Welcome To The 2011 MLB "Some"-Star Game

Tonight, when you get ready to watch the All-Star Game with your cold drink in hand and bowl of chips about to tip over onto the carpet, you'll probably be taken back to your childhood, when you used to watch players such as Gary Carter, Cal Ripken, Jr., Ozzie Smith and other future Hall of Famers take the field in a matchup of the best baseball players in the majors.

But this year, instead of seeing guys such as Ryan Braun, Felix Hernandez, Mariano Rivera and some guy who just reached a thousand hits for the third time, we'll be treated to the likes of Scott Rolen (.241, 5 HR, 36 RBI), Russell Martin (.220, 10 HR, 36 RBI) and Brandon League (1-4, 3.44 ERA).

In other words, we're not seeing the All-Star Game. Rather, we're seeing the Some-Star Game, where some stars will make courtesy appearances and the rest of the players will need to wear name tags for anyone to recognize them. (Aaron Crow? Jordan Walden? Kevin Correia and his 4.01 ERA and .270 opponents' batting average?)

Things weren't always this way at the Mid-Summer Classic. The 1971 All-Star Game featured nine future Hall of Famers in the outfield alone. No one needed to be introduced to Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Willie Stargell, Roberto Clemente, Lou Brock, Frank Robinson, Carl Yastrzemski, Al Kaline or Reggie Jackson. They let their résumés speak for themselves. In all, there were 20 future Hall of Famers who played in that All-Star Game, including Rod Carew, Brooks Robinson, Luis Aparicio, Harmon Killebrew, Jim Palmer, Johnny Bench, Willie McCovey, Steve Carlton, Ferguson Jenkins, Juan Marichal, and "The Franchise" himself, Tom Seaver. In addition, both managers (Earl Weaver and Sparky Anderson) were elected to the Hall of Fame.

None of those players called in sick (I'm talking to you, Mariano Rivera). None of the pitchers needed the extra rest because they pitched on the Sunday before the All-Star Game (that's a silly new rule) and none of them were physically or emotionally exhausted (you figure it out).

The fans vote these players into the All-Star Game because they want to see them play on the national stage among their peers. Let's take a random All-Star and change his name so as not to single out any particular player. We'll call him Dirk Jitters. Mr. Jitters received millions of votes from the fans to start for his respective league in the All-Star Game. But Dirk decided he'd rather take the time off and not even bother to show up to the game that he was voted to start in.

That would be similar to Americans voting Barack Obama into the White House, only to have him say "you know what? I think I'm going to stay home and watch the White Sox instead, but thanks for voting."

Unlike some of this year's All-Star crop, including the aforementioned Dirk Jitters (remember, we changed his name to protect the guilty), San Francisco Giants' closer Brian Wilson actually gets it. He's thankful for the opportunity to represent his league and feels other All-Stars should not take this honor for granted, saying:

“I would say that you (should) show up, unless you need these three days to recover. You are representing your team, so it would be good to be here. I don’t know if (it’s an) obligation, but it’s one of your duties as a player, out of respect, knowing that there was a guy that really wanted to be on the All-Star team, and his stats were right there, and he would have loved the chance to be here."

If I wanted to watch a "Some-Star" game, I'd watch a Mets game, because the Mets have "some stars" on the team. But when I tune in to the All-Star game, I expect to see the best players in the major leagues. I don't want to see players no one voted for. I don't want to see players who were replacements for injured players who were replacements for players who would rather be on paid vacation. I want to see the players who will someday join those members of the 1971 All-Star squads in the Hall of Fame.

As fans, we deserve to see the best players participate in the All-Star Game. If only the players could see the same thing.

Seaver, Koosman, Gooden...What About Gee?

