Snubbed? I Don't Think So!
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by user JuTMSY4
You heard me right, I’m saying it. Guys, if you didn’t make the all-star squad, especially in the National League you were not snubbed, you just weren’t plain good enough. Wait, you say that they don’t offer your position in this year’s game so you were pushed to the side? I’ve got news for you; try playing an actual position instead of sitting on your butt for 4.5 innings a game. Or wait, you were a victim of the east coast, Boston/New York bias? No you weren’t you’re just not good enough to play for them. Fan voting was instituted because it’s the fans who truly care about the mid-summer classic, and while all-star appearances may be great for your Hall of Fame resume, I just don’t care how many times you were the 3rd best shortstop in the league, per fan voting, it just doesn’t matter.
With that said, there were a few snubs worthy of mentioning. For example, Joe Mauer should be the starter over Ivan Rodriguez, but at least he made it. Or perhaps Justin Verlander who’s league leading 10 wins and welcoming 3.13 ERA make him a strong candidate for the 32nd spot, but when you look at the competition, it’s a lot closer than you think. Perhaps next time Verlander should consider not playing for the AL Central leading Tigers, especially considering they are 2.5 games ahead of AL Manger, Ozzie Guillen’s Chicago White Sox.
And so, without too much anticipation, allow me to recognize those supposed snubs who still do not deserve to go to the all star game.
American League
Jason Giambi
The Giambino is near the top of the major leagues with 24 Home Runs and 63 RBIs and is a bit of a victim of circumstance (You will hear this a lot from me), but also checks in with a very Adam Dunn (Dunn is batting .227 with 26 HRs, which is probably one of the bigger jokes in MLB) like average of .268 (Actually, that’s a bit higher than what Dunn has). Problem here is, AL East compadre David Ortiz has more, of well everything (Home runs, RBIs, Average) and so does Guillen’s Jim Thome. Finally, the only actual First Baseman to beat Giambi out is Paul Konerko who, while only having 20 Home Runs, 4 less than Giambi, has the same amount of RBIs (63) and sports a nice .314 average. Not to mention Konerko actually plays first (74 games to 44 games) and has a solid .996 fielding percentage, versus Giambi’s pedestrial .980.
Travis Hafner
Let me preface this by saying I love Travis Hafner, I think he’s an excellent hitter and his OBP is second only to Joe Mauer in the American League. With that being said, the big issue with Hafner is that he doesn’t play a position, which is very similar to my gripe with Big Papi. Otherwise, I suppose Hafner statistically qualifies for the all-star game, ranking 4th or higher is almost every major offensive stat. Once again, a victim of circumstance, namely that 3 “supposed” first baseman are ahead of him in most of those stats (Namely Ortiz, Thome, and actual first baseball Konerko). As such, If this game were in Detroit, perhaps Hafner is a snub, but as a result of real baseball, such that the Senior Circuit provides, I can see Hafner being undeserving. That’s right, my only reasoning for excluding him is that he doesn’t play the field, but then again, he does take my vote for the 32nd player on the AL squad.
Francisco Liriano
Absolute victim of circumstance. While, I could credit his miniscule 1.99 ERA to his lack of innings pitched, to which he is about 38 behind other ERA leaders, I feel as though having a 1.99 ERA with 80 odd innings pitched is pretty damn good. None the less, while he appears to have all but wrapped up the Rookie of the Year Award in the AL, he may be a little too green for the all-star game, and that’s probably the only thing holding him back. What more proof that he’s a victim. Mark Buehrle make the squad with an ERA almost 2 full points higher and just as many wins, so did defacto pitcher Mark Redman who is self explanatory (By the way, where’s Mike Sweeney, perennially Royals All-star? Batting a cool .176 with 2 home runs, 6 RBIs and collecting 11 million while being disabled). While I think guys like Bobby Jenks are deserving, Jenks is not more deserving than Liriano. So everyone, meet Francisco Liriano, 22 year old screw over.
Interim note here: This is a lot harder than I thought; some of these guys actually deserve to go. For example, is there a chance Jim Thome of Travis Hafner can play second, because no AL second baseman deserves to go for batting something like .315. The AL can have all their good position players, the NL owns second base!
Justin Verlander
First of all, he plays against Ozzie Guillen 18 times a year (He doesn’t, but you get the idea). That already makes him the enemy. On top of that, while his stats are good, there are already players on the roster to match him (and some who are not on) Example: He has 10 wins, but so do 6 other guys and another 7 who have at least 9, namely Liriano who also did it in less games and sports that 1.99 ERA. His 3.13 ERA is good for 4th best in the AL, but only Johan Santana, with a 2.59 made the squad of low ERA pitchers and only 2 of the top 10 and 6 of the top 20 made it. You can have a great rookie year all you want, but if Liriano doesn’t make it, neither do you. And I take back that Rookie of The Year comment about Liriano, this is a lot closer than it looks, especially of Verlander’s team can actually make the post-season.
