Baseball this 'n' that

 The Washington Nationals haven't made the playoffs since winning the 2019 World Series. The frustration has gotten to the point that, with a week before the All Star Game, manager Dave Martinez & GM Mike Rizzo were given the gate late Sunday after the Nats were swept by Boston. The Nats have been jockeying with Atlanta for 3rd place in the NL East behind Philadelphia & the Mets. Haven't heard who will run the show in the interim in DC. 

At least ownership didn't have to hear from the only man less popular than the team in DC.......

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The Subway Series ended with some controversy Sunday, but not between the teams. No, it was what fans call "The Ump Show" getting in the way in the home 9th at Citi Field.

Mets are down, 6-4, with Yankee closer Devin Williams on the mound. Home plate ump John Bacon isn't exactly a genius, but on a hot, humid Sunday afternoon, with the game swelling to an "unmanageable" 3 hours and change, as Michael Kay would say, Bacon essentially screwed the Mets.

Lindsay from Close Call Sports explains:

Williams had already gotten his revenge on the Mets in round 1 in the Bronx in May, but this was a tainted save. Bacon has less than 10 years experience as an umpire, and the least he could've done was tell the players going into the 9th that "it's getting late, let's finish this so we can all go home", or something to that effect.

But, no, he couldn't be bothered. Suffice to say, fans might be hoping he doesn't work the All Star Game in Atlanta.

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The All Star rosters have been finalized, at least for now. In this day & age, players will drop out to rest or if injured.

Starters:

NL:

First Base: Freddie Freeman (Los Angeles) returns to Atlanta, where he started his career.

Second Base: Ketel Marte (Arizona).

Shortstop: Francisco Lindor (Mets).

Third Base: Manny Machado (San Diego).

DH: Shohei Ohtani (Los Angeles).

Outfield: Ronald Acuna, Jr. (Atlanta), Pete Crow-Armstrong & Kyle Tucker (Chicago).

Catcher: Will Smith (Los Angeles).

AL:

First Base: Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. (Toronto).

Second Base: Gleyber Torres (Detroit).

Shortstop: Jacob Wilson (Sacramento).

Third Base: Jose Ramirez (Cleveland).

DH: Ryan O'Hearn (Baltimore).

Outfield: Aaron Judge (Yankees), Riley Greene & Javier Baez (Detroit). The Tigers' gamble to convert Baez from infield to outfield has worked so far.

Catcher: Cal Raleigh (Seattle). Raleigh is the MLB leader in homers.

Pitchers:

AL:

Aroldis Chapman & Garrett Crochet (Boston).

Jacob deGrom (Texas).

Max Fried (Yankees).

Kris Bubic (Kansas City).

Josh Hader & Hunter Brown (Houston).

Yusei Kikuchi (Los Angeles).

Andres Munoz & Bryan Woo (Seattle).

Tarik Skubal (Detroit).

Shane Smith (Chicago).

NL:

Edwin Diaz (Mets).

Matthew Boyd (Chicago).

MacKenzie Gore (Washington).

Jason Adam (San Diego).

Clayton Kershaw & Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Los Angeles).

Freddy Peralta (Milwaukee).

Robbie Ray, Randy Rodriguez, & Logan Webb (San Francisco).

Chris Sale (Atlanta).

Paul Skenes (Pittsburgh).

Zack Wheeler (Philadelphia).

Reserves:

Catcher: Alejandro Kirk (Toronto), Hunter Goodman (Colorado).

Infielders: 

Jonathan Aranda & Brandon Lowe (Tampa Bay).

Jazz Chisholm, Jr. (Yankees).

Alex Bregman (Boston).

Jeremy Pena (Houston).

Bobby Witt, Jr. (Kansas City).

Pete Alonso (Mets).

Elly De La Cruz (Cincinnati).

Brendan Donovan (St. Louis).

Matt Olson (Atlanta).

Eugenio Suarez (Arizona).

Outfielders:

Bryan Buxton (Minnesota).

Steven Kwan (Cleveland).

Julio Rodriguez (Seattle).

Corbin Carroll (Arizona).

Kyle Stowers (Miami).

Fernando Tatis, Jr. (San Diego).

James Wood (Washington).

DH: Brent Rooker (Sacramento), Kyle Schwarber (Philadelphia).

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Interestingly, Schwarber & Alonso both have declined to compete in the Home Run Derby next week. That opens the field, don't you think?