Mine (as i vote the allowed 25 times online, I'll likely throw some "second-place" votes to others. Sorry DHs, I won't vote for you as fraudulent first basemen. Unproven players having their first great one-third of a season don't make it either):

AL

First Base: Giambi, J., NYY
Second Base: Roberts, B., Bal
Third Base: Rodriguez, A., NYY
Shortstop: Tejada, M., Bal
Catcher: Mauer, J., MIN
Outfielder: Guerrero, V., LAA
Outfielder: Ramirez, M., BOS
Outfielder: Wells, V., TOR


NL

First Base: Pujols, A., STL
Second Base: Utley, C., PHI
Third Base: Cabrera, M., FLA
Shortstop: Vizquel, O., SF
Catcher: Barrett, M., CHC
Outfielder: Abreu, B., PHI
Outfielder: Bay, J., PIT
Outfielder: Beltran, C., NYM

I agree with your choice of Vernon Wells in the outfield but for those of us who watch the Jays every day, an argument could be made that he may not even be the best Jay outfielder this season so far. Alex Rios has been on fire. Great defensively, batting 356, 10 home runs, 18 doubles, 38 RBI's, 7 stolen bases.

But Wells has been performing at a star level for several seasons. I don't believe in giving All-Star starts to players having their first excellent half-season.

And ridiculously enough, Mauer isn't even in the top 5 vote getters among catchers (at least the last time I looked earlier this week) despite the fact that he is hittng .371! Stupid "fans"!

Why Ramirez over Jermaine Dye? Dye is having a better season, is the reigning World Series MVP, and plays good right field. Oh, and he doesn't whine.

Give some love to JD!

Dye is having roughly AS good a year as Ramirez so far. In which case, you go with the guy who's done it year after year.

The most ludicrous snub so far, moreso than relative newbie Mauer, is likely Jason Bay.

By the All-Star break, all of baseball will be in Alfonso Soriano's HR rearview mirrors. And the bat is what gets you into the All Star game.

[ June 09, 2006, 12:40 PM: Message edited by: PCC ]

Interesting that six of the 8 starters for your AL squad play in the East. Not to mention 4 of the 8 for the NL squad. Hmm.

Jermaine Dye
AVG .316 | HR 19 | RBI 46 | OBP .411 | SLG .690

Manny Ramirez
AVG .301 | HR 14 | RBI 38 | OBP .434 | SLG .560

Jermaine is first in the league in OPS and Slugging. He's a better fielder -- considerably better, IMO. Oh, and he's been carrying his team for a month, offensively.

I agree that Manny has the historical edge, but it's not like JD has come out of nowhere -- he's been excellent for the Sox for three years, just overshadowed.

[ June 10, 2006, 11:20 AM: Message edited by: bridgeportjake ]

May I present Alex Rios, all over the stat leader boards (3rd in batting average, 4th in doubles, 4th in total bases, 6th in slugging percentage, 7th in hits), yet unseen among the All Star candidates for outfield (he's not on the ballot).

Alex Rios
AVG .349 | HR 11 | RBI 44 | OBP .391 | SLG .609

[ June 11, 2006, 07:07 AM: Message edited by: canmark ]

Jason Bay! Thanks for that Bill W; finally some fans are appreciating this guy...

2006 All Star Rosters: By League AL: Starters | Pitchers | Reserves | Final Man Candidates
NL: Starters | Pitchers | Reserves | Final Man Candidates More rosters: By Team

