Justin Morneau
Small balls: Hamilton up, Nolan down
La première étoile: I’m sorry Justin Morneau. You actually won the Home Run Derby—first Canadian to ever do so. By right, the first star should belong to you. (Christ, you weren’t even invited until Sunday, after A-Rod and Jason Giambi each took a pass.) But even you conceded, graciously, that, derby crown or not, the night belonged to someone else.
Small balls: home runs, redemption, and Brett Favre’s tears
La première étoile: As baseball reaches the All Star break, the story of the season is, without a doubt, Josh Hamilton. The Dallas Morning News does a nice job of telling the tale of Hamilton’s battle against drug and alcohol addiction, to claw his way back into the major leagues. Batting over .300, with 21 homers and 95 RBIs, just two years after he was completely out of the game. We at Balls don’t often get teary over tales of redemption and the power of the human spirit, but, you know…sniff…we’re not made of stone either.