We do it because it's there: Live-blogging the MLB All-Star Game

By Joe Schackman and Adam Cancryn

11:17- And there you have it. The NL shuts out the AL, 8-0. Thanks for joining everyone, and congrats for making it through.

11:16- The Internet is wonderful and unforgiving. Via Baseball Reference, uses of "electric stuff" as far back as 1997.

11:13- McCarver: "Talk about electric stuff. That's a new term in baseball." Uhh... it must be past his bedtime.

11:12- Based on that "hammer hand" crack, I'm guessing this has been a typically rough night for Buck and McCarver?

11:11- Hanrahan v. Butler. What a great facial hair matchup.

11:05- Love the honesty from Justin Verlander here. To Mark Feinsand, on trying to throw as hard as possible: “I don’t want to give up runs and I know it means something, but we’re here for the fans. I know the fans don’t want to see me throw 90 and try to hit the corners. They want to see the 100 mph fastball. I gave ‘em that!”

11:04- Papelbon warming up for the NL. What, they couldn't get Heath Bell to close things out? 

10:58: Did you notice that? Sixteen years ago, Chipper Jones was playing in the All-Star Game. Tonight, Chipper plays in the All-Star Game. Whether you love him or hate him (and I hate him), it's been a great career.

10:56- For old time's sake, here's the NL starting lineup the last time they shut out the AL:

Lance Johnson

Barry Larkin

Barry Bonds 

Fred McGriff

Mike Piazza

Dante Bichette

Chipper Jones 

Craig Biggio

10:53- To the ninth we go. Doesn't seem like much of a chance for those ALers. Remember when they were the unequivocally dominant league? That was cute.

10:46- MIKE TROUT ALERT

10:44- If this holds, it would be the first All-Star Game shutout since 1996 and the most meaningless All-Star Game since 2011.

10:42- In case you were wondering:

10:37- Five foot five! He so cute! He's the twee-est player in the Majors. What a gritty groundout.

10:35- Ken Rosenthal's questions are so soft that not even R.A. Dickey can make it interesting. The dude's been on every TV/radio show recounting one of the greatest stories in the Majors, and the Lisa Frank of reporting comes up with "So what does it mean to you to be here?"


10:30- What a handoff. Hats off to Joe for getting us through the lion's share. Now for the thrilling conclu— WHAA??? Well then. I guess the San Francisco Giants took care of the AL East pretty easily.

10:26- Passing off to Adam. He will take you guys home #StartDickey

10:18- I know Miggy grounded out but seriously look at this hitter profile graph for him. This shows his slugging percentage on all pitches thrown to him since 2007. There is no where you can't throw it. Thank you Baseball Prospectus for this.

10:09- DICKEY

10:04- LF in Kauffman Stadium is the kryptonite for people who are too young to drink. Ya I'm looking at you Mike and Bryce.


10:00- Seriously Ron Washington cannot beat the National League. Two WS and probably two All-Star games.

9:55- Now LaRussa is just being an asshole #PlayDickeyatleastonce

9:50- Harper losses that in the lights/sun/his own right-wing heroism. Playing the right way though, you guys.

9:47- Harper used two hands to field that base hit trickling to his feet. God he plays the game the right way!

9:41- The 19 year old then makes a base running mistake, leaning the wrong way after a great play by Weaver

9:40- Harper tags from first on a deep fly ball to left. Prepare for lots of knob-slobbing from sportswriters about playing the game hard/rightway

9:33- I can't say it enough times. Steven Strasburg is Mark Prior 2.0. With that reverse W motion he looks identical to the former Cubs phenom who flamed out.

9:27- Oh and don't forget that this decides home-field advantage in the World Series. So there's that.

9:26- AL down 8-0. Somehow this is the Royals fault.

9:25- Three triples so far in the game. Oh ya. Braun did steroids.

9:23- Melk-Man is just tearing it up this year. 2-2 with a HR for the Giants LF. Royals gave him up for Jonathan Sanchez. That doesn't look so smart today.

9:21- McCutchen snoozin like most of us. 6-0 NL.

9:14- Now Strasburg gets up...

