All-Star Grievances: The NL Central

Maybe the All-Star Game is a meaningless to the players and just an excuse for Bud Selig to admire himself for a week. That doesn't mean that the selections should be stupid. Today, the MLB 'Haus gives you All-Star Grievances.

Grievance: Nate McLouth over Jason Bay- It's not that McLouth isn't a deserving All-Star, because he is. The problem is that he's mired in a terrible slump, putting up a .209/.258/.355 line with two homers over the last month or so (prior to today's game). There's a decent chance that by the end of the year, McLouth will have faded completely. Still, he made the team over Jason Bay, who's already a two-time All-Star and is slugging along like he has every year of his career besides an injury-filled 2007. It should take more than a flash in the pan to make an All-Star team.

Grievance: Miguel Tejada? Really?- After a down year in Baltimore last year, Tejada got off to a decent start this year. That's all quickly gone to hell, as he's hitting .198 since May 30th. Tejada's not an All-Star, he's a guy in the twilight of his career that Ed Wade is going to regret trading for by the end of the season.

Grievance: Adam Dunn isn't even a snub- I get that Dunn's only hitting .228. Aren't we to the point of enlightened fanhood that people can look beyond that and realize that his .895 OPS makes him a snub?

Grievance: Alfonso Soriano and Kosuke Fukudome are starters- Fan voting is stupid and unreliable. We say that every year. This year, these two are the reason.

Other snubs: Carlos Lee (unless he wins the final vote but let's be honest, dude's got no chance against David Wright).

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

7-06-2008 @ 4:24PM

enrico said...

Pat the Bat

Didn't see the "Central" part. My bad.

7-06-2008 @ 4:43PM

Orange Chuck said...

As a fan, I must say, I hate fan voting as well. Fans voting for either their whole roster or names they know is stupid and many times it leaves the best at the position this year left out because they don't have the name of another. I think the managers and players should do the selecting since they know who is the best at the positions better then anyone. I think the funny thing is, MLB thinks fan vote helps stimulate interest in the all star game and yet, they still have to keep coming up with things to get interest because its not working. You want big names, pay big money for winning talent contests and thats when you can add superstars to the game without discounting a great season from someone snubbed because half of America and the world doesn't see them play.

7-06-2008 @ 9:30PM

Max said...

I voted for Lee over Wright, the over-rated pretty boy. And I voted for Dye over Giambi, the mustachioed steroid receptacle.

7-06-2008 @ 6:23PM

A BaseBall Fan said...

A-either go to you ball parks and support your teams or B-get online and vote 25 times per address and support your teams.

7-06-2008 @ 6:50PM

alyse said...

I'm not the biggest fan, of fan voting, to me it's just a contest to see who can hit a button on the internet more. I am a little disappointed that Miguel Tejada isn't a starter, he deserves it & so does Hanley Ramirez, they both are having great seasons, but I'll be content with Miggy being a reserve. And props to Berkman for making the team

7-06-2008 @ 9:46PM

Your right baseball fan, its my fault for not sitting here on the internet and spending half my day on my favorite teams roster, my bad. And as far as getting out to the park, not everyone can afford it and I don't have a major league team in my area anyway. Let the players, managers and gms vote the players in and stop this stuffing of the ballot box and allow the best players to play.

7-06-2008 @ 11:16PM

You have teams where only a few thousand go to the games. Ex the Rays were still averaging a few thousand at their games until the last few weeks. The internet polls were open for a few weeks and it takes less time to vote than it does to blog and do comments and complain. Until the system is changed you have to go along with the program. Same thing as in our political elections. More people complain about who is in office than those who vote. If you find a excuse when there are rememdies what's the point. You either go to your parks, or you vote on line. But if you find excuses not to do either...