Four Reasons Why the NL Will Win the All-Star Game

D.A.

Senior Analyst Written on July 07, 2009

Previous Next

Slide 1 of 6

I'm a fan of American League teams, but this year I don't think that they will be able to pull it off.

The American League has now won 11 straight games that didn't end in a tie (let's repress the Milwaukee tie debacle, Mr. Selig).

Here are the four reasons that the National League All-Star team will emerge victorious in the 2009 Major League Baseball All-Star game.

Do you agree or disagree?

4. The Machine

NEW YORK - JUNE 22: Albert Pujols #5 of the St. Louis Cardinals looks on during batting practice before playing the New York Mets on June 22, 2009 at Citi Field in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/G

Yes, Albert Pujols deserves his own slide.

The numbers don't lie.

Against American League pitching in his career (122 games), Pujols is batting .355 with 36 home runs, 115 RBI, and a 1.099 OPS.

More specifically:
Pujols v. Beckett: 4-of-13, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 K, 5 BB
Pujols v. Wakfield: 0-for-5, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 1 K, 1 BB
Pujols v. Verlander: 3-for-6, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 1 K, 3 BB
Pujols v. Jackson: 3-for-5, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 K, 2 BB
Pujols v. Rivera: 0-for-1, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 K, 0 BB
Pujols v. Nathan: 0-for-2, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 1 K, 0 BB
Pujols v. Halladay: 0-for-4, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 K, 0 BB
Pujols v. Greinke: 3-for-6, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 1 K, 2 BB
Pujols v. Fuentes: 2-for-7, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 0 K, 2 BB
Pujols v. Papelbon, Buehrle, Beckett, Bailey, Hernandez: N/A

Don't forget Pujols is playing in St. Louis and will have the entire crowd on his side.

3. The Pitching

OAKLAND, CA - JUNE 23: Tim Lincecum #55 of the San Francisco Giants pumps his fist against the Oakland Athletics during a Major League Baseball game on June 23, 2009 at the Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, California. (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)

The NL pitching top-to-bottom is just better than the AL pitching.

The worst NL pitcher is Jason Marquis, who has been dominating recently. The worst AL pitcher is Tim Wakefield, who has stunk recently.

Tim Lincecum, Dan Haren, Matt Cain, Josh Johnson, Chad Billingsley, and Johan Santana vs. Zack Greinke, Roy Halladay, Felix Hernandez, Edwin Jackson, Justin Verlander, Josh Beckett, and Mark Buehrle

I would take group National League over group American League any day.

2. The Streak Has Gotta End Some Time

The AL has won 11 straight games. The streak's gotta end some time. The American League has already tied the longest streak of consecutive victories.

We all do it. We get scared when our team's on a streak and we know it's inevitably going to come to an end. This is yet another one of those streaks.

1. Managers

WASHINGTON - APRIL 16: Manager Charlie Manuel of the Philadelphia Phillies watches batting practice before the game against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on April 16, 2009 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images)

No offense to Don Wakamatsu and Joe Maddon, they've been great coaches. I don't get the selection of Trey Hillman additionally.

But the NL has a dream-team of managers.
Joe Torre (four rings), Tony La Russa (two rings), and Charlie Manuel (one ring).

I'd take the set of managers any day.

Begin Slideshow

That's the end of this slideshow, here are a few more you might like...

2010 National League All-Free Agent Team

This year 171 players filed for free agency. Of the 171 total free agents, 99 are from the National League and 72 are from the American League...
The Tops 5 Free-Agents On the Market and The Top 5 Potential Suitors For Them

This sideshow/article consists of the top 5 free agents and possible teams they could sign with in this years free agency period. It will also consist of stats and a key stat which is a stat that stands out for each player...
The Risky Trio

This article was originally posted at: http://www.bringingheat.com/2009/12/the-risky-3.html These three guys perfectly exemplify the idea of high risk and high reward in Major League Baseball...

