WHY THE NL TOPPED THE AL

The All-Star game was pretty good tonight, although I would have loved to have seen Grandy and Cano just run the show tonight and help give the Al a win and home field advantage. Oh well, that's life right?

Here are a few things that went down tonight:

• David Robertson's appearance was pretty cool. Good for him. He only allowed 1 hit in his outing and no runs. Now he can say he was in the All-Star game. Congrats pal.

• Prince Fielder is so strong. 3 run homer tonight and it was just crushed. I don't know what to say, that guy can hit. I always appreciated Cecil Fielder and Prince clearly got all of Cecil's genes because that guy killed the ball tonight. Neat stat, Prince was the first Brewer ever to hit a home run in the All-Star game.

• The win for the National League goes to Nationals pitcher Tyler Clippard, former New York Yankee. Good for him. Tyler tried to make it in pinstripes but it didn't pan out. Good for him to make the All-Star team as well as get an All-Star win.

• I have mad respect for Brian Wilson. The dude is a certified nut and you have to love the way he comes in and closes out the game. Domination. Look, he's no Mariano, but he's the next best thing. I'm a fan, beard and all. Got Heeemm.
  

Final Score: National League 5 - American League 1.

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DEREK JETER: THE MOVIE

I don’t know about you, but I am very excited for the Documentary on Derek Jeter’s 3000^th hit on HBO. Read about it HERE. I don’t get too excited about a lot. Clearly, I’m obsessed with my family, baseball, Bleeding Yankee Blue (shameless plug), but if you want to truly win me over, put in any baseball doc and you’ll have me at “Babe Ruth”. That’s me.

I love the baseball movies as well. I wrote about it last week in WHY I LOVE BASEBALL MOVIES. Plus, I consider Billy Crystal’s *61 epic as well. It’s simple to me, if you love the game and you like the character or player, there’s an instant attachment or connection. I think Jeter is the biggest Yankee stud since Don Mattingly and he’s larger than life. Jeter deserves the best and that goes all the way back to his upbringing. That upbringing was the basis for what has become of him, a giant in Yankee history.

But back to my point. To me, it’s not only the Yankees that make watching baseball documentaries great. The Franchise, a show about the World Championship San Francisco Giants is about to start on Showtime and that even looks awesome.

How do you not like guys like Pablo Sandoval, Buster Posey, Brian Wilson. These guys keep it loose but play incredible baseball. Here’s a hilarious clip of Brian Wilson promoting the Franchise. See for yourself:

The point to all of this is, as a Yankee fan and someone that has watched Jeter since the very beginning, this is an event. It’s a story about determination and passion of the game. I will be sure to sit my 8 and 7 year old boys in front of the television that evening. We’ll have popcorn, we’ll wear Yankee caps and we will relive the 300oth hit Docu-style and talk about this player that believed himself and his team and became the most popular New York Yankee of our current time, but not bec ause he wanted the popularity, but instead because he wanted to be the best.

My sons and I will talk about it, we’ll talk about his ability, but we’ll talk about how he always had his eye on the prize and never gave 90%. It was always 100% out of the gate and it attracted millions to Yankee stadium since 1995. Plus, it inspired kids to want to be him, like I kid's my age wanted to be Guidry or Munson or Reggie.

To me, Jeter IS the Yankees. I wrote WHY JETER IS EPIC FOR 1 GOOD REASON and in it, again, I talk about the postiives of growing up in his home. His parents were the key to all of this. They should be commended. Their values translated to the field and to me, this guys leadership should never be overlooked. And for all you guys out there who like to put out polls that suggest that Derek Jeter is overrated… I still haven’t seen that proof, just a lot of lip service. So give it a rest… give in… because Jeet is likable.

Trust me, he’s Derek Jeter and he’s the king of baseball, not just the Yankees.

