Cabrera To Start The All Star Game

Justin Morneau is sitting out of this week's All Star festivities after suffering a concussion and Joe Giardi snubbed Kevin Youkilis and chose Paul Konerko as his replacement.

Of course, the important take away from all of this is that which just became official: Miguel Cabrera will be starting the All Star game. Tigers have been major factors in recent All Star games. Last year Curtis Granderson hit a late-game Triple that led to the winning run. The year before Carlos Guillen hit an extra-inning double that just missed being a home run, although he was ultimately stranded and didn't score. My guess is that Miguel Cabrera is going to have an impact as well. He has been a force all season and deserves the starting nod which, by the way, is the first start that he's had in an All Star game, and his first appearance as a Tiger.

With 76 RBIs before the break, he has the most RBI's by a Tiger at this point in the season since Cecil Fielder had 77 in 1993. Oh, and he still had today to break that. He leads the major leagues in Batting Average (.346) and RBIs (76) and is 2nd in Home Runs (22). An AL Lineup that has some sort of Cabrera, Hamilton, Vlad combination in the order seems pretty near unstoppable, Ubaldo be damned. And add Cano into that mix? Forget about it.

As always, I'm excited for the All Star game, but with this little bit of good news today, I feel it all the more so. Cabrera deserves the recognition that has escaped him as the Tigers' best player for the last three years. Now, with the starting nod, he'll have the chance to do the team proud, and there's little doubt in my mind that he will.

In other news

• Brennan Boesch missed the cut by 1 Plate Appearance yesterday. If he plays today (no reason to think he won't) then he'll be among the league leaders by day's end. He's currently hitting .343.
• Cabrera is still in the Home Run Derby, which is always a good time.
• With Mariano Rivera sitting out, don't be surprised if the dominant Jose Valverde is the game's closer. I love the prospect of two Tigers having major roles in the All Star game. I grew up with being forced to suffer Robert Fick and Damian Easley and the like as token ASG representatives. It's so nice to have players that actually belong.
• Is anyone else a little bummed that the break is coming just as the Tigers are on an absolute tear?

Here's hoping for a sweep of the Twins today and then enjoy the festivities this week!

Boesch On The Brink

If my calculations are correct, a game in which Brennan Boesch has 5 plate appearances today should push him over the edge into league-leader qualification territory. With 259 PA's so far, he'll need 263.5 by the end of today's 85th game of the year.

So there you go. If I had a twitter account, this is something that I would post on it.

On The Road Again

Hey folks, I'm about to head out of town for a bit and I wanted to let you know that posts will be sporadic, at best. A few notes:

• Contest cards have been shipped to people who sent me their addresses with three exceptions: one to Canada and two that were too big for the envelopes I had left. They'll be in the post as soon as I get back, I promise.
• The Tigers are in first place at the half-way point...somehow. Rosenberg struggles to explain it and Henning proffers suggestions for what improvements the team will make.
• The All-Star game is next week. Expect Miguel Cabrera to come up big--in both the game and the Home Run Derby
• The Tigers start a crucial series against the reeling Twins tonight. The division is looking more and more like it will be a three-team race down to the wire.

Everybody enjoy your weekends--I'll be basking in the non-100 degree heat of Northern Michigan--and enjoy the All Star Break!

The Grand Scheme Has A Fever

And the only prescription...
Nope, sorry. Not going down that road folks. The news of a fever came out 90 minutes before yesterday's game. The stricken was none other than Miguel Cabrera, who just transferred the excess heat in his body to his bat and went freaking nuts yesterday: 3-5 with a Triple and, oh, a game-tying 2-run home run in the bottom of the 9th. This comes on the heels of a kidney infection that hit him last friday, although "There isn’t any indication that his fever today is related to the kidney infection," which is good.

The concern for me is that the two are in fact related, or that the back-to-back nature of them is indicative of a low-lying illness that could fatigue the white-hot Cabrera down the stretch. The last thing we need is an illness plus extraneous strenuous activity, like, say, trying to hit home runs 700 feet in an exhibition. Well, no worries there:

He explained why he’d skip the Home Run Derby if he didn’t think he was strong enough to participate.

“In the Home Run Derby, it’s going to be easy to get tired,” Cabrera said. “You swing hard.”

So, if he's not feeling well, he's out. Please go ahead and get your doctor's note now.

On the Home Run Derby
I am really, really conflicted about the Home Run Derby. For one, I love it. It is fun to watch (for the first round at least) and was an absolute thrill to attend (at Comerica Park in 2005). In that particular year, then-Tiger Ivan Rodriguez thrilled hometown fans by blasting 20 home runs and finishing as runner up. This was also the year that Bobby Abreu hit home runs to parts of Comerica Park that don't even know what a baseball looks like. It was the perfect storm of exhibitions showmanship (Abreu, Josh Hamilton in 2008) and unabashed homerism and it was a lot of fun.

