Random Thoughts And Musings - All-Star Edition

I try to map out my posts well in advance. It helps keep me organized and I find I can finish posts and have them scheduled days and sometimes weeks in advance. Usually I'll plan on my Time Travel Trading posts for the 2nd or 3rd Monday of the month. When planning out some July posts, I created my Time Travel placeholder post set to go live on July 19th. Somewhere in the past week, my brain convinced myself that this post was suppose to air on the 12th, and it needed to get finished sooner rather than later. Even though I still had 2 trades open, I worked tirelessly to finish the latest Time Travel Trading Update. I figured those two last trades would just have to wait until August's update, and wrapped everything up Friday morning.

You're not getting a Time Travel Trading Update today.

Why? Lo and behold, both pending PWE came in over the weekend. I decided rather than try to squeeze these cards into the post during a busy weekend, I'd just push it back to its original 7/19 date and properly update the post. That left me with no post for today however. Fortunately, it's the All-Star break, so I have lots of thoughts in my head to share. 

Apologies in advance, since this post is more wordy and less about baseball cards. We'll return to our normally scheduled programming after the break.

- The Red Sox enter the All-Star break leading the AL East with an AL-best 55 wins. There is still a lot of baseball to play, but regardless on how the second half plays out, no Red Sox fan can view the season as anything other than a huge positive. 

 

- That being said, I like their chances to win the division. The Rays will always be scrappy, but without their ace Glasnow I think they're fighting for a wild card. The Yankees will always be the Yankees and can't be dismissed, but to see their lackluster performance so far brings me joy. The Blue Jays are the real wild card in all this. They can match anyone offensively and their pitching is going to be the reason they fail or succeed. 
 

- I've followed the draft more closely this year than any other year, mainly because the Red Sox have the highest pick they've ever had in my lifetime. There were a lot of good players at the top, and it looks like the Red Sox were going to get an impact player regardless. Most of the mock drafts by analysts had the Sox likely getting either C Henry Davis (who went first overall) or P Jack Leiter (who went 2nd). Nobody, and I mean nobody, had Marcelo Mayer falling down to the Red Sox. He was the topped ranked player on MLB, and almost unanimously pegged to go 1st or 2nd. I couldn't believe it when I looked at my phone and saw the notification that he landed with the Red Sox!
 

- Best comp I've read about our shortstop of the future: offensively Corey Seager, defensively Brandon Crawford. This is a potential franchise cornerstone here.

- I mentioned that I got the draft selection via a phone notification. Despite my increased interest in the draft, I didn't watch it on TV. I was busy watching a baseball game for the first time in 2 years. The Valley League (the local collegiate summer league) had their All-Star game, so I went with my newly retired father-in-law. It was a beautiful night for baseball, and other than abruptly ending in the middle of the 8th due to some weird issue with the pitcher's mound, it was enjoyable.

- The Valley Baseball League inducted new members into its Hall of Fame, including 5 who played in the Major Leagues - Erik Kratz, Tom Browning, Brett Gardner, Reggie Sanders, and Steve Findley. If I ever have time to properly research them, I think a series of posts on Valley League alumni would be fun.

- I also got to see the Black Widow movie this weekend with my oldest daughter. I really enjoyed it, and thought it was worth the wait. As far as Marvel movies go, it's one of their better action films, with enough of that light-hearted Marvel comedy to keep things fun.

- Tonight's Home Run Derby should be fun. In my official MLB bracket, I picked Pete Alonso to repeat. In my heart, I'm rooting for cancer-survivor Mancini. In my gut, I feel it'll be another highlight in the "Summer of Ohtani". 

- I've often thought MLB should have a second home run derby featuring former players from the host city.  It might be fun to see Gallaraga, Castillo, Helton, Bichette, Holliday and Hall of Famer Walker take a few more swings in that Colorado air.

- I'll probably watch at least the beginning of the All-Star game. I admit I start losing interest once they start swapping out guys every inning to get as many people in as possible. I miss the days when the starters actually played for awhile. Give me at least one full turn though the lineup for the starting pitchers, and at least 2 at bats for the starting hitters.

- I predict the AL will win, and they'll give the MVP to Ohtani for no other reason than he'll both hit and pitch.

- If you're a baseball fan, Ronald Acuna Jr's injury is crushing. He's so much fun to watch, and here's hoping next year he's back to full health and better than ever!

- Just because I don't like the idea of this post being all text and no baseball card related content, here's a sneak preview of next Monday's post:

 

Have a good week!