DAN O’NEILL:
My favorite moment and lasting impression will have to do with Joe Torre. As always, Torre was genuinely tickled to be back in St. Louis. I covered the team when Torre was here as the manager and had not seen him in several years. It was great to catch up with one of the truly delightful people in the game.

And what I will remember is Torre’s wonderful gesture during the pregame ceremonies. Many people in St. Louis were disappointed that the All-Stars did not surround Stan Musial and embrace him in the manner they embraced Ted Williams 10 years ago. But the one All-Star who did was Torre. After President Barack Obama threw out his pitch and left the field, Torre made a point to leave the NL dugout and go over to Musialand giving him a big hug.

Torre was grossly underappreciated when he was in St. Louis. He managed teams that were built around players like Todd Zeile, Felix Jose and Mark Whiten, and he was provided a pitching staff that leaned on Bob Tewksbury as its “ace.” And in the three full seasons he had here, he averaged almost 85 wins. Yeah, what an awful manager he was.

There aren’t many people I might mention in the same breath with Stan The Man, but, at least for me, Joe Torre is one of them.

DERRICK GOOLD:

The All-Star Game has been — and likely always will be — a national holiday around my family. My father and I would watch them, tape them and then I’d watch them again until the tape wore out. The personal high point for me was seeing my father attend his first All-Star Game in person and on his lap was his 3-year-old grandson, my son, also taking in his first All-Star Game in person. The little man lasted the whole game and told me the next day that he liked the Game more than the Home Run Derby. Must be the genes. I got to share the Game with them, just as St. Louis got to share it’s love of the game with the world. While we all would have liked to see Stan Musial get a bigger moment — highlights of his career, anyone? — we shouldn’t discount all of the moments the All-Star Game allowed Musial to enjoy. He had the long chat with Albert Pujols, as deftly relayed by Rick Hummel. He attended the owners’ party. He exchanged handshakes with President Obama, saw fellow Hall of Famers and exchanged a point with friend Joe Torre. In St. Louis, it’s popular to say that we appreciate Musial as much as baseball should, and maybe the opposite is true, too. Maybe Musial appreciates St. Louis as much as baseball should. The All-Star Game gave him reason to get out and enjoy that part of the city. It was great to see him and hear about him everywhere. Like it was for my family, the best memories of the Game being here cannot be captured in a moment or in a video. It’s about sharing the Game with family, with fans, and wanting to do so again. It’s best summed up by the sentiment Musial expressed leaving the Cardinals clubhouse and photo shoot with Pujols: “I’m coming back every Sunday home game.”

KATHLEEN NELSON:
I was mystified at the contrast in fan response in the stadium to the words of Barack Obama and George W. Bush during the taped segment about the community heroes. For the current president, the crowd interspersed mild boos with mild cheers but gave a rousing hurrah to “W.” Their reaction when Obama took the field was surprisingly tepid, considering the cheers for Roy Halladay. It seemed a bit disrespectful to the president. It was a baseball game, not a political rally. I thought that people with the reputation as the classiest fans in baseball would have responded with more class, regardless of politics.

BRYAN BURWELL:
The streets of downtown bustling like a major city. That was the absolute best thing, even better than the parade.

REID LAYMANCE:
The best thing for me was something out of the spotlight that I only read about in the Seattle Times newspaper. Ichiro took time on Monday to visit the grave of George Sisler, the former St. Louis Browns star. Ichiro had broken Sisler’s single-season record for hits in 2004 and met the Sisler family then.

THE WATERCOOLER

QUESTION: There are two spots remaining for the All-Star teams, one from the AL and one from the NL, and both will decided by online fan voting. The candidates for the AL are Ian Kinsler, Brandon Inge, Chone Figgins, Adam Lind and Carlos Pena. For the NL it’s Pablo Sandoval, Shane Victorino, Matt Kemp, Mark Reynolds and Christian Guzman. Who would you vote for in each league?

RICK HUMMEL
The 33rd player should be the last player into the game, but should be versatile enough to play more than one position. In the American League, that clearly is Chone Figgins, who can play infield or outfield. Not as easy in the National League, but Cristian Guzman, normally a shortstop, played third base quite well in extra innings in last year’s All-Star Game.