But now it's 2010 and Miguel Cabrera is in the derby and I'm not on board. Here's why:

• Illness and injury: he's had minor things so far this year. They do not need to be exacerbated
• Tigers' history: from the same free press article, the Tigers' recent home run derby history is abysmal. Inge had 0 last year. Ordonez 2 in 2007. In fact, Pudge Rodriguez aside, no Tiger has had more than 4(!) in the derby (Cecil Fielder did it twice in 1991 and 1993). It's embarrassing.
• Why mess with a good thing? Ask Josh Hamilton. Or Vlad. Or Ken Griffey Jr:

  "Everything that you were taught not to do you have to do in the home run contest," says Griffey, who won the Derby in 1999 in Boston. "It's either a home run or nothing. You try to forget that swing when the season starts (again), but there's not a lot of time. Bad mechanics can hang around a long time."

  Granted, ESPN ran a pretty good article last year that debunks that rumour, but I prefer to quote Hamilton. "Why mess with a good thing?" With the season Cabrera is having? I wouldn't.
  

Still, Cabrera has partcipated in the Derby before (2006) did well and showed no ill effects. And he wants to win it. And he's awesome. So I guess those are all points towards wanting to see him in it. I guess it all just makes me uneasy. If I could get some sort of cosmic guarantee that says Cabrera can participate and then return to the regular season and continue performing at the same level that would be great. Because I think everyone would rather have a triple crown season an MVP and a playoff run than a trophy presented by state farm.

All Star Notes
In case this wasn't implied, Miguel Cabrera made the all star team. So did closer Jose Valverde who still doesn't have a baseball card as a Tiger despite the fact that there have been a half dozen card releases this year, including two series of Topps and had a 0.38 ERA as of last week (which ballooned to 1.00 after Tuesday's game against the O's). No other Tigers made the team, although there is some argument to be made for Magglio Ordonez, Justin Verlander and Brennan Boesch. Personally, I don't feel as though any of them were robbed of a spot (the way Cabrera was last year), so I'll let my personal biases pass for the time being.

HOWEVER, I think Brennan Boesch should have been included on the final ballot. Apparently his stats have been displayed ad nauseum to make this case, to which many Tiger fans have said "enough, we get it" so I'll let it be. He's got to be your odds-on rookie of the year favorite right now though, right?

I also share the feeling that Cabrera should be starting in the game. He's currently leading the major leagues in all three triple crown categories. Do I even need to say more than that? That's what Jim Leyland is for: (HT Hardball Talk

It's not a good system, if you want to know the truth. But you get run out of baseball when you say that. I'll be getting booed everywhere I go. In reality, they're making a big deal about the game meaning something now and that the starters should play at least five or six innings. Well, I managed a couple All-Star games where guys I had sitting on the bench were better than the guy that started. So, to me they can throw that theory totally out the window.

Question his managerial tactics all you want, but there's no manager I'd rather have talking to the press and running the clubhouse.

Damon a Hall of Famer?
As I was driving to work this morning Peter Gammons was on the Ed Norris show, and they asked the question: given Damon's 2500th hit last night, his age (36) and career durability, it is not outside of the realm of reason that he will reach 3000 hits. If he does, is he a Hall of Famer? The co-host said no (Ed Norris said yes). My gut said borderline. But Peter Gammons said yes, and definitely if he reaches 3000. Funny enough, Craig Calceterra commented on the same thing this morning, noting Damon's apparent desire to reach that milestone and, ultimately, the hall.

Which got me thinking, Damon has been a very good player for the entirety of his career. If he plays for 2-3 more years, he will have statistics that compare favorably to any number of Hall of Famers. He's also been a crucial part of two championship teams--a point that Gammons thinks is important. He was on two teams that likely would not have won the world series without him. That's a big deal. If he can take the Tigers into the playoffs (and beyond) he could be a lock. You can't underestimate the value of a "gamer" in the eyes of the writers. Tack on statistics that put him in the top 10% of players every year for his entire career and I think there's a strong case to be made.

Roster Notes
Armando Galarraga goes down to AAA as the superfluous 5th starter before the All-Star break. He'll be back up folks, don't worry. In his place, another MLB Debut:

2010 Topps Pro Debut #16 Robbie Weinhardt

Welcome to the show, kid. Bless You Boys and the Detroit Tigers Weblog give you the breakdown.

