No All-Star MVP For Curtis Granderson?
by Ian Casselberry on Jul 15, 2009 12:15 AM EDT
in News
37 comments
Have you seen this man? He was last seen wearing a Detroit Tigers jersey, being robbed of an All-Star MVP award.
Okay, maybe that's a bit much. And Carl Crawford certainly made a fine catch to rob Brad Hawpe of a home run that would've given the National League a 4-3 lead. But how about the guy that set up the American League's game-winning run by hitting an eighth-inning triple, and scoring on Adam Jones's sacrifice fly? Shouldn't Curtis Granderson have been the All-Star Game's Most Valuable Player?
Oh, well. It was fun to see a Detroit Tiger make the impact play of the game. (And remember when Grandy used to hit more of those triples?)
Besides Granderson's 1-for-1 performance (and four innings in center field), Edwin Jackson pitched a perfect fifth inning, and Brandon Inge played two innings in the field, going 0-for-1 in the ninth for his lone at-bat. Justin Verlander didn't appear in the game, as it was decided beforehand that he wouldn't pitch unless absolutely needed.
With the win (the American League's seventh straight, and 13th consecutive All-Star Game without a loss), the AL gets home-field advantage in the World Series. Which AL team will get to enjoy that?
Comment of the Night:
Ian's safe word = Grandy
by NCDee
(Thanks to allikazoo for posting this screen shot in our All-Star Game open thread, and suggesting the COTN.)
0 recs |
37 comments
|
Email
Print
Comments
If you could pick 3
he’d be one of them for a MVP. Any one of them could have won it. The catch was pretty special, however. And it’s nice to see good defense rewarded.imo
"It's designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything is new again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops, and leaves you to face the fall alone". A. Bartlett Giamatti
by densogirl on Jul 15, 2009 12:43 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Besides
he was the first guy interviewed on national TV after the game standing next to Mariano Rivera. Curtis got quite a bit of press today with the interview on the Red Carpet, the commercials he’s been featured in. Lots of air time for Dirty Curty.
"It's designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything is new again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops, and leaves you to face the fall alone". A. Bartlett Giamatti
by densogirl on Jul 15, 2009 12:47 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Curtis was deserving but....
It was the key hit late and he scores the winning run on the sac fly by Jones, but it was in st.louis and with foxsports and mccarver in there not saying anything about Granderson’s triple more of that the leftfielder should have had it, plus mccarver is still bitter about our Tigers beating the cardinals in 1968 which is 41 years ago, it wasn’t going to be a Tiger winning the all star game MVP in st. louis.
I wrote to mccarver once and asked him why he never says anything nice about the Tigers and Kaline in particular. He wrote back and said he thought Kaline was over the hill in 68. I wrote back and said to him :
“Yeah tim, Kaline only went 11 for 29 with 2 homeruns and 8 rbi in the 7 games and also got the key hit in the 5th game to rally the Tigers. Oh one last thing tim, who made the final out of the 7th game.
He nevered answered back”.
Now fox sports did doa post game interview with Curtis and Mariano Rivera, but that was about all.
by KalineCountry on Jul 15, 2009 12:50 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
If Curtis won, you could argue it was a good choice
But you could argue for Crawford too, or even Adam Jones, so it’s fine.
by MackAveKurt on Jul 15, 2009 12:54 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Honestly, I thought Crawford would win it after that catch if the AL won.
by Ian Casselberry on Jul 15, 2009 12:56 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
If Granderson would have hit a HR he would be MVP
’Nuff said.
Stupid redneck fans.
by ZWC11 on Jul 15, 2009 1:04 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Kinda OT
But did the political crap through the entire game drive anyone else nuts? I mean, I’m more of a political junkie than most everyone I know, but when I’m watching baseball, I want to watch baseball.
by demondeaconsbaseball on Jul 15, 2009 1:08 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Agree
Bothered me. I understand it I guess, but I’d have preferred to be able to WATCH the game and hear the interview/conversation in the background instead of the way FOX showed video of the 3 of them talking and only flashed back to the actual game when something happened.
by pachanga74 on Jul 15, 2009 1:45 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Definitely agree
I mean, I found Obama himself endearing myself — his politics, eh, that’s for another forum either way! The line about wearing the coat because his wife thought it was cute was great. He’s a personable guy.
But they did not do a very good job of managing the fact there was still a baseball game going on. I tuned in to watch baseball. I thought the production as a whole was awful, but the baseball was actually pretty good after those first inning ugly errors.
FOX screwed the pooch again.
by MackAveKurt on Jul 15, 2009 1:54 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Agree
I don’t blame the politicians themselves so much – part of their job is to be a media whore – but Fox is stupid when it comes to televising sports, and this is their fault.