JEFF GORDON
For purely selfish reasons, I’d go with Kinsler, the Mizzou guy, and Pablo Sandoval. We need to get Kung Fu Panda at the Midsummer Classic. Not only can the Panda play, his infectious enthusiasm would help everybody have ever more fun. The All-Star Game is supposed to be fun, after all. He would be the player most likely to give us a John Kruk moment.

REID LAYMANCE
In the AL, I’ll take Chone Figgins because I like the way he plays and because colleague Roger Hensley says Chone will do an Ozzie Smith-style back flip on his way out to the field. In the NL, it’s Shane Victorino because we need the state of Hawaii to be represented here. He’s a true big-league “braddah” as the Hawaiian broadcasters call him.

LUKE THOMPSON
As far as the NL goes, this one’s pretty easy. Pablo Sandoval is fifth in the majors in batting average, and all four guys ahead of him were voted in as All-Star starters. In fact, the only reason I can see that Sandoval was left off in the first place is because the fans know David Wright a lot better (Sandoval is better in almost every offensive category) and third baseman Ryan Zimmerman had to fill the quota for the woeful Nationals.

In the AL, Kinsler hasn’t been able to hit for average since April, so it looks like a two-man race between Brandon Inge and Adam Lind. As much as I dislike the DH, I’m going to give the nod to Lind, who has the best balance of power and average and had an incredible June (.360, 7 HRs), even as the Blue Jays fell back to reality in the AL East.

THE WATERCOOLER

QUESTION: Yadier Molina led Atlanta’s Brian McCann by almost 400,000 votes at the catcher position when the latest N.L. All-Star voting results were released Monday. With two days to go in fan voting, it would appear Molina almost has this one locked up. McCann, while playing almost 50 less games, leads Molina in HRs and RBIs, plus he has a higher batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. Do you think the case could be made that McCann deserves the start in this All-Star Game, or does Molina’s defense outweigh his offensive inferiority to McCann?

JOE STRAUSS
McCann is unquestionably the stronger offensive player and Molina the better defender. McCann may also be on the team as a backup. There is something to be said about a player’s availability when considerations are made for the All-Star Game or postseason awards. Yadier’s brother, Bengie, is a superior offensive player as well and has been available to the Giants for the entire first half. Indeed, the question should be whether Yadi is more deserving than his older brother, who doubles as the Giants’ cleanup hitter and is the only NL catcher with more at-bats than the Cardinals’ Gold Glover. Bengie has twice as many home runs and 75 percent more RBI than his younger brother. It would be a compelling story for both Molinas to make the game. Their family has endured significant loss since last season, including their father. I’d have little problem with either guy starting. After being bruised by Michael Cuddyer’s hard slide last weekend, Yadi might be better served by making a cameo appearance in the July 14 game, no matter how much it “counts.”

DERRICK GOOLD
It’s not a difficult case to make at all. Start with this: Brian McCann may be the best all-around catcher in the National League. McCann has seven fewer hits than Yadier Molina in 45 fewer at-bats. He has more RBIs, more home runs and an on-base percentage that is significantly better. All that’s missing is playing time. He missed time with blurred vision earlier this season and that’s allowed other catcher’s to surpass him in the offensive categories that are usually his, and often his alone. Molina has the certain edge in hometown favor and defense, but defense isn’t the dent in McCann’s resume that it is for other catchers. He’s got the profile and the substance of an All-Star catcher. But as you look at the numbers and consider both candidates mentioned in the question, another answer emerges: Neither. My eye for the All-Star drifts west, to another NL catcher named Molina …

JEFF GORDON
Molina’s defense is so exceptional that, yes, he has earned the starting nod. He is the rare shutdown catcher. Nobody is picking runners off first base like this guy. Few catchers are as adept at getting the lead runners on sacrifice bunt attempts. And he controls the running game, too. And his offense is good enough to boost his All-Star credentials.

RICK HUMMEL
Sure, you could make the case that McCann should start, but Molina’s defense has been good and his average has been decent, albeit his modest run production. I have no problem with any player of quality being able to start an All-Star Game in the city in which he plays.

KEVIN WHEELER (Host of “Sports Open Line” on KMOX)
Sure, the case could be made for McCann over Molina, but it would be wrong. Catcher is the most important position on the field and a catcher’s defense must take a higher priority than his offense because of the nature of the position. The catcher is in on every single pitch of every single game he plays and while that is also true of pitchers, the guys out on the mound only have to “handle” themselves. The catcher has to handle the whole pitching staff.

