All-Star Game: Baseballs Best or Most Popular
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by user Redsoxfaithful38
With the All-Star ballots almost due and the starters soon to be revealed, my co-writer, Scott Hakim, and I sat down to discuss what this event has become. This game that has been given the responsibility of deciding which league will obtain home field advantage for the World Series. One must wonder why it is not the interleague record that determines home field. The answer is simple: it is a way to get viewers. Year after year undeserving players become starters in this insignificant event we call the All-Star Game. The game never had much value. But, since each team has to have a representative who is often undeserving and naïve fans elect big name players who have done nothing, the game has only been hindered more. We now sit down at what the lineups would be at this point and point out the mistakes, and believe me there are quite a few. We also unveil our mid-season awards.
Stats are
-AVG/HR/RBI/SB/OBP
-Record/ERA/IP/SO
-SS-SVO/ERA/IP/SO
American League
First Base:
Player A: .319/13/47/1/.434
Player B: .278/20/57/0/.354
Although Player A is very deserving, we neglected to mention he has played a grand total of 47 innings at first base. Lets give it to the player that actually plays first. Player A is leading vote-getter David Ortiz, while Player B is Justin Morneau.
Second Base:
Player A: .320/3/23/1/.396
Player B: .329/1/35/2/.376
Both these players could start. It may be interesting to note that player B has over twice the amount of votes as A. It is also interesting to mention that player A was hitting a pedestrian .191 in April. Player B is leading vote-getter Placido Polanco. He deserves to get the start, but player A is right there. How many people could guess who that player is? Well his name is Dustin Pedroia. You probably never thought much of him. This is the same player that was being slammed in the papers as the weak link to the Red Sox. I would be fine with him starting after what he has endured.
Third Base:
Player A: .333/28/77/9/.433
Is this even a question? A-rod is definitely the best.
Shortstop:
Player A: .342/5/36/7/.419
Player B: .324/12/55/5/.391
Player A has 2,127,177 to player B’s 877,976. How you may ask? I do not know. Player A is the poster boy of baseball. He is referred to as the winner who never makes big mistakes. Player A’s fielding has significantly dropped. If I told you who each was, I can guarantee that you name player A. If you can honestly look at those numbers without knowing who they are and say player A is the better one, that’s fine. But if I told you player A was Derek Jeter and player B was Carlos Guillen, you would say Jeter definitely. Well I don’t see it and Guillen is outplaying Jeter and is not getting the respect he deserves.
Outfield:
Player A: .327/14/69/1/.424
Player B: .379/13/68/2/.453
Player C: .359/5/37/22/.413
Player D: .306/15/57/11/.353
Player E: .278/12/24/22/.390
Player A and B obviously deserve to start. They were the two highest vote-getters. It took some time for B, but he eventually got his well-deserved credit. The question becomes, who is the third outfielder? Any of those last three deserve a spot. They can not be separated in the field, because all three are fantastic. Player D gets the edge because of his combination of contact and power. Player A and B are Vlad Guerrero and Maglio Ordonez respectively. Ichiro Suzuki is C, while D is Tori Hunter and E Grady Sizemore.
Catcher:
Player A: .285/7/42/0/.298
Player B: .313/14/62/0/.373
It’s a wonder how A has over twice as many votes as B. Yes, I am baffled to. How can somebody with a .298 OBP be the top vote-getter? A is Ivan Rodriguez and B is Victor Martinez.
Starting Pitcher:
Player A: 9-2/1.78/111/89
Player B: 11-2/3.24/122.1/108
Player C: 11-1/3.07/91/79
Justin Verlander and James Shields have both pitched well this season, but these three separated themselves this season with many spectacular performances. Player A has pitched brilliantly, but receives little run support. Player B is an underrated ace, but not starter worthy. The third player pitched brilliantly throughout the season. He lost a couple of starts due to injury and has only one bad start to this credit. He also just happened to have out dueled the best pitcher in baseball, Jake Peavy. If you have not guessed C is Josh Becket, while A is Dan Haren and B is C.C. Sabathia.
Closer:
Player A: 18-19/1.65/27.1/38
Player B: 22-24/2.43/33.1/49
Player C: 21-21/1.07/33.2/36
These three closers separate themselves from the pack. All three have dominant stuff and are lights out in the ninth. A is hurt due to less opportunities, therefore less innings. B pitched great so far, just not as good as C. A is Jonathan Papelbon, B is Francisco Rodriguez, and C is J.J. Putz.
MVP-A-rod
CY Young-Beckett
Gold Gloves- Shields (P), Varitek (C), Youkilis (1B), Castillo (2B), Gordon (3B), Betancourt (SS), Crisp (OF), Matthews Jr. (OF), and Hunter (OF)
ROY-Hideki Okajima
Comeback- Josh Beckett
National League:
First Base:
Player A: .283/27/62/0/.374
I expected Pujols to be leading, but surprisingly enough player A is. A is Prince Fielder.
Second Base:
Player A: .320/12/58/4/.399
He deserves this spot very much. He hustles all the time. Great player to have on your team, the voters got this right. He is Chase Utley.
Third Base:
Player A: .323/13/28/1/.407
Player B: .286/12/40/16/.372
Player B is having an outstanding year, A’s is just better. To think A may not even make the team, that would be a shame. Player A, Chipper Jones, deserves the start over B, David Wright.
Shortstop:
Player A: .319/3/33/38/.401
Player B: .285/18/50/0/.340
Player C: .320/10/25/22/.378
All of you would say Jose Reyes should be the starter, but the other two are not doing too bad themselves. Player C deserves the start though due to getting no help at all, yet is still having a monster year. Player B is having an unexpected year, but should not be the starter. Reyes is A, while J.J. Hardy is B and Hanley Ramirez is C.
Outfield:
Player A: .307/15/30/9/.356
Player B: .272/10/43/10/.349
Player C: .354/13/60/3/.399
Player D: .290/21/46/2/.384
This is perhaps the most perplexing roster spot. There are those outfielders such as Brian Hawpe and Adam Dunn who did not make the list. But, what confuses me is how the best outfielder in all of baseball did not make the top 5. Yes, I just said top 5. If you are still wondering who I am attributing this to, player C is not on the top 5. If you are looking at those numbers, you better be astounded too. Player B was a top vote-getter on his name alone. A and D do deserve their votes though. Player A is Alfonso Soriano, B is Beltran, C is Matt Holliday (if you don’t know him, you better find out quick), and D is Ken Griffey Jr.
Catcher:
Player A: .293/8/49/13/.361
Player A deserves the votes he is getting. He only got them because there are no big name catchers in the NL, besides McCann who very few know about, as there is in the AL. Player A is up-and-coming star Russell Martin.
Starting Pitcher:
Player A: 9-2/2.14/105/113
Are we even discussing this? He is the best pitcher in baseball, Jake Peavy. Chris Young, Brad Penny, and Cole Hamels may be good, but not this good.
Closing Pitcher:
Player A: 27-29/2.23/32.1/45
Cordero deserves this vote. No, this is not Chad Cordero, this is Francisco Cordero. He picked the right time to have a career year, this being his walk year.
MVP-Holliday
CY Young-Peavy
Gold Gloves: Greg Maddux (P), Johnny Estrada (C), Derrek Lee (1B), Chase Utley (2B), Chipper Jones (3B), Alex Gonzalez (SS), Andruw Jones (OF), Shane Victorino (OF), and Eric Brynes (OF)
ROY-Hunter Pence
Comeback-Ken Griffey Jr.
