Awesome. Now Let's Get Back to Baseball.

Bunch of rad dudes between a couple of giant dorks.

I love the All-Star game every year. Love it. Love it despite the players who decline, the coach favoritism, the stupid home run derby, the ridiculous home field stipulation, the terrible announcing, the stupid non-factoids on the screen, and the shuffling of the players every inning.

I love it despite the Arizona fans being the most ungrateful, bush-league fans I've seen in a really long time. I can only imagine how hard Roger Angell was shaking his head during all of this. I love the All-Star Game despite the staunchest complaining and whining from everyone on the internet, in every magazine and newspaper, and all over my television. Bruce Bochy picked too many of his own people! Bruce Bochy didn't play his own people!

I would probably love the All-Star Game if it were nothing more than a bunch of dudes in all different uniforms playing wiffle ball. Luckily -- and the past two years especially -- we usually get a well-played game that is both exciting and fun. This year's game took me back to watching Bo Jackson crush a monster home run onto the black tarp of the upper deck while every other superstar stood around gape-mouthed. It took me back to Barry Bonds picking up Torii Hunter like a ragdoll. It took me back to Benito Santiago watching a called third strike to send everyone home with a tie.

I listen to everyone from Joe Posnanski to anonymous blogger number 532 whine about how the game isn't fun any more; that it's obsolete and a mockery of baseball. I wonder what the hell game they were watching. Because baseball is amazing, and watching the best players -- or even second-best players -- in the world do their thing and truly have a good time doing it, that's amazing too.

This blog exists because baseball makes people catch feelings about it, for good or ill. It seems like a bunch of people to get paid to talk about and write about baseball have come down with Joe Buck-itis. They don't enjoy it any more for whatever reason, and now they have to make the rest of us as miserable as they are. Well you can go to hell, Joe Bucks of the world. The name of the game is BASE BALL, and it is glorious.

Now let's get back to business as usual.

- Bill