Depending on your personal feelings toward former Texas Rangers pitcher C.J. Wilson, the American League squad's chances in Tuesday night's MLB All-Star Game just got worse, or maybe a thousand times better.
Wilson will miss the game on Tuesday with a blister on his throwing hand, an ailment that has crept up for Wilson multiple times, most notably in the 2010 World Series against the San Francisco Giants. He will be replaced on the roster by Chicago White Sox starter Jake Peavy, who lost out to Yu Darvish in the final fan vote for the last roster spot on the AL club.
Of course, Wilson was a possibility to start the game for his former manager, and AL skipper Ron Washington after putting up a fine first half of the season with a 9-5 record and a 2.43 ERA. As we all know, for better or worse, the winner of the All-Star Game gets its league homefield advantage in the World Series. The 2011 World Series could've easily been won by the Rangers had they had homefield, but the AL lost the All-Star Game thanks to a big home run from then-Milwaukee Brewers slugger Prince Fielder off of Wilson, who took the loss for the AL.
It also kills any chance of Wilson pitching to his former battery mate Mike Napoli, which probably would've only happened had Wilson started or been the second guy in. Of course, the two had an off-season twitter feud when Wilson tweeted Napoli's cell phone number to his thousands of followers after Napoli made a remark about wanting to take Wilson deep now that he's an Angel. Of course, Napoli hasn't had much luck taking anyone deep this year, much less Wilson.
Or maybe Wilson just wants to avoid any interaction with his former teammates (there are six of them, not counting Darvish or Joe Nathan who weren't with the club last season). Or maybe he really is just hurting.
"Last year, I went and obviously didn't do very well. I'd like to pitch well to get back for that, but it's not really worth it," Wilson told reporters. "This is an issue I've been fighting all year."
Oh well, maybe next year, C.J.
