This will be the fourth time the All-Star Game winner will be given home-field advantage in the World Series. Cool, I have no problem with that.

   What I do have a problem with, is if this game means so much, why are the fans still picking the staring teams? This game has always been for the fans, picked by the fans, and I'm very cool with that, but has MLB not looked at the last 20 years and how The AL has dominated the mid-summer classic? The AL has fared 15-4-1, to be exact.

   The NL has not won a game since the last time the All-Star game was played in Pittsburgh 10 years ago. Yes, it is quite a run for the AL, but this game counts, right? So once again, if there is to be so much meaning on this game, why are the fans picking the teams? Why are there still players from every team still represented? Are you kidding me, why should a team that is already 20 games back at the break, get to have a player on a team that decides who gets home field advantage in the World Series?

    You can't have your cake and eat it too. If you make changes to the game, you better make changes to the process and give the fans a game with meaning, because the other sports sure as hell don't.

   But maybe let all the AL managers pick the team, and all the NL managers try and stop the dominance of the AL by picking their squad, but please Mr. Commissioner, quit telling us what the fans want or need, the fans are much smarter than you think.

   The fans want a great baseball game, but they don't have run the game as well. That's your job.

 I know Roger Clemens is back, and some of the older players are doing very well. But in a few years, The Big Unit will be gone, so will Barry Bonds, and Ken Griffey Jr.

Who will carry on? I'll give you just a few names that will be great for a long time:

Joe Mauer, Twins: He's the best hitting young catcher in the show. He's 23 years old and leading the A.L. in hitting right now, hitting .368 in 66 games played. Mauer may never be a great power threat, but he's already one of the toughest outs in the bigs. He has an OBP of .438, has only struck out 27 times in 247 at bats with 33 walks. That's awesome

Matt Holliday, Rockies: How about this 6-4, 26-year-old hammer? He's second in the NL in hitting at .353, has smacked 15 homers and driven in 54 runs. His batting average on the road is at .326 and he's got one less home run on the road than at Coors Field. So don't say it's just because of the thin air....

Ryan Howard, Phillies: The 2005 NL rookie of the year from 2005 is not having a sophomore slump, he's killing the ball. He's getting better and better every day. Hitting .291 with 25 jacks and 66 RBIs, when he gets a little more patient up there his .OBP and batting avg. will go way up. This kid is a Monster.

Alex Rios, Blue Jays: All this 25 year old has done so far is hit .323 with 15 homers and 51 RBI. He's on a pace to triple his output from 2005. The knock on him was potential. Not anymore, he's arrived.

Others to watch: Oakland's 25-year-old left fielder, Nick Swisher, looks everything like Jason Giambi when he was an Athletic: Great eye, great power, and one hell of a clutch bat. He's hitting .286 with 19 long balls and 49 RBIs, with an OBP of .402. Swisher is like Adam Dunn of the Reds, who has 63 strikeouts and 50 walks. When the K's go down, the average and OBP will jump up even farther. I saved the best for last right now: Mets third baseman David Wright. He is a star right now. He's hitting .336 with 18 HRs and 64 RBIs. His OBP is .402 and he's only made eight errors in 70 games. When you talk about big plays, his name always comes up. Wright should be the starting third baseman on the NL All-Star team for years to come.

The future is now and that's just a few names. I've got a lot more for you coming soon.

A couple of seasons have passed since the Los Angeles Angels made two of the worst moves in recent history. They let the heart (David Eckstein) and soul (Troy Glaus) of their championship team go to other teams.

Eckstein, who many, including me, think is one of the hardest working and toughest playing shortstops in the game today. Not only is he one of the best leadoff men in baseball, but his all-out hustle all the time is an example of how this game is meant to be played.

Last year, when he went to St Louis, he helped propel the Cardinals to the best record in baseball and is now a fan favorite, second only to Albert Pujols. At present time, he is leading the Cards in hits with 69, has scored 34 runs and is hitting .330 with a .402 OBP. He has four errors in 52 games, and the Cardinals are in first place by five games and have a record of 34-19.

The soul of that championship team, Troy Glaus, one of the best power hitters in the game, was also let go. All he did in Arizona was hit 37 HRs and drive in 97. This year after being traded to Toronto, Troy has 17 HRs and 44 RBIs through 50 games, and the Blue Jays are right in the thick of things in the AL East, just 2.5 games behind Boston and NY. If you compare the five players that have tried to fill his shoes at third base in Los Angeles, it's almost sad. OK, it is sad. Those five players have hit .198 with four HRs and 15 RBI while committing 10 errors to Troy's four.

Those are just some numbers, but if you really measure the two men, it's not just the play but their leadership qualities which can't be measured. The Angels are 23-30 through 53 games and have no other power threat other then Vlad Guerrero. I know many teams think it's all about the money and all about the future prospects, but if you look back on just these two moves, I think they speak for themselves. You never know what you have until it's gone. Sometimes players like Glaus and Eckstein deserve more respect then just money.

People are asking, what's wrong with Brad Lidge and why is Albert Pujols so good?

In a word, confidence.

Baseball is played by men who by most accounts are almost all in the same talent range, with maybe a select few above the rest as far as ability. Now some people might think they could play on the same field as some major leaguers, but don't kid yourselves, these men are so talented they can hit a 95-mph fastball, or keep their hands back long enough to pick up an 88-mph slider and have enough power to hit it 400 feet.

Now once they all get to The Show they are almost all on the same level, but confidence is what makes All-Stars and lack of confidence is what ultimately results in others being sent back to the bushes.

There's nothing wrong with Brad Lidge that a confidence boost couldn't cure.

Brad Lidge hasn't lost anything on his fastball or his slider. I watched him Monday night and he was throwing an easy 97, but once your level of confidence goes down, even just a slight bit, lifetime .250 hitters become a problem. They look like they could all crush your best pitch, so you start to doubt yourself and go against what made you an All-Star.

What's worse is that everyone has an opinion on how you can get the "C" word back. Now there's too many voices in your head and you are really in trouble.

Now my advice for Brad or anyone who needs a little help is KISS -- Keep it Simple Stupid. Golfers use it, and it gets them back on track. Just get the ball, pick up your catcher and try and throw it right through him like you used to. Block out all the other voices except your own, and KNOW that no one is going to hit your stuff. Listen, there's no easy way to explain this except when I asked Pete Rose about hitting, and he told me he never changed his batting stances. He said that he KNEW he would come out of a slump.

Confidence, it's easy to say, but hard to keep. I was watching Albert Pujols the other night. He missed badly on one pitch, then took a second or two outside the batters box and talked to himself. I think he basically told himself to calm down, and on the next pitch hit it 450 feet over the fence. It was all about confidence. And because he had it, Albert KNEW that only he could beat himself.