Get your game on, go play

Back at the end of May, I said

Dan Haren has been the best pitcher in baseball this year..
and deserves to be the AL starter in the All-Star Game.

And today, manager Jim Leyland named Haren the AL's starting pitcher in the All-Star Game. His league leading ERA has "ballooned" to 2.30 after a couple of shaky starts, but he's been the best starters in the league (his WHIP is 1.00 - one baserunner per inning). and one of the few shining lights for this year's Athletics (now 44-44 and back at .500 yet again).

It has to frost NL manager Tony LaRussa that someone that he traded away is starting the All-Star Game for the other side. Getting Haren, Calero and Daric Barton from the Cardinals for Mark Mulder may be the best trade Billy Beane ever made.

I don't normally watch the MLB All-Star Game, but now I have a reason to watch at least the first couple of innings. Dan Haren is Oakland's only representative in this year's game, and there really aren't any other A's that deserve to be there.

It would be cool to see Jack Cust in today's home run derby though. It could have been Cust and Bonds in the finals. The prevailing Bay winds make left field in Telco Park a dead zone, so look for a left-handed slugger like Ryan Howard or Prince Fielder to win, and ESPN's Chris Berman to send the splash hits to Marin County ("back, back, back..that ball's headed to Sausalito!") even though McCovey cove is south of the ballpark (here's the 2007 HR derby drinking game)