All-Star break with "The Captain"

[Runscott]

Bill generally isn't very funny (even in person, I've heard), but I think he's joking.

[Duluth Eskimo]

Funny, ha ha or funny like a clown?

[Runscott]

maybe funny 'smells bad'?

I've been told that dry humor actually starts to rot when it gets too dry.

[the 'stache]

Originally Posted by Runscott

Bill generally isn't very funny (even in person, I've heard), but I think he's joking.

I can be funny when funny is called for. I'm just providing my opinion here. If you don't agree with me, that's ok.

Jeter hasn't been on his game this year. I'm not taking a personal swipe at Jeter. What I am saying, however, is that voting him to start the All Star Game is indefensible. I apologize if he's your favorite player or something, but in 2014 he is simply not an All Star. He's ranked 12th in WAR for all American League shortstops. If he decided to hang it up two years ago when he was really playing well, I'd have voted for him myself. But this year, Jeter has played in 83 games, and has 371 plate appearances, and his WAR is 0.5. Basically you could pull any shortstop from AAA, hand him a glove and a bat, and they'd perform as well as Jeter has this year. I understand that doesn't take Jeter's intangibles into consideration, but he's just slowing down. It happens to all the great ones eventually.

The All Star game is supposed to recognize excellence, is it not? People are already paying tribute to him each time he visits a city for the last time, did we really have to turn the All Star Game into one more Jeter love fest, too?

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by the 'stache

I can be funny when funny is called for. I'm just providing my opinion here. If you don't agree with me, that's ok.

Wow. Perhaps my initial response wasn't actually dry humor as I intended, but was instead accidentally correct.

[the 'stache]

Originally Posted by Runscott

Wow. Perhaps my initial response wasn't actually dry humor as I intended, but was instead accidentally correct.

I'm sorry, Scott. I'd been going on very little sleep when I made that post. Please accept my apology.

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by the 'stache

I'm sorry, Scott. I'd been going on very little sleep when I made that post. Please accept my apology.

That's nice of you Bill, but no need - I got too dry with my humor.

~~ <== the new 'dry humor' emoticon, for those in the know.

[nolemmings]

The All Star game is supposed to recognize excellence, is it not?

Yes, but not just excellence this season.

HOFers at the end of the line have been honored with All-Star game inclusion for a half century. Stan Musial was an All-Star in his last season in 1963, at age 42. Mickey Mantle too his last season in '68. Willie Mays, Al Kaline and Carl Yastrzemski also come to mind. And then of course there's Cal Ripken, who started the ASG in his final season at age 40 in 2001, a season where he ended up hitting .239 and with a negative WAR. These all-time greats are put on display one final time so frequently that I hardly believe you can call Jeter's selection indefensible and a joke, unless you believe similar mockeries are made every few years.

I confess to being an unabashed Jeter fan--BIG TIME--, and thus acknowledge a proclivity for bias. Still, I hardly believe the baseball world or a large part of its fan base was denied a chance to watch "excellence" by leaving Alexi Ramirez and his 8 HR, .279 batting avg. on the bench for the first few innings, or leaving a shortstop with similar numbers off the roster altogether.

[talkinbaseball]

2 hits away from tying "Captain Carl Yaz".

Then what do we do, one respected site has Honus Wagner listed at 3,420 and the one that counts in Cooperstown has him listed at 3,430?


john-