Heap in All Star Land: DAY ONE (of Two)

So last night’s Home Run Derby was disturbingly Heap-free. Not that I wanted him to participate — as the contestants were walking onto the field all I could think was “thank God I don’t particularly care about any of these guys.” I was nervous for them anyway, even for Holliday. But it seemed like last year’s Home Run Derby broadcast was about 90% Heap Recording The Home Run Derby footage. Was it just me? I think he skipped it entirely this year, and I don’t really blame him. Didn’t really seem like his scene — he doesn’t have any kids, or an impressive entourage like Vlad (well, he really does have an impressive entourage, I guess, but they were not invited along).

He did take batting practice, and here’s the singular photographic evidence of such, accompanying the official site’s article:

His smile looks a little forced. Oh, Heap. This All-Star game is such an existential crisis for you, isn’t it?:

“Edgar [Renteria] not being here is really, really weird,” McCann said. “He’s probably put up the best numbers of any shortstop. Chipper [Jones] is having a great year. It’s weird being the only one out here when I’m not having as good of a season as some of my teammates.”

There are more guilt-ridden quotes about his average in the article, if you’re interested, and also this, about meeting Bonds and Griffey:

“I was nervous,” McCann said. “I didn’t really know what to do.”

Of course you didn’t, poor thing! But don’t worry, your old pal David Wright’s got your back:

“He’s one of the best catchers in baseball, not just the National League,” said Mets third baseman David Wright, who is also enjoying his second career All-Star selection. “The way he handles pitchers, his offensive and defensive abilities, when you put it all together, without a doubt he deserves to be here. There will be a lot more of these to come for him.”

Actually, he’s probably just trying to kiss your butt in order to win points with Frenchy (ever seen David Wright in the presence of Frenchy? Just check it out the next time we’re playing the Mets and Frenchy makes it to third . . .), but that doesn’t make what he said any less true.

Things that made me laugh out loud during the Home Run Derby broadcast yesterday:

–The intro song is “Accidentally in Love”? Really? Seriously? Okay.
–There’s a guy on the American League team called “Putz.” Haha.
–The opening segment: “WATER!”
–Berman’s introduction of Alex Rios: “a nice young outfielder.” Yeah, he has no idea who Alex Rios is.
–Ryan Howard’s mini-bio: “Played trombone in high school.”
–Berman in general — was it just me or did he look ROUGH as HELL? I don’t even want to know what he got up to on Sunday night . . . but I’m sure the pictures are being posted on Deadspin as I type this.


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