Last night, the Mets defeated the Pirates, 8-1. Dillon Gee pitched a strong eight innings, allowing one run on eight hits, walking none and striking out five. The rookie right-hander improved to 7-0 with the victory and the Mets improved to 9-0 in his nine starts. It has been well-documented that Gee is the first Mets pitcher to begin his first full season in the majors by winning his first six decisions (now seven), but should this strong start earn him a trip to Arizona for the All-Star Game?

The Mets have only sent three starting pitchers to the Midsummer Classic in their history. Tom Seaver and Jerry Koosman were bestowed that honor in 1967 and 1968, respectively, while Dwight Gooden became the last Met rookie to pitch in an All-Star Game when he pitched two scoreless innings in 1984.

As of today, Gee is leading the National League in winning percentage (1.000), is tied for sixth in wins (7), ninth in WHIP (1.097), and ranks just outside the top ten with a 3.05 ERA (Arizona's Ian Kennedy is 10th with a 3.01 ERA). Gee is also holding opposing batters to a .215 batting average, .293 on-base percentage and .309 slugging percentage.

Gee's numbers appear to make him a lock to make the final cut. However, last season Mike Pelfrey was 10-2 with a 2.71 ERA through games of June 25 and did not make the All-Star team, so Gee's inclusion on the this year's team is not guaranteed.

Whether he represents the National League in Arizona or not, Dillon Gee has pitched like an All-Star for the Mets, surpassing all expectations for a player who began the season at AAA-Buffalo. He's been their most consistent and valuable pitcher over the first two months of the season, keeping the Mets around the .500 mark longer than most "experts" predicted. As mentioned before, the Mets are 9-0 in Gee's starts. When another starter takes the mound, the Mets are 22-32.

Tom Seaver. Jerry Koosman. Dwight Gooden. They are the three winningest pitchers in franchise history. They're also the only three rookie pitchers to appear for the Mets in an All-Star Game. Dillon Gee has a chance to become the fourth member of this exclusive club. That would be quite an accomplishment for a pitcher who expected to be in Buffalo this summer, but instead might be going to Arizona.

R.I.P. Harmon Killebrew (1936-2011)

All-or-nothing sluggers. The monicker applies to players who specialize in one particular thing on the baseball diamond. They hit home runs. They don't do much else.

Over the past few decades, major league baseball has seen its share of all-or-nothing sluggers. Former players such as Dave Kingman, Rob Deer, Pete Incaviglia and Mark McGwire hit tape measure home runs that caused many jaws to drop, a tradition that has been continued by current players such as Adam Dunn and Mark Reynolds, to name a few. Of course, if these hitters weren't hitting balls over the wall, they were probably heading back to the dugout after their at-bats.

Hamon Killebrew was one such player. In a career that spanned 22 seasons (1954-1975), the man with "harm" and "kill" in his name slugged 573 home runs, hitting 40 or more eight times. However, he only hit 290 doubles, never hitting more than 27 over a full season and finished his career with a .256 batting average and almost 1,700 strikeouts.

Killebrew was an all-or-nothing slugger before the term even existed. But despite being fearsome at the plate, the man known as "Killer" was a gentle giant off the field, treating everyone he met, from current players to fans at card shows, with the same respect. It was that respect that made him one of the most beloved figures in Minnesota Twins' history.

Earlier today, Harmon Killebrew lost his battle with esophageal cancer at the age of 74. Although this is a Mets blog, we couldn't let the day pass without mentioning the passing of a Hall of Famer and true baseball legend, regardless of which team's uniform he put on. (And for those who need a Mets connection, Harmon Killebrew went 3-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI in the 1964 All-Star Game, the only Midsummer Classic ever played at Shea Stadium.)

Harmon Killebrew might have specialized in one thing on the baseball field, but that one thing was enough to make him a beloved figure, respected by Twins fans and followers of baseball alike. He may have "harmed" a few earned run averages by "killing" a baseball or two (or 573), but the soft-spoken Killebrew was anything but what his name suggested.

All-or-nothing? To Twins fans, Harmon Killebrew was all-and-everything. May he rest in peace.