Talking Baseball

Alfonso Soriano has announced that he will not be able to play in the 79th All-Star Game, the final one to be held at Yankee Stadium in New York.

He has been on the disabled list since June 12th with a broken left hand.

The Cubs made the announcement on Wednesday that he will not play in the Mid-Summer Classic and probably won’t be available to play in the Cubs lineup until sometime after the break, possibly when the Cubs take on the Diamondbacks in Arizona.

Soriano was named one of the three starting outfielders for the National League, along with teammate Kosuke Fukudome.

Soriano was hitting .283 before his hand was broken by a pitch from Atlanta’s Jeff Bennett. He tallied 15 homeruns and 40 RBIs before being put on the shelf.

Soriano does plan to attend the game in New York, where he began his career as a second baseman with the Yankees. He has since moved to the outfield after leaving the Bronx.

Soriano will also attend in support of his teammates; Fukudome, rookie catcher Geovanny Soto, Ryan Dempster, Kerry Wood and Carlos Zambrano.

Soriano took batting practice last weekend and still felt some discomfort in his hand, sidelining him for at least another week or two.

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