*All-Stars*

If it wasn't for baseball, I wouldn't even know what an 'asterisk' stood for. Baseball made Roger Maris the 'asterisk'. A sport based on statistics galore has lately relied on the 'asterisk' to provide some "moral fiber" (compliments to George W. Bush) to the game that has been flooded by cheaters.

To honor baseball during this year's All-Star game, I'd like to present the Minnesota Twins Asterisk* All-Stars (they might have not cheated, but they didn't deserve to be there):

* Ron Coomer 1999- You were so important to us in 1999 that the Twins just let you walk after the season. What position did you even play during that year to earn a bid? 1B? 3B? DH?

* Matt Lawton 2000- You didn't deserve to be an All-Star. However, what I do like is that in the year 2000 (I just had a Conan O'Brien moment "in the year 2000") in the heart of the steroid era...the Twins send a light hitting corner outfielder as their All-Star.

* Joe Mays 2001- You probably were deserving at the time based on your stats for the first half of 2001. Yet, usually All-Star berths are made a year later when you were supposed to. You were lucky, you went downhill fast once you started having arm issues in 2002.

Did You Know...?? Kent Hrbek only made the All-Star game once in his career. And the year that he made it was in 1982. I'm not trying to be a homer here...but that blows my mind. Look at Hrbek's stats throughout his career and keep in mind he was one of the best fielding first basemen during his time (even though Mattingly stole all the gold gloves). I also was under the assumption that Hrbek missed a lot of time due to injuries. I was wrong...in fact, Mattingly had more time missed due to injuries based on his career statistics year by year. On top of all that, Hrbek and the Twins won two World Series (1987 & 1991). How many did Mattingly and the Yankees win during his playing career...0!

SBG