your 2008 All-Star votes

C: Mauer
1B: Youkilis
2B: Kinsler
3B: Rodriguez
SS: Young
OF: Hamilton
OF: Manny
OF: Quentin
DH: Ortiz (unless Bradley counts)

C: Soto
1B: Pujols
2B: Uggla
3B: Jones
SS: Furcal
OF: McLouth
OF: Berkman
OF: Ludwick

Not including Berkman is just silly.

If I need to put Berkman at 1B, then Holliday is my third OF.

First Base: Cabrera, M., DET
Second Base: Roberts, B., BAL
Third Base: Rodriguez, A., NYY
Shortstop: Jeter, D., NYY
Catcher: Martinez, V., CLE
Outfielder: Hamilton, J., TEX
Outfielder: Ramirez, M., BOS
Outfielder: Suzuki, I., SEA
Designated Hitter: Ortiz, D., BOS

First Base: Pujols, A., STL
Second Base: Utley, C., PHI
Third Base: Wright, D., NYM
Shortstop: Ramirez, H., FLA
Catcher: McCann, B., ATL
Outfielder: Beltran, C., NYM
Outfielder: Braun, R., MIL
Outfielder: Holliday, M., COL

Should probably have Ordonez instead of Ramirez there actually.

You gotta really ignore '08 to not see Berkman destroys Beltran

No, I just chose not to ignore that Berkman is now a first baseman.

He does, but he also hasn't played one game in OF this year though. Seems kind of crazy to write him in for a position he doesn't play anymore (like Rodriguez for SS or something.)

surprised at how weak the OF crop is in the AL! spot my allegiance pick

First Base: Youkilis, K., BOS
Second Base: Cano, R., NYY
Third Base: Rodriguez, A., NYY
Shortstop: Young, M., TEX
Catcher: Martinez, V., CLE
Outfielder: Granderson, C., DET
Outfielder: Hamilton, J., TEX
Outfielder: Suzuki, I., SEA
Designated Hitter: Ortiz, D., BOS

First Base: Berkman, L., HOU
Second Base: Utley, C., PHI
Third Base: Jones, C., ATL
Shortstop: Ramirez, H., FLA
Catcher: McCann, B., ATL
Outfielder: Braun, R., MIL
Outfielder: Fukudome, K., CHC
Outfielder: Holliday, M., COL

AL
First Base: K. Youkilis, BOS
Second Base: J. Lopez, SEA
Third Base: A. Rodriguez, NYY
Shortstop: M. Young, TEX
Catcher: J. Mauer, MIN
Outfielder: J. Hamilton, TEX
Outfielder: M. Ramirez, BOS
Outfielder: M. Ordóñez, DET
Designated Hitter: D. Ortiz, BOS

NL
First Base: A. Pujols, STL (would've voted for mike jacobs in a homer pick if he hadn't gotten hurt this past month or so)
Second Base: D. Uggla, FLA
Third Base: A. Ramirez, CHC (i REFUSE to vote for chipper jones)
Shortstop: H. Ramirez, FLA
Catcher: B. McCann, ATL
Outfielder: M. Holliday, COL (would've given this one to josh willingham had he not gotten hurt as well)
Outfielder: R. Ludwick, STL
Outfielder: R. Braun, MIL

if it's Berkman vs Pujols I will start complaining about the Minute Maid factor obv :/

Berkman as DH is my exit strategy

Morbs, did you ever have a fun or feel-good ballot? Say, before the ASG "this time it counts"?

Yeah do you ever just vote for all Giants? Just for a lark?

What is so great about Brian McCann?

.329/8/31 + weak competition

Uh .329/.390/.598's pretty nice line for a catcher. He was less good last year, but awesome the year before. Pretty good case that he's been the best catcher in baseball for the last three years.

All Soto has done as a Cub is hit and hit and hit, and he also has thrown out a lot of runners. McCann is a great choice, but Soto for my money has been a bit better. I get the idea of rewarding sustained excellence, but I don't like to vote that way.

Haha, forgot I was already lobbying for Geo in the All-Star voting on the Red Sox thread.

What a homer.

