A-Rod Sat Out ASG Due to an Injured Thumb

A few of you have emailed me about this, so here's your answer from the NY Post:

A sore right thumb appears to have kept Alex Rodriguez in the dugout during Tuesday’s All-Star Game.

SI.com first reported the thumb was the reason Joe Girardi did not insert Rodriguez into the game in Anaheim, Calif.

A team source confirmed to The Post that Rodriguez has a “slight bone bruise” on or near the thumb. The source said it is not serious and Rodriguez will play Friday night when the Yankees open the second half against the Rays. The source also said it is something that crops up from time to time with Rodriguez and rest helps it.

According to Wallace Matthews, Brian Cashman said that the thumb was not the reason that he sat out, but that it has in fact been bothering him over the last few days.

"It's not even worth talking about," said Cashman, reached on his cell phone after he attended a wake on Long Island for Bob Sheppard, the longtime Yankees announcer who died Sunday at 99.

"I called Girardi and he said the thumb's been bothering [Rodriguez] for the past couple of days, but not the point not to play him. It had nothing to do with him not using him in the game. That was strictly [Girardi's] decision."

Sorry, Cash, but I find it hard to believe that the thumb wasn't part of that decision.