Posted on 06/27/2005 1:20:17 PM PDT by Charles Henrickson
OK, baseball fans, who are your picks for this year's All-Star Game in Detroit? 32 players on a side, and each team must be represented.
I look at three criteria: 1) What a guy is doing this year; 2) What a guy did last year; and 3) What a guy has done throughout his career. (Factors 2 and 3 are the reason I put Pujols ahead Lee at 1B, even though Derrek Lee is the best player in baseball so far this year.) Here are my picks:
NATIONAL LEAGUE: 18 position, 14 pitchers (8 S, 6 R)
C: Paul LoDuca (FLA), Mike Piazza (NYM)
1B: Albert Pujols (STL), Derrek Lee (CHC), Carlos Delgado (FLA)
2B: Jeff Kent (LAD), Chase Utley (PHI)
SS: Omar Vizquel (SF), Felipe Lopez (CIN)
3B: Aramis Ramirez (CHC), Morgan Ensberg (HOU)
OF: Bobby Abreu (PHI), Miguel Cabrera (FLA), Jim Edmonds (STL); Andruw Jones (ATL), Carlos Lee (MIL), Jason Bay (PIT), Luis Gonzalez (ARI)
P: Roger Clemens (HOU), Pedro Martinez (NYM), Dontrelle Willis (FLA), Chris Carpenter (STL), Roy Oswalt (HOU), John Smoltz (ATL), Jake Peavy (SD), Livan Hernandez (WSH); Chad Cordero (WSH), Jason Isringhausen (STL), Billy Wagner (PHI), Brad Lidge (HOU), Trevor Hoffman (SD), Jay Witasick (COL)
AMERICAN LEAGUE: 20 position (inc. 1 DH), 12 pitchers (7 S, 5 R)
C: Jason Varitek (BOS), Jorge Posada (NYY), Ivan Rodriguez (DET)
1B: Mark Texeira (TEX), Mike Sweeney (KC)
2B: Brian Roberts (BAL), Alfonso Soriano (TEX)
SS: Miguel Tejada (BAL), Derek Jeter (NYY), Carlos Guillen (DET)
3B: Alex Rodriguez (NYY), Eric Chavez (OAK)
OF: Vladimir Guerrero (LAA), Johnny Damon (BOS), Manny Ramirez (BOS); Gary Sheffield (NYY), Torii Hunter (MIN), Ichiro Suzuki (SEA), Carl Crawford (TB)
DH: David Ortiz (BOS)
P: Roy Halladay (TOR), Mark Buehrle (CHW), Kenny Rogers (TEX), Bartolo Colon (LAA), Johan Santana (MIN), Jon Garland (CHW), Matt Clement (BOS); Mariano Rivera (NYY), B.J. Ryan (BAL), Eddie Guardado (SEA), Bob Wickman (CLE), Dustin Hermanson (CHW)
instead of Billy Wagner, I would put Brandon Lyons, the CL of the Diamondbacks on the NL team.
Albert Pujols is only the best player in baseball today. Period. No one at any position matches his numbers. No one.
I'm a loyalist so my favorites are Tigers.
Jeremy Bonderman is shaping up to be a top notch pitcher. (discounting last night)
Ivan Rodriguez is one of the best catchers out there not to mention he can swing a bat. Rondell White is pretty hot right now. Carlos Guillen should shape up pretty quickly now that he's back. Dimitri Young is always a threat. Nook Logan has a golden glove in his future. I really like what I see from Chris Shelton. Placido Polanco has been proving that he was a smart trade.
Offensively the Tigers are a top notch team but defense is where they're losing. They're 13 games behind the White sox and at .500. Tram says 2006 will be the year he's been shooting for a contending team. Personally I think he's on track.
Since the All Star game is about who is having the best year this year, Lee should be the starter. As of 6/27, his numbers are simply better than Albert's are.
It is?
Its supposed to be, yeah. There will always be a Cal Ripken type who gets voted in because they were great years back...but its supposed to be who you want to see the most. I want to see the people having the best year.
This year that is Derrek Lee at 1b for the NL (at least for the first couple of innings).
The All-Star game is just a beauty contest.
Well, make up your mind. Are we "supposed" to vote for the player having the best first half, or for the player we most want to see? (I was thinking the nature of the vote itself means it has to be the latter.)
I want to see the people having the best year.
Oh, now I see. In your mind, it's "supposed" to be the guy having the best first half. So, that's how you vote.
Glad to see we finally got that cleared up. ;)
White Sox... :D
Yeah, but with guys like Scott Rolen (5HR, .248 AVG 20 RBI) and Carlos Beltran (9, .262, 37) leading in their positions (those certainly don't look like All-Star numbers, but you'd never guess it by looking at the current balloting results) you don't have the best players of this year playing in the ASG.
http://cbs.sportsline.com/mlb/allstar/voting
WHAT? NO PITTSBURGH PIRATES??
