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Experience doesn't help NL All-Star staff

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Ken Rosenthal

Ken Rosenthal has been the senior baseball writer for FOXSports.com since August 2005. He appears weekly on MLB on FOX. Follow him on Twitter.

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Updated Jul 15, 2009 1:20 AM ET
     
 

ST. LOUIS

Boy, did that sucker fly by. Here are the notes that I prepared for the FOX broadcast that did not make it on the air during a rapid-fire, 2-hour, 31-minute All-Star Game. Dustin Pedroia. He was here in spirit. Pedroia declined his appearance when his wife Kelli started having contractions seven weeks before her due date, which is Aug. 27. Kelli insisted that he play, but Pedroia declined. Not to worry: In his typical brash way, Pedroia told Red Sox manager Terry Francona and several friends, "This is my first kid, and I'll be playing in the next 15 All-Star Games!" Pedroia also informed his buddy, Mets third baseman David Wright, "You're lucky I'm not there — I would hit a line drive off your chest!" "Bran Torino." Shane Victorino actually hatched the idea of the Phillies joining forces with the Tigers to promote his Final Vote chances. Victorino and Brandon Inge were running second in the balloting at the time, and he was looking for any boost he could get. Melissa Maani, the Phillies' graphic artist, came up with the phrase, "Bran Torino" — "Bran" for Brandon, "Torino" for Victorino. She did not even know that the movie "Gran Torino" was filmed in Detroit. Heath Bell/Adrian Gonzalez. The two Padres had an unusual journey to the All-Star Game. They were supposed to fly from San Francisco to St. Louis through Las Vegas and Indianapolis, arriving at 6 a.m. Monday. But their flight in Vegas was delayed, forcing them to miss their flight in Indy. So ... road trip! Gonzalez said, "I'll go get the luggage." Bell said, "I'll go get the rental car." And they piled into a mini-van for the 240-mile drive, with Gonzalez driving. Gonzalez's wife, Betsy, and the Padres' batting pitcher, Ray Krohn, also were along for the ride. At one point, Gonzalez said, "Hey, this is just what it was like going to the Double A All-Star Game." To which Bell replied, "Buddy, I've never been to an All-Star Game." Zack Greinke. Red Sox special assistant Allard Baird was the Royals' GM when Greinke had to leave the team in Feb. 2006. White Sox farm director Buddy Bell was the team's manager. Both rave about Greinke's toughness when talking about his return to baseball from depression and social anxiety disorder. Baird says that Greinke's baseball accomplishments do not compare with the way he confronted his issues in a very public setting at a very young age. Bell says, "He's got to be so proud of himself to realize how tough he is just to get where he is today." Jayson Werth. Dodgers manager Joe Torre complimented him by calling him a "pain in the butt" during Monday's interview sessions, and Werth responded with a story of his own. In 1971, Torre played for the Cardinals with Werth's grandfather, Dick Schofield. One night, Schofield asked Torre and Moe Drabowsky to pick him up a pizza. Torre and Drabowsky obliged and left the pizza on the table. But when Schofield opened the box, there was only slice left. "I know Joe Torre can be a pain in the butt," Werth says. Joe Mauer/Tim Wakefield. Mauer catches a knuckleballer with the Twins — reliever R.A. Dickey. He says the difference between Dickey and Tim Wakefield is that Dickey throws his knuckler harder. As difficult as it is to hit the pitch, Mauer says he would rather try to hit Wakefield than catch him — the worst he could do as a hitter was swing and miss, while as a catcher he could end up chasing balls to the backstop. Mauer brought the bigger glove that he uses to catch Dickey, just in case. But Wakefield did not pitch.
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The difference in managing experience. National League manager Charlie Manuel and his coaches had far more experience than their AL counterparts, not that it mattered. Check out the comparisons in games managed: NL
Manuel: 1,144
Tony La Russa: 4,701
Joe Torre: 4,093
Total: 9,938
AL
Joe Maddon: 626
Trey Hillman: 250
Don Wakamatsu: 88
Total: 964
Josh Hamilton. After the Reds selected Hamilton in the Rule 5 draft, he began working out at their spring-training facility in January, long before camp actually opened. Reds scouting director Chris Buckley watched him put on a show one day, then gave a brief but telling report to the team's general manager at the time, Wayne Krivsky. "I just saw Herman Munster take batting practice," Buckley said. Ryan Braun. Learned he was hitting cleanup for the NL at Monday's interview session from the Brewers' beat writer, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Braun joked, "My initial reaction was that Albert is not going to get any pitches to hit even in the All-Star Game." The bigger issue for Braun was right field, a position he had never played at any level. His first appearance went off without incident. Michael Young. Asked for a trade in mid-December after the Rangers told him that they wanted him to play third base to clear shorts top for rookie Elvis Andrus. Young later rescinded his request, and the move worked out to everyone's satisfaction. The Rangers are surprise contenders, Andrus is a Rookie of the Year candidate and Young's peers voted him an All-Star at his new position. "Without a doubt, all the right buttons were pushed," Young says. Ben Zobrist. Traded from the Astros to the Devil Rays the day after the All-Star Game three years ago. At the time, Zobrist was teammates with Hunter Pence at Double A with the Astros, and the team was playing in Springfield, Il., not far from his home. A bunch of family members came to see him play, he hit a home run and the next morning he got a call at 8 a.m. informing him of the trade. Zobrist didn't know who Joe Maddon was. The only Ray he had heard of was Carl Crawford. But he was excited. The Rays — then the Devil Rays — promoted him to Triple A. Brian McCann. A scout recently told me that McCann is "throwing better, catching better and every bit as good as Molina defensively." McCann said he indeed feels that he has improved, explaining, "I dropped about 20 pounds in the offseason. Not having the extra weight on me allows me to be more of an athlete, get the ball out of my glove quicker, make the game slow down. It's also my first year calling games where everything I put down I feel is 100 percent the right pitch. It goes with getting older." Ryan Franklin. He was motivated to make the All-Star team by his 12-year-old son Logan, who early in the season took note of all the All-Star buzz around St. Louis. "My son kept asking me every day," Franklin says. "That made me want it more and more." Franklin received 42 congratulatory text messages the night he made the team. "It took me all night to respond," he says. "And I did."
Tagged: Padres, Elvis Andrus, Shane Victorino, Red Sox, R.A. Dickey, Rays, White Sox, Hunter Pence, Tigers, David Wright, Reds, Tim Wakefield, Carl Crawford, Brandon Inge, Astros, Dodgers, Twins, Mets, Phillies, Cardinals, Rangers

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