Suck it, Joe Maddon

Joe Maddon shows you his 'O' face.

You know, even if I weren’t a Sox fan I would have had a soft spot in my heart for Tim Wakefield being named to his first All-Star team while being in his 40′s.  I know he plays for the big, bad Red Sox who are right up with the Yankees and Mets of world spending mad money to buy championships.  But come on, you can’t tell me it was the best move in an exhibition game to have him be an extra innings reliever.

He’s a wild card when it comes to his knuckle ball and his 70 some odd mile per hour “fast” ball, but even for one trip out to the mound.  Give the old guy a bone Joe.  I’m not shocked he used Beckett and Papelbon, why wouldn’t you?  Clearly there was an audience for Wakefield out there, Boston fan or not.

Most people probably missed the story or just didn’t care, but I think it’s a shame.  I’ve also learned I really don’t like the Home Run Derby anymore.  It’s too long, and it’s boring.  I’m not going to jump on the bandwagon of people still accusing these guys of rampant steroid use, I think I’ve just accepted it for what it is.  Maybe it was the players, although I did enjoy watching Nelson Cruz stroke the ball out of the field with ease.  It was probably Chris Berman.  Is there anyone else on the face of the planet so hopelessly annoying who thinks their shtick is God’s gift to broadcasting?  I challenge you to find someone worse than him.

Back to Wakefield.  Joe, what were you thinking?  You know it is destiny that the American League wins this thing every year.  You could have started Wake and left him in for the first few innings, and your squad would have found a way to come out on top.  C’mon Joe, where’s your pair?

Number One Aussie

Mark Webber in the dirt.

The weekend saw veteran Formula 1 driver Mark Webber capture his inagural Grand Prix. For me, someone who has been a fan of the sport for several years now, it was a great pleasure to see him not only grab the checkered flag, but start from pole as well.

What is more astonishing is fron the start Webber bumped Brawn GP driver Ruebens Barrichello before turn one on lap one which was later reviewed by the stewards.  About a dozen or so laps into the race, Team Red Bull was forced to have Webber do a drive through on pit lane which is typically a death nail in a drivers day.  Webber still prevailed which made for a nice change of pace.

On the other end of the spectrum, last year’s drivers champion Lewis Hamilton made a strong push off the start but damaged his car going a little wide on the first turn.  I can’t impart on how much I enjoy watching Hamilton relegated to the back of the pack week after week.  The team he drives for McClaren, along with Ferrari, for the past few seasons (and in the case of Ferrari about a decade) have dominated the F1 scene.  This year everything has been turned on it’s ear and it makes race weekends more enjoyable.

Barrichello had good pace in his ride, but ended up off the podium along with teammate and leading drivers point champion Jenson Button.  This was the first non-Brawn GP podium of the season which was also nice.  However, this wasn’t the most notable item to come from team principal Ross Brawn’s camp.  Barrichello, who wanted to switch from a three stop to a two stop race strategy, had no nice words for his team after the race.

One more race one the docket before the summer break.   On July 26th, Formula 1 will travel to Hungary where drivers will try to earn some more points at the Hungaroring.