Early 2006 AL All-Star Returns

Yeah, cuz when I think "All-Star," Robinson Cano immediately pops into my head. Someone stop this B.S. popularity contest.

Pujols should be the starting 1b for the NL, but Ryan Howard should be the backup.

If Tadahito Iguchi doesn't win, scandal

As a Sox fan I'm embarrassed to even have some of these guys in the lead. Fans should not be allowed to have any part in that.

Where's Ramon Hernandez?

Wait, Steak, you're embarrassed by Ortiz, Varitek, and Manny? So if those guys embarrass you, who, pray tell, do you actually like on your own team? Anybody?

Why is that, DNL? 'Cause you like him? Or maybe it's hitting. No, wait, Cano and Loretta both have better averages. What about fielding? Well, Loretta has a better fielding percentage. Why, exactly, is it so terrible if Iguchi doesn't get in?

Cano is junk until he learns to take a walk. Loretta is fine, I guess, but shouldn't we also consider the back-half of last year?

How about Brian Roberts? He has a tremendous line of .325/.391/.433 with 9 SBs and 0 CS. I know he has missed some games with injury, but he has performed far and away better than Cano with the time he has played.

Alex Gonzalez? Gonzalez should have 3 votes, two of them coming from him and his mother. Instead he's 4th in the league. There is a Sox player and a Yankee in the top 4 at every position. They're 1 and 2 in 3 different positions. They do not deserve to be there. I'm not embarrassed by the players. I'm embarrassed by the morons doing the voting.

Maybe MLB should just take a mid season break and let all the teams have a few days off while the Red Sox and Yankees play an extra game that doesn't count in the standings?

I found it hilarious that Matsui managed to be 7th in the voting. Pretty impressive for a guy with a broken wrist. I wonder if the people doing the voting realize he won't be playing in the ASG?

I'm willing to bet that about half of the people who voted for Matsui probably couldn't even pick him out of a line up. Nevermind realize that he's even on the DL.

Stupid question probably, but who votes for the pitchers?

No one, the coaches pick the pitching staff.

Thanks Enybo. Why do the coaches pick the pitchers though? Why can't people vote for them?

Here's my team. C-Ramon Hernandez. 1B-David Ortiz. 2B-Tad Iguchi. SS-Derek Jeter. 3B-Hank Blalock. OF-Manny Ramirez. Vladdy Guerrero. Ichiro.

Hey, Steak, can you tell me who came in fourth last year at any position in the all-star voting? Exactly. Who cares? It's irrelevant.

Shark, Ramon Hernandez is better than Jason Varitek? Seriously? Your entire list is discredited by that. In fact, I demand you take off that Red Sox fan tag from your page, if you don't like Jason Varitek. Or are you just a "Red Sox fan" because you like Ortiz?

The AL starting catcher should be Joe Mauer, by a landslide. He is the AL batting leader and has thrown out 11 of 24 basestealers. Varitek is hitting .240? Not quite All-Star material.

how does thinking another player is better than another, mean that you don't like that player? If he thinks that Ramon is playing better than V-tek this year, that makes him a bad Red Sox fan? Take off your Red Sox colored glasses for a second, geesh

Some of you seem to forget that there's more to being an All-Star catcher than batting average. Focusing on things like batting average is what produces one-dimensional "All-Stars". Varitek blows everyone out of the water defensively as a catcher, and as a catcher that's vastly more important than offense. To say that someone should be an All-Star catcher because he has the higher batting average is like saying the starting pitcher should automatically be the one with the best ERA in each league, regardless of other factors. That's just plain silly.

Ask any pitcher in the American League who they'd like to have catching them, and I bet you over 90% of them will say "Varitek" in a heartbeat. In fact, 'Tek's skill has helped convince various pitchers to come to Boston. How many catchers can say that? Can Hernandez?

you probabaly think JT Snow should be the starting in the all star game

nobody watches the All-Star game to watch catchers block balls in the dirt!

First off Xinoph, Shark is a huge Sox fan, but isn't blind to the fact that 'Tek is struggling this year at the plate. Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but Pudge has been the gold standard for defensive catchers for the last 10 years not Varitek.