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WHY CHARACTERS MAKE BASEBALL FUN

I'm an unusual Yankee fan because while I love the corporate image the Yanks present, yet, I've always embraced the funny, entertaining and sometimes crazy characters in baseball.
I think it all started with Reggie Jackson for me. As a kid, he was larger than life and just said all kinds of crap that as a fan, you either loved or hated. I loved it of course. In the 70's, the Bronx Zoo had several characters. Mickey Rivers was another guy I always enjoyed listening to, as well as watch play. I was sad when he went to the Rangers, no doubt.I'm not sure what happened but I guess as Steinbrenner got older, the strictness of the Yanks corporate image was enforced alittle more. I'm really not sure, but players seemed to say and do crazy stuff less.But because I'm a baseball fan, I moved on searching for more fun characters. I started paying plenty of attention to the Tiger's Mark Fidrych. He fascinated me and I loved to watch him talk to the mound, pat it, manicure it and it was just all nutty to me. That fascination ended as fast as his career and then I was consumed by Bill "Spaceman" Lee and his wacky antics. But no, not the evil Red Sox Lee, I hated him. I'm talking about the Expos Lee of the early 80's. He was truly bizarre and I could listen to him talk in interviews for hours. I still can.

As I grew up, the Yankees calmed down. Yes, Billy Martin and Ed Whitson knocking the crap out of each other at bars was always a treat, but for the most part, the Yankees characters vanished for a short time. Players like Danny Pasqua, Mike Pagliarulo showed up. It was a quieter time for the Yanks. The characters on the Yanks almost seemed non-existent. With Mattingly leading the pack, you could see it was strictly baseball. Again, nothing wrong with that, but my mind wondered in in search of more crazy characters.

(photo: William Hotz)
I latched on to crazy Earl Weaver for a short time, who had always been there but he got crazier in the 80's. Him with the umps was great, his nutty interviews were better. Hilarious.

Then suddenly, the Yankees were back with a character. A true character who spoke his mind and did whatever he wanted, without dragging his team into trouble. He was chubby, he liked to party and he loved Babe Ruth... David Wells arrived.
(photo: Daily News)
This guy was the ultimate character and for a while, I'm not afraid to admit, I liked watching Wells be Wells, both off and on the field. The Yanks managed to keep the corporate image all the while Boomer did his thing, so for me, it was the perfect storm.Then AJ Burnett showed up. Now, you're thinking "That dude's a tight ass, what are you talking about?". Hear me out. Can you say pie? 2009 had more pie than I'd ever seen and I loved when I knew it was coming after a comeback win. It really made 2009 fun. You always saw AJ in the shadows ready to pounce. Pie may in fact be one of my favorite moments with the Yankees in recent memory.
(photo: Daily News)
Then of course Nick Swisher, who is probably the coolest character alive. He just has fun, he's comfortable in his skin and still plays a great ballgame. There's nothing bad I can say about the guy. My friend Victor always says, another character in my life always says, "I can do my work and still have fun." Swisher must read Victor's playbook because it works for him. You've got to respect that.At this moment, my favorite baseball characters have to be Burnett, Swish and someone you'd probably guess for sure... Brian Wilson of the San Francisco Giants. Now, have you seen this guy? The beard is ridiculous and genius, he speaks with such great delivery, he should be a comedian on the Sunset strip. Plus he goes out on the field with a confidence and pride for his team. This guy means business and has become a true baseball character. He's hilarious. Expect big marketing and promotion from this guy, ESPN, Giants TV, whatever. There's a talk show with this guys name on it, trust me.So yeah, baseballs my passion, the Yankees are my passion, but baseball characters rule and cannot be ignored. They lighten up a sometimes very competitive game. They bring a human element to the game. They make it fun, and thank God for that.

So while your watching Sportscenter or the YES postgame, seek out your favorite baseball character. They're out there, it just depends what kind of character your looking for. You have one in mind? Tell me who...comment. If we have some great ideas, we will do a follow up and I may use them and include you in my post. How much fun is that? Keep it corporate, but keep it fun, you BYB freaks.

Please comment and let me know what you think and follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and join the group Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook, just type it in.