• Harmon Killebrew has been diagnosed with esophageal cancer and is currently being treated at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona.  Killebrew, 74, won the Most Valuable Player award in 1969 and his 573 career home runs ranks 11^th all-time.  He is also credited as being one of the first sluggers to incorporate a dismount into his swing following a presumed no-doubter.

• The great Joe Posnanski of Sports Illustrated has dedicated his week to scrutinizing the careers of the players on the 2011 Hall of Fame ballot; each day has had a corresponding post and he has finally narrowed down his list and acknowledged the players that he voted for.  He calls them “The Eight Definites,” and they are as follows- Roberto Alomar, Jeff Bagwell, Bert Blyleven, Barry Larkin, Edgar Martinez, Mark McGwire, Tim Raines, and Allan Trammell.  For those who wish to read his entire series, which will be concluded today, here are the articles in order- [First Round] [The Second Round] [The Eight Definites] [The Borderline Five]

• The Baseball Bloggers Alliance has recommended both Roberto Alomar and Bert Blyleven for the Hall of Fame after both players received 75.97% of the votes.  Other notable players who just missed the cut include: Barry Larkin (70.78%), Jeff Bagwell (62.34%), Edgar Martinez (59.09%), and Tim Raines (54.55%).

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After taking a short break from Twitter this week, I for some reason felt compelled to check it last night before bed.  Instantly, I noticed that my feed was littered with tweets from none other than Jose Canseco.  As we are all well aware, Jose is, well, he’s Jose.  He’s that former high-profiled athlete turned celebrity, except the only person who believes he is a celebrity, is the delusional Jose himself.

Having developed a knack for unprompted disclosures over the years, Jose’s love affair with Twitter was inevitable.  It’s as if the service was created solely for his use…and Chad Ochocinco’s, of course.  Anyway, Jose was at it again late last night, and I thought that I would take a few minutes this morning to dissect a few of his most personal thoughts:

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The highly anticipated “The Tenth Inning” is a two night, four hour documentary on baseball from the 1990s to the present day, by award-winning film-maker and historian Ken Burns.  Burns, who wrote and directed PBS’ Emmy Award Winning, “Baseball,” has structured his latest effort to continue where the latter left off.

From the PBS website:

“The film highlights dramatic developments that transformed the game: the crippling 1994 strike that left many fans disillusioned with their heroes; the increasing dominance of Latino and Asian players who turned baseball into a truly international game; baseball’s skyrocketing profits, thanks to new stadiums, interleague play, and the wild card; the rise of a new Yankee Dynasty; the Red Sox’ historic World Series victory; the astonishing feats of Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds; and the revelations about performance-enhancing drugs that cast a shadow on many of the era’s greatest stars and their accomplishments.”

“The Tenth Inning” will air on Sept. 28-29; 8:00 – 10:00PM ET on PBS

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Since its inclusion in 1985, I have always felt that the home run derby was, without a doubt, the highlight of the All-Star break.  There was nothing more exciting than watching the most prolific home run hitters put on an unparalleled display of power, as a way of giving back to the major league baseball fan base.  Baseball’s best power hitters seemed honored to be selected for the derby, and it was clear that they were whole-heartedly competing.

However, that was then.

Now, the home run derby is an embarrassing, lesser version of what it once was, featuring out-dated commentators and shitty, intolerable music that can be heard three states over.  It has become an overly publicized, commercial event that fails to recognize and compliment the most impressive players in baseball.  What happened to the days where guys like Ken Griffey, Jr., Frank Thomas, Juan Gonzalez and Jim Thome battled each other, round by round, while creating an electrifying environment within the given park?  I’d prefer a derby featuring juicers like McGwire and Sosa than the anticlimactic atmosphere that I had to sit through last night.  I thought that baseball’s all-star game and home run derby actually reflected the best players in baseball?  It seems as though the derby has now become an event much like the Pro-Bowl, where the players would rather protect their bodies and swings than participate in an elite event that was once a highlight of the MLB season.  It’s a running joke.

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