All in all, pretty good. Only one really wrong choice on either squad, and that was a fan-voted starter who narrowly edged out the deserving player at the NL's weakest position: Scott Rolen over Mike Lowell at 3b. Lowell was chosen as the back-up, so Rolen essentially knocked Tyler Houston or Todd Zeile or Edgardo Alfonzo off the squad, which was no great loss, since none of them has gotta-be-there credentials.
In the NL, there were six players named that I did not have on my roster: Rolen, Benito Santiago, Luis Castillo, Adam Dunn, John Smoltz, and Mike Williams. All are worthy except Rolen. Instead of those six, I had these seven players: Houston, Brian Giles, Larry Walker, Jim Edmonds, Bartolo Colon (the league-switch cost him), Robb Nen, and Danny Graves. Giles or Walker could still make the team as the 30th man, as could Andruw Jones, Ryan Klesko, or Albert Pujols. I will vote for either Giles or Walker, I'm not sure which yet.
In the AL, there were five players named that I did not have on my roster: Miquel Tejada (I had four shortstops with no back-up second baseman, Torre did the same thing, except he picked all five deserving shortstops), Shea Hillenbrand, Robin Ventura, Manny Ramirez, and Freddy Garcia. No bad choices there, but Ventura may be the weakest, and he kept my starter, Eric Chavez, off the team. Instead of those five, I had these six players: Chavez, Bernie Williams, Magglio Ordonez, Johnny Damon, Jamie Moyer, and Ugueth Urbina. Chavez, Ordonez, or Damon could still make the team as the 30th man, as could Jim Thome or Darin Erstad. I'll probably vote for Chavez or maybe Ordonez.
Of course, between now and July 9, we could see all sorts of mysterious injuries appear (that will somehow get better by July 11), so we could end up with all these guys making the teams, plus Delino DeShields.
Here are the rosters announced tonight:
NL All-Stars
Starters
C M. Piazza, Mets
1B T. Helton, Rockies
2B J. Vidro, Expos
3B S. Rolen, Phillies
SS J. Rollins, Phillies
OF S. Sosa, Cubs
OF B. Bonds, Giants
OF V. Guerrero, Expos
Reserves
C D. Miller, D-Backs
C B. Santiago, Giants
1B R. Sexson, Brewers
2B J. Spivey, D-Backs
2B L. Castillo, Marlins
SS J. Hernandez, Brewers
3B M. Lowell, Marlins
OF L. Berkman, Astros
OF L. Gonzalez, D-Backs
OF S. Green, Dodgers
OF A. Dunn, Reds
Pitchers
R. Johnson, D-Backs
C. Schilling, D-Backs
B. Kim, D-Backs
O. Perez, Dodgers
E. Gagne, Dodgers
M. Morris, Cardinals
T. Glavine, Braves
J. Smoltz, Braves
M. Williams, Pirates
T. Hoffman, Padres
AL All-Stars
Starters
C J. Posada, Yankees
1B J. Giambi, Yankees
2B A. Soriano, Yankees
3B S. Hillenbrand, Red Sox
SS A. Rodriguez, Rangers
OF I. Suzuki, Mariners
OF M. Ramirez, Red Sox
OF T. Hunter, Twins
Reserves
C A.J. Pierzynski, Twins
1B M. Sweeney, Royals
1B P. Konerko, White Sox
SS N. Garciaparra, Red Sox
SS M. Tejada, A's
SS D. Jeter, Yankees
SS O. Vizquel, Indians
3B T. Batista, Orioles
3B R. Ventura, Yankees
OF G. Anderson, Angels
OF R. Winn, Devil Rays
OF R. Fick, Tigers
Pitchers
M. Buerhle, White Sox
D. Lowe, Red Sox
P. Martinez, Red Sox
F. Garcia, Mariners
K. Sasaki, Mariners
B. Zito, A's
R. Halladay, Blue Jays
M. Rivera, Yankees
E. Guardado, Twins