American League Starters
All-Star
Pos Player B/T Age Games

1B David Ortiz, BOS L/L 30 3

2B Mark Loretta, BOS R/R 34 2

3B Alex Rodriguez, NYY R/R 30 10

SS Derek Jeter, NYY R/R 32 7

C Ivan Rodriguez, DET L/R 35 13

OF Vladimir Guerrero, LAA R/R 30 7

OF Manny Ramirez, BOS R/R 34 10

OF Ichiro Suzuki, SEA L/R 32 6

American League Pitchers
All-Star
Pos Player B/T Age Games

SP Mark Buerhle, CWS L/L 27 3

SP Jose Contreras, CWS R/R 34 1

SP Roy Halladay, TOR R/R 29 4

SP Scott Kazmir, TB L/L 22 1

SP Mark Redman, KC L/L 32 1

SP Kenny Rogers, DET L/L 41 4

SP Johan Santana, MIN L/L 27 2

SP Barry Zito, OAK L/L 28 3
All-Star
Pos Player B/T Age Games

RP Bobby Jenks, CWS R/R 25 1

RP Jonathan Papelbon, BOS R/R 25 1

RP Mariano Rivera, NYY R/R 36 8

RP B.J. Ryan, TOR L/L 30 2


American League Reserves
All-Star
Pos Player B/T Age Games

1B Paul Konerko, CWS R/R 30 3

1B Jim Thome, CWS L/R 35 5

2B Robinson Cano, NYY º L/R 23 1

2B Jose Lopez, SEA ª R/R 22 1

3B Troy Glaus, TOR R/R 29 4

SS Miguel Tejada, BAL R/R 30 4

SS Michael Young, TEX R/R 29 3

C Joe Mauer, MIN L/R 23 1

OF Jermaine Dye, CWS R/R 32 2

OF Alex Rios, TOR º R/R 25 1

OF Gary Matthews, Jr., TEX ª S/R 31 1

OF Grady Sizemore, CLE L/L 23 1

OF Vernon Wells, TOR R/R 27 2

American League Final Man Candidates
All-Star
Pos Player B/T Age Games

C A.J. Pierzynski, CWS L/R 29 1

C Ramon Hernandez, BAL R/R 30 1

1B Travis Hafner, CLE L/R 29 0

P Justin Verlander, DET R/R 23 0

P Francisco Liriano, MIN L/L 22 0




National League Starters
All-Star
Pos Player B/T Age Games

1B Albert Pujols, STL R/R 26 5

2B Chase Utley, PHI L/R 27 1

3B David Wright, NYM R/R 23 1

SS Jose Reyes, NYM S/R 23 1

C Paul Lo Duca, NYM R/R 34 4

OF Jason Bay, PIT R/R 27 2

OF Carlos Beltran, NYM S/R 29 3

OF Alfonso Soriano, WSH R/R 30 5

National League Pitchers
All-Star
Pos Player B/T Age Games

SP Brandon Webb, ARI R/R 27 1

SP Carlos Zambrano, CHC S/R 25 2

SP Bronson Arroyo, CIN R/R 29 1

SP Brad Penny, LAD R/R 28 1

SP Tom Glavine, NYM L/L 40 10

SP Pedro Martinez, NYM R/R 34 8

SP Chris Carpenter, STL R/R 31 2

SP Jason Schmidt, SF R/R 33 3
All-Star
Pos Player B/T Age Games

RP Brian Fuentes, COL L/L 30 2

RP Derrick Turnbow, MIL R/R 28 1

RP Tom Gordon, PHI R/R 38 3

RP Trevor Hoffman, SD R/R 38 5

National League Reserves
All-Star
Pos Player B/T Age Games

1B Lance Berkman, HOU S/L 30 4

1B Ryan Howard, PHI L/L 26 1

2B Dan Uggla, FLA R/R 26 1

3B Miguel Cabrera, FLA R/R 23 3

3B Freddy Sanchez, PIT R/R 28 1

3B Scott Rolen, STL R/R 31 5

SS Edgar Renteria, ATL R/R 30 5

C Brian McCann, ATL L/R 22 1

OF Andruw Jones, ATL R/R 29 5

OF Matt Holliday, COL R/R 26 1

OF Carlos Lee, MIL R/R 29 2


National League Final Man Roster
All-Star
Pos Player B/T Age Games

1B Nomar Garciaparra, LAD R/R 32 5

OF Bobby Abreu, PHI L/R 32 2

P Chris Capuano, MIL L/L 27 0

P Billy Wagner, NYM L/L 34 4

P Chris Young, SD R/R 27 0

Notes:
º Injured, will not participate
ºº Elected not to participate
ª Named as replacement


My Comments: I don't have a complaint about what the fans did with the starting roster. The league gave them that honor, so they get to do whatever they want. They don't have to be fair. But I can sure criticize what the players and managers did.

