Tom's All-Star Ballot
AL:
C- Hernandez, Bal
1B - Giambi, nyy
2b - Lopez, Sea
3B - Chavez, Oak
SS - Jeter, NYY
OF - Crawford, Granderson, ManRam
DH - Thome, CWS
Filling out the team (25-man roster, each team represented)-
SP - Kazmir, Contreras, Santana, Buehrle, Halladay
RP- Papelbon, Shields, Otsuka, Ryan, Rodney, Ray
Bench- Hafner, Gomes, Youkilis, Grudzielanek, Mauer
Best player not going: Alex Riox, Tor
(First time since 1999 that ARod doesn't go).
NL:
C- Estrada, Arz
1B- Pujols, StL
2B- Utley, Phi
3B - Ensberg, Hou
SS- Lopez, Cin
OF- Abreu, Giles, Beltran
(DH- Berkman)
SP- Webb, Glavine, Arroyo, Mulder+, Oswalt
RP- Fuentes, Dempster, Benitez, Baez, Gonzalez, Gordon
Bench- A. Jones, Cabrera, Soriano, C. Lee, McCann
Best player not going: Delgado
+Mulder isn't as good of a pitcher as Pedro, but he's actually contributed offensively. I hemmed and hawed on whether to count total value or just pitching value; I went with the former. Both the Cards and Mets already have guys in there, so if you went Pedro instead of Mulder it would be fine by me.
Some predictions:
*Not nearly as many Yankees deserve to go (Jeter & Giambi) than will actually go (Jeter, Giambi, Posada, Cano, Matsui, ARod). It's very refreshing to not have Joe Torre manage the AL team.
*ESPN will again sound like morons when they complain about snubs from the AL roster.
*There's no way that a Kazmir v. Webb matchup is going to fill seats, and neither team's manager is smart enough to pick those two anyway.
*The AL will once again clobber the NL.
*It's only difficult to represent every team in the NL - more teams, less talent - but ESPN will still complain about the every-team-ought-to-be-represented rule.
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5 comments:
As the game is in Pittsburgh, there will be no "DH" selected for the AL squad, although Thome will almost certainly be selected as a reserve.
Ozzie has said he will stock the AL roster with White Sox ... in fact, he plans to take as many Sox as he's able, once the every-team-represented rule has been exhausted. I expect Thome, Buehrle, Contreras, Iguchi, Crede and possibly even Konerko on the roster.
I don't doubt Ozzie would do that.
I can't say I blame him either. If you have the ridiculously oversized 32-man roster to fill, and don't miss anyone who belongs, and get one guy from each team, why on earth wouldn't you fill in the other 6 or 7 TOTALLY UNNECESSARY spots with your own guys?
NL:
1.) Utley
2.) Beltran
3.) Pujols
4.) Abreu
5.) Ensberg
6.) Giles
7.) Estrada
8.) Lopez
9.) Webb
AL:
1.) Jeter
2.) Chavez
3.) Giambi
4.) ManRam
5.) Granderson
6.) Hernandez
7.) Lopez
8.) Crawford
9.) Kazmir
You know, when you spell out the lineups, the NL could have a chance there, if Webb forgets that he sucks against lefties.
My starting All-Star Line-ups
American League:
C- J. Mauer
1B- J. Giambi
2B- Jo. Lopez
SS- M. Tejada
3B- T. Glaus
LF- N. Swisher
CF- C. Patterson
RF- V. Guerrero
SP- M. Mussina
National League:
C- J. Estrada
1B- A. Pujols*
2B- C. Utley
SS- J. Reyes
3B- M. Cabrera
LF- A. Soriano
CF- A. Jones
RF- B. Abreu
SP- B. Webb
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