How To Fix The Home Run Derby

The All-Star Break is upon us and that means it's time once again for the Home Run Derby. Maybe the inexplicably boring and pointless four hours of baseball all year long, despite being centered around the most exciting moment of any game.  It shouldn't be this way.  Getting the best sluggers in the game together for the sole purpose of hitting a baseball as far as possible shouldn't be so dull.  So, how do we fix it?  I've got some solutions.

CHANGE JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING ABOUT YOURSELF, HOME RUN DERBY

The format (either whatever nonsensical playoff-bracket style they are using this year, or the boring old format of years past) is simply broken.  Nothing about it is entertaining or fun.  It feels like work for everyone, both the players trying to squeeze another couple of home runs out of their last "outs", and the fans trying to keep up with the half-dozen minor changes every year.  Just scrap it all.  The only thing that should stay the same is that it's a bunch of all-stars trying to hit home runs in ugly All-Star caps so New Era can get a nice boost in sales during July.

EXPAND THE FIELD

Hold on, I know that seems like it would only make things longer, but I'll get to that later.  In the meantime, it would be a lot more captivating if fans of every team (or at least most teams) had a horse in the race.  Expand the field to somewhere between 20 and 30 players (or, more simply, each team that sends a hitter to the ASG gets to participate.  This year, that would be 23 guys), getting more eyes on the event.  Plus, who wouldn't want to see Dee Gordon in a Home Run Derby?

1 ROUND, 10 SWINGS, 1 WINNER

It's simple.  All 20-30 batters get 10 swings.  Home Run or not, it counts against that number.  At the end of the 20ish batters getting 10 swings, whomever has the most home runs in that time wins.  That's it.  Game over.  Come back tomorrow for an actual baseball game.

NO MORE TAKING STRIKES

Needlessly adding minutes and minutes per batter is guys just staring at pitches down the middle.  Screw that.  Have an umpire back there.  If you don't swing at a strike, it counts against your swing total.  Don't like it?  Get a better pitcher next year.  Alternatively, don't take such a silly thing so seriously.

MAKE IT ALL ABOUT CHARITY

Let's say you win the one-round home run derby by hitting 7 homers in your 10 swings.  Awesome!  Here is a $100,000 for the local charity of your choice.  Did you show up and lose?  Don't worry about it, Puig, here is $10,000 for The Boys and Girls Clubs of Los Angeles.  If there is a tie, either the two winners can split the prize, or the sponsors can pony up a second grand prize, their choice.

So now, worst case scenario, even if it's still boring as crap and takes 4 hours, at least we raised ~$250,000 for local charities in almost every MLB city.  Good publicity for the players, the event and the league itself (as well as Taco Bell or State Farm or wherever the money for the donations come from).

WINNER GETS 10 1ST PLACE VOTES FOR MVP

Just kidding.  Wouldn't that be really stupid?  What next, the All-Star Game determining home field advantage for the World Series?

There it is, five simple steps to fixing the Home Run Derby and making sure the ESPYs aren't the 2nd most exciting thing in sports the second week of July.

You're Welcome, Major League Baseball.

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Good luck to Pujols in the actual Home Run Derby.  Also, hopefully the AL wins the ASG so we can get Game 7.... in Kansas City.

What You Need To Know For the All-Star Break

Well, after a great 6-0 win on Sunday Afternoon, the Angels take a ton of momentum heading into the All-Star Break.  Four Angels will be making the trip to Kansas City this weekend: Mark Trumbo, Mike Trout, Jered Weaver and C.J. Wilson (though Wilson be sitting out the game to heal from a blister, he will still be in KC for the festivities).  So, what does any of this mean for an Angels fan?  What do you have to watch?  Well, lets take a look at where our Angels will figure in to the Mid-Summer Classic.