Is JT Snow a catcher? What does he have to do with it? I'm sorry, but I watch the All-Star game to watch the AL win, and they have a better chance to do that with the best-fielding catcher in the game than the best-hitting. Besides, it's hardly like 'Tek's the worst hitter in the world, either - and he does tend to start slow over the course of the season.

Nice try at a red herring, Chachi, but the debate was whether 'Tek was better defensively than Hernandez, not whether he was best. Even if for some reason you felt 'Tek's defensive skills were lacking, you'd have to go with Pudge over Hernandez - and again, they both can certainly hit. To think a guy like Hernandez is doing better than your team captain, when it's highly debateable, implies not very good fandom to me. That, and having two team tags on your user page.

Regardless, Pudge should be the AL starting catcher if not Hernandez. Hernandez is better offensively right now, but if you want to bring defense in to the discussion, then Pudge is the hands down choice. He's as good (if not better) then 'Tek defensively and he is batting .308 to 'Tek's .240 with one less homer and 2 less RBI. Jason Varitek should not even be in the discussion for starting AL catcher. As far as his team tags, I don't know what the heck that's about.

Well, defensively here are the stolen base numbers for the catchers being discussed this year. Varitek has thrown out 5 of 16(31%), Mauer has thrown out 11 of 24(46%), Hernandez has thrown out 19 of 34(56%) and Pudge is 7 of 16(44%). So Varitek lags behind here, while Hernandez looks the best. Now, if you look at Errors + Passed Balls, you get Varitek with only 2, Mauer and Pudge each have 1, and Hernandez has 15. They all have a history of above average defense behind the plate and are all doing well this year, so I don't see a team being hurt by having any of them in your lineup. Therefore, we should try and seperate them by looking at offense. This is where there is no competition. I am not only looking at batting average to choose who is an all-star. In fact, I give batting average very little weight in my mind, but I thought it should be mentioned Mauer is the batting champion so far. If you take a look at his OBP of .421 and SLG of .494, you will notice it blows Varitek's .337 and .397 numbers out of the water. Mauer is the only starting catcher besides Posada who has an OBP over .400.

Seriously Xinoph....you gotta step back and try to look at it rationally, not as a Sox fan. This year, Tek has done nothing. His defense is overrated and not the best in the league. Mauer, Hernandez, Martinez, and Posada are all miles ahead of him this year. This isn't even up for debate. Varitek does not deserve an all-star spot this year.

Gonzalez being in fourth place isn't the issue...it's the fact that however many thousands of people used their vote to say that Gonzalez was their top pick for the all-star game. How can you actually defend this shit with a straight face?

Ramon Hernandez has the best offensive numbers THIS YEAR. I believe Varitek to be one of the top 3 catchers in baseball overall but the all star game rewards people for their performance for THIS YEAR. Varitek has obviously struggled so far. I'm a Sox fan alright but I am not blinded by that fact when giving props to players who deserve some love. By the way, Hernandez has thrown out 50% of steal attempts this year. That is among the best in all of baseball.

Yeah, Steak, because I disagree with you, I must be biased. That's so incredibly arrogant it's beyond belief. You're right, if it's what you think it shouldn't be up for debate.

People are dumb, Steak. Get over it. Go look at the Presidential Election and see how many wacko irrelevant candidates got votes. As long as you let people vote, they'll vote for idiots. That's life. I'm honestly not going to obsess over who's in fourth place in All-Star voting. It's totally irrelevant, unless you're related to somebody who's coming in fifth. Give me a break.

So, based on Xinoph's criteria, Darin Erstad should be the starting CF for the team. I mean, he's a team leader in the clubhouse, he has no errors and is putting up great fielding numbers. Who cares if he is only batting .238 with no home runs, he's much more important to the team than say a Vernon Wells - he's only batting .324 with 15 HR and 44 RBI, but those aren't important stats, and anyway neither would never get elected in this popularity contest unless he was on the Red Sox or Yankees. I have yet to see any verifiable criteria for why Varitek should be on the All Star team.