1. Mark Buerhle was named the starting pitcher by Guillen. That's just plain home cooking. That honor should have gone to gone to Santana, since Liriano didn't make it in. I love Guillen, but he was wrong to do this. Hopefully, the fans will realize their omission and vote Liriano in on the Final Man Vote next Thursday. Maybe then Guillen will change his mind about Buerhle, but he's so hard-headed, I doubt it.

2. By starting Buerhle, Guillen runs the risk of losing home field advantage in the World Series. I hope this choice doesn't come back to bite him in the ass. Sure, the NL is bad this year, but they sure as hell got enough power hitters (Soriano, Pujols, Wright) to put some serious hurt on Buerhle, if he pitches the way he did yesterday. Giving up a dinger to a pitcher. That's not supposed to happen.

3. Barry Bonds not an All-Star? What happened there? Did he take himself out of the running or was he snubbed by the fans? If he could play, Garner should have at least placed his name on the Final Man Selection Ballot, but, as I said, I don't know the facts regarding Bonds.

4. I hope the fans wise up and give that last spot to Nomar Garciapara with the Final Man Vote. He deserves to be there, and the players ought to be ashamed of themselves for snubbing him. He is one of the best clutch hitters alive.

5. Why is Mussina so unpopular with fans and players? Didn't see his name anywhere. And Lo Duca? Why is he so popular? Christmas came early for that guy.

[ July 03, 2006, 07:07 PM: Message edited by: Thomas ]

Bonds was 10th in the voting, missed some time with injuries and hasn't been nearly as productive as he was during his prime juiced-up years. He clearly does not deserve to be there. Naming him to the team would've been a farce.

I don't think the starting pitchers were named yet. That's usually decided a day or two before the game because sometimes starting pitchers pitch the Sunday before the All-Star game and thus aren't likely to pitch on one day's rest.

And decisions on the roster and Final Vote nominees aren't solely the manager's. There's a player's ballot that determines some of the substitutes, and the commissioner's office has input. Plus they're restricted by the rule that every team must be represented. I mean, really, there's no one on the Royals who deserves to be there.

Almost forgot: everyone, whatever you do, please DO NOT vote for Bobby Abreu in the Final Vote.

[ July 03, 2006, 07:34 PM: Message edited by: FireCharlieManuelNow ]

FireCharlieManuelNow: Thanks, Man, for correcting my mistake. I completely got that screwed up. I saw the headlines: "Guillen Names Buerhle as Starting Pitcher in All Star Game", and got way ahead of myself. Down here, we would say I "caught a cow by the tail and went to running" , meaning I came in on the tail end of a conversation, got half the facts, inferred the rest, and ran with it; couldn't wait to spread the word. Sorry about that.

I read where Guillen said yesterday that Buerhle and Contreras definitely will not start the game. He said Buerhle didn't desereve to start (can you spell punishment for allowing 11 runs?), and, that Contreras will likely pitch on Sunday so can't start. He's thinking maybe Rogers might start. But what if Liriano makes in it? If he does, either Santana or Liriano should start the game. Surely both of them won't pitch on Sunday. Also, why can't Halladay start the game? Is he pitching Sunday too? I would start Santana, Liriano, or Halladay over Rogers.

But I think I got it figured out now. Ozzie is a baseball purist, and despite his big fat mouth, he truly respects the game. I'll bet he's thinking of starting Rogers because the Tigers have the best record in the AL as well as the majors, so their pitcher deserves to start the game. If this is his thinking, I certainly respect that. Sounds like the right thing, as well as the honorable thing, to do. Wouldn't you say?

