PHILLIES All-Stars break the curse!!!!!

Half the damn team came from Philly LOL!!!!!! And in the year of the pitcher, the arms ruled the day. And think about this. In his entire career, Derek Jeter had never lost an all star game. And Albert Pujols, an all star every year of his career except for 2002 when he won the MVP award, had never won an all star game. Almost every player in that game last night with the exception of freakin' Arthur Rhodes who's 40, were all in grade school the last time the National League won an all star game.

So with a collective sigh of relief for fans and a resounding chest pound for Charlie Manuel, the NL will finally bring the bacon home for the World Series(I think thats how the saying goes?). It was reported that Charlie gave a 'gipper' speech before the game to fire up his players and let them know that this would be the game that would end the streak. OK, so he didn't actually dedicate the game to a dying loved one or even give a speech that fired everyone up. He actually said "We came here to do one thing; win the game." Yeah so Manuel is no Rockney or Hemingway, big shocker. The players actually laughed when Manuel made the serious comment but I think they still got the message(Its kind of hard to take Charlie Manuel serious when you don't know him personally so I can understand the players' reaction).

Oh yeah, and lets re-cap the NL Phillie All Star roster. Roy Halladay, Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Michael Bourn, Scott Rolen and Marlon Byrd. Obviously the latter 3 are former Phillies and Chase Utley wasn't there due to injury but it almost felt like a collective Phillie team from the last 10 years or so. All they needed was Kruk and Daulton and it would've been a 20 year team.

And it bears repeating that the skipper of the National League team to break the streak of All Star game losses is Charlie Manuel. Personally, I thought last year was going to be the year that the streak ended but this year it seems so much more sweet. With Phillies from the present and years past, the rest of the National League's best and the player's manager Manuel leading them on, it almost felt like a true playoff game victory. And maybe it was. Streaks like that aren't supposed to happen. I do remember hearing of a similar streak in the 60s, 70s and early 80s but I don't think it was thirteen in a row. Oh it was from Municipal Stadium at Cleveland in 1963 to Olympic Stadium in Montreal in 1982, the National League won 19 of those 20 all star games. The National League won 8 in a row, lost at Tiger's Stadium in Detroit in 1971, and then won the next 11 in a row till 1983 at Comiskey Park in Chicago(How's that for dropping some KNOWLEDGE!!! Class dismissed). Well not yet.
Bottom Line: In the year of the pitcher, the NL reigns supreme. A theme that will continue into the playoffs. Trust me