Kemp snubs Braun from HR derby

[slappzilla]

Braun leads the NL in HR's (22)

 

Kemp yesterday picked himself (12), Giancarlo Stanton (19), Carlos Beltran(20) and Carlos Gonzalez (17) to represent the NL in the HR contest.

 

Salty over MVP much?

[Bombers]

Braun recently stated he didn't want to be in it so it seems to be his decision. He said watching it is more fun than being in it.

[slappzilla]

I'm sure he did, but that's more/less good ol' Braun PR talk as usual. Braun never talks smack or complains.

 

Did he say that after Kemp said he wasn't part of the team or before?

[Bombers]

I think it was sometime in the last few days, which I am pretty sure was before they announced who will be in HR derby (but I am not 100% positive)

[slappzilla]

Either way, I don't believe Braun would really not want to be in the HR derby. You can't tell me he wouldn't want the chance to put up a HR derby champ trophy in his trophy case.

 

Either Braun knew ahead of time he was getting snubbed or he was just doing PR work altogether like he usually does.

[rluzinski]

I think asking a player to pick the whole home run derby team makes for a high probability that factors other than "ability to hit HRs" will take precedence. Kind of like asking the fans to pick the All Star team.

[slappzilla]

Agreed, but not including the guy that leads that league in HR's?

 

If Braun was in the middle of the pack with those guys in HR's hit so far (say 17-19) I'd be fine with it and could understand, but he leads the NL in HR's, and was leading the NL in HR's when Kemp made his official picks Sunday night.

[pitchleague]

I think we're starting to look for anything to complain about. This is a non-issue. Who are we to say that Kemp didn't ask Braun personally and Braun turned him down? We don't know.

 

I'd rather Braun rest as much as he can over the break, give his achilles a rest for a few days. Yeah, he's looked pretty good again the last couple of weeks but a short little break could move him from the 90-95% that he is now back to full power.

[slappzilla]

It would have been made public already amidst the speculation that Kemp asked Braun and Braun said no.

 

I agree with Braun resting. I want that too, but that doesn't take away from the fact that he got snubbed by Kemp for derby. We all loved it when Prince won the derby a couple of years ago. You can't tell me we (brewer fans) wouldn't dig it if Braun won it this year.

[jerichoholicninja]

Meh, whatever. This just takes the chance of me watching the homerun derby from about 5% to 3% or so.

[RockCoCougars]

I'm actually glad about this ASG stuff. It seems like any time that the Brewers have someone in the derby, they go into a slump afterward. I really couldn't care less about the ASG anymore, which started right about the time that the players stopped caring about it.

[slappzilla]

Who slumped?

 

Weeks got hurt...

[PrinceEatMeat]

I don't even want Braun in the derby, so I could care less about this. He needs the extra rest. He's not the greatest guy for a derby anyway. Guys like Fielder and Stanton fit the bill perfectly. Don't get me wrong, I'd still like to see him in it. But in this case, it doesn't really bother me at all. He has nagging injuries to rest this year. Wouldn't bother me if he sat out the game too, even though I know he won't.

[RockCoCougars]

Who slumped?

 

I know that last season, both Prince and Rickie struggled to varying degrees after the derby.

 

Weeks got hurt...

[slappzilla]

They didn't slump anymore than they did at other random times throughout the year.

 

Blaming a random HR derby on a slump is reaching.

[RockCoCougars]

They didn't slump anymore than they did at other random times throughout the year.

 

Blaming a random HR derby on a slump is reaching.

 

If I'm not mistaken, Prince went on his longest homerless drought of the season after the ASG and Rickie really fell off.

 

Related to the HR derby or not, I could care less if Braun is not in. Am I the only one who feels like watching it is like watching paint dry? Not only that, but you have to watch it with mute on if you do watch, because Chris Berman is one of the 5 most annoying people on Earth. What is the over/under on 'back/back/back'? I'll say 150.

[dlk9s]

a) As has been said, who's to say Kemp didn't ask Braun?

 

b) The picks are fine. Stanton is a beast - who wouldn't want to see him in the derby? Gonzalez is fantastic. Beltran has 20 dingers and is having a really nice comeback seasoon. And of course Kemp would pick himself.

