28, 2011, a draft event will be held in Raleigh with all 54 NHL players (42 All-Stars and 12 rookies) during which the captains will draft the remaining members of their respective teams.
• First selection in the draft will be determined by coin flip and selections will continue on an alternating basis.
• Each team will be required to select three goalies, six defensemen and 12 forwards in any order they choose.
–via Puck Daddy.

That draft will probably be more fun than the actual game. All-Star Games are designed to promote and recognize the talent in respective leagues, but nothing will top this. Ever. Unless the NFL does it for the Pro Bowl. Oh, man. I would actually have to watch that game.

Even though the popularity of international soccer is in the midst of a healthy boom, the American brand of futbol is suffering so badly that you’d think the league was headquartered in Detroit. Why can’t America’s teams compete for the hearts and minds of its own fans?

The 2009 MLS All-Star Game drew a 0.3 U.S. rating and 484,000 viewers on ESPN2 Wednesday night. The game was down 28% in households (324,000 in ’09 versus 453,000 in ’08), compared to last year’s game on ESPN.

The less than spectacular numbers for the MLS All-Star Game come in a week when soccer continues to draw strong audiences. Two Gold Cup telecasts on Univision (Costa Rica/Mexico and USA/Mexico) ranked 2nd and 3rd among the top 5 sports programs of the week. The USA/Mexico match drew 5.4 million viewers, while Costa Rica/Mexico drew 5.3 million. via.

The MLS All-Star game had a unique format where all of the league’s best players played against Everton, one of the more badass teams in Europe. The game went to penalty kicks, with Everton (and American goalie Tim Howard) prevailing. At least that was compelling and somewhat unique. Major League Lacrosse did something similar with their ASG, pitting their older stars against the league’s “young guns.” But America seems to be so brand-loyal with sports that there doesn’t seem to be any leeway for some of these other leagues to grab eyeballs on TV. Who would have thought America had such a negative attitude toward crap?

The President of the United States supposedly upset the MLB brass by wearing a Chicago White Sox jacket when throwing the first pitch at the All-Star Game last weekend. And all I can say is that whatever pisses off stodgy, white baseball owners is good for America.

[Obama senior advisor David] Axelrod said he had a long talk with Obama before the game because some Major League Baseball executives weren’t happy about the decision.

“There was a big controversy,” he said. “I think Major League Baseball wanted him to wear the All-Star jacket, and he was intent on wearing his White Sox jacket. He prevailed in that. The thing I will say about him — I’ll give him this — he’s not a Cub-hater. He will allow that he wants the Cubs to do well. It’s just that between the two of them, he prefers the White Sox. via.

I think most fans appreciated the fact that Barack Obama stuck with his team, whether or not those people were Sox fans themselves. Now if we could just do something about those jeans. via.

As bad as the home run derby was on Monday night, the 80th All-Star Game was as good last night. The two-and-a-half-hour game was highlighted by defense, including this over-the-wall catch in the bottom of the seventh inning that took the National League’s go-ahead run off the board. Oh, the American League won, 4-3 [box score]. Pointless stat alert; the NL has not won the mid-summer classic since 1996, back when I was underweight and getting beat up at parties by the swim team. No, that really happened once.

Some observations on the game itself: Albert Pujols went 0-for-3 and committed an error in the first that allowed at least one run to score. He was one of many dudes on the NL team wearing white shoes, instead of their respectively-colored team-issued spikes…Tim McCarver sounded more like a third-grade teacher than a baseball analyst. Is there anyone that doesn’t know what homering from “both sides of the plate” means?…Somebody needs to explain to that broad that sang God Bless America that she’s leading the singing of everyone else in the stadium and not putting on a 2-minute concert. Don’t make the song your own, homegirl. It ain’t your song to make. And when (if ever) should we revert back to Take Me Out To The Ballgame? I swear that they had when I was at a Reds game in Cincy two weeks ago. So why do it for TV?