Too much ado

 In the end, I may do what I do sometimes, on the occasion of what we used to call the Mid-Summer Classic.

I will wander out to my back deck, where the combustible July heat is beginning to ease its grip in deference to approaching evening.

I will take a radio and a frosty beverage with me.

I will tune in for an inning or two or three, and sip my beverage, and listen to the night sounds of summer begin to come up. And go back in time, a little, to a day when people used to do such things in the lollygagging twilight of July and August.

Then I will go inside, back to the air-conditioned bubble of 2025, and turn on the TV, and watch a bit more of the game.

And not waste a moment's thought on who should be playing and who shouldn't.

Because 2025 is what it is -- a time whose sustenance is manufactured contention and all its consequent silliness -- a controversy of sorts bubbled up this week surrounding tonight's All-Star game. Like most controversies these days, it's ... well, stupid. The fact it's infested even such a blameless nostalgia hit as an All-Star game confirms as much.

See, Jacob Misiorowski is on the National League roster.

He's a rookie pitcher for the Milwaukee Brewers.

He's got a photon torpedo for a right arm, which has enabled him to hit 103 mph on the gun.

He's also pitched in only five major-league games so far, a record low for an All-Star.

Hence the controversy.

The yapping poodles of radio and TV sportstalk have debated whether he should be playing tonight. Several major-league players have said he hasn't done enough to deserve the honor. Among them, Trea Turner of the Phillies has been the most succinct.

"What a joke," Turner was quoted by ESPN as telling reporters.

Me?

I think Trea Turner needs to calm his hindparts down.

I think everyone needs to remember this is an All-Star game, not a merit badge. The fans vote for who they want to see, which makes it a popularity contest. And apparently they want to see a rangy kid who can throw a baseball 103 mph, because, really, who wouldn't?

So there he'll be in Atlanta tonight. Whether he deserves to be there -- or whether someone else deserves to be there in his place -- is immaterial.

Thing is, it's not like he's some rag-arm with a 6.25 ERA who got voted in because he's been playing for 15 years and everybody likes him. So far, in five starts, Misiorowski is 4-1 with a 2.81 ERA. He's struck out 33 batters and allowed just 12 hits in 25 2/3 innings. That means he gives up a knock just once every two-plus innings.

But as the ESPN piece notes, he's not Christopher Sanchez of the Phillies, who's 8-2 with a 2.50 ERA. And he's not teammate  Ranger Suarez, with his 7-3 record and 1.94 ERA.

Neither is in Atlanta. Which likely accounts for Turner's blunt assessment of Misiorowski's inclusion. 

Just standing up for his guys, Turner was. And that's as fine as pie.

Still ...

Still, he and everyone else needs to realize this is way too much ado about very little. They need to listen to Atlanta manager Brian Snitker, is what they need to do.

"You know what?" Snitker said this week. "It's an exhibition game."

Exactly.