Originally Posted by
Geki Ace
AL and NL Battle for Homefield Advantage Tonight in Detroit
Each and every July, baseball holds its annual all-star game. Each and every July, baseball fans everywhere argue about who was snubbed, who was undeserving, and, of course, who's going to win. After the debacle that was the tie of a few years ago, Bud Selig decided to make the all-star game mean something. Despite much scrutiny, the mid-summer classic now determines homefield advantage in the World Series. There are just four teams in baseball who have been better on the road than at home this year, and that one extra home game could be a huge advantage for the two lucky teams that make it to the World Series. I'm going to tell you which team has the advantage in getting this coveted prize, and why they have the said advantage.
Starting Infield and DH
Advantage: AL
The AL takes this one, despite a strong fight put up by the two first basemen on the NL side. Lee and Pujols are certainly a formidable duo, and have had the best seasons in all of baseball up to this point. Still, Mark Teixeira and David Ortiz are also among the best, and can certainly make up much of the ground the NL has there. At the rest of the spots, the American League has the advantage. The NL hasn't put their best catcher, shortstop, or third basemen out on the field, and even if they had, the AL would still blow them away. At second base, Brian Roberts' advantage in speed and defense gives him the edge over Jeff Kent. Overall, the infield of Varitek-Teixeira-Roberts-Tejada-Rodriguez beats out Piazza-Lee-Kent-Eckstein-Ramirez fairly handily, and the slight advantage that Pujols has over Ortiz doesn't make up for it.
Starting Outfield
Advantage: AL
Once again, the American League takes it. Manny Ramirez got off to a slow start but has been among the best outfielders in the league in the past month. Johnny Damon gives the AL an excellent leadoff hitter and good speed. Vladimir Guerrero would be mentioned among the MVP candidates for the AL yet again if he hadn't had a stint on the DL, which pull his mass numbers like homeruns and RBIs down a bit. And those stats are still much, much more impressive than those put up by Carlos Beltran. Beltran is the most undeserving player at the all-star game, and goes to show a fatal flaw of having both fan voting AND having the game matter. Selig, if you're listening, get rid of one of those aspects. The NL outfield does feature Bobby Abreu, who put on a hell of a show last night at the homerun derby and may still ride that momentum in the all-star game, and Jim Edmonds, who's good for at least one spectacular defensive play tonight. Because the AL outfield is so good, you have to give the advantage to them over Beltran and his deserving outfield mates. The NL has an advantage defensively, but the AL blows them away on offense.
Starting Pitcher
Advantage: Push
This is a category that should be taken by the NL, especially after Roy Halladay went down with an injury, but Tony LaRussa let his bias get in the way, and picked Chris Carpenter over a more deserving pair of Astros in Roger Clemens and Roy Oswalt. Mark Buehrle is an excellent pitcher for the AL, and since he doesn't have to face any A's, he may be worthy even more (Two of his three losses have come against them). Carpenter has been dominant lately, putting up an ERA under 1.00 in the past month, but Clemens has been dominant the entire season and should be starting the game. There's no clear cut advantage with the two back-up starting pitchers, so neither side wins this category.
Reserve Position Players
Advantage: NL
Slight advantage to the NL here. Each team has a few guys who are there only to fill the requirement that each team needs a player (Luis Gonzalez, Mike Sweeney) and a few more players who shouldn't be at the all-star game because there are more deserving players sitting at home (Jimmy Rollins, Shea Hillenbrand), but they still have formidable back-up squads. While the AL takes the starting infield and outfield because of some undeserving NL players starting, those players are sitting on the NL bench and that gives them an advantage. Players like Felipe Lopez, Morgan Ensberg, and Miguel Cabrera are all upgrades over starters and should give the NL a boost later in the game. The AL bench is certainly not full of slouches, but the players there don't have the power or speed of the NL bench players. With the NL homerun and RBI leaders waiting to come in the NL outfield, as well as some sparkplug players like Luis Castillo, the NL bench will be a bit too much for the AL bench to keep up with.
Reserve Pitchers
Advantage: NL
The NL has the advantage here without question. While the AL has to contend with having a pair of undeserving Twins and two more filler players in Justin Duchscherer and Danys Baez, the NL has just one player who shouldn't be there in Brian Fuentes. The starting pitchers the NL will bring in after the second inning outclass those the AL will bring in, even without Pedro Martinez. Once you get towards the end of the game, the bullpens are a little closer but even with Mariano Rivera on the hill for the AL, the quartet of Isringhausen, Cordero, Wagner, and Lidge is about as dominant as a group could get, and the NL bullpen should hold any lead the NL can get.
Final Prediction: NL 8, AL 6
I'm thinking the AL will jump out to an early lead on a homer, but will lose it in the middle of the game. Once the National League gets to their bullpen, they'll hold the lead in a high scoring but close game, giving them homefield advantage in the World Series.
Baltimore Orioles
Boston Red Sox
New York Yankees
Tampa Bay Rays
Toronto Blue Jays
Chicago White Sox
Cleveland Indians
Detroit Tigers
Kansas City Royals
Minnesota Twins
Houston Astros
LA Angels
Oakland Athleticss
Seattle Mariners
Texas Rangers
Atlanta Braves
Miami Marlins
New York Mets
Philadelphia Phillies
Washington Nationals
Chicago Cubs
Cincinnati Reds
Milwaukee Brewers
Pittsburgh Pirates
St. Louis Cardinals
Arizona Diamondbacks
Colorado Rockies
Los Angeles Dodgers
San Diego Padres
San Francisco Giants
vs
Code:NL All-Stars Lineup AL All-Stars Lineup Bobby Abreu RF Johnny Damon CF Carlos Beltran LF Alex Rodriguez 3B Albert Pujols DH David Ortiz DH Derrek Lee 1B Manny Ramirez LF Jim Edmonds CF Miguel Tejada SS Aramis Ramirez 3B Vladimir Guerrero RF Mike Piazza C Mark Teixeira 1B Jeff Kent 2B Jason Varitek C David Eckstein SS Brian Roberts 2B Starting Pitcher Starting Pitcher RHP Chris Carpenter LHP Mark Buehrle AL Manager Terry Francona NL Manager Tony La Russa
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I hope he gets lit up tonight, too...
