Ah, the All Star break. We've got four days off now, four days to relax and recover from the frankly disappointing play we've seen on the field.
Recaps:
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[azcentral.com] Arizona Diamondbacks end 1st half of season with loss to Florida Marlins - Man, that third out off Chris Young's foot has to be one of the most frustrating plays I've seen in a while.
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[dbacks.com] D-backs held in check in first-half finale - "I think everybody needs these days off." That goes for the fans as well as the players, I suspect.
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[tsn.ca] Marlins earn split with Diamondbacks - "We certainly could have won this series, no question about it. Our pitching was really good." Our offense, though? Not so much.
Are you ready for the home run derby? I hope so, because once you hit the jump, you're going to get a bunch of links about it.
Chris Young set to lead off Home Run Derby. The batting order will be: Chris Young (ARI), Vernon Wells (TOR), Corey Hart (MIL), Nick Swisher (NYY), Matt Holliday (STL), David Ortiz (BOS), Hanley Ramirez (FLA) and Miguel Cabrera (DET). Open Thread for the Derby, kicking off at 5pm!
DBacks News:
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[azcentral.com] Arizona Diamondbacks' Chad Qualls optimistic about second half of season - "Every time feel like I'm starting to turn the corner, something bad kind of happens." It's possible he's referring to that time he started to walk around a corner, and met up with edbigghead.
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[minorleaguebaseball.com] Visalia's Sinclair two-hits Bakersfield - The DBacks prospect faced the minimum in a complete game, the first time he'd pitched into the ninth inning. (If nothing else, check out this article for the picture of Sinclair pitching. Seriously, that leg kick is insane- his foot is up at head level.)
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[foxsportsarizona.com] Chris Young: A star is reborn - It is pretty impressive to look at CY's past year. Sent down to AAA last season, and now he's warming up for the home run derby.
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[sbnation.com] National League All-Fail Team - Apparently, the Diamondbacks earned three representatives on this team. You can probably guess two of them, but the last might be LaSurprising.
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[fanster.com] D-backs' First Half: A painful look back - A look back at how we've gotten where we are. Includes their picks for first half MVP, best pitcher, and other awards. Though I personally don't agree with their Best and Worst Move choices.
Around Baseball:
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[si.com] Exploring the HR Derby impact on players like Paul Konerko - Is there a Home Run Derby curse? Depends, is the winner put on the cover of Sports Illustrated?
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[azdailysun.com] Going Down Swinging: HR Derby meaningless without stars - I gotta agree with this. I can think of several batters I'd rather have out in the derby than half the guys we have now- sure, some of them aren't eligible, since they aren't in the All Star Game, but why is that a requirement? Would you rather have Chris Young and Hanley Ramirez on the NL squad, or Adam Dunn and Mark Reynolds?
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[mlb.com] Some twists and tweaks to make Derby better - MLB has some recommendations to improve the derby- offer a better prize, expand the pool of eligible contestants, or maybe even have another contest entirely?
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[espn.com] Bo Jackson's 1989 All-Star Game home run turned pros into fans - Bo Jackson was one of the first athletes who I loved to watch, no matter if he didn't play for my team- I even thought he was awesome despite the fact he played for the despised Raiders. If he'd focused on baseball, I think he would have had an incredible career.
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[espn.com] Source: Buck Showalter meets with Baltimore Orioles about managerial job again - Rumor has it that ex-DBacks manager Buck Showalter is the favorite to take over for the Baltimore Orioles.
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[gq.com] The Best (and Worst) from MLB's Broadcast Booths - GQ ranks the five best and five worst broadcast booths in baseball. No mention of Sutton and Grace in either list, but some here will disagree with GQ's #1 best.
Chris Young heads into the home run derby this evening- according to Steve Gilbert, CY is nervous. No worries, Chris. You just carry all our hopes and dreams on your shoulders. You know, no pressure.