CaseyBlake-JeffGross_GettyImages

If you’ve followed this site a bit, you know I’m a huge fan of Casey Blake. He’s not the Manny Ramirez, or the Albert Pujols, but he’s just a great player.   He goes through up and downs with hitting, but he is clutch, plays great defense and is a character on the team.  He’s the guy doing the right thing and stirring up a little bit of controversy.  I think I’m bonded with him, because he’s the type of player I used to be growing up and probaby the type of player I might of been if I was every good enough to play in the bigs.  He’s a guy with great heart, great smarts, a little chip on his shoulder, lots of passion and definitely talent to go with it.

Last year I wondered if he would start a brawl with the Giants because he won’t stand for brush backs.

This year he got on Matt Kemp for lack of sportsmanship for stealing a base late in a game when the Dodgers were killing the Giants.

Last week he accused Ted Lilly of cheating for not properly standing on the rubber.

This week he danced around third (something I used to love to do at first) and got the pitcher to balk to end the game.

Crazy stuff for the Dodgers who just seem to own the Arizona Diamondbacks. (Honestly, the D-backs almost need to just sit their entire bullpen and try some new arms…they are getting killed…10 homeruns in 18 innings?!)

Here’s the video of Casey Blake distracting the pitcher to win the game. Way to go Casey.  (Click Here)

By the way, here’s Casey’s jersey on Amazon if you are interested. I know I’d be proud to wear his number. 

Albert Pujols - Jamie Squire - Getty Images

The All-Star was this last week, and it brought about a similar result…the American League beating the National League. I have to admit that I really enjoy watching the All-Star game, but it doesn’t surprise me that the American League typically wins. The National League has really good players, but the American League just has studs.

I mean, look at the lineups. Batting third was Joe Mauer for the American League and Albert Pujols. Tight call, but Pujols wins. That’s the only one close though.

Batting fourth, Ryan Braun for the National League and Mark Texiera for the American League. Batting Fifth, is Raul Ibanez for the National League and Jason Bay for the American League.

Finally, batting sith, is Josh Hamilton for the American League and David Wright for the National League.

In each of those last three cases, the American League wins. Those guys just cause more fear because they have done far more damage than the guy in the other league. Not that the guys in the National League are bad in any way…it just seems that the American League carries the higher caliber of talent. (Perhaps they just pay more…)

Anyway, Carl Crawford stole the night by robbing a homerun and rightfully deserved the MVP.

The one thing that stood out for me from this All-Star game was Albert Pujols. He wasn’t the MVP and didn’t win the homerun derby, but he participated. He gave to the fans and told them thanks for all they had given him.

I went to the homerun derby two years ago, and it was such a shame that Barry Bonds didn’t compete. He was their stud and would have received such an ovation, but it apparently was too much for him. He could have just done a couple of token swings (like the contest Albert did this year), but he wouldn’t do it.

Albert just seems to better understand that the Homerun Derby and All-Star game are for the fans. I realize the derby can mess up a players swing, but it is the one chance for a player to truly receive the warmth of the fans. Sadly, Barry Bonds missed that, but Albert got to recieve it.

Here was a great article (click here) on Albert Pujols, his work ethic and his faith. Yahoo sports writter Jeff Passan did a great job.

The only real thing that did come out of the All-Star game is that the Dodgers won’t have home field advantage in the World Series. Just another hurdle I guess, but nothing too difficult. Go Blue.

Jonathan Sanchez - Ben Margot - AP

So the big news this week was the no-hitter by Jonathan Sanchez. Honestly I think Giants fans were as surprised about this one as the rest of baseball. He had a lot of promise last year, but this year, he just hasn’t had it. There was a lot of talk about trading him for a bat, but his record was so bad that no one thought there would be a taker.

He threw a no-hitter when he wasn’t even supposed to start. He had a 2-8 record with a 5.30 ERA, and had recently been demoted to the bullpen because he was throwing so bad. He only got to pitch because Randy Johnson got injured so they needed someone to jump in there.

Honestly, I’m glad for the guy. It truly has been a rough season for him, so to join the no hitter club is truly something special. Who knows how his next game will be, but he at least got this one. I thought it was interesting that his last pitch to win the game and strike out the batter, was really questionable. It looked pretty outside, but it was close enough. I wonder if as an umpire you start to pull for the pitcher too. You know it’s probably a little off, but it’s close, and you think, “This guy has pitched well enough to get the no-hitter, I’m going to give it to him.” We’ll never know, but it’s all good if that’s what happened. Baseball has always been a game of inches.

The other thing notable this week was that the Giants had the second best record in the National League, second only to the Dodgers. The Giants are exceeding all expectations and are proving that they are a real possibility for the wild card. The Dodgers better hold strong because if they slip for a few games, while the Giants win, this could be a very different race near the end. Popular opinion still thinks that the Giants need a bat (which I agree with), but their pitching has kept them in the race and they are a solid team. They’re new kid Pablo Sandoval is a real reason why they are still going strong.

This week – the All-Star game and the Homerun Derby. After seeing the Homerun Derby two years ago in San Francisco, the game will always be special to me.  I’m pulling for Albert Pujols.