Hey Now Your'e An All-Star

So after sitting through part or all, or none for that matter, of last night's horrendous HR Derby, tonight Fox will do it's best to ruin an easy to ruin event - the All-Star game. The game is dull no matter how you slice it, but when you add the idiots from Fox to the mix, it's barely tolerable.

Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira, Mariano Rivera, David Wright, and K-Rod are the locals involved, with all the on-closers starting at their respective positions. Marc Carig of the Star Ledger has a nice feature in today's paper on Jeter's longevity and making the All-Star team at 35, which Jeter considers young.

If you remember last year, big mouth Jon Papelbon caused controversy by saying that he, not Mo, should pitch the 9th inning in the game. This year, Pap has wised up and said Mo is da man.

"To me, there's no doubt in my mind that Mo should close," Papelbon said. "Do I want to close? Of course. Am I going to get to? Probably not. I'm going to go into (manager) Joe Maddon's office and say, 'When you want me, I'll be in the bullpen ready to pitch.'"

Rivera laughed after being told of Papelbon's comment.

"Jonathan is a great guy," Rivera said. "He has his own mind, but he means well."

Starting lineups for tonight:

AL - Evan Longoria was scratched due to a finger infection, so the lineup may change

RF Ichiro
SS Derek Jeter
C Joe Mauer
1B Mark Teixeira
LF Jason Bay
CF Josh Hamilton
3B Michael Young
2B Aaron Hill
P Roy Halladay


NL

SS Hanley Ramirez
2B Chase Utley
1B Albert Pujols
RF Ryan Braun
LF Raul Ibanez
3B David Wright
CF Shane Victorino
C Yadier Molina
P Tim Lincecum