After cracking a smile, Manuel provided an honest answer.
"Because we were told that you had to have a utility player on your team," Manuel said.
So why Infante, who went into the series against the Phillies batting .309 with 1 home run and 22 RBIs?
"We went over a bunch of names, and I thought he was the best one on there," Manuel said. "He can play all the infield positions, and he can play all the outfield positions."
"Hard to beat that," Rogers said.
"Sure is," Manuel said.
Predictably, Infante thought Manuel made a tremendous decision.
"I was jumping around with my wife and kid," Infante told MLB.com. "I was so happy. I was shocked and couldn't believe it."
Braves manager Bobby Cox also endorsed the move, telling MLB.com, "I thought that was the greatest pick ever."
"It was a surprise pick for sure," Cox said. "But it makes all the sense in the world. When I was managing that all-star team in Japan [after the 2000 season], I spent half my time calling other managers asking, 'If I get in a pinch, can I move your player who might be a shortstop to second [base], and stuff like that. Getting a guy like Omar, who can play anywhere, helps."
Not everybody agrees with Manuel and Cox.
Here was one reaction on a Twitter account about the decision: "If the all-star break occurred after 3 weeks of play, and Omar Infante had those numbers, he still shouldn't make the all-star team."
Hot, hot, hot
The game-time temperature Monday was 95 degrees. It was hotter than that during batting practice. So hot, in fact, you could lose your mind.
Phillies bench coach Pete Mackanin seemed to do just that at one point during BP when he entered the dugout to get some water from a cooler. At the time, he was carrying a cold bottle of water in his right hand and didn't realize it.