Seeing politics where I don’t want it just strengthens my belief that all politicians in every country and every party should be lined up against a wall and bludgeoned with pool noodles by their constituents for being predominantly useless wastes of money-sucking carbon.
Whatever you think of president Obama, though, you have to give him points for sticking with his team. He’s always been a White Sox fan and never made any bones about it (unlike Clinton who claimed she had always been a Yankee fan as soon as a senator’s seat opened up in New York), so he is an actual fan instead of a blatant opportunist.
Fox just did a craptastic job in general of paying more attention to the interviews than the game that was actually going on at the time, and that doesn’t do anything to advance the party line that a bloody exhibition game “counts” for something because stupid Bud decided it was going to decide home field advantage in the World Series. I hate Tim McCarver.
"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle." -- Philo of Alexandria
by Baroque on Jul 15, 2009 6:37 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Bud sez: This time it counts!
Bud reasons (or his version of reasoning): Because of my tie.
by 13194013 on Jul 15, 2009 6:42 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I know what Bud sez, but that doesn't make it any less stupid.
I would have eliminated the need for a tie (without increasing wear and tear on the major league players) by tossing the minor leaguers into the mix. If the game is tied after say 12 innings (so one full round through the lineup past the regulation nine), and it so badly offends the sensibilities of the EXACT SAME PEOPLE WHO WOULD SCREAM BLOODY MURDER IF ONE OF THEIR TEAM’S PLAYERS GOT HURT AND DAMAGED THEIR TEAM’S PUSH FOR THE PLAYOFFS, then just let the minor league pitchers enter the game at that point. A thrill for them, and the game should end in short order.
And if baseball can’t get behind having the team with the best record have home field advantage, like everyone else does, then go back to alternating. The National League would have come out a lot better off, considering they are so bad in all-star games. :-)
"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle." -- Philo of Alexandria
by Baroque on Jul 15, 2009 8:33 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Agreed.
I don’t understand the reasoning behind inviting any championship team to the White House, either. I think it all started with Nixon’s call to the Super Bowl champs way back when. It all feeds into every politician wanting to be identified with a “winner”.
I also agree that Obama gets points for wearing the White Sox jacket. He could have shown up in some stupid “First Fan” outfit to be politically correct, but he didn’t do that. And as stupid as the interview was, I thought it was interesting that he asked Buck and McCarver why THEY thought the AL had been dominant in the ASG for so many years. And then he listened to their answers. That told me a lot about him.
And as long as there are network shows and movies to promote, we are going to be subject to these meaningless interviews during the game.
by NCDee on Jul 15, 2009 8:30 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
yeah and what about the whitehouse
Not only was it a joke to have a prime time interview about policies (never mind that baseball announcers, er ex-jocks, don’t know the first thing about interviewing the president of the USA) but everytime they showed a play at 2nd base we had to see the white house etched into the grass. I’m just as patriotic as anyone, but this is a little bit too much. I could see if the game was in DC, but in St. Louie. Come on. I watch spoets to get away from politics. And yes Granderson Should have been the MVP. When they announced it and gave Crawford a crystal BAT for a good catch, that was a joke. the guy went 1 for 3 with an insignificant single.
by gorio on Jul 17, 2009 1:15 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Hard to get as excited about the Crawford catch
after the grab we saw from Grandy earlier this year—longer run, higher jump. Hard to make a big deal about the MVP thing, though; it’s always a crapshoot in the All-Star game, when guys are only playing a few innings each.
BTW, I watched the game on the ESPN International telecast and Rick Sutcliffe was playing the triple down a bit, too. He wasn’t saying the LF should have caught it, but said it was misplayed off the wall into a triple. I’m not so sure about that. It bounced right to the CF off the wall, so the only way it’s a double is if the LF gives up on it really early.
Cheer for The Only Colors: Green and White!
by KJ@theonlycolors on Jul 15, 2009 1:54 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Fox blamed it on B.J. Upton in the wrong field
Kruk even said after the game that if Upton was playing in the side of the outfield he was comfortable in, he would certainly have caught the ball. It was because left field is so different from right field that he had a hard time, and that was why Granderson had a triple.
John Kruk is a bombastic idiot.
"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle." -- Philo of Alexandria
by Baroque on Jul 15, 2009 6:29 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
but if upton were in RF
He definatly wouldn’t have caught it because the ball was hit to left
http://alwaysatiger.blogspot.com
by BigJP on Jul 15, 2009 7:49 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions 0 recs
Kruk assumed that the hit was also to right field – so he was completely ignoring the situation as it actually happened and making up a different scenario is his own head.
He seems to talk louder and louder the wronger and wronger he gets, too – once he starts yelling I know he’s completely divorced from reality.
