Photo Friday: Padres vs. Phillies, 1994

Brawl at the plate

It was a Monday afternoon in May 1994 and I was a senior in high school. My dad was on the board of education in our town, so he knew the administration well, so when the principal of my elementary school called to say he had extra tickets for the Phillies game that night, Dad and I jumped at the chance, even though it was, for both of us, a "school night."

The big draw wasn't the defending National League champion Phillies or the visiting Padres, with future Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn (who actually struck out once during the game). It was the seat location. Through a friend, the principal had gotten seats six rows behind home plate at Veterans Stadium. I had never been so close to a Major League game, and I'm not sure I left my seat once.

The real excitement came in the fourth inning. Mariano Duncan came to bat for the first time after being hit by a pitch in the second and took ball one, which must've been high and tight. Duncan probably felt that he was being targeted, so he must've said something -- either to the pitcher, Andy Ashby, or the catcher, Brad Ausmus -- because Duncan and Ausmus then started shoving each other and the benches emptied.

It didn't go much further than the shoving in the photo, but both Duncan and Ausmus were ejected. It was a lot of fun for a high school kid sitting six rows behind home plate.

For the longest time, that was my lasting memory of this game. Until this happened. Mr. Merce was the principal who invited Dad and me to the game and I always remembered him as a die-hard Reds fan, but clearly one who loved baseball in general. I went back to visit with him a couple of times in college and at least once after I'd graduated and was living at home, working for the local newspaper. My big regret, though -- and isn't there always one of these when a tragedy like this happens? -- is that I didn't get back for a visit after I'd started working in baseball. I'm sure he would've enjoyed that conversation.

For Maine, right may be wrong

The All-Star Game selection show on TBS yesterday had the feel of CBS' annual NCAA basketball tournament selection show. TBS did its best to drag out the blasted thing, revealing the American League starters, then "breaking it down" with Cal Ripken and Tony Gwynn, then moving on to the AL pitchers (and breaking it down), then finally giving us the AL reserves. And of course there were commercial breaks in there.

When they finally made it around to the NL pitchers could I start discussing with a friend of mine how idiotic it was that John Maine was left off the team -- and not even a Final Vote candidate! -- while Cole Hamels was on the staff despite having better numbers than Maine in only two categories. And then, perhaps because of the NCAA feel to the process, I brought up the head-to-head factor: Maine and the Mets beat Hamels and the Phillies on Friday night.

But let me illustrate it for you:

Remember the Maine
	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA	WHIP	BAA	OPS	K/9	H/9	BB/9	W	L
Maine	102	79	32	31	38	84	2.74	1.15	.215	.635	7.41	6.97	3.35	9	4
Hamels	111.2	107	51	48	29	116	3.87	1.22	.254	.758	9.35	8.62	2.34	9	4

Maine wins the head-to-head comparison pretty handily. In one less start, the Mets right-hander has 9 2/3 fewer innings, but the rest of his numbers far surpass those of Hamels. The only advantage Hamels has are in strikeouts and walks. The former is by a somewhat significant margin, but is more than balanced out by Maine's superior numbers in hits and runs allowed and the related batting average against and OPS figures. And the walks difference is only nine.

Obviously, neither pitcher was needed to fill the quota for his respective team, since both the Mets and Phillies had starters selected by the fans. The only possible explanation I can find is that Hamels is just one of three left-handers on Tony La Russa's NL squad. So maybe the micromanager felt he needed one more southpaw to neutralize the AL's lefties.

Maine's last hope lies in one of the current pitchers bowing out to rest a nagging injury or rendering himself unavailable because the game on July 10 comes too close to a Saturday or Sunday start. Sunday's starters, which would be the same as Tuesday's if rotations hold, show no pitchers currently on the NL team, though Carlos Zambrano and Roy Oswalt are up for the Final Vote. (Mine, incidentally, is going to San Diego's Chris Young.) Looking at tonight's starters -- and therefore Saturday's -- gives us only Brandon Webb, also a Final Vote candidate, and John Smoltz. So the "I'm unavailable because I pitched two days ago" route doesn't look like an option.

For the most part, this year's rosters don't seem to be too idiotic. There aren't too many players to argue over; instead, the arguments should be over whether every team should be given a representative (they shouldn't) and whether pitchers should hit (they shouldn't). Who wants to see Josh Beckett come to the plate with two outs in the first and the bases loaded? Instead, the designated hitter should be used for the game -- it is an exhibition, after all -- no matter where it is played. Vote for the AL DHs as DHs and have the NL's starting DH determined by the positional runner-up with the most overall votes.

Let's hope Maine gets his due before next Tuesday.