Misc. Baseball card giveaway is about 50% packed up and will be shipped out tomorrow. My wife get a big thank you for her help and will get another shout out in a later post. Good recap of the Tigers at the halfway point. They're in first...but how? Musical chairs for relievers, Casey Fein was called up, pitched a few innings and went back down to make room for Ryan Perry, for those keeping score. Kirk Gibson was given the interim manager role in Arizona. I'm thrilled for Gibby. So is Jim Leyland. Dontrelle Willis DFA'd again. Agent says he needs "a long break" from the game. Like retirement, perhaps?

Tigers Gallery Checklist: 2010 Topps Allen & Ginter

It's that Allen & Ginter time of year again. Rather than procrastinate and wait until I have images of all the cards to post a gallery--which ultimately leads to galleries being posted weeks/months after their release when nobody cares any more, I thought that I'd actually post a timely gallery this time. It also serves as a checklist, so points for functionality.

A&G is pretty much exactly what you expect it to be, and when you remove all the odd characters and off-beat mini sets and other various wacky elements and boil it down to the team set, you're left with one thing: simple, classy, nice cards. This is the hallmark of Allen & Ginter, and it holds true in the 2010 release as well. With simple design changes from previous years, the set it distinct yet fits in cohesively with other iterations. A mix & match of cards from across the A&G set would not be out of the question, if you were adventurous in your binder-page creation.

The question does remain though: when does A&G lose it's magic? For me, I think that it's already started to happen. Granted, I'm writing this without having any of these cards in-hand yet, but I started to feel this way in 2009, in what I thought was the strongest release design-wise to date. The base cards don't do it for me anymore. I find them too plain.

The minis though are gold. Pure bliss. There is nothing in the card collecting world today that can compare to Allen & Ginter minis, in my opinion. Similarly, the framed autographs stand on their own, with the relics a nice complement. In this though, we need to wonder, can a set sustain itself on parallels and "hits" alone? I mean, ALL the other sets do it, but that's what made Allen & Ginter so unique in the first place. It was supposed to be for the set collector. And I guess it still is, with a checklist that is consistently refreshed with new and interested non-baseball characters. For the team collector though, I think that ship has sailed. The checklist by-team features too few players, too many similar poses, too little aesthetic variety.

But that's ok, as long as I can get my hands on those teeny tiny tobacco era throwbacks. And autograph cards that must induce the most horrifying hand cramps and nearsightedness. And box toppers. And cabinet cards. And more minis. Come to think of it, A&G is still all right with me.

Base Set As opposed to rambling into a review of this (see above), I'll just give you the pictures. There are 10 cards in the base set, including new Tigers Max Scherzer and Johnny Damon and rookie cards of Austin Jackson (wooo!) and the former started 2nd baseman and current minor leaguer Scott Sizemore. Both are Short Printed. WOTS is that another Brent Dlugach RC was on the preliminary checklist but by the mercy of god was removed. Brennan Boesch is nowhere to be seen, in what is, to me, the biggest card disappointment of the year so far. Scans of the full-size cards are here, but you know that I'll show off a mini set of my own as soon as I've got one:

#25 Max Scherzer	#45 Justin Verlander	#93 Brandon Inge

#139 Miguel Cabrera	#197 Johnny Damon	#235 Carlos Guillen
#250 Magglio Ordonez	#256 Rick Porcello	#319 Austin Jackson SP RC
#320 Scott Sizemore SP RC

Mini Exclusives These are some of those things that I love and don't know why. The Extended Mini (EXT) set consists of cards #351-400 and are contained only within Rip Cards, making them extremely hard to find and expensive to collect (Rip Cards are found at a rate of 1 per case). This year there are two Tigers: Rick Porcello and Miguel Cabrera, featuring a different picture of them from their base card. Again, I'm not sure why I like these, but I do. Here are the two extended minis, plus another special treat.

#361 Miguel Cabrera EXT mini	#376 Rick Porcello EXT mini	#PS18 Miguel Cabrera A&G Originals

Yeah, that extra thing is a 1 of 1 "Allen & Ginter Originals" sketch card. It is also only available in Rip Cards and Cabrera's is the only Tiger. It just sold for $380 and looks awesome.



A pat on the back of Jeff Zachowski, the artist.

Inserts I tend to be lukewarm on A&G inserts ever since I saw the old Dick Perez sketches from 2006-2007 that looked horrible. But then 2008 had the players with their home state and 2009 had players with their countries and I was ok with those. This year matches a player's birthday with a historical event that happened on that day. Conceptually, that is an A+. I love the idea. I also like how the cards look, but I feel kind of "meh" towards them. Maybe it's the bad application of a horizontal. I don't know. Anyway, there are three of these in the set:

#TDH14 Justin Verlander	#TDH21 Magglio Ordonez
#TDH45 Miguel Cabrera

Autographs Tigers hit the motherload this year. There are four autographs and they are all gorgeous. Why Ryan Perry has ANOTHER autograph from Topps is beyond me, but when I can round it out with Cabrera, Scherzer and Porcello I won't complain one bit. These look amazing in scans, thanks to the bright frames that get two thumbs way up from me.