(0)

3 Comments

There are no comments yet. Get the conversation started by leaving the first comment

Loading more comments...

posted just now

Loading...
Nobody has liked this comment yet

Cancel

This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete

<form action="/accounts/create_from_facebook_comment" class="new_facebook_user" id="new_facebook_user" method="post">	<input id="facebook_user_facebook_id" name="facebook_user[facebook_id]" type="hidden" />
	<input id="facebook_user_proxied_email" name="facebook_user[proxied_email]" type="hidden" />
	<input id="facebook_user_profile_pic" name="facebook_user[profile_pic]" type="hidden" />
	<input id="facebook_user_profile_url" name="facebook_user[profile_url]" type="hidden" />
	<ul>
		<div id="facebook_questions">
			<li class="fb-question" id="facebook_full_name_container">
				<p class="question">
					<label for="facebook_user_use_full_name">Use your full name <strong class="full_name"></strong> on Bleacher Report?</label>
					<br />
				</p>
				<p class="options">
					<input name="facebook_user[use_full_name]" type="hidden" value="0" /><input checked="checked" id="facebook_user_use_full_name" name="facebook_user[use_full_name]" type="checkbox" value="1" />
					<label for="facebook_user_use_full_name">Yes</label>
				</p>
				<div class="input full-name-edit" style="display:none">
					<p>Edit your name for Bleacher Report:</p>
					<div class="fb-first-name">
						<label for="facebook_user_first_name">First Name <em>(required)</em></label>
						<input class="signup_text_input" id="facebook_user_first_name" name="facebook_user[first_name]" size="30" type="text" />
						
					</div>
	
					<div class="fb-last-name">
						<label for="facebook_user_last_name">Last Name <em>(required)</em></label>
						<input class="signup_text_input" id="facebook_user_last_name" name="facebook_user[last_name]" size="30" type="text" />
						
					</div>
				</div>
			</li>
			<li class="fb-question">
				<p class="question">
					<img src="/images/default-user-icon-medium.png" class="profile_pic" />
					<label for="facebook_user_use_profile_pic">Do you want to use your Facebook profile picture on Bleacher Report?</label>
				</p>
				<p class="options">
					<input name="facebook_user[use_profile_pic]" type="hidden" value="0" /><input checked="checked" id="facebook_user_use_profile_pic" name="facebook_user[use_profile_pic]" type="checkbox" value="1" />
					<label for="facebook_user_use_profile_pic">Yes</label>
					
				</p>
			</li>
			<li>
				<a id="facebook_connect_submit"><img src="/images/shared/submit.png" /></a>
			</li>
		</div>
	</ul>
</form>

122
reads

3
comments

0
likes

written on July 07, 2009 Opinion

<form action="/accounts/create_from_facebook" class="new_facebook_user" id="new_facebook_user" method="post">	<input id="facebook_user_proxied_email" name="facebook_user[proxied_email]" type="hidden" />
	<input id="facebook_user_profile_pic" name="facebook_user[profile_pic]" type="hidden" />
	<input id="facebook_user_facebook_id" name="facebook_user[facebook_id]" type="hidden" />
	<input id="facebook_user_profile_url" name="facebook_user[profile_url]" type="hidden" />
	<ul>
					<li class="fb-question">
				<div class="input">
											<div id="facebook_placebo_submit">
							<img src="/images/shared/submit.png" />
						</div>
										<div class="fb-first-name" id="fb-email">
						<p><strong>Email Address</strong></p>
						<input class="signup_text_input" id="facebook_user_email" name="facebook_user[email]" size="30" type="text" />
						<img alt="Small" id="facebook_email_indicator" src="http://assets2.bleacherreport.com/images/shared/spinners/small.gif?1259884154" style="display:none" />
						
					</div>
				</div>
				<div class="input" id="facebook_password_container" style="display:none">
					<div class="fb-first-name notice">
						<p>This email address matches an existing user profile. Please enter your password to connect your accounts.</p>
						<p><strong>Password</strong></p>
						<input class="signup_text_input" id="facebook_user_password" name="facebook_user[password]" size="30" type="password" />
						
					</div>
				</div>
			</li>
				<div id="facebook_questions" style="display:none">
			<li class="fb-question" id="facebook_full_name_container">
				<p class="question">
					<label for="facebook_user_use_full_name">Use your full name <strong class="full_name"></strong> on Bleacher Report?</label>
					<br />
				</p>
				<p class="options">
					<input name="facebook_user[use_full_name]" type="hidden" value="0" /><input checked="checked" id="facebook_user_use_full_name" name="facebook_user[use_full_name]" type="checkbox" value="1" />
					<label for="facebook_user_use_full_name">Yes</label>
				</p>
				<div class="input full-name-edit" style="display:none">
					<p>Edit your name for Bleacher Report:</p>
					<div class="fb-first-name">
						<label for="facebook_user_first_name">First Name <em>(required)</em></label>
						<input class="signup_text_input" id="facebook_user_first_name" name="facebook_user[first_name]" size="30" type="text" />
						