I weight about 3:1 toward last year

why? why is that half-season more important than the other? i'm guilty of the opposite, putting all the weight on this year, but that's cuz it's a pain in the ass to look at last year's all-star splits for every damn player. this is why it's gaytarded to have the all-star game in the middle of the year~

anyway, i went with:

AL
1st: Youk
2nd: Brian Roberts
3rd: Miguel Cabrera
SS: Michael Young
C: Varitek lolz
OF: Manny
OF: Josh Hamilton
OF: Milton Bradley
DH: Ortiz
Write-in (OF): Carlos Quentin

NL

1st: Pujols
2nd: Kelly Johnson (lol completely unjustified, but who gives a fukk)
3rd: Larry
SS: Furcal
C: McCann
OF: Ryan church, nate mclouth, and Berkman as a write-in

side-note: the AL online ballot allows you to just throw in a write-in, but the NL one forces you to assign the player a position, and then scratch off whoever is already occupying it on your ballot (hence berkman as 3rd OF)

What is so great about Brian McCann?

-- felicity, Friday, May 23, 2008 11:44 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Link

stfu bitch

mccann's out-VORPing soto in 08 btw

But Soto is out-Cubbing McCann.

I remember Morbs saying that he wants to be the sobering influence among All-Star voters and includes only players with sensibly superior numbers sustained over a long et cetera et cetera he hates fun.

Oh I'm sure that is true, cankles.

Maybe someone can post comparative VORP stats so I can understand how they compare?

Soto has been much better at throwing out runners, but McCann has been better in just about every other respect on defense.

That does sound better. I'm glad people are paying attention to all five tools of ignorance.

felicity, they're both in the top 20:

http://baseballprospectus.com/statistics/sortable/index.php?cid=204031

I remember Morbs saying that he wants to be the sobering influence among All-Star voters and includes only players with sensibly superior numbers sustained over a long et cetera et cetera he hates fun.

I get this, actually, and nothing but love for Morbs, but Wright? Really? What do you expect Larry to do, revert to his 1.029 '07 OPS? Yeah, he's a dumb asshole and I hate him too, but he hits.

Better question: AL 2B? Not wanting to be a total homer, I hemmed and hawed about voting Pedroia, but there ain't a ton of competition. Somebody convince me about Roberts/Kinsler, cuz it all seems like "UTICA'S OWN MARK LEMKE" territory ca. 1993 to an extent.

Better question: AL 2B? Not wanting to be a total homer, I hemmed and hawed about voting Pedroia, but there ain't a ton of competition. Somebody convince me about Roberts/Kinsler, cuz it all seems like "UTICA'S OWN MARK LEMKE" territory ca. 1993 to an extent.

One dude who is in the top 20 VORP list that cankles posted is Kinsler. One who isn't is Pedroia. Pedroia might be better but I think it's pretty close. Roberts is the vote for long-term performance, and not having a million guys from the same 2-3 teams represented.

For what it's worth, Pedroia is also below Roberts on that list.

yeah, i don't know why i didn't go with Kinsler come to think of it - he's clearly been the superior player to Roberts, even going back since last year's ASB. interesting that morbz didnt notice this, with his unfailing dedication to truth and justice and sustained excellence~~~

i dont have a prob with wright over larry tho. i cant blame anyone for voting for the best player on their fav team (unless it's that wop faggot Soto) and they're not that far apart anyway.

Geovany has really struck a chord with you~~~~.

cankles, very simply: 2 months is not a "year." By Sept 30, most players riding unusually high now will be back down where they should be. It happens every year, haven't you noticed?

I have FUN voting for the best players.

As for NL 3B and Larry, sure he's a stupendous hitter (tho ain't hitting .400 all year), but a shit fielder, in direct competition with The Man I Love, and hey, I'M A METS FAN, I HATE HIM. Wright was the best player in the league last year; whether Larry will be this year is undetermined.

The headshot shown of Larry during one of the Braves commercials is great -- mouth open, sore on lip, brain-dead look.

It is a much larger version of this:

http://assets.espn.go.com/i/mlb/profiles/players/65x90/5164.jpg

hahaha, yes, AAARGHHH he's so gross looking in that commercial. At least in the 2nd photo he's blowing an enormous bubble that covers most of his face.

the face that snared a Hooters gal.

If Carlos Pena has another week or two of upswing, he will get my vote.

If only HE had the Herpes-addled dehydrated windburnt mouthbreather look.

I have FUN voting for the best players.

fair enuff! yeah, when i was looking at my NL ballot earlier, i reflected that i wished i'd voted for utley and hanram - a pujols/larry/utz/hanley infield would just be too cool to see.