9:07- Tony LaRussa continues to try and prove that he is smarter than everyone else. Started Cain and now brings in Gio Gonzalez. I get Posey needs to play 3 innings but Dickey should be in there. He is one of the best stories in MLB this season.

8:56- Jose Bautista with a great catch to rob Ryan Braun #StartDickey

8:55- Verlander already off the mound. Joe Nathan on to try and stop the bleeding.

8:47- Josh Hamilton, thee of the triple crown chase, hammers a 3-1 shot just short of the wall #StartDickey

8:43- Jeter leads it off for the AL with a hit. Later I'll get into why he shouldn't be starting let alone on the team. I will piss some people off. It is about 80% of the reason why I am doing this.

8:33- Verlander is getting shelled. Pablo Sandoval hits a base clearing triple to put NL up 4-0. Don't care #StartWright

8:25- Verlander hitting 100 mph in the first inning of an All-Star game. Fox juicing the gun?

8:24 And on that note Braun hits an RBI double off Verlander. 1-0 National League.

8:23- No one talks about this but remember when Jose Reyes bunted for a hit to take a lead in the NL batting title and then took himself out of the game? He beat out the eventual MVP Ryan Braun. Everyone criticized Reyes for "not being a ballplayer." Then Braun tested positive for steroids. Ya. Some ballplayer.

8:21- Melkey, a royal last year gets the first hit of the game

8:20- Carlos Gonzalez starts us off with a strike out

8:06- Why is it a big deal Robinson Cano is getting booed? I mean really... it isn't for a real reason. Hometown fans just showing some love for their own players.

8:05- The Giants have four starters for the National League. Don't even get me started #StartDickey.

8:00- Welcome our live blog of the 2012 All-Star game. Check back in through out the night for thoughts, reactions, analysis and plenty of sarcasm.

First things first., as you enjoy Kaufmann Stadium don't miss Rany Jazayerli's piece on Grantland which blows away some of the luster on the Royal's stacked farm system. Reminds us how difficult it is to turn top prospects into major league starters.

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Well, here we are again. We've reached the All-Star Game, that historic annual celebration of... what again, exactly? The league's best players? No, that hasn't been the case for a while. The highest-quality competition in the world? Nobody's willing to go full speed unless they do it while swaddled in bubble wrap. Those fantasy match-ups that previously only existed in our imagination? Nope. Thanks to interleague play and satellite TV, we can get our fill of those pretty much every day of the week.

So what is this All-Star Game still around for anyway? At this point, it's main purpose for most of us is as a midseason marker, a brief pause in a plodding season when we look up and say, "Huh, that was fast," before charging head down into the dog days. The actual Game is, at most, a chance to see something wacky happen, and at least, a welcome alternative to America's Got Talent.

It's not the Game's fault that this has happened. Blame it on progress, on all the things we cherish every day except for this one: the Internet, MLB.TV, iPhone apps, the aforementioned satellites and league-hopping schedules. All of the things that have brought all-star baseball into our daily lives have devalued the one day set aside to honor it. That's not a good thing or a bad thing, really. It just is. It's progress.

There will likely come a time when the All-Star Game is no longer. In our ever-more efficient, ever-globalized and cost-benefit analysis-based world, the Game will lose it's place. It'll join fenceless outfields and $1 bleacher seats and old-fashioned stirrups. We'll move on. It won't be a huge loss, in the grand scheme of things.

But you can can guarantee that every once in a while, we'll miss it. We'll remember when Larry Walker faced Randy Johnson batting right-handed and with his helmet on backwards. We'll remember when a young (!) Torii Hunter robbed Barry Bonds of a home run. We'll remember when not one, but two guys entered the All-Star Game before they could enter a bar. And we'll miss it.

So while it's still here, we might as well watch. Even if it's just to mock ESPN's broadcast, or bemoan the quality of play, or debate for the millionth time whether Derek Jeter really deserves to be an All-Star. We might as well watch, because for one night, it's baseball the way we all played it back when: for fun, among friends, with little regard for the score. It's a much-deserved pause, before we all charge head down into the dog days.

We'll be live-blogging the All-Star Game starting at 8 p.m. tonight. Just refresh the page for the latest update. Join us in the comments or on Twitter @BeganIn96, @Schackmj and @adamcancryn.