Tadahito Iguchi & Brian Roberts
First of all, Robinson Cano does deserve some recognition for making the grade at this position, namely because he sports the best average among AL second baseman (.325) and is in the top 10 in every other category. But he’s not going to play, so that leaves manager pick and best 2nd baseman Jose Lopez as the new backup, which is absolutely fair, consider he leads all second baseman Home runs, RBIs and Slugging Percentage. Personally, I don’t think Mark Loretta deserves the start, but he’s having a good enough year, expecially because he’s 2nd in average, OBP, 4th in RBIs and 6th in slugging. That leaves out Iguchi and Roberts, both of whom sport nice averages (.293 & .313 respectively) but Roberts lacks in power (1 HR, 33 RBIs) and has speed (19 SBs), while Iguchi has the power (9 HRs, 38 RBIs) but has little speed (5 SBs). To me, there about equal in value, but Lopez is having a phenomenal year and is making my RoY comment seem even more asinine, and Loretta, as I’ve stated earlier is deserving and did also get the vote. Sorry guys, but you’ll have to try harder next time
Ok, so its hard to make a case of some of these guys not to make it, but that is how the ball bounces. On the opposite note, would someone care to explain to me how Gary Matthews makes it. I know he had that great catch, and is batting .334, but honestly his power numbers are not that spectacular, especially for playing in Texas with guys like Michael Young and Mark Teixeira. Alright, on to the NL snubs:
National League
Carlos Delgado & Nomar Garciaparra
Nomar is leading everyone in the NL in batting with his .361 and a resurgence in his career, while Carlos is 3rd in the NL in home runs (22) and 4th in RBIs (55). Problem here is you’ve got All-World First baseman Albert Pujols in front of you with the 2nd in the league Home run total (27), tops RBI total (72) and nice average (.314), good for second in the NL, all while sporting a great fielding percentage (.996) and missing around 17 games. Meanwhile, last years Rookie of the Year, Ryan Howard, who should be a DH, checks in with a respectable .284 average, leads the world in home runs (28), is 3rd in the NL in RBIs (69) and is second in slugging percentage, only to Pujols. Finally, Lance Berkman pulls in this group with his 22 home runs (3rd) 71 RBIs (2nd) and .319 average (3rd). Bottom line is, you put Garciaparra’s and Delgado’s numbers together and you get Pujols, but you pull them apart and you get Todd Helton and Prince Fielder.
Michael Barrett & Johnny Estrada
If ever the New York/East Coast bias was obvious it was here. Paul Lo Duca has been nothing but average as a catcher this year, namely with his .286 average, 3 Home Runs and 24 RBIs, but he got the vote from the fans. Deserving starter and sophomore backstop, Brian McCann merited his spot .354 average and acceptable power numbers of 5 Home runs and 23 RBIs, especially for a struggling Atlanta Braves squad. Barrett is probably the most deserving, with a .313 average, 9 home runs and 31 RBIs on an equally stinky squad. And Estrada looks just as nice with a .317 average, 6 home runs and 44 RBIs. Nope, the fans just plain got it wrong. McCann deserves the spot and one of these two should have went, I say Estrada, namely for his .998 fielding percentage.
Bobby Abreu
Bobby leads the league in OBP (.444), but otherwise is just a good outfielder and no more deserving than say Pat Burrell. His RBI total ranks him 5th (57), just behind Jeff Francoeur and his home run swing continues to struggle as he is 25th in the NL with just 8. Even his .284 batting average is pedestrian and without power numbers he’s just a Ryan Howard that gets on base instead of slamming them out of the park. Brad Hawpe has better statistics everywhere except RBIs where he’s only about 10 behind and current NL backup Carlos Lee leads Bobby in every category, especially in home runs. Truly in comparison, Abreu is getting beat in almost every category by every player currently in the game (I.E. Bay has more home runs and RBIs, Holiday has more home runs and a higher average, I could go on). Looks like Bobby won’t be back to defend his title as Home Run Queen.
Roy Oswalt
Why wasn’t Roy selected? Easy, he was good, but not that good. What’s surprising is that manager Phil Garner didn’t take him, thanks Coach! Roy is 7th in the NL in ERA, but behind other snubs Chris Young (Who is not on this list because I absolutely think he was ripped off) and non-snubsJason Schmidt. His win total is equal to that of Schmidt at 6, good for a tie of 21st in the league and his K total is 74, good for 23rd. You say his was hurt at one point?! Too bad for you, he comes in with 16 starts this season, just 2 behind a large group of leaders. Sure he ranks 26, but so does Pedro Martinez. Looks like injury time didn’t make a difference. Sorry Roy, just not good enough.
Billy Wagner
So claim that Derrick Turnbow didn’t deserve a spot, but regardless of his 4+ ERA he is second in the NL and saves and that has to count for something. Brian Fuentes is another story, but 15 saves at a Mile High is still pretty good, especially when you compare him to his closest competitor, Billy Wagner who has an equal amount of saves, a higher ERA, and 4 blown saves (Compared to 3 for Fuentes), not to mention a not credited blown save because it wasn’t save situation, but he still got tagged with the loss. Who’s ahead of him? Tom Gordon has more saves, and a lower ERA, as does Trevor Hoffman. Sorry Billy, but all these guys were better than you.
That about wraps up the list. I’m sure there were a few more snubs of note, but I guess they didn’t make the cut. Moreover, this article was a lot harder than I thought, namely my defense of not taking Hafner or Liriano, both of whom are having stellar years and basically got screwed as a result of league rules. But, I guess too much is better than not enough. Now, if the NL can possibly not suck this year, perhaps I may care about the game beyond the 3rd inning.
Date
Mon 07/03/06, 6:17 am EST