Whoops. Missed Jason Bay.
Baseball ping.
That guy killed the Cardinals yesterday. Good up-and-coming player. Mighta picked him even if I didn't hafta have a Pirates rep.
Begins and ends there. You want a lifetime achievement award there's the Hall of Fame.
Brandon Lyon is doing well, but Billy Wagner is doing even better (innings pitched, saves, walks/hits per inning pitched, batting avg. against). Plus, Wagner has been excellent for a number of seasons.
Actually, if I were to take a D'back pitcher, it might be the other Brandon, Brandon Webb, the starter.
The only D'back I took was Gonzo. Glaus would come close at third.
In any case, they're both going to start in this All-Star Game at Detroit, one at 1B, the other at DH.
Because the game is in Detroit this year, I took that as a "tipping point" in putting I-Rod and Guillen on the team. Varitek and Posada belong at catcher, but I-Rod is right there, too. Tejada and Jeter should be the top two shortstops, but I picked Guillen over Young of Texas because of the Detroit factor.
Inge would not be a bad choice as back-up 3B, but I had to have an Athletic, so I picked Chavez.
Pujols is a great player but I'd have to go with Barry if you consider him "in baseball", as he's in his own category, or otherwise ARod, who has a little less offense than Pujols but more speed and defense, especially when he's at SS instead of that media idol Jeter. Of course ARod is also Cursed.
So I take into account the previous season, and then also career, in order to evaluate true "stars." For example, this year you could put Piazza, Michael Barrett, and Ramon Hernandez in a hat an dpick one, their stats are that close. But I give the nod to Piazza--behind LoDuca--based on career achievement. Similarly, how do you choose among Vizguel, Lopez, Rollins, Izturis, and Eckstein? There is no real standout over the rest, based on these first three months. So I reward Vizguel, who is the equal of these other guys this year, and their superior over his career.
Another real close call: Jim Edmonds vs. Andruw Jones. Edmonds had a much better year last year, and has the better last few years and career. So I give the nod to Edmonds, even though Jones might have a slight edge just on these first three months.
Actually, no. The winning league gets the home-field advantage in the World Series.
Neither deserves to be on the team this year. Rolen you could almost understand, because he was excellent last year and the last few years, and there is otherwise a dearth at 3B in the NL. Beltran must be because of a) his sensational postseason last year, and b) the New York factor. But he is having a mediocre year, and there are many better outfielders this year.
There is a Red Sox player at every position...
Though it would be hard to vote against guys like Roberts and Tejada.
As for the All Stars, I have ignored it ever since it became a popularity contest.
AMERICAN LEAGUE: 19 position (inc. 1 DH), 13 pitchers (6 S, 6 R)
C: Jason Varitek (BOS), Joe Mauer (Twinkies)
1B: Mark Texeira (TEX), Paul Konerko (ChiSox)
2B: Brian Roberts (BAL), Jorge Cantu (Tampa), Soriano (Tex)
SS: Miguel Tejada (BAL), Carlos Guillen (DET)
3B: Alex Rodriguez (NYY), Melvin Mora (O's), Eric Chavez (OAK)
OF: Vladimir Guerrero (LAA), Johnny Damon (BOS), Manny Ramirez (BOS); Gary Sheffield (NYY), Ichiro Suzuki (SEA), Emil Brown (KC) DH: David Ortiz (Bos)
P: Roy Halladay (TOR), Mark Buehrle (CHW), Bartolo Colon (LAA), Johan Santana (MIN), Jon Garland (CHW), Matt Clement (BOS), Kenny Rogers (Tex)
Mariano Rivera (NYY), Dustin Hermanson (CHW), Mike Timlin (BoSox), Arthur Rhodes (Tribe), BJ Ryan (O's), Everyday Eddie Guardado (M's)
Hope I counted right.
True -- see Jack Armstrong starting for the NL -- but you don't want to miss out on getting one of those near-stars an All-Star berth in what might be their career year, their only chance at being selected, IMO. Doesn't need to be all celebrities.
Here are our differences on who makes the team:
NL
You have: Estrada, A. Gonzalez, Dunn, Alou, Hall, Hammond, Lyon
I have: LoDuca, Vizguel, C. Lee, L. Gonzalez, Oswalt, Smoltz, Hoffman
AL
You have: Mauer, Konerko, Cantu, Mora, Brown, Timlin, Rhodes
I have: Posada, I. Rodriguez, Sweeney, Jeter, Hunter, Crawford, Wickman
I had Mora on my team, but had to bump him to make room for Chavez, my only A.
