But before I get to that I will address the ongoing NBA Finals. The series now stands at 2-1 Celtics with Game 4 coming tonight. Tough loss Tuesday night, but considering everyone in the world predicted them to get crushed (9 1/2 pt. spread? Honestly?) it was a good sign. On top of that, the C's didn't play all that well and still almost pulled one out. I would use the term cautiously optimistic to describe my current mental state regarding the Celts. We need at least 1 game in L.A. before I get happy. On to beisbol!!
I am going to preface this entire post/argument by stating that I have always had a problem with All-Star voting. It becomes a popularity contest and guys get voted in who have no business being there in the first place. Baseball usually does a reasonable job of getting it right in the end, but after looking at some of the numbers today(AL here, NL here), it seems we all need to have a little talk.
All-Star games should be about rewarding those who have played the best. They don't have to be on the best team or the biggest names, just playing the best this year. It has become a popularity contest with the players from the larger teams (more fan base) reaching the All-Star games then the guys who actually deserve it. Baseball has been able to hide that because the managers can select the pitchers and backups but still it shouldn't come down to that.
*In reality I think every All-Star game should be played at the conclusion of each season, that way you reward the guy who did it all year not just for 65% of the year.
The following are who I think deserve it for the American League thus far.
1st Base: Current leader: Kevin Youkilis with Justin Morneau 250, 000 votes behind. (Where are you Minnesotans?) As a voter you can go either way with this. Youk and Morneau's numbers are very similar across the board. Should Youk be 250,000 votes up? No way. My vote: Youkilis
2nd Base: Current Leader: Dustin Pedroia. Pedroia is a fantastic second baseman. Defensively he is stellar and his offense is not too shabby either but he is not an All-Star this year. Perhaps the biggest crime in AS voting so far is that the best AL 2nd baseman, Ian Kinsler is 300,000 votes back. Kinsler's numbers are the best by a second basemen who's last name doesn't start with a U. He's hitting .307 (Pedroia .268) and has both more HR and RBIs than Pedroia. Wake up people! Not to mention he has more hits than any other second baseman in baseball. My vote: Kinsler
Shortstop: Current Leader: Jeter with no one else in sight. Jeter is a great SS, one of the best ever but not this year. His numbers are down but he is still getting all the love. All-Star voters shouldn't be so naive. Yes, historically Jeter is a great shortstop, but this year the best SS in the AL is Michael Young, hands down. Young is batting .308 (Jeter .271) with more hits, HR and runs scored. Not to mention is OBP is 40 points higher. My vote: Michael Young
3rd Base: Current Leader: ARod. Huge surprise right? ARod has the name, the game and the town to get all the votes he needs. And it's tough to argue against his numbers, but if you wanted to split hairs you can. ARod has missed a decent amount of games thus far and Joe Crede has not. So if you factor durability/games played into the equation Crede could get the nod, and even if you don't agree he still shouldn't be 800,000 votes back. My vote: ARod
OF: Current Leaders: Manny Ramirez, Josh Hamilton, Ichiro. Josh Hamilton has to be a no-brainer. He's killing the ball to the tune of .309 while leading the AL in HR's as well as leading the league in RBIs with 70. As for ManRam and Ichiro, well they are having good years but for arguments sake and because it might be true, there may be more deserving players. Manny is hitting the ball well (.305 with 15 HR's and 48 RBIs), but so is Carlos Quentin (.281 with 16 HR's and 54 RBIs, not to mention a comparable OBP with ManRam and less K's) . Guess where he is on the ballot? Oh that's right, he not on it. Ichiro is also getting love because of previous years performances and shouldn't considering what he has done this year. The career .331 hitter is currently batting .291 with an OBP 20 points lower than his career average. On the other hand, Milton Bradley is getting on base nearly 46% of the time he gets up to bat. He is also batting .338 with 45 runs scored (1 more than Ichiro) with more HR's (14-3) and RBI's (45-17) as well. Granted Ichiro is swiping bags like it is going out of style (26) but who wants to see SB's at an All-Star game? Give me the dingers. My vote(s): Josh Hamilton, Manny, Milton Bradley
Catcher: Current Leader: Jason Varitek with Joe Mauer hot on his heels. I love Tek, and as a Sox fan you would crucified on Yawkey Way if you didn't, but if you take one look at the numbers and still feel the same way you would deserve the same treatment. If AS selections were based on grit and determination and being a great dude Tek would be a All-Star until he died, but they aren't, so he's not. Mauer is batting .327 with more RBIs , hits and runs scored(also, Mauer almost never strikes out). Not to mention his OBP is .407, how can this guy not be the AL representative? My vote: Joe Mauer
DH: Current Leader: David Ortiz with Matsui a distant second. Ortiz has nearly double the votes of Matsui and is running away with this thing, but again he is being rewarded for past performances. How about giving the DH spot in the AS game to the most deserving player who is clearly not getting voted in? I think you could go with Carlos Quentin here, or maybe even B.J. Upton. Both are having career years, while Ortiz was playing well he is currently on the DL. My vote: Carlos Quentin
There it is, the only All-Star lineup you should select. Go against your hometown bias and vote for the most deserving, not the most popular. I will try to get my NL All-Stars posted this weekend. Vote or die!
