All Stars or No Stars?

Major league baseball announced the All Star lineups yesterday. Since it’s the fans who vote on which players get to play in an important game (tell me how many things are wrong in that last sentence, I dare you), let’s break these teams’ starters down.

A.L.

C, Joe Mauer (Minnesota): Completely agree with this selection. Mauer has a .415 on-base percentage, and he’s hitting .325. Furthermore, he’s huge with runners in scoring position and late in games, so there’s no denying he has heart. Great selection by the fans.

1B, Kevin Youkilis (Boston): Fielding wise, this guy in an obvious choice. Earlier this year he broke his streak of more than a season without an error. He has a really high slugging % at 534, and he’s hitting .311. While that’s not great, (not bad, but we’re talking about All Stars here) the next guy, Justin Morneau, is only hitting .307, and only slugging .481, so Youke was the right choice.

2B, Dustin Pedrioa (Boston): The 5 foot 9 small guy from Boston just got in by less than 40,000 votes, but the position should have gone to Texas’s Ian Kinsler. Kinsler has 5 more homers, is hitting .20 points better, and his on-base percentage is .36 points better. This is a perfect example of how a guy from a big market town can get a couple more votes because of where he plays to get in over someone who deserves it more. Shame on you Red Sox fans.

3B, Alex Rodriguez (New York): The leading vote-getter (almost 4 million) is not putting up the same numbers as last year, but he’s still hitting well. With 18 homers, 50 RBIs, and an incredible slugging percentage of .606, he definitely deserves this this one. Obvious choice.

SS, Derek Jeter (New York): Huh? What? Who? You’re telling me that Jeter, who’s hitting .281 with just four lousy homers got in over Texas’s Michael Young? Young has a better hitting percentage, more home runs, more RBI’s, a better slugging percentage, and a better on-base percentage. Tell me that’s right? Absolutely robbed. Just because Jeter’s in the big apple doesn’t mean he necessarily gets a bigger bite of it.

OF, Josh Hamilton (Texas), Manny Ramirez (Boston), Ichiro Suzuki (Seattle): I’m fine with these selections. I think J.D. Drew of the Red Sox deserves it a bit more than Manny, and Milton Bradley of the Rangers instead of Hamilton, but the differences between the sets of teammates are negligible. Good selections all around.

DH, David Ortiz (Boston): Okay, I know Ortiz is hurt, and people are upset over this selection, but I’m okay with it. DH in the A.L. this year is weak, and Ortiz put up pretty good numbers after his early slump.

N.L.

C, Geovany Soto (Chicage): Soto has a high lugging percentage (.527), but a low batting percentage (.287). Normally I would say if you’re not hitting .295 or above, you should not be starting in the All Star game, but considering the other catchers in the N.L., he was the clear choice.

1B, Lance Berkman (Houston): Here’s a guy who deserves what he got. Lance is hitting .349, with 69 RBI’s, .436 on-base percentage, and .667 slugging percentage. Wow. Considering those are all considerably better than the numbers of Prince Fielder (Milwaukee), thank you fans for voting for the right guy, not the more popular guy.

2B, Chase Utley (Philadelphia): Some argue that Mark DeRosa (Chicago) deserved it more, and their batting percentages are almost even, but Utley has hit 13 more home runs and has 18 more RBI’s.

3B, Chipper Jones (Atlanta): Has there ever been a more obvious choice? Chipper is .388. Let me repeat that: .388! Couple that with 18 home runs, and 50 RBI’s, and you’ve got an obvious all star selection.

SS, Hanley Ramirez (Florida): He’s hitting a fine .304 with 21 homers and 43 RBI’s, a bit above average, but by no means does he have monster numbers, but just like Geovany Soto, there’s no one else to replace him. The best at his position, and that means good choice.

OF, Ryan Braun (Milwaukee), Alfonso Soriano (Chicago), Kosuke Fukodome (Chicago): Braun has a low batting percentage (.284), but a bunch of homers (21) and RBI’s (59). When he hits it, it flies, but that’s a big “when.” Am I okay with it, yes, but tentatively. Soriano is the pick that I agree with, with 40 RBI’s and a great fielding percentage and arm. However, Kosuke Fukodome? I know, he’s all the rage, he’s Japanese, but come one people! He has just 7 homers and 35 RBI’s. The only way he could redeem those numbers was if he was hitting at least .300 like his fellow Japanese Ichiro (Seattle), but he falls way short (.287). Someone explain to me how he made it in Corey Hart (Milwaukee) has twice as many home runs, 20 more RBI’s, and he’s hitting nearly nine points better (.296).

DH: Oh wait, there’s no DH in the N.L., but that is for another time . . .

Overall grade for fans this year in voting for the all star teams: A-

Pretty good job, but a couple inexcusable mistakes. Four Yankees, seven Red Sox, seven Cubs, perhaps I should just expect likewise from now on . . .

GYA out