Old Forest, Palantir Left Out of All-Stars

OLD FOREST - Tom Bombadil is mad. In an uncharacteristic outburst in front of dozens of reporters, the Merry Fellows manager blasted the league's All-Star picks. "You would think that with 25 frickin' roster slots, they could have found room for one of my guys," said Bombadil. "Sure we're not having the greatest year, but don't penalize our fans."

Old Forest fell victim to their 24-57 start when not a single member of their team was chosen to represent them in the 2003 All-Star Game. Part of the problem is that there is no rule that all teams must be represented. Part of the problem is that most of the Merry Fellows players were called up in a massive overhaul of the team in May. Catcher Tim Pauli, for example, has been knocking the cover off the ball, hitting .343 with 7 homers and 30 RBI, but he doesn't have enough at-bats to qualify for the leader boards.

The Palantir Stones of the Mordor Conference have a slightly different problem. Their sure-fire All-Star candidate, Rafur Rockback (.378, 20 HR, 51 RBI) has been on the disabled list since June 6. He suffered a broken cheek bone in a collision at home plate in a game against Gondor. "It's really tough having to sit out the very first All-Star Game," Rockback said. MESN analysts, however, are shaking their heads at the passing over of Stones closer Hilin Goldarm. Goldarm is one of the top relievers in the league, with 19 saves to his credit.

Correction: The Dol Goldur Dragons were also snubbed by the All-Star Game. To add insult to injury, they were left out of this article when it originally aired. We regret this omission. Those responsible have been sacked.

Posted at June 3, 2003 10:15 AM | more from All-Star Game, more from League News