One of the most frustrating things in life is when you're right, you know you're right, the world pretty much agrees you're right and none of it winds up mattering in the least.
When you're right, you want the people on the other side of the issue to go down in flames so that everyone knows that they messed up and should have listened to you all along. The worst-case scenario is that the other side winds up doing just fine and you wind up looking like someone who takes everything way too seriously.
The All-Star Game is just one of those times. Mets fans were correctly furious that neither R.A. Dickey nor David Wright would be starting in Kansas City as a result of their terrific first halves, but all of that fury felt pretty ridiculous by the end of the first inning.
Pablo Sandoval, starting at third instead of Wright, hit a bases-loaded triple and Matt Cain, pitching over Dickey, ripped through the American League lineup to point the National League on their way to an 8-0 win.
That means the Mets will benefit a great deal from being doubly nudged by the Giants if they can make their way to the World Series, something that somehow feels more reasonable a day after watching Melky Cabrera, another Giant, win the All-Star Game MVP.
When Cabrera was with the Yankees, you would have been laughed out of the room if you suggested Cabrera would win anything other than one of those text polls that YES runs during games.
He was a fine fourth outfielder and a useful player, but the player that has emerged over the last two seasons is much more than that and Cabrera's going to be very rich this offseason as a result.
This wasn't Willie McGee, Jay Buhner or some other prospect given away in an act of Steinbrennerian madness because you didn't know what those players were when they were traded. Cabrera had 2,148 plate appearances in the Bronx, so he got plenty of chances to show the player he was and it never looked anything like the player he was on Tuesday night.
All of that might not have been enough to get props from Robinson Cano as Cabrera circled the bases after his home run, but it was enough to remind you that you can't always predict the heroes of the stories unfolding in front of you.
Sports
Maybe unexpected results are the theme of this whole year. The argument over Dickey starting the game obscured the fact that his mere presence at the game was something to marvel, a point drilled home by Dickey's in-game interview when he let any newcomers know exactly how much more interesting he is than 95 percent of professional athletes.
Should that theme hold, last night's result will wind up being one that gets a lot of attention come October. Nothing would be more unexpected than the Mets in the World Series, after all.
London 2012 is right around the corner. Get the top Olympic news, including what to watch, results and features on our local athletes at NBC's Olympic Zone.
Josh Alper is a writer living in New York City. You can follow him on Twitter and he is also a contributor to Pro Football Talk.