Yadi is the best defensive catcher in the game and far too often defense is ignored in the MLB All-Star Game. It’s nice to see players recognized for the “other half” of the game — you know, the half where teams try to prevent runs from scoring.

THE WATERCOOLER:

QUESTION: Should Chris Carpenter be the starter for the NL in the All-Star game? Going into tonight’s game, he is 4-0 with a 0.71 ERA in 38 innings (not enough to qualify for the league leaders). Johan Santana of the Mets is 7-3 and 2.00 and San Francisco’s Matt Cain is 7-1, 2.27.

BERNIE MIKLASZ:
Obviously, Carpenter needs to stay healthy and roll up enough starts to qualify as the league’s ERA leader. And he must continue to pitch very well to have a shot because there’s no shortage of excellent starting pitchers in the NL. Because Santana (compared to Carpenter) hasn’t missed a start, you’d have to rate him as the top NL pitcher to this point. Santana has won seven games, but in his three losses he’s given up only three earned runs (total). This is shaping up to be a very competitive field. Do not discount the chances of Dan Haren, Johnny Cueto, Chad Billingsley, Josh Johnson and Yovani Gallardo. Heck, Jason Marquis leads the NL with eight wins. It’s been an exceptional season so far for NL starting pitchers. And even though Carpenter has that miniscule ERA (0.71) he has some catching up to do because he missed time while on the DL.

RICK HUMMEL:
Not off what he’s done _ yet. Carpenter would have to have seven or eight wins by the time the players, coaches and managers conclude their voting for pitchers later this month. Santana and Lincecum are my choices right now.

DERRICK GOOLD:
If looking for an All-Star Game starter tonight - right this moment - I would lean more toward the pitcher Chris Carpenter opposes tonight than picking Chris Carpenter. Florida’s Josh Johnson has had an impressive and All-Star-worthy season so far, and unlike Carpenter he didn’t miss a hunk of time. It’s absence that really hurts Carpenter’s candidacy as the starter for the All-Star Game. The list of pitchers ahead of him for that honor starts with Johan Santana, includes Johnson, and has Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Chad Billingsley near the top, too. Carpenter is pitching like an All-Star, sure, and if he gets that deserved invitation to the game he should be the second pitcher in. That way the hometown crowd gets a hometown battery when Carpenter throws to Yadier Molina.

DAN O’NEILL:
As much as I admire Chris Carpenter as a competitor and talent, there’s no way he should be the starter for the NL in the All-Star Game - unless no one else wants to do it. Often, and rightfully so, All-Star recognition is based, at least in part, on what a player might have done the previous season. Carpenter missed all of last season. Moreover, he has missed quite a bit of the first half of the 2009 season. Coming into Tuesday evening’s start Carpenter had participated in six of the club’s 58 games and 38 of its 527 innings. Granted, they have been All-Star quality contributions. But for me, a player has to be a bit more involved and demonstrate more of a track record than that. It’s basically the same argument as to why Manny Ramirez had no business being considered for the NL Most Valuable Player award last season.

JEFF GORDON:
He has barely pitched for three seasons so, no, he shouldn’t start in the All-Star Game. Albert Pujols will do a fine job as the Cardinals front man for that weekend. Cards fans would love to see him pitch an inning, to honor his persistence on the comeback trail, but that would be plenty. Now, if he keeps winning all season, then we can talk about his Cy Young candidacy. THAT he can win.

GERRY FRALEY:
Sentiment says Randy Johnson should start for the NL. That would recognize his remarkable accomplishment of winning 300 games and also create the possibility of seeing Johnson terrorize a left-handed hitter as he did John Kruk and Larry Walker in previous All-Star appearances. On sheer performance, Santana is the choice. He goes into tonight’s play leading the NL in ERA and has operated with a minute margin of error all season. The Mets have scored three runs or fewer in seven of his 11 starts. Santana’s wins include a pair of 1-0 games and a 2-1 victory. Here’s a vote for having the NL starter work the maximum three innings. Greg Maddux is the last All-Star starter to pitch the maximum three innings, in 1994. The new-face-every-inning approach creates late-game problems that can cause managers to over-extend remaining pitchers.