Tuesday night's 2012 MLB All-Star Game should generate plenty of excitement and on Monday, the managers from the American League and National League announced who their starting pitchers will be.
On the AL side, Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington elected to start Detroit Tigers ace, Justin Verlander. Said Verlander on Monday to MLB.com:
"What an honor it is to start my first All-Star Game," Verlander said at an Arrowhead Stadium news conference on Monday. "I've been to a few in the past and some I haven't had the opportunity to pitch like last year and some I've pitched out of the bullpen. But this is something different, and I'm going to relish every moment and hopefully play a part in helping the American league win."
For the NL, St. Louis Cardinals skipper Tony La Russa elected to start San Francisco Giants hurler Matt Cain over New York Mets knuckleballer, R.A. Dickey. Cain threw the 22nd perfect game in Major League Baseball history last month and the first ever in Giants history. La Russa explained his decision to go with Cain over Dickey this way:
"I know Dickey's going to play," La Russa said. "I'm very aware of the first half he's had. The one edge that I thought made sense, we've got Buster [Posey] catching and Matt is equally legitimate as far as getting the honor. And then we're just going to play the game. I can't bet you Dickey will come out in the second or fourth, I just know he's going to pitch in the first half of the game."
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