"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle." -- Philo of Alexandria
by Baroque on Jul 15, 2009 8:28 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Yes
Justin. However why don’t we just say the ball was hit hard enough and good enough that no matter who was there would not have gotten to it, because Grandy is good…and that’s the bottom line. I hate baseball commentators who try to make excuses for this one or that one "oh he’s not playing he regular position" or whatever. At this level of baseball you should be able to play most anywhere, especially the OF . How about my take on it>> Curtis knocked the shit out of that ball and no matter who was out there they weren’t gonna get to it. Period.
Welcome to Detroit>>Where the weak are killed and eaten.
by Detroitchik on Jul 15, 2009 1:31 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
in terms of excuse-making
Hockey is far, far worse. They do it all the damn time. Grrrrr ….
"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle." -- Philo of Alexandria
by Baroque on Jul 15, 2009 5:49 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
whoops
That’s what I get for paying about 2.5% of my attention to the game in the background and even less to John Kruck. :(
"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle." -- Philo of Alexandria
by Baroque on Jul 15, 2009 5:48 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
We all know you just wanted to say B.J.
by Tagne13 on Jul 15, 2009 5:54 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Only when I think of hockey. :-)
"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle." -- Philo of Alexandria
by Baroque on Jul 15, 2009 6:27 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I actually agree with this (I think)
Each time I saw Grandy’s triple replay, the more and more I thought that the ball could and should have been caught. It clearly looked to me like Upton was completely lost, but was either in position or had the speed to get to the ball & make the catch. It actually looked like the ball fell merely a few feet from where he was standing…despite the fact that the ball reached (or nearly) the wall.
Doesn’t matter to me though, as it doesn’t take one single thing away from Curtis’ timely hit & hustle to 3rd. If buck or mccarver had made a big deal of the possible mis-play right after it occurred, I would have been irritated..not so much because I would have disagreed with them, but I wouldn’t want anything to detract from Curtis’ moment.
by pachanga74 on Jul 15, 2009 1:29 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
MVP
While i would have loved seeing Grandy win the MVP i think he might have needed one more play to get it. An extra AB with even a single might have been it or some defensive play. Crawford made a good catch, not great but it was big considering the timing.
I think that Marino Rivera should have gotten the MVP. With that save he now holds the most saves in All-Star games. That stat might not be enough in some minds to get a MVP award. While i am no Yankee’s fan how many others besides me knew that once it got to the ninth the game was over?
by wizzo on Jul 15, 2009 7:54 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I just want to thank allikazoo for all those great screen shots
and SRTiger for the posters. Kudos to both of you for the fine job.
by NCDee on Jul 15, 2009 8:31 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Thanks!
I’m glad you enjoyed them.
http://tigersamateuranalysis.blogspot.com
by SabreRoseTiger on Jul 15, 2009 6:03 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Yes, a wonderful job on the posters. They were beautiful.
"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle." -- Philo of Alexandria
by Baroque on Jul 15, 2009 6:27 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
...the swing:
I loved Grandy’s triple swing because he let the ball get to him and drove it to the opposite field. For whatever reason, he’s been pulling the ball the entire first half and its shown up in his batting average.
The world's greatest wiffle ball tournament! TheFatty.com
by rings on Jul 15, 2009 9:03 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
either way
Granderson got some good air time on a big stage
by wiltfongjr on Jul 15, 2009 10:24 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Granderson Makes Detroit Proud and is a True "All Star"!!!
Curtis Granderson was an outstanding tribute to the Tigers and the city of Detroit!!
I’ve followed Grandy since he first came to Detroit and he is my favorite player on the team. It is a treat to watch him up close during Spring training in Lakeland, FL.
He appears to be a great team player and is a "fan"tanstic Role Model for the all of the kid’s growing up in the Detroit area.
Keep up the Good work, Grandy.
God Bless Curtis Granderson!
and yes, as Al Ackerman said in 1984 – “Bless you Boys”!!
God Bless America!
by BichonJohn on Jul 15, 2009 2:16 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
kalinecountry
You are the first person I’ve that I totaly agree with. Tim Mccarver hates the Tigers He will
never say any thing good about Detroit Tigers.
He’s never gotten over it ,getting by in 68.
by bobbyboy1 on Jul 15, 2009 8:29 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I knew that Granderson wasn’t going to win it because 1) The Tigers never get recognition at these types of events and 2) it wasn’t a bigger name that did it. You best believe that Pujols or Jeter got that hit; it would have been on EVERY highlight reel you can think of. But REAL fans of baseball know what Grandy did and how important it was to the game!
by tigersdalejrfan on Jul 16, 2009 6:17 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Certain photos copyright © 2009 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
