I don’t want to hear any more grumbling about the fact that most of baseball’s all-stars will be absent from Tuesday’s all-star game. It’s unfortunate, but that’s life. In case you’ve missed it, the list of players that will NOT show up is an impressive one. Mark McGwire, Ken Griffey, Barry Bonds, Cal Ripken, Greg Maddux, Mike Piazza, Pedro Martinez, Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez will all miss the game because of injury. I actually heard a complaint today that the players make so much money now that they don’t care about playing the all-star game and are looking for ways to skip it. That’s absurd. Of the players that I just named, only ONE, Ken Griffey, played on Sunday. The rest of those guys didn’t play because they are injured. And if they are injured badly enough that they can’t play in a game that counts, they shouldn’t be expected to suit up for an all-star game. It’s a shame that so many of them are hurt at the same time, but it’s not a trend that shows they don’t care. If they could play, they would be there. I’d rather see McGwire ready to play Thursday against the White Sox.
