The good:

- Pujols leaps over everybody to become the leading NL vote-getter. Good. He's the best player in baseball this season.
- The player voting. I'm going to bitch about the system later on in this post, but at least I can't fault the guys for their picks. Carl Everett over Frank Thomas was pretty stupid in the AL, and Varitek deserves to be there, but besides that, it's cool. In the NL, the players picked Vidro at 2nd, Lowell at 3rd--it's basically perfect.

The bad:

- Mike Williams from the Pirates? He's got a 6.29 ERA, for Christ's sake. That's three Dontrelle Willises, which brings me to my next point:
- Dontrelle Willis needs to be at the All-Star Game. Purely looking at stats, he deserves to be there. And everybody wants to watch the kid pitch. Kerry Wood and Russ Ortiz are both deserving, but one of them should be off the team, and Willis should be on. It's nice to see Dusty Baker acting so loyally, but it royally sucks that Dontrelle's sitting at home. I hope Mike Williams breaks his ankle between then and now.
- I know it's only been in place for this year, but we need to change the system. Any system that lets Armando Benitez be the Met representative after blowing six saves--when Jeromy Burnitz is a candidate for comeback player of the year--just because Dusty Baker needs another relief pitcher is bullshit.
- Lance Carter from Tampa Bay over Rocco Baldelli. Again, the system is inherently flawed: Scioscia got to pick a grand total of 1 position player, who obviously had to be Dmitri Young, and so we get bullshit like this. Carter's not an awful player, but he's no All-Star.
- No Corey Koskie. Or Alex Gonzalez, the Marlins version. They both deserve to be there, and Gonzalez isn't even on the 32-man ballot.

Mike Lieberthal got screwed. Who the fuck is Paul LoDuca?

sports r suck

Originally posted by Mark LeDrew
Who the fuck is Paul LoDuca?
The best catcher in the majors. Except he never catches anymore, so that's dumb.

And Williams is a terrible selection from here. Brian Giles is one of the best players in baseball.

uhhhhh, Ramon Hernandez over Jason Varitek?

noooooo, that's just not right

Originally posted by Nate the Grate
uhhhhh, Ramon Hernandez over Jason Varitek?

noooooo, that's just not right

Yeah, it's the players' fault. One of the few places where they really screwed up.

Originally posted by Mark LeDrew
Mike Lieberthal got screwed. Who the fuck is Paul LoDuca?

Lo Duca: .305, 5, 30 in the worst lineup in the NL. I'd take him over Lieberthal--though, admittedly, just barely.

Also, Varitek is part of the 32-man vote for the AL. And Orlando Cabrera, who's having an awesome season, is there in the NL. Lieberthal isn't, though--thanks to Dusty Baker, Benito Santiago is on there instead. I smell bullshit.

the fact that nomar won't be starting is disgusting. and jason varitek. and bill mueller at third. and what about rocco fucking baldelli? he's having a better season than matsui.

Originally posted by El Savior
the fact that nomar won't be starting is disgusting. and jason varitek. and bill mueller at third. and what about rocco fucking baldelli? he's having a better season than matsui.
Nomar is a god, but c'mon, how can you pick anyone over A-Rod?
Varitek should be there.
Bill Mueller shouldn't.
The Matsui start is garbage. Vernon Wells, anyone?

I am sooo fucking happy Sosa will not be going. He doesn't deserve it, and everyone let him know it. :D

Originally posted by neopryn

Nomar is a god, but c'mon, how can you pick anyone over A-Rod?


look at the numbers.

Originally posted by sawdust restaurants


Lo Duca: .305, 5, 30

Lieberthal: .326, 5, 35

Originally posted by El Savior


look at the numbers.
Eh, Nomar's average is a lot better but the homer discrepancy almost negates it. They're pretty much equals, but A-Rod has the flashier name. At least it isn't Jeter.

aaron boone from the reds is so sad

guillen is batting almost .360...if he just had a few more at bats...but no, he can't be started b/c griffey has to play even though he's batting .240

god the reds are terrible

Originally posted by Mark LeDrew
Lieberthal: .326, 5, 35

Lo Duca plays in Los Angeles. The Dodgers' lineup is awful and he has zero support there. If he played in Philly, his numbers would be comparable, probably even better, than Lieberthal's.

Like I said, though, you have a legitimate case, and it's just flat-out stupid that Benito Santiago is on the 32-man vote instead of Lo Duca just because he played for Dusty in SF.

The Matsui start is garbage. Vernon Wells, anyone?

Wells should start, yeah, but I wouldn't call Matsui's start "garbage." He's having a fine season.

and what about rocco fucking baldelli? he's having a better season than matsui.

Like I said, blame that on the new three-pronged selection system.

Each All-Star team has 32 players now, 12 of whom are supposed to be pitchers. The fans get to select both teams' starting lineups, which means that the fans choose 8 players in the National League and 9 in the American League since the AL fans have to choose a DH.

Ordinarily, that would be it, and the managers would fill out the rest of the roster. This year, though, the players get to pick eight pitchers and one backup at each position. So in the National League, that means they're picking sixteen players, and in the American League, they're picking seventeen players.

So by the time it came down for Scioscia to fill out his roster, the players and fans already had selected 26 players. Scioscia has to pick five now to get to 31 so the fans can vote on No. 32. Four of those have to be pitchers in order for the team to have twelve people at that position (remember, the players already picked eight). That means Scioscia gets to pick a grand total of one position player.

The problem is, after the fan vote and the player vote, two teams still didn't have an All-Star representative: the Tigers and the Devil Rays. And if Scioscia had taken any single pitcher from the Tigers' staff, it would have been a complete joke, particularly because "this time it counts"; their best pitcher, excluding middle reliever Jamie Walker (2-2, 3.38, but everybody knows that middle relief has to be better than that to make an All-Star team), is either Nate Cornejo (3-7, 4.81) or Mike Maroth (4-12, 4.81). So he had to take Dmitri Young from the Tigers, leaving him no choice but to take a pitcher from the Devil Rays, who at least have people with winning records.

Similar things happened with Benitez from the Mets and Williams from the Pirates. There weren't enough spots for position players to go around.

The All-Star Game should not count for SHIT in the World Series. That's all I have to contribute.

Brandon Webb, anyone?

Originally posted by Sean Casey
The All-Star Game should not count for SHIT in the World Series. That's all I have to contribute.

This is also true.