I was just thinking about how old I was watching Bryce Harper almost win the Home Run Derby last night. The kid is 20. That also made me think about past All-Star games. So I figured I would write a blog about the game that happened 10 years ago (Bryce Harper was probably too young to even remember this game but he's starting in tonight's game).
Anyway, after looking it up, the 2003 game was one of the more memorable games in recent history. It was the first All-Star game to determine home field advantage in the World Series and it had a gigantic home run by Hank Blalock in the bottom of the 8th off of Eric Gagne to give the American League the win.
But, that's pretty much all I'll say about the game. I'm going to go through the starting line-ups and talk about some of the players I forgot about and ones who are surprising still playing 10 years later.
National League
SS- Edgar Renteria, Cardinals --- One of the better Shortstops during his time (other than his god awful year with the Red Sox). The biggest hit in Marlins baseball history winning the 1997 World Series and then he won the World Series MVP in 2010 with the Giants. Probably not a Hall of Famer but that's a solid career.
CF- Jim Edmonds, Cardinals --- Not gonna lie sort of forgot about Jimmy Edmonds. The glove on the kid. Eight time gold glover in center field.
LF- Albert Pujols, Cardinals --- Three straight Cardinals to start the lineup for the NL. That must have been tough for then Cubs manager Dusty Baker to do. For Big Albert, this was only his second all-star game at the age of 23. I hope Albert was clean all through his years in St. Louis. If he was, he is a no doubt first ballot HOFer.
DH- Barry Bonds, Giants --- What is Barry Bonds even up to nowadays?
RF- Gary Sheffield, Braves --- One of the best batting stances I have ever seen. It's a shame he probably did steroids because he would have been going to the Hall of Fame with his 509 career home runs.
1B- Todd Helton, Rockies --- I just found out the other day the Todd Helton was still playing. Shocking news to me. He was a beast in the late 90's early 2000's. Helton had six straight years of over 30 home runs.
3B- Scott Rolen, Cardinals --- He knew hot to play the hot corner. Eight gold gloves.
C- Javy Lopez, Braves --- Javy hit 43 home runs in 2003 in only 129 games. It's kind of hard to believe that he retired just three years later.
2B- Jose Vidro, Expos --- I used to love Jose Vidro when he was playing with Vladimir Guerrero on the Expos. He had a few good years in the early 2000's. This however would be his final all-star game.
SP- Jason Schmidt, Giants --- 17-5 with a 2.34 ERA in 2003. I say those type of numbers can make you the all-star starter.
P- Eric Gagne, Dodgers --- This would be Gagne's only blown save of the entire 2003 season. He won the Cy Young this season. Sure he was on steroids but he was dominant. He was also one of the worst Red Sox of all-time.
P- Dontrelle Willis, Marlins --- This was the year Dontrelle came out of nowhere with his crazy delivery. I still have a D-Train poster in my room. It stinks that he couldn't continue his success in the majors.
American League
RF- Ichiro, Mariners --- Ichiro is one of the best baseball players ever. He is close to 4,000 career hits between Japan and the MLB. 10 time all-star. 10 gold gloves. 2001 MVP. He's done it all (other than being on a lot of winning teams).
2B- Alfonso Soriano, Yankees --- Can you believe Soriano is 37 years old? He has had a very good career. He's only 12 homers away from 400. I never really understood why the Yankees let him go.
1B- Carlos Delgado, Blue Jays --- Carlos Delgado was a beast for a long time. From 1997 to 2006 he never hit under 30 home runs. Too bad the Blue Jays stunk for most of his career.
SS- Alex Rodriguez, Rangers --- A lot of things have happen to A-Rod in the past 10 years, not always good things. Who would have thought 10 years ago that we would be talking about A-Rod possibly getting a 150 game suspension for using steroids? His career might be over at this point and just a decade ago he was going to be the legitimate home run king once Bonds retired.
LF- Garret Anderson, Angels --- Honestly I forgot about Garret. He had a nice little week in '03. He won the Home Run Derby on Monday and then the MVP of the All-Star game.
DH - Edgar Martinez, Mariners --- This would be Edgar's last all-star game since he retired the next year. I don't know if he will ever get into the Hall of Fame but he is probably deserving.
CF- Hideki Matsui, Yankees --- A THRILLA FROM GODZILLA. One of my favorite John Sterling home run calls. He only made two all-star games in the MLB. I always felt like he was good player but coming over from Japan he was supposed to be amazing. Sort of like Dice-K (but Dice-K was just horrible).
3B- Troy Glaus, Angels --- What to say about Troy Glaus. He was solid. Never forgot his name though because he's on a sporcle quizzes.
C- Jorge Posada, Yankees --- George. Loved Posada.
SP- Esteban Loaiza, White Sox --- The highlight of his career. He went 21-9 in 2003. Other than that year he never won more than 12 games in a season. He got the start over guys like Roger Clemens, Roy Halladay, Mark Mulder, Barry Zito, and C.C. Sabathia.
OF- Carl Everett, White Sox --- To keep it simple. Carl Everett does not believe in dinosaurs. "You can't say there were dinosaurs when you never saw them."
3B- Hank Blalock, Rangers --- He had the biggest hit in this game. I always thought he was going to be a really good player but he only made two all-star games and last played in 2010. He's only 32 now.
P- Lance Carter, Devil Rays --- Who?
That's all I got. Matt Harvey just plunked Robbie Cano. Enjoy the game ladies and gents.
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