Screen Shot 2013-07-09 at 8.32.47 AM

Yeah I’ll take Squints because he helps me with my homework, Smalls because he’s nice, myself, and Yeah-Yeah because I like his style. Sorry, Benny. No hard feelings.

In a way I’m glad that David Wright glossed over Domonic Brown and his 23 home runs whilst selecting the National League’s Home Run Derby participants because, uh, remember Bobby Abreu in 2005, the year he won the derby with a ridiculous – yet fluid – uppercut:

Screen Shot 2013-07-09 at 8.15.01 AM

But Wright’s reason for selecting Michael Cuddyer – to join himself, Carlos Gonzalez and Bryce Harper – over Brown and others was a bit lame: [NY Daily News]

“I did it as easy as I knew possible. At the time when they needed to know who I was picking, I took the National League home run leader. I took the guy that won the fan poll — the guy who the fans really wanted to see in the Home Run Derby. So you have CarGo and Bryce Harper,” Wright said. “And that left me with the ‘Ryder Cup captain’s pick.’ I grew up with Michael. I think that he’s one of the more underrated players in the game. And, obviously, the friendship had something to do with it. And his production had a lot to do with it. You’re talking about a guy that’s got 15 or 16 homers. He had a 27-game hitting streak. For me, that was my choice.

Wright said these were his first three choices, but it was not an easy task to pick a team.

“I really am sorry. Carlos Beltran, Domonic Brown, [Paul] Goldschmidt, [Joey] Votto, [Pedro] Alvarez — the original list that I had, I had all of those guys,” Wright said. . The three guys that I asked to do it all said yes and jumped at it. Those are the three guys I originally asked and those are the three guys that said yes last week. It’s a lot tougher than you would think it is. And you don’t want to leave anybody out. And there’s obviously guys that I left out. I apologize for that. Some people had to get left out.”

Yes, and that would include Brown, who has the second most home runs in the National League, and players 3-11 on that list. Nice choices.

Brown said he wanted to participate and that it wouldn’t mess up his swing. Which is doubtful.