Issue #699
The goal with The Baseball Buffet series is to provide the best daily dose of relevant baseball info in a smart brevity format (mostly short bullets, getting to the point, with quick analysis/insights.) Think of it like what baseball fans of a certain age would look forward to in their morning newspaper’s sports section each day!
⚾ Welcome! ⚾
No games yesterday of course, as we are in the midst of the All-Star break with the game scheduled for this evening.
We did of course have the HR Derby last night, with the Cardinals’ Jordan Walker topping the Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber in the final round. You can read all about it in the article by Theo DeRosa and Brent Maguire at MLB.
All-Star Game Preview
The All-Star game is this evening. As happens every year, many top names will not be playing due to injuries or pitching schedules. This year that includes LAD Shohei Ohtani, MIL Jacob Misiorowski, NYY Aaron Judge, and others. But here are the star-studded starting lineups that we do have:
American League
Mike Trout (LAA), CF
Yordan Alvarez (HOU), DH
Shea Langeliers (ATH), C
Junior Caminero (TB), 3B
Bobby Witt Jr. (KC), SS
Cody Bellinger (NYY), RF
Ben Rice (NYY), 1B
Riley Greene (DET), LF
Ernie Clement (TOR), 2B
National League
Kyle Schwarber (PHI), DH
Juan Soto (NYM), LF
Freddie Freeman (LAD), 1B
CJ Abrams (WSH), SS
Max Muncy (LAD), 3B
Ozzie Albies (ATL), 2B
Brandon Marsh (PHI), RF
Andy Pages (LAD), CF
Drake Baldwin (ATL), C
For more information going into the game, here are a few key pages from MLB:
All-Star Game FAQ, by Anthony Castrovince
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Today’s Trivia Question
Paul Skenes won't be playing in tonight's All-Star game, but he is on the NL roster for the third time in his first three seasons. Can you name the only other three pitchers who were All-Stars in each of their first three seasons? (Hint: Two of them did so for the same team, about 15 years apart.)
(Trivia answers are provided for paid All-Star subscribers of the Baseball Buffet.)
🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys 🎉
Row 1: Robin Ventura, Tim Hudson, Jesse Tannehill
Row 2: Bob Purkey, Steve Stone, Johnny Murphy
Currently active players who were born on July 14 include LAD Justin Wrobleski, CHC Carson Kelly, MIL Joey Ortiz, SDP Lucas Giolito, TEX Tyler Alexander, SEA Cole Wilcox, and PIT Isaac Mattson.
Recently published baseball books!
The Ballpark and Beyond: An Illustrated Celebration of Baseball's Rich History
by Todd Radom (Author), Buster Olney (Foreword) Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Sports Publishing
Publication date: May 26, 2026
Print length: 248 pages
2026 Official Rules of Major League Baseball
by Triumph Books
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Triumph Books
Publication date: May 19, 2026
Print length: 192 pages
Warm Summers and Cold Winters: How Baseball Survived the Korean War
by Steven P. Gietschier
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date: April 16, 2026
Print length: 288 pages
Nolan: The Singular Life of an American Original
by Tim Brown (Author)
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Publication date: May 19, 2026
Print length: 352 pages
Baseball Quote of the Day
One of today's Birthday Boys is pitcher and broadcaster Steve Stone, so here are some quotes from him:
"Pitching is really just an internal struggle between pitcher and his stuff. If my curve ball is breaking and I'm throwing it where I want, the batter is irrelevant."
"I can say honestly and unequivocally that I am the best right-handed Jewish pitcher to come into the majors in the past 20 years—mainly because I don’t know of any others."
"Your supreme effort of yesterday may fall short of winning tomorrow—then what? You have to go out tomorrow and win again because the people like their heroes a day at a time. The top of the world and the bottom aren’t really that far apart now, are they?"
"There's only 9600 fans here, but they're making enough noise for 10,000."
⚾ Enjoy the All-Star game tonight! ⚾
Did you know? I wrote a 600+ page book with the same title as this newsletter/blog? Now Taking the Field: Baseball’s All-Time Dream Teams for All 30 Franchises was published in early 2019, by ACTA Sports. It is available at Amazon and most other major booksellers.
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