The St. Louis Cardinals' three All-Stars haven't yet been spotted with the star patches that were created to distinguish the stars from the Regular People ahead of the 2011 MLB All-Star Game, and according to the Post-Dispatch we won't see them anytime soon. Derrick Goold reports that Lance Berkman, Matt Holliday, and Yadier Molina have all decided that the patches are unnecessary, and that they don't want to do anything that separates them from their teammates in general.
Nice job from Goold, meanwhile, in tweaking the always-entertaining Cardinals fans/Brandon Phillips rivalry: "Cincinnati All-Star Brandon Phillips, among others, did [wear the stars], with the stars flanking the MLB logo on the back of his jersey and cap."
Perfect!
While I understand what Major League Baseball was trying to do here—ramp up anticipation ahead of the All-Star Game, single out its stars for more attention—this seemed like a bad idea from the beginning, even without the strange Nazi imagery their choice of single-outery has evoked. Don't get me wrong: Players love to be singled out for praise, they just hate admitting it.