Mark Trumbo - Likely one of the favorites heading into the Monday's Home Run Derby, anyone who has gotten to a game a couple hours early knows what kind of show this slugger can put on in batting practice, and a glorified batting practice would be the perfect way to describe the Home Run Derby.  He could be the first Angel's HRD Champion since Garret Anderson in 2003.  It's unclear how A.L. manager Ron Washington will plug Trumbo into the game on Tuesday, but Trumbo can play any of the corners, infield and outfield.  Considering his flair for the dramatic, he could even figure into the vote for All-Star Game MVP should the A.L. win (last Angel to do that: Also Garret Anderson in 2003).

Mike Trout - Likely to come in as a replacement around the same time as Trumbo, he could also factor into the MVP voting, and would likely come in as an Outfield replacement or a pinch runner.  At 20 years old, many think the Rookie is lucky to just be in the game, but the youngster is starting to let the rest of the country know he is well on his way to becoming the best all-around player in the American League.

Jered Weaver - At 10-1, with a minuscule 1.96 ERA (He leads the AL in Win Percentage, ERA and WHIP), he SHOULD be starting his second consecutive All-Star Game for the American League, but Ron Washington opted to go with the more popular Justin Verlander instead.  Also having a good year (though not as good as his 2011 Cy Young winning season), I think its fair that they trade off starting the All-Star game so long as they also trade off winning the Cy Young Award.  No one has been as dominant (save for one bad outing against Texas) as Jered has been this season.

C.J. Wilson - If C.J. is your favorite Angel, you are going to need to tune into the game early, because once is name is announced, he will be taking up a nice warm seat on the dugout bench.  As I pointed out earlier, Wilson is going to use the All-Star break to nurse a blister on his throwing hand.  Jake Peavy will be taking his spot on the roster, but Wilson will still be in Kansas City for all the hoopla and festivities.

Non-Angels to Watch:

Chipper Jones, Atlanta Braves - Probably the best story this week.  Chipper Jones has announced he will be retiring at season's end after 20 hall-of-fame years in the league (all with Atlanta).  Along with Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez, Jones is among the last of the 1990's Superstars that I grew up watching and adoring.  Perhaps the best switch-hitter in history, Jones has a career .304 batting average and 8 All-Star Game appearances.  He won't be in the starting nine for the National League, but coming off the bench, it would be a great All-Star sendoff to see Chipper win an All-Star Game MVP award.

Cole Hamels, Philadelphia Phillies - Angels fans may want to catch a glimpse of the Phillies All-Star, because he figures to be available in the next week or so as the trade deadline approaches.  It's been rumored that the Angels are incredibly interested in added yet another arm to their enormous staff of good starting pitching (Though Dan Haren and Ervin Santana haven't looked great this year, they both have the potential to be Ace's on just about any staff in baseball), especially with recent injuries to Wilson, Haren and Jerome Williams.

Fernando Rodney, Tampa Bay Rays - Yeah, I've had my fair share of crappy things to say about the former Halo, but Rodney is having a fantastic season in Tampa Bay stepping in as the full-time closer.  I'm actually kind of glad Thug Life found a new home and has thrived (similarly to how I'm happy for Jeff Mathis and his six home runs as a Blue Jay).  If nothing else, as a closer, Rodney figures to be an important piece for the A.L. at the end of the game, especially if it's close.

Half of the Texas Rangers (Mike Napoli, Adrian Beltre, Josh Hamilton, Yu Darvish, Matt Harrison, Joe Nathan, Elvis Andrus, Ian Kinsler) - This is just plain stupid.  Ridiculous even.  They only have the 2nd best record in baseball (behind New York by half a game), yet they still managed to dominate 8 of the 30 spots on the All-Star roster.  Half of the problem: limited national exposure to every other American League team that doesn't play in Boston or New York.  The other Half: Ron Washington.  This is why I don't like the Manager getting so much say in who makes it and who doesn't.  But, far be it from me to complain when the Angels got 4 All-Stars (even though you could make strong cases for Frieri and Downs).  I hope the public lashes back at all this Texas support like they have lashed back at the aforementioned New York and Boston.

