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The National League Will Win
Daniel
Paulling
July 12, 2005
Last year, around this time, I wrote that the National League would
be victorious in the All Star Game and secure home field advantage
in the World Series. I was wrong, but this year I’m going to
stick by my guns. The senior circuit will reign supreme July 12
in Detroit. Here’s why.
The key to winning at Comerica Park is having an offense that can
produce a lot of doubles and home runs, plus a defense that sucks
the ball up. Pitching, as on every team in any park, must be excellent.
The Starting Nine
The NL will feature a lineup filled with choices that come from
the heart of fans. Catcher Mike Piazza, shortstop David Eckstein,
third baseman Scott Rolen, and center fielder Carlos Beltran have
no business being in Detroit, because they aren’t deserving
starters. However, manager Tony LaRussa will have to make due with
what he has and Eckstein, Rolen, and Jim Edmonds are all rather
familiar to him. The other guys in the lineup should produce, but
will it be enough?
The junior circuit features the true All Stars at every position.
That’s right, the voters picked the right guy in all nine spots.
Manager Terry Francona knows his guys better than LaRussa does,
because only Vlad Guerrero and Mark Teixeira play in different divisions.
Sadly for the NL, the advantage here goes to the American League.
The Starting Pitchers
The starting pitchers are the ones that get the big bucks because
they are the most important to the team’s success. The National
League features many good pitchers, both young and old. The neophyte
starters include the multi-talented Dontrelle Willis, Chris Carpenter,
Jake Peavy, and Roy Oswalt, while the ancient Roger Clemens and
John Smoltz round out the starters.
The American League has only six starters: Mark Buerhle, Matt Clement,
Bartolo Colon, Jon Garland, Kenny Rogers, and Johan Santana. Buerhle
is a workhorse, but that has to catch up with him sometime. Neither
Clement nor Garland has track records, while Colon and Santana have
been hittable in recent times. Kenny Rogers will be carrying a lot
of hoopla around him, which could be a distraction. The NL has the
advantage with starters.
The Bullpen
No team is strong without a strong bullpen. The National League
features the best closer in baseball, Chad Cordero, along with Brian
Fuentes (only because he is on the Rockies, but he does have decent
numbers), Jason Isringhausen, Brad Lidge, and flamethrower Billy
Wagner. These five have some question marks, but they can be filthy
when on.
The American League spent a lot of picks getting bullpen guys and
they have some talent here. Danys Baez is an obligatory pick because
he is a Devil Ray. Justin Duchscherer represents the A’s and
he is pretty good. Then there is Joe Nathan, who is a great closer
and Mariano Rivera, who has been unhittable lately. BJ Ryan has
been lit up lately and Bob Wickman is at the back end of a lethal
Indians bullpen. The difference between bullpens is a wash, in my
opinion.
The Bench
The first nine players can’t play the entire game, which
means the bench will play an important role. Paul LoDuca is the
only backup catcher, but the NL has Albert Pujols, the best hitter
in baseball, in reserve for D-Lee at first. Luis Castillo and Jimmy
Rollins figure to be strong defensive replacements, while Aramis
Ramirez will have a very good pinch hit appearance in the latter
stages of the game. Moises Alou, Jason Bay, Luis Gonzalez, Andruw
Jones, and Carlos Lee are just testaments to how good the outfield
situation is in the NL, even without Jose Guillen.
The American League, however, is not without their own stars. Pudge
Rodriguez is a great secondary backstop, but Paul Konerko can’t
hit for average and Mike Sweeney has injury problems. Alfonso Soriano
has a .307 OBP, while Michael Young is not Derek Jeter. Melvin Mora
is a fine reserve, but he has questions surrounding his hamstring.
Garret Anderson and Gary Sheffield are two great hitters to come
off the bench, while Ichiro Suzuki and Scott Podsednik, the leader
of SBs in the Majors, figure to pinch run. Who is Shea Hillenbrand?
The advantage for the bench goes to the National League.
The Coaching
Coaches ultimately win games, because they dictate where all
the talent goes. With two teams this great, one mistake can mean
the difference. I know that Terry Francona managed the cursed Red
Sox to the World Series, but there aren’t many guys better
than Tony LaRussa, the inventor of the right/left matchups in latter
portions of the game. This round goes to the NL.
Intangibles
There always exists something intangible around every team.
If the intangibles are good, they win. The opposite is also true.
The NL has eleven guys participating in their first All Star game,
which means they should be pumped for this occasion. Seven of the
32 guys on the NL’s squad are going for the second year, so
the excitement is still there for them.
The American League, on the other hand, has only eight first timers.
The team is largely composed of guys who have been to the ASG three
or four times before, which makes it seem a little ho-hum. But what
about having home field advantage in the ASG? It makes little difference,
since most of the AL’s squad comes from east or west divisions.
This category leans slightly towards the senior circuit, but this
should be a pretty darned good game! |
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