MLB

With the introduction of the 2009 All-Star teams, the next step for fans is to complain about their favorite players not making the squad. Thus, we'll get a head start and go through each position in the American League.

The rosters, which will be complete once the fan vote for the final player in each league concludes, were announced during a selection show on TBS Sunday. Remember, this season baseball added yet another pitcher to the roster, in hopes that the game doesn't end in a tie like the 2002 debacle. The concern once again came to the forefront last season as the game went deep into extra innings and the pitching depth began to run out.

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The votes are in and counted and St. Louis is ready to host the 80th Midsummer Classic on Tuesday July 14, so who will be representing the American and National League in the Gateway City?

There will be 33 players on each league's roster, with the eight position-player starters selected by a fan vote, eight pitchers (five starters and three relievers) and one reserve at each position selected by a vote among the players, coaches and managers and the remainder of the roster filled by the managers of each team -- Joe Maddon in the AL and Charlie Manuel in the NL. As has been the case the last few years, fans will also select the final player for each league in a vote to be conducted in the next week.

After the jump see the full rosters for the 2009 All-Star Game.

Every Sunday, MLB FanHouse empties out its notebook in Baseball Brunch.

A week ago Sunday night, Mariano Rivera earned his 500th save. Which should make us realize a few things about closers:

• The truly great ones are the those who can sustain it for a long time. Getting 40 saves a year for 12 years would still leave one short of 500.

• Even getting to the second tier isn't easy. Only 18 players have had as many as six 30-save seasons: Rivera, Trevor Hoffman, Lee Smith, Billy Wagner, Troy Percival, John Wetteland, Dennis Eckersley, John Franco, Jason Isringhausen, Robb Nen, Jeff Reardon, Todd Jones, Jose Mesa, Roberto Hernandez, Randy Myers, Rick Aguilera, Tom Henke and Todd Worrell.

In other words, the shelf life for a typical closer is a short one. They can burst onto the scene – and flame out quickly (right, Mr. Gagne?)

• But it also means that teams can find short-term solutions for the ninth inning any number of ways.

Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.

You Oughta Know ...
That reigning NL Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum is actually better this year, which makes it seem like a long time ago that we wondered how he'd top his 2008 season. Lincecum has erased all memory of that slow start by stringing together 23 consecutive scoreless innings, including seven against the Astros on Saturday.

Lincecum is now 9-2 with a 2.23 ERA, lower than last year's 2.64 ERA. He's looking like a strong candidate to start the All-Star Game in St. Louis, which would be a nice way of making up for last year. Lincecum was picked to go to the game in New York, but he was too sick to attend.

"It would mean a lot -- the hard work paid off," said Lincecum. "If I do happen to start, it will make up for the fact I didn't even make it to the field last year."

As a team, the Giants have now pitched two shutouts in a row for the second time in a week. Previously, they hadn't done it since 2002.

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While he doesn't have much power or a ton of speed, one thing Howie Kendrick has always been able to do is hit the baseball. His career batting average in the minor leagues is an absurd .360 -- with a .972 OPS, which is even more impressive considering his lack of home run power. In the majors, he's generally been a .300 hitter as well. Thus, entering 2009 as a 25-year-old with a firm grasp on an everyday second base job, expectations were a bit high. Kendrick flopped.

He was demoted to the minors after hitting only .231 with an abominably low .636 OPS through 51 games. After about three weeks in Triple-A, though, the Angels feel confident Kendrick is ready to come back, and he's been recalled.

It's not often you hear of a contract extension to a manager who is 11 games under .500 and 16 1/2 games out of first place on July 3. The San Diego Padres, however, aren't in position to complain about the job done by Bud Black up to this point. Thus, the Padres are planning to extend his contract in the coming weeks, though there is no word for how long.

Heading into the season, expectations were at a probable all-time low in San Diego. Under new ownership, management has been ordered to trim payroll, which led the expectation that ace pitcher Jake Peavy would be traded. The team, notably the back-end of the pitching rotation, seemed to be a patchwork group.

Back in 2003, Major League Baseball performed rounds of sample drug testing. If there was more than a certain percentage of positive tests, the league would move forward with mandatory testing. As we all know now, 104 players tested positive and the league implemented a program which suspends players for positive tests. Thanks to some leaks -- on records which were supposed to be confidential -- we know Alex Rodriguez and Sammy Sosa were on that list. Now, if we were to speculate on the rest, it's pretty obvious most people would believe Roger Clemens was on it as well.

But, according to his lawyer, Rusty Hardin, the Rocket tested negative.

There have been plenty of moments in baseball involving steroids that stand out in our memories, but one that's always stuck in the back of my mind was Rafael Palmeiro sitting in front of Congress back in March 2005. There he was wagging his finger at Congress and saying "I have never used steroids. Period. I don't know how to say it any more clearly than that."

Then five months later Palmeiro was being suspended 10 games by Major League Baseball for failing a steroid test. Of course Palmeiro then began backtracking and saying that he'd never "knowingly" taken any steroids in his life, and he wasn't changing his story on Friday as he was inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame.

Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.

You Oughta Know ...
That the milestones keep coming for Albert Pujols. He went into the record book in grand fashion Friday night, belting his 31st home run of the season. The drive was his fourth grand slam of the season and 10th of his career, both Cardinals' franchise records. The latter mark nudges him past Stan Musial on the club list.

"He broke Stan Musial's career record?" manager Tony La Russa asked. "I'll go bow to his feet here in a second. That's a serious point to make."

Pujols is on pace to finish 2009 with 61 home runs. And just in case that's not enough for you, it came in the eighth inning with the Cardinals down 3-0 to the Reds. St. Louis went on to beat Cincinnati 7-4.

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SAN DIEGO -- Manny Ramirez took a page out of Jason Giambi's book.

When Giambi came back to the Yankees after it was reported that he testified before a federal grand jury that he had used steroids, Giambi apologized, but he was careful not to say what he did wrong.

When Ramirez addressed reporters en masse for the first time since he was suspended for 50 games for a violation of baseball's drug policy, Ramirez gave vague apologies, but not much else.

"I want to say I'm sorry to the fans, to my teammates," Ramirez said Friday in a packed press conference before the Dodgers played the Padres at Petco Park. "They were always there for me. I want to thank them for their support. I'm here. I'm excited."