I am glad to see tek leading catchers. He has had an outstanding year. mueller at third should be higher up in the voting. I know A-rod will win But muellar is so under rated. He is Mr. Clutch also I would like to see Trot in there somewhere.
BTW, John Kerry is voting for his favorite player, Manny Ortez.
I wonder if Kerry Has ever been to Fenway other than to throw out that limp wristed first pitch last year. He wouldnt know how to eat a fenway frank if it came with instructions.
Note that I have 5 BoSox on my squad, the most from any team--although tied with . . . the Yankees. The difference is, most of my BoSox are starters, and most of the Yanks are reserves.
Clement has really stepped up to fill the void left by Pedro and Schill (and Lowe). Who else is in the rotation these days? Arroyo, Wakefield . . . ? Foulke is good once again as the closer, but not quite up to All-Star standards. Timlin is a good hold man.
The biggest surprise to me is how to Red Sox have managed to overcome the holes in their starting rotation.
I'm a bit of a Reds fan...as if ya couldn't tell. I could add a lot more Reds...Vada Pinson...
It appears I completely misunderstood this thread....never mind.
This is an artificial prize from an artificial man for an artificial victory. What do Cubs players care who gets home field in the World Series?
Partly because I used your list as a starting point ;)
I had Mora on my team, but had to bump him to make room for Chavez, my only A.
I know what you mean. But I didn't want to punish Mora for the lack of stars on the A's. I even thought about Matt Stairs at DH instead of Chavez at 3rd, but it just wasn't gonna work. And yes I purposely excluded some of the "team of All-Stars" struggling along at .500 known as the Yankees.
The biggest surprise to me is how to Red Sox have managed to overcome the holes in their starting rotation.
Holes? Just because Arroyo isn't a name pitcher doesn't make him any less good. He's a solid #3 starter. And Wake is having a Great year -- when Mirabelli is catching him. He struggled a lot when 'tek was behind the plate, part coincidence, some tough opponents, but when he's missing his personal catcher that could have thrown him off. He was 4-2, 3.61 to start the year before Doug got hurt, and since Mirabelli's been back he's 2-0 with 1 ER in 22 innings. With 'tek, 0-4 with an ERA of about 9.00.
That is so wrong. It should go to the team with the most wins. But that would make too much sense.
I mean the loss of Pedro Martinez, Curt Schilling, and Derek Lowe, the top 60% of last year's rotation. I know about Clement, Arroyo, and Wakefield, but on the other days, do they pray for rain?
I noticed Wade Miller pitched last night, but he's no great shakes. Is he the 4th starter? Who's 5th? Do they overcome games where the pitching is lousy with their great offense?
I should have directed my previous post to you, too.
Then they have the Hefty Lefty, David Wells, who blows hot and cold. He's had four games of 7, 7, 8, and 8 shutout innings and been rocked a couple of times.
I think the idea is that the leagues are separate but equal, so when it comes to playoff time Pennant Winner is Pennant Winner, no matter their regular season record. Two pennant winners in coequal leagues.
I suppose they could give home field to the league who wins more interleague games that year, but the All-Star game is a fine way too if you don't want to just switch back and forth or flip a coin.
Let's say a team has a 10 game advantage over any other team in their league with only a few weeks. But they only have a game or two edge over the best team in the other league. Now normally, they wouldn't have anything to play for, since they could not improve their position. But at least, they would still have to play to win the rest of the way so that they wouldn't lose home field for the World Series. The fewer meaningless games that are played, the better for the league as a whole.
That's a good point, but considering all the September call-ups and the number of teams out of playoff contention, the best record thing would be a drop in the bucket.
I forgot about David Wells, who beat the Cardinals pretty convincingly this year. But, as you say, he has been inconsistent. And you never know if his health will break down.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
C: Piazza, LoDuca
1B: Pujols, Lee (close)
2B: Kent, Grudzielanek
SS: Izturis, Eckstein (close)
3B: Rolen, Ramirez
OF: Abreu, Edmonds, Beltran; Cabrera, Griffey, Walker
AMERICAN LEAGUE
C: Varitek, Rodriguez
1B: Texeira, Martinez
2B: Roberts, Soriano (close)
SS: Tejada, Jeter
3B: Rodriguez, Mueller
OF: Ramirez, Guerrero, Suzuki; Damon (close), Sheffield, Matsui
DH: Ortiz, Palmeiro
The only guys leading in the voting who definitely should not be on the team this year are Rolen and Beltran.
Voting ends at 11:59 PM ET this Thursday, June 30. You get to vote up to 25 times online: All-Star Online Ballot
Cal Ripken, Lou Gehrig and Roger Maris.
You'd put Millar and Bellhorn on the All Star team?
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