 

c) Who cares?

[slappzilla]

The HR derby is a popular fan endorsed event. More baseball fans than not enjoy the derby and they want to see the best HR hitters in the derby. If their hometown superstar leads the league in HR's, then they definitely expect him to be there. I highly doubt Kemp asked Braun and Braun said no. Had it gone down like that, it would have been reported numerous times already.

 

You caring less if Braun is not in the derby is fine, and your opinion, but it's hardly the popular opinion amongst Brewer fans.

 

People can run with the "well informed fans know better.." logic all they want, but saying that Braun being in the HR derby is bad for him in anyway is a ridiculous reach on the subject.

[Thurston Fluff]

Am I the only one who feels like watching it is like watching paint dry.

 

You're not. Frankly I couldn't care less about any of the all star festivities, game included. For me it's a four day, catch your breath before the season really gets interesting, break.

[RockCoCougars]

The HR derby is a popular fan endorsed event. More baseball fans than not enjoy the derby and they want to see the best HR hitters in the derby. If their hometown superstar leads the league in HR's, then they definitely expect him to be there. I highly doubt Kemp asked Braun and Braun said no. Had it gone down like that, it would have been reported numerous times already.

 

You caring less if Braun is not in the derby is fine, and your opinion, but it's hardly the popular opinion amongst Brewer fans.

 

People can run with the "well informed fans know better.." logic all they want, but saying that Braun being in the HR derby is bad for him in anyway is a ridiculous reach on the subject.

 

What good can come from it? He wins? Big deal. I will grant you that the 'HR derby jinx' may be a old wive's tale, but I've certainly heard it used over the years. Also with Braun's history of fairly minor/nagging injuries, why take a chance of anything even if it's a remote chance? More bad then good can come from him being in the derby.

[slappzilla]

What good can come from it? He wins? Big deal. I will grant you that the 'HR derby jinx' may be a old wive's tale, but I've certainly heard it used over the years. Also with Braun's history of fairly minor/nagging injuries, why take a chance of anything even if it's a remote chance? More bad then good can come from him being in the derby.

Again, it's something catered to the fans. Fans would love to see Braun win it, just like they did when Prince won it. It's a fun event.

 

and if you're worried about Braun getting hurt standing there taking BP, then you should probably call RR and tell him to give Braun at least every other game off.

[TooLiveBrew]

People can run with the "well informed fans know better.." logic all they want, but saying that Braun being in the HR derby is bad for him in anyway is a ridiculous reach on the subject.

The thread title kinda seems like a reach to me, so fair play?

[thebruce44]

What good can come from it? He wins? Big deal. I will grant you that the 'HR derby jinx' may be a old wive's tale, but I've certainly heard it used over the years. Also with Braun's history of fairly minor/nagging injuries, why take a chance of anything even if it's a remote chance? More bad then good can come from him being in the derby.

Again, it's something catered to the fans. Fans would love to see Braun win it, just like they did when Prince won it.

 

I'm not so sure the national fan wants to see Braun in it.

[RockCoCougars]

What good can come from it? He wins? Big deal. I will grant you that the 'HR derby jinx' may be a old wive's tale, but I've certainly heard it used over the years. Also with Braun's history of fairly minor/nagging injuries, why take a chance of anything even if it's a remote chance? More bad then good can come from him being in the derby.

Again, it's something catered to the fans. Fans would love to see Braun win it, just like they did when Prince won it.

 

I'm not so sure the national fan wants to see Braun in it.

 

Another good point. Do we really want to see Braun get booed every swing on national TV?

[Funketown]

Braun's not the type of guy I want to see in the HR derby. I want to see the guys who will put one 475+ feet. Give me Russell Branyan, Giancarlo Stanton, Adam Dunn, Prince Fielder, etc.

 

It's been mentioned here before, but I'd love to see a HR derby of "Stars" vs. "Goons", where the Stars team could be made up of the elite HR hitters in the game and the Goons team could be made up of big, brutish strikeout kings who crush the ball, even if they can't manage to find a starting lineup on a regular basis.

 

With the way Braun gets nagging injuries, I'm happy he isn't participating. Another day off won't hurt.

 

Of course they could also make the event far more enjoyable by changing the broadcast crew...