About Abreu. I won't vote for him, not over Garciapara. Garciapara is batting .362 to Abreu's .290; and has a .588 SLG to Abreu's .472; and Garciapra has 10 HRs to Abreu's 8. Plus, looks like Abreu strikes out way too much (65 so far this season) while Garciapra struck out only 14 times. It's not even close. And we know Garciapra is a better clutch hitter. But I believe that the final NL spot will definitely go to Wagner because the populous New York fans always dominate the voting.

Now that I have all the facts, I don't really blame Ozzie for picking Buerhle and Jenks. That's what managers do. And regardless of the uproar, he had to pick someone from the Royals, so does it really matter who? They all suck right now, but Mark Redman sure as hell isn't responsible for Liriano not making the roster. But, based on the stats, he probably should have chosen Cleveland's Hafner over Sizemore. Grady's an exciting young player, I can't deny that, and we all know how popular he is, especially with the ladies. So, that pick probably had more to do with popularity and television ratings than merit. Come to think of it, I might be wrong here, too. That kind of thinking doesn't jive with the Ozzie I know (Ozzie could care less about image and ratings), so Ozzie must have felt that Sizemore really deserved it more than Hafner. And, he did put Hafner on the Final Man Ballot. So, that tells us that he's high on Hafner as well.

[ July 04, 2006, 08:21 PM: Message edited by: Thomas ]

Looks like A.J. Pierzinski (AL) and Nomar garciapara (NL) were named to the All Star roster as winners of the Final Man Vote. I don't have a problem with Nomar; he deserves to be there Abreu, but Liriano should have gotten in over Pierzinski. If not Liriano, then definitely Hafner. I know you can't argue with the fans, they have a right to see whomever they want, but somebody (you, me, the fans, or the MLB selection process) owes Liriano a serious apology. He was definitely deserving of this honor (hell, he'll probably win a Cy Young Award) and we snubbed him. Why is this process so mean to rookies?

I wonder who is going to replace Pedro Martinez on the NL All Star roster?

[ July 06, 2006, 05:27 PM: Message edited by: Thomas ]

R. Oswalt was picked today to replace Pedro Martinez on the NL All Star roster. And M. Ordonez will replace Mannry Ramirez on the AL All Star roster. So, the final All Star roster is now complete. Both these replacements are worthy of the honor. Ordonez's batting average is solid, very similar to Manny's, and, even though Pedro's W/L record is a little better than Oswalt's, you can't fault Oswalt. He does pitch for the Stros; so gets nothing in the way of run support. He's way better than his W/L record would indicate. And, people can get off Ozzie's back now. He could have picked one of his own, but, out of repsect for the game, he didn't.

Liriano was named -- finally -- to replace Jose Contreras, who "pitched Sunday." Yeah, the game really counts when that kind of maneuver is kosher.

Someone on the steroid thread wanted to know why I think the sports media is hypocritical. What do you call the ESPN Clowns devoting 3 hours to nothing but hitting longballs last night, after season-long tsk-tsking over PEDs?

[ July 11, 2006, 10:33 AM: Message edited by: Bill W ]

A weird game last night. I'm not surprised that the AL won again, but was surprised that Hoffman let the AL's young guns beat him up like that. Seemed like it was the the young guns (from both leagues) that performed best last night. While usually reliable veterans like Hoffman, Jeter, and A-Rod couldn't produce, young guns like David Wright, Michael Young, Troy Glaus, Ryan Howard and Vladimir Guarrero, and, young fireballers like Bronson Arroyo and Brad Penny who stole the show. At least Mariano represented the veterans well, and Rogers didn't pitch badly. The game was a little boring until the ninth. The NL is so bad. They can't beat the AL in interleague play, and worse, they can't even get home field advantage for the World Series. They are stuck in a rut.

I finally got to see Santana pitch. I was hoping he got in. I've been following his stats, so I was expecting excellence. Guess he was nervous, because he didn't look good at all.

