All-Star Appearances Don't Come Easy

Ringo and Randy

one of the few guys who can pull off wearing a shirt of himself. (Courtesy: SiriusXM/Scott Robert Ritchie)

The selection of San Francisco Giants reliever Randy Rodriguez to the All-Star game was such an inside baseball pick. He’s the first Giants non-closer reliever to be named to the All-Star game. (Because, as baseball continues to prove, everybody is somehow the first to do something if you make it specific enough.) His role is somehow even more obscure than that, because at least the statisticians now give out “Holds”- meaning that if you come into the game late and keep the lead but aren’t the closer, you get credit for not letting anything happen- but he doesn’t even do that because he usually pitches before the guy that gets credit for the “Hold.”

Rodriguez, therefore, is the guy before the guy before the guy. And in that category he’s not just the guy, he’s the man. He’s only pitched 39 innings, but his ERA is an incredibly tiny 0.69 and has only allowed runs in two of his 39 appearances. He just doesn’t allow runs. And as all the Captain Obvious’ point out, if you don’t allow the other team to score any runs, you generally win the game. (Though, given how bad the Giants offense has been recently, this is occasionally up for debate.) His fellow relievers voted him in to the game, and he received more votes than any other player named on that ballot. For instance, second place was New York Mets reliever Edwin Diaz, who you may know more for his 9th inning entrances than his mound capabilities.

It's really one of the more obscure All-Star selections in history, because Rodriguez leads MLB in exactly no categories. That’s not exactly true, but the category he apparently leads I’m not familiar with (which ought to tell you something). He leads in park-adjusted ERA+ with a 552. Sounds incredible, doesn’t it? (Nods, says “Wow, isn’t that something,” politely changes the subject.)

Now, the obvious question becomes why isn’t he the Giants closer anyway? They started out with Ryan Walker, who came down with big-time problems between the ears after he became the only reason that Justin Verlander just cannot get a win (JV is winless in 14 starts, easily the longest stretch of his career and the longest by any Giant since the modern era began in 1901). Verlander didn’t get a win in a game the Giants won 14-5 because Walker blew a 2-run lead in the 9^th at Wrigley Field and then the Giants scored an 11^th-inning record 9 runs. But the one I remember most is Walker in Anaheim, when he entered a game in the 9^th that the Giants led 4-1 and didn’t record an out and they lost 5-4…

Then there’s Camilo Doval, who is so calm that he doesn’t let anything bother him, including pitch clock violations, hits, errors, runs, steals, home runs, bunts… well, that might actually be the issue. I know a few people who are convinced when the Giants made an absurdly over-the-top entrance for him last year- like the aforementioned Edwin Diaz- it ballooned his ego to the size of the Yukon Territory and hasn’t subsided yet.

So why not Rodriguez? He has the stuff, but the 7^th inning is a much different pressure situation than the 9^th. For instance, they did let Rodriguez close a game in Colorado this season against the all-time-putrid Rockies. Walker had pitched a clean 8th, and Rodriguez got the call in the 9^th with the Giants leading 7-5. A good test to see if he was ready, right? Well, he got two outs but not three, and the Rockies scored three to win- yep, one of the two times he's given up runs this season. That was just about a month ago, and Rodriguez has never been put in that situation again… nor has he given up a run in his last 10 appearances. So, maybe next year…

As for those Rockies, that particular win on June 12^th was their 13^th of the year… they’re now up to a whopping 21 after avoiding being swept by the also-atrocious Chicago White Sox over the weekend. That was a true battle of the basement that I absolutely would have attended if it had been pretty much any other weekend this summer. The Rockies are now 21-69 through 90 games, merely the 4^th worst-ever record since 1901, and there’s no chance they’ll have the worst record though 100 games because the 1916 Philadelphia Athletics- yes, they’re back and (as noted substantially in my book on the 1916 season) didn’t win a game between game 79 and game 100, going on a 21-game losing streak. They were 19-60 and then they were 20-80. So at least the Rockies are ahead of them?

HEY, YOU DIDN’T HAVE TO TAKE ME LITERALLY DEPT: Jokingly, when the Giants, or Warriors, or 49ers, or really any Bay Area team loses, I say FIRE EVERYBODY, just to note how absurdly rampant hot-take culture is nowadays. Well, the Washington Nationals must have thought I was talking about them and actually did it. They fired manager Dave Martinez and GM Mike Rizzo in one big chop after the Nats got swept over the weekend. Sure, the Nats are bad and all that. But the biggest issue with the timing? The MLB draft is in a week and the Nats have the first pick. And they dumped the guy whose biggest responsibility right now was running the draft! And his replacement? Assistant GM Mike DeBartolo, who was of course doing lots of draft work as Rizzo’s right-hand man, making the move make even less sense…

(And no, quick Googling does not indicate that this DeBartolo is related to former 49ers owner Eddie DeBartolo or the current 49ers owners, the Yorks, although you’d think they’re related somewhere along the line…)

Sunday was July 6^th, which I continuously point out should be the “Rock and Roll Day” holiday because Elvis recorded “That’s All Right” in the wee hours of July 6^th, 1954, and three years later Paul McCartney met John Lennon for the first time. Both of which were rather significant events in getting the music to the masses. (Here’s the link to my best argument.)

And the party could continue today because it’s Ringo Starr’s 85th birthday. Ringo may be the luckiest musician in history, having been invited to get on The Beatles spaceship just as it was about to take off into the stratosphere, but he got that invite because he was the best drummer in Liverpool. And when the other three were asked who was going to replace Pete Best behind the kit in August 1962 just before their first recording session - because Pete was for sure getting fired anyway- they all said Ringo without hesitation, because he had filled in occasionally when Pete couldn’t make it and the vibes were unmistakable.

The Beatles fans were incensed that Pete got fired. They set upon the band in their early Ringo performances, even giving George Harrison a black eye that you can still in their first official Parlophone Records session just weeks later.

So, while we think about hot-take culture as a new thing, think about the Beatles fans who were so mad the lineup was John, Paul, George and Ringo that they tried to beat them up.

Instead, bring the vibes that Ringo brought and continues to bring to this day. He’s on a ride that’s continuing because he’s going back on tour this summer… with his All-Star Band…

7^th inning relievers not included…

(Courtesy: SFGiants/Instagram)