I had a post about the 1984 All-Star Game in the early days of this site, but it seems to have disappeared. That's not good. Waiting in sub-zero weather to watch Bob Brenly represent your miserable team, well, that's the perfect mix of pathos and pride. I'm a big supporter of the rule which allots every team at least one representative. It's easy to forget when you follow the Yankees or Red Sox, but awful teams have fans too. A Pittsburgh fan enjoys watching someone like Jason Bay represent what is going right with the franchise, and could care less if some other player with two more home runs or a 20-point advantage in batting average is snubbed.
For the first time in almost a decade, the Giants are a legitimately bad team. On this legitimately bad team, there's a player who has done his best to help the Giants be a better team. Moises Alou is having a great season, and it would be a great season on any team, regardless of context. He deserves his All-Star berth. There were some goofs on ESPN Radio detailing how Jose Guillen was robbed by Alou. Forgetting for the moment that the term "on-base percentage" was never brought up, the main argument revolved around Guillen playing for a winning team. Guillen is a good player on a winning team, therefore he deserved a spot over a good player on a non-winning team. Yick.
The All-Star Game is a fantastic collection of the legendary and the legendary fluke seasons. Some will be there year after year, others are Jack Wilson. This year, Mike Piazza rode into the starting lineup like a dead congressman, and David Eckstein might not have taken the starting spot away from Omar Vizquel, but Vizquel would have been a much dreamier better choice. In case any of y'all are watching the game while on your computer, this will serve as an open thread. Somehow, Moises Alou will allow multiple earned runs even though he isn't a pitcher. Until the game, though, give your thoughts on the one-rep-per-team mandate.