If anyone can screw Stan Musial out of the national recognition he’s sought for so long–and be applauded for it–it’s America’s sitting president. Here’s Barack Obama’s ceremonial first pitch. Oh, but Stan the Man was allowed to deliver the ball to the President. Wow, what a treat. But then why the ridiculous camera angle for the pitch? One of the biggest questions heading into the game was, “Will Obama throw a strike?” We had to wait almost an hour to see for sure that, in fact, he did not. And for all that time I thought that his first pitch was too big to fail…

LA Dodgers outfielder Manny Ramirez will be finished with his 50-game suspension by the time MLB’s All-Star Game rolls into St. Louis in mid-July. Fans have taken notice, and the campaign to get Ramirez enough votes to start in the Midsummer Classic is already underway. But the Vote For Manny blog is not what it first seems to be; it’s actually a protest against the All-Star Game itself:

I do not want to see Manny in the All Star Game. Are we clear on this? I started the “Vote For Manny” site to illustrate the joke that the voting, the “this time it counts”/World Series home field advantage rule, the mandatory representation, the still-soft PED rules…has become. I want to see the best players selected, not the most popular. Ibanez is worthy and will have a spot on the team no matter what; his manager is managing the NL team.

Manny’s vote total currently places him fourth in the NL outfield voting, so I guess this thing could still happen (sadly, Lastings Milledge’s campaign seems to be preparing its concession speech). Personally, I don’t know anyone that wants to see a game featuring players they’ve never heard of, especially when that game is just a glorified exhibition game. If they want to dump a big pile of cash on the field for both teams to play for and have a real game, then fine, get the best first-half players (OMG Zach Grienke!). Otherwise, what’s the big deal?

|via Walkoff Walk|

Former Nationals outfielder Lastings Milledge is currently rotting away in AAA Syracuse, but he was with the big club long enough to get his name on the All-Star ballot for the National League. Sons of Sam Horn and Bootlegger Sports both have started campaigns to get Milledge into the All-Star game. So how did it all go wrong for Milledge, WaPo?

To understand where things derailed, you have to trace back to the spring, when Manny Acta named Milledge as Washington’s leadoff hitter and everyday centerfielder. In retrospect, Milledge received a role that proved too difficult for him. Demoting Milledge [gave him] what those in Washington’s front office describe as a wake-up call; for the first time as a pro, Milledge would have to earn his way back.

Milledge’s inherited cause is helped by the fact that Boston fans may be asked to select all-Washington players to represent the National League, which wouldn’t be terribly inappropriate, seeing as that team is called the Nationals, arguably the worst nickname in sports. We get it, you’re the capital of America. Have you no other identity to share with us? I bet the Washington Homeless would have had some great uniforms, even though none of them would have matched.

Baseball's All-Star Game will be played in New York City this year, which will be a nice little swan song for Yankee Stadium since the Yanks are going to miss the playoffs this year (oh please oh please oh please).  And to raise the profile of the game around the city, MLB will be placing 42 replica Statues of Liberty around the city, all of them eight-and-a-half feet tall and swaddled in the tacky colors of MLB teams.  From the insufferably long MLB.com article:

[The statues] will start showing up on Friday at popular locations around the Big Apple, including Times Square, Carnegie Hall, Radio City Music Hall, the New York Stock Exchange and, yes, the Statue of Liberty. 

Each one will be uniquely designed with bold graphics and colors featuring each of the 30 Major League Baseball clubs, the Brooklyn Dodgers, the New York Giants, the American League, the National League, four All-Star statues and statues commemorating the final season of Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium, an additional version for the host Yankees, and one to be determined to be painted by the artist as a surprise.

Oh great.  Because NYC tourists needed 42 more reasons to stop walking in the middle of a Manhattan sidewalk and take a picture.   This is gonna be fucking annoying.  And yet… Thanks to my suck-proof bonds of fandom, I'll probably still seek out the Mariners statue.  As will the new M's GM, since the team needs an outfielder that moves better than Raul Ibanez.

[Awful Announcing]