[ July 12, 2006, 12:50 AM: Message edited by: Thomas ]

I'm old enough to remember the MLB game-of-the-week, TV pre-cable, and no interleague play (until the World Series.) At that time, the All-Star game meant something: it was the only time players from opposing leagues played each other, we saw players who didn't face our local team, and it was a game in the middle of the week.

Now, a lot of that magic of the All-Star Game is missing: games from all over the continent air throughout the week--and there are countless chances to see highlights of games unwatched and interleague play further waters down the specialness of the All-Star game. Maybe they should consider eliminating the game itself and increase the number of exhibitions. In addition to the home run derby, they could have pitch speed contests, baserunning, and fielding displays.

~Adam

The AL may be somewhat better right now, but you sure can't tell by All-Star Games, which are not remotely played like serious competition. Jackf**k and McCarver-Jeter told us the managers would "treat this like World Series Game 7" -- I look forward to the inning-long dugout interviews during this year's WS, along with the willynilly substitutions. (Yes, that's sarcasm.)

That game was decided by Michael Young vs Trevor Hoffman, not by the overall strengths of the two leagues.

Home field advantage for the World Series didn't seem to help the 2003 Yankees much. This is not basketball.

[ July 12, 2006, 09:12 AM: Message edited by: Bill W ]

Yeah. The All Star game does contain a lot of hype and media smooze, but I actually liked the interviews. I live in Louisiana so even though I can watch games, I don't actually get to see or hear the players do interviews much. So I was glad for the opportunity to learn more about them.

Here's what I learned from last night's game and interviews.

Ozzie definitely wanted to win the game. Otherwise, he wouldn't have kept shuffling guys in and out of the game, and moving them around (some of them were completely out of position). He worked the batting order to get his best clutch hitters into the game at the right times. And it worked because he got what he wanted; the best hitter in baseball at the plate in what was probably going to be their last gasp. And Young delivered for him.

A.J. Pierzinski is apparently still in Ozzie's doghouse. Did he even see the field last night? Didn't see Buerhle either. Most fans felt he didn't belong.

Hoffman, who is a change-up guru, should probably leave off the fastball completely. It's not fast enough and doesn't tail, rise, or sink. Throwing an 84 mph fastball over the middle of the plate to someone like Young is just asking for trouble. I can't believe he did that. Maybe that pitch just got away from him, but the fastball is not his best pitch, and, anyway, that pitch is not what you want to do with two outs in the ninth with a young stud at the plate and a forty something dude on the mound. The off-speed stuff was wroking just fine. He didn't need the fast ball. I doubt that some of Hoffman's fortyish peers (Rogers, Glavine, or Maddux would have done that in that situation). But I really don't know how much influence, if any, the catcher and/or manager had in making that call.

A-Rod apparently must have it written into his contract that he commit at least one error per game, and that he's never to get a hit in a big game.

Soriano is superfast on the bases.

David Wright would be an excellent media spokesman or ambassador for basbeball. He knocks the hell out if the ball, is well-spoken, smiles easily, and the camera loves that guy.

Brad Penny for president! I didn't know he threw that friggin hard. Wow!

You guys are right about Home Field Advantage. It probably won't make any difference anyway. There are about eight AL teams who can beat the Mets, including the Yankees and Twins, if they can catch the BoSox and Tigers Which I doubt since the White Sox seem to have the wild card spot locked up. So, the NL (which is essentially the Mets; I was hopign the Dodgers would make a move) couldn't win the World Sries this year anyway.

Jim Thome is HUGE!!!!!!!

Poor Mark Redman. I felt bad for him. He looked embarressed to even be there.

[ July 14, 2006, 06:30 PM: Message edited by: Thomas ]

It's a peculiar All-Star fest when the best hitter not named Pujols -- Travis Hafner -- isn't even chosen.

Yeah I know. Seems like he was 3rd or 4th in the AL in HRs and third or fourth in RBIs. But Ozzie likes Grady Sizemore, so went with him. But Hafner definitely got shafted this year. No question about it.