They Make it Look Easy, July 6

Hitting a 100 mph fastball, or an off-speed pitch is really hard.  It is a question of timing and patience and vision. They say, "See the ball. Hit the ball." It sounds so easy. You have to be able to see fast. A good hit is made in a split second. A good hit is made with strength.  And then once you see and hit the ball, you have to run for your life. A fraction of an inch could ruin the idea of a hit. Or a fraction of a second.

There are 30 teams in Major League Baseball. Each team has a 25-man roster. That's 750 players that can be a part of the big show at one time. When I stop to think about this, I am just stunned. Baseball is a really hard game.  It is also a really hard business. The hardest part is getting there. Thousands of kids play baseball in Little League, school teams and summer teams. The farm system and international leagues make it even bigger. All those little kids stepping up to bat and dreaming they make it to Majors, the Big Show.

Today they announced the NL and AL All Star teams. For the San Francisco Giants, it was Madison Bumgarner and Hunter Pence. They are two of about 70 players named All Stars. MadBum won't be playing because his spot on the rotation will not jive with the date of the All Star Game. He is still an All Star and will be making the trip to Minneapolis.  Someone out there is hoping that Tim Hudson will be invited to step in for MadBum.  I hope so, too.  Huddy was well on his way to being named to the team until he imploded for a bit. In baseball, timing is everything. Had Hudson been peaking at the time the Pitcher were chosen, it could have been him.  Had Timmy Lincecum settled back into his groove, it might have been him.

I can't figure out why it Buster and Pablo were not named. They had done really well in the voting.  Only the first team is decided by fan voting. Neither of them were first in the voting, and neither one was selected for the reserve teams. Some players use the All Star break for r&r. Maybe, this year, that is a greater gift for players of the San Francisco Giants.