Official Angels Nation Predictions:

Home Run Derby Champion: Mark Trumbo (duh.)
All-Star Game: 6-5, American League
ASG MVP: Adam Jones, Baltimore Orioles

Have You Seen This Blog?

If seen, please contact Mike. Will respond to "Angels Nation" or "Bloggy".

So... yeah... its been a while. I suppose if it were the offseason, I'd have a decent excuse for my two month hiatus, but its not, and I don't. I'd like to say I was off finishing up a college career, or fighting fires, or some other respectable reason to ignore my baby for 60 days, but I really don't. I have spent my time watching (and catching up on) Doctor Who and playing far too much Call of Duty.

While I've been gone, the Angels, oddly, have not only kept playing, but been playing well. I have been keeping track of the goings on (Russell Branyon, wtf?), and watching their climb up the West standings, but I have only actually watched a few games (maybe one a week?).

I've been thinking about writing again while this place collected dust, and when I came back to it today, I found it to be very ugly. Its no ones fault but my own... who on earth thinks a red and egg shell color scheme looks good? Anyway, I had been thinking about coming back to write, and finally a flurry of awesome enough things happened to where I can form a decent post and give you guys something to sink your teeth into.

1. Jered Weaver is Jered Weaver again. I know he wanted to take May off, so he swapped bodies with his brother Jeff. So while Jeff was trying to figure out big league hitters again, Jered was surfing and getting high (the only two things a guy who looks like that could possibly do with his free time). But since they swapped back in early June, Weaver found his stuff again and is making his bid to be the Starter for the AL in the All-Star Game. I hope this continues all the way to a Cy Young push... because if our most recent Cy Young winner remains Bartolo Colon for much longer, I'm defecting to basketball.

2. Jordan Walden backed into the All-Star Game. So what if the best Closer of all time had to get a bum arm in the first week of July for my boy Jordan to sneak into the All-Star Game? I'll take it, and I'm sure he will too. Remember when we thought Fernando Rodney was going to be our closer for at least the first half of the season? What a difference 4 months makes.

3. Mike Trout makes his Angels Debut tonight! Thats right, our uber-prospect Mike Trout makes his Major League debut tonight, well, hopefully. He is on the team, he has a number, and god-willing, he will be in the starting lineup. Its a shame it took a pulled hamstring from Peter Bourjos to get it done, but I'm still thrilled I'll finally get to watch this young man play.

So does this mean I'll be back to writing every day? Probably not. That stuff burnt me out by May, so its pretty clear that won't be happening again, but its pretty clear from the essay I've just written that my writers block is gone, which is nice. I'll probably do a semi-live blog for the All-Star Game again, but I regret that I'll be at work for the Home Run Derby. It's a shame, I could've used a mid-afternoon nap.

Just Ammy Being Ammy

That's right, you heard it here first... the official nickname for Alexi Amarista is "Ammy". Lets hope this catches on, and I can get some credit for it. But beyond my own personal gain, Alexi Amarista was phenomenal in his first big league game. His first at-bat was a 2-RBI Double, scoring Howie Kendrick and Peter Bourjos (who scored from First, and later had his second triple of the season). Ammy is just the next in a long line of AAA prospects who have actually panned out for the Angels this season, following Bourjos, Trumbo, Conger, Walden and Chatwood (who pitched tonight, and was once again effective).

This youth movement the Angels are going through right now is pretty fantastic. It makes us all forget about bad decisions like Rodney, Downs and Kazmir... at least while they are showing us what all those Angels scouts saw in them years ago. Even if this season isn't successful (as in it doesn't end in a Championship of some kind), its still going to be fun to watch this club who will make us perennial contenders from 2012 onward.

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You can now vote for the 2011 All-Star Game, and the Angels chose to put Jeff Mathis on the ballot over Hank Conger... bummer...

You can also vote for who you'd LIKE to see in the 2011 Home Run Derby, although it has no real effect on the outcome, its still fun to dream, and I spent about half an hour today voting over and over again for my write-in nominee, Mark Trumbo. You should do the same.