					</div>
	
					<div class="fb-last-name">
						<label for="facebook_user_last_name">Last Name <em>(required)</em></label>
						<input class="signup_text_input" id="facebook_user_last_name" name="facebook_user[last_name]" size="30" type="text" />
						
					</div>
				</div>
			</li>
			<li class="fb-question">
				<p class="question">
					<img src="/images/default-user-icon-medium.png" class="profile_pic" />
					<label for="facebook_user_use_profile_pic">Do you want to use your Facebook profile picture on Bleacher Report?</label>
				</p>
				<p class="options">
					<input name="facebook_user[use_profile_pic]" type="hidden" value="0" /><input checked="checked" id="facebook_user_use_profile_pic" name="facebook_user[use_profile_pic]" type="checkbox" value="1" />
					<label for="facebook_user_use_profile_pic">Yes</label>
					
				</p>
			</li>
			<li class="fb-question" id="facebook_interested_in_writing_container">
				<p class="question"><label for="facebook_user_interested_in_writing">Are you interested in covering your favorite teams and sports?</label></p>
				<p class="options">
					<input name="facebook_user[interested_in_writing]" type="hidden" value="0" /><input id="facebook_user_interested_in_writing" name="facebook_user[interested_in_writing]" type="checkbox" value="1" />
					<label for="facebook_user_interested_in_writing">Yes</label>
					
				</p>
			</li>
			<li class="fb-question">
				<p class="question"><label for="facebook_user_share_activity">Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity in your Facebook activity feed?</label></p>
				<p class="options">
					<input name="facebook_user[share_activity]" type="hidden" value="0" /><input checked="checked" id="facebook_user_share_activity" name="facebook_user[share_activity]" type="checkbox" value="1" />
					<label for="facebook_user_share_activity">Yes</label>
					
					<br />
					<a href="#" id="share_facebook_activity_advanced_link">Advanced Sharing Options</a>
				</p>
				<p id="share_facebook_activity_advanced" style="display:none">
					<input name="facebook_user[share_activity_article_writing]" type="hidden" value="0" /><input checked="checked" id="facebook_user_share_activity_article_writing" name="facebook_user[share_activity_article_writing]" type="checkbox" value="1" />
					<label for="facebook_user_share_activity_article_writing">When I write a new article</label>
					<br /><input name="facebook_user[share_activity_comment]" type="hidden" value="0" /><input checked="checked" id="facebook_user_share_activity_comment" name="facebook_user[share_activity_comment]" type="checkbox" value="1" />
					<label for="facebook_user_share_activity_comment">When I post a comment</label>
					<br /><input name="facebook_user[share_activity_like]" type="hidden" value="0" /><input checked="checked" id="facebook_user_share_activity_like" name="facebook_user[share_activity_like]" type="checkbox" value="1" />
					<label for="facebook_user_share_activity_like">When I like an article</label>
					<br /><input name="facebook_user[share_activity_poll_vote]" type="hidden" value="0" /><input checked="checked" id="facebook_user_share_activity_poll_vote" name="facebook_user[share_activity_poll_vote]" type="checkbox" value="1" />
					<label for="facebook_user_share_activity_poll_vote">When I vote on a poll</label>
					<br /><input name="facebook_user[share_activity_fan]" type="hidden" value="0" /><input checked="checked" id="facebook_user_share_activity_fan" name="facebook_user[share_activity_fan]" type="checkbox" value="1" />
					<label for="facebook_user_share_activity_fan">When I become a fan of another member</label>
				</p>
			</li>
			<li class="fb-question">
				<p class="question"><label for="facebook_user_fan_friends">Become fans of your Facebook friends connected to Bleacher Report?</label></p>
				<p class="options">			
					<input name="facebook_user[fan_friends]" type="hidden" value="0" /><input checked="checked" id="facebook_user_fan_friends" name="facebook_user[fan_friends]" type="checkbox" value="1" />
					<label for="facebook_user_fan_friends">Yes</label>
					
				</p>
			</li>
			<li>
				<a id="facebook_connect_submit"><img src="/images/shared/submit.png" /></a>
			</li>
		</div>
	</ul>
</form>

Sign up for Bleacher Report

Already have an account? Log in now » As a member you can get the latest on your favorite teams, post comments, write your own articles, and much more.

Join Bleacher Report

You must register in order for that functionality to work!

Sign up through Facebook

Follow your Facebook friends on Bleacher Report
Share your articles, comments, and more with friends

Great, , you're signed up!

i.e. San Francisco Giants, SEC Football, NFL, Golf

Selected Tags:

Yes, I'd like to receive an email newsletter for the topics I selected.