#AGA-MC Miguel Cabrera	#AGA-MS Max Scherzer	#AGA-RP Rick Porcello
#AGA-RPE Ryan Perry

Relics One? Hmmm. I'm ok with this, because I tend to think that they're a major overpopulation of relics out there and I'd like to see it cut back drastically. However, there is a huge overpopulation of relics in Allen & Ginter too, and one Tiger means that I have a pretty bad chance of pulling a Tiger as a hit from my box. Double edged swords you know.

#AGR-MCA Miguel Cabrera

Box Toppers For the first time in a some time there are no Tigers featured as part of regular box toppers or cabinet cards. BUT, there are two super-amazing awesome box topper fantasmo cards. Or, officially, an N43 Autograph (Max Scherzer, #/15) and an N43 Autograph/Relic (Miguel Cabrera, #/5). One of the Scherzers already sold, but had a horrible scan that I couldn't grab. I also lost that auction by a dollar, so I'm kind of bitter. I'll keep my eyes peeled for more appearances, though. (Update: Found one!)

#N43BA-MS Max Scherzer (#/15)	#N43BAR-MC Miguel Cabrera (#/5)

Rip Cards Two of these guys also. The only Rip Card that I have is a ripped 2008 Granderson--which I absolutely love. Not sure that the design on these ones is up to the same level, I've seen a lot of non-action poses, for example, but I'd sure love to have one. The Ordonez has surfaced (#/50), while the Verlander is yet to see the light of day. There's some case breaking in my future, so maybe, just maybe one of these will come my way.

#RC32 Justin Verlander	#RC63 Magglio Ordonez (#/50)

Contest (Not Mine) For A Box of Allen & Ginter

Nope, not the Cardboard Connection one either. The resurrected Coolio Cards is hosting a contest for a free box of Allen & Ginter. All you need to do is leave a comment and you can win!

Go!

Final Giveaway Winner and Contest Wrap Up

Sorry I'm late on this one today, lot of stuff going on.

And the winner is... Carl Crawford Cards for offering me the to-be oldest card in my collection! He'll be receiving the package of vintage cards with his other shipments. I was REALLY tempted by Mariner1, who offered me a bounty for my Pilots. However, there were only 2 Pilot in the lot and I didn't know how I would logistically modify the contest to account for their subtraction.

So, to Mariner1, if you're still willing to send the cards you offered for the Pilots AND if CarlCrawfordCards is willing to forego the Pilots, then we can do that. Both of you must comment though. (Ok, cool. Pilots go to Mariner1 with CCC getting the rest.)

As for the rest of the comment, here's the wrapup. Look for your name, your winnings and whether I still need your address. I will put it in caps and make you bold until you email it to me

AdamE: Non-Topps Red Sox
AnthonyK: Non-Topps Astros NEED ADDRESS
BA Benny: Topps Mets & Yankees NEED ADDRESS
Cam: Diamond Kings, Non-Topps Phillies & Royals, Topps Astros & O's
CarlCrawfordCards: Topps Rays, Non-Topps Rays, Vintage Lot
Dan I: Non-Topps Indians NEED ADDRESS
Dan II: Topps Phillies
Dayf: Non-Topps Braves, Topps Braves, Autograph Lot NEED ADDRESS
FanofReds: Non-Topps Reds and Pirates
Madding: Non-Topps Cardinals
Mariner1: Non-Topps Mariners
Mark's Ephemera: Topps Dbacks
mmmrhubarb: Non-Topps Twins, Topps Twins
Natscards: Non-Topps Nats/Expos, Topps Nats/Expos
Night Owl: Topps Dodgers
Play at the Plate: Non-Topps Rangers, Topps Rangers
Rod (Padrographs): Non-Topps Padres, Topps Padres
Roy: Topps Blue Jays NEED ADDRESS
Ryan: Non-Topps Orioles
The Brooklyn Met: Non-Topps Mets, Topps Giants
Thorzul: Non-Topps Brewers, Topps Brewers
TiedGame: Topps Mariners
Tunguska: Non-Topps Cubs, Topps Cubs
Vonscards: Topps Red Sox
Wicked Orteaga: Non-Topps Marlins, Topps Marlins & A's, Relic Lot NEED ADDRESS
Drew: Non-Topps Yankees

Let me know if there are any mistakes above. I'll be packing up and sending out cards in the next few days here, with the goal of having everything out the door before I leave for vacation at the end of next week.

I hope you all enjoyed the contest, that you enjoy your cards and I look forward to seeing what's headed my way!