I’m Miles Miller!

This baseball season is truly flying by. It’s hard to believe it is officially at the halfway mark.

First off, in case you missed the All Star Game, or the last 8 innings of it, you missed the unforgettable performance of Dan Uggla. First off, where the heck does the name Uggla come from? Have you ever met another person surnamed Uggla? What is it, Polish?

Some of you may be unfamiliar with this man from Kentucky. Now in his 3^rd season with the Florida Marlins, a team with a total payroll of $6mil less than Alex Rodriguez, Dan takes a $0.4mil cut from that. Uggla landed on his 2^nd All Star team after he had a monster month of May, hitting 12 homers and 11 doubles. Uggla is a K machine, averaging more than 1 strikeout per game for the second straight season. He has had a pretty good season with the glove, only committing 6 errors (compare with Ian Kinsler’s 16 at the same position).

All that came undone last night under the lights on national television, as he enjoyed one of the worst single-game performances in sports history. Dan struck out with the bases loaded in a tie game, struck out two other times and hit into a double-play with a runner on 3^rd in the 10^th inning. Most famously, he committed 3 errors, count ‘em, 3 errors, an All Star Game record (thank you Joe Buck). It’s hard to think how it could have been even worse. Every opportunity he had to blow it, he did. Frankly, it was Dam Uggly.

It made me think of other terrible games in important situations. One that comes to mind is Charles Barkley during the 1994 (?) Western Conference Finals against Houston when the superstar shot 0-10 and scored 0 points as his team got blown out by like 40. Or Phil Mickleson, who lost a tournament last year that he led by like 3 strokes going into the last hole. Let me know if any other bungles jog your memory.

Overall, the Game was one of the most exciting All Star Games I can remember, with lots of great pitching (including Aaron Cook somehow saving the day 3 straight innings), displays of power from JD Drew and Matt Holliday, 4 or 5 plays at the plate, pickoffs at first and caught-stealings at second, lots of boo’s directed at the Red Sox players, a lot of bad fielding, and a game winning hit in the 15^th inning.

One adjustment I suggest: I’m glad that Bud Selig expanded the rosters to allow a zillion pitchers. Previously, an All Star Game could never make it this long because major league pitchers aren’t used to throwing 3 innings. However, last night we were stuck with watching the reserves trying to put together rallies and field ground balls and it made those extra innings a little less exciting. No offense to Ryan Ludwick, Dioner Navarro, Christian Guzman, Corey Hart, and Carlos Quintin, but I would rather see some more Albert Pujols, ARod, Lance Berkman, Josh Hamilton, or Chase Utley in those tight situations, especially, after Group A already had their 3 obligatory at-bats. Since it’s an exhibition game, I propose a rule adjustment: beginning in the 10^th inning, each team can substitute 2 players who had previously been taken out, per inning. Not only would it make the game more exciting for fans, offering more opportunities to see our favorite players again, but it would keep the game from going so long. The pitching dominates the late-innings when you have 1 on, 1 out in the top of the 11^th for Christian Guzman and Corey Hart against the Royals’ Soria? Or Uggla with the bases loaded in the 12^th? Guillen, Sizemore and Longoria trying to start a 14^th inning rally against Brandon Webb, the league’s leader in wins? Bring back Jeter, bring back Ichiro, bring back Pujols, bring back Holliday. There is no need to keep it so rigid.

By the way, for someone earning $27M this season, shouldn’t ARod be in the Home Run Derby? Bueller… Bueller?