As for NL 3B and Larry, sure he's a stupendous hitter (tho ain't hitting .400 all year), but a shit fielder

iirc his defense is a lot closer to league average than you would expect, and just watching him play u can tell he is a lot better this year.

yeah, I saw those numbers. I just am waiting to see more.

Aaron Rowand is also a defensible NL OF choice.

The only real jokes of those announced AL vote leaders are Pedroia and Varitek, and there have been worse jokes in the past.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080526&content_id=2775189&vkey=allstar2008&fext=.jsp

JAY BRUCE

It was really hard to pick a full NL roster with reserves, including a player for every team. Here's my stab at it:

20 Hitters:

C: Soto
C: McCann
1B: Pujols
1B: D Lee
1B: A Gonzalez (potential Padres rep)
2B: Utley
2B: Uggla
3B: C Jones
3B: Wright
3B: A Ramirez
SS: Tejada
SS: H Ramirez
SS: C Guzman (Washington rep)
SS: Furcal
OF: Berkman
OF: Holliday
OF: McLouth
OF: Braun (potential Brewers rep)
OF: Ludwick
OF: Bay

11 Pitchers:

Webb (starter)
Volquez
Lincecum
Cook
Zambrano
Hudson
Santana
Hamels
Last guy: Peavy or Sheets (can't decide, potential Padres/Brewers rep)
Lidge
Wagner

Fan voting nominees:
Peavy/Sheets
Marmol
Harang
Atkins
Reyes or Escobar

remember, Berkman IS NOT AN OUTFIELDER (unless he wins the fan vote -- possible given the dearth of established OFs having good 'years').

Also, the list of plausible bench picks is bound to look a bit different 5 weeks from now.

Yeah, I moved Berkman to the outfield because Gonzalez and Lee seem like better picks to me than Carlos Lee or Hunter Pence or Pat Burrell or etc., but realistically I guess Lee or Gonzalez might not make the team.

But yes, things will change. But what if I'm not as bored then as I am now?

2 second basemen and 4 shortstops? is that normal?

oh wait nm i get it~

While it's certainly possible that a Krukkish fixation on W-L could give Webb the All-Star start, maybe people will notice that Zambrano, Volquez and others have pitched a lot better than he has. In fact, Webb is now 13th among NL pitchers in VORP.

longoria & drew said they were ready to pitch if needed!

yeah i called it a night after the uggla fiasco/aaron cook escape act in the 10th(?)

to me it looked like uggla tried to throw the game and end it

3 times

Ggoatla

Def. would have been an NL victory if no Mets were involved.

i agree; pujols would have been called safe

LVP

I picked a bad night to come down with the flu and go to bed early.

"Flu-like symptoms"

Corey fucking Hart caught that sacfly totally off-balance. THANX, MILWAUKEE 'FINAL VOTE' FANS! Was rooting SO hard for tie #2...

lolz at Satanbrenner crying like a grandma. (also at NY columnists today griping that it didn't come off like the Ted Williams Moment)

This was my 38th Star-watching experience, so of course I saw all the good stuff cuz I slept through the middle-innings crap (ie Wagner & Papelbon).

bravura Russ Martin block of home.

UGG-LY.

Shasta, are you really coming to that party in Brooklyn at month's end? You'd better have your track shoes on, trollerator.

Joe Sheehan (10:50:21 PM PT): Any kind of decent throw gets Morneau, who was barely safe even with that Damonesque effort by Hart, who has a good arm.

Bud Selig is such a luckbox.

Joe Sheehan (10:25:45 PM PT): Not sure if it's coming through at home, but the Creatures are busting out a "Hit The Ball To Uggla" chant.

"Flu-like symptoms"

-- mattbot, Wednesday, July 16, 2008 8:31 AM (Wednesday, July 16, 2008 8:31 AM) Bookmark Link

i seem to wind up with those mysterious "flu-like symptoms" whenever i got to new york too. must be something in the water.

like scotch.

from John Perrotto in BP:

Drew wasn’t completely satisfied to walk away as the MVP in his first All-Star Game appearance, however, and had actually hoped that the game could have stretched a little longer into the wee hours of the morning instead of ending at 1:37 a.m., when Twins first baseman Justin Morneau slid home safely ahead of the throw from Brewers right fielder Corey Hart on Young’s fly ball. That's because with the AL down to its last pitcher (Rays left-hander Scott Kazmir), Drew would have had the chance to take the mound had it come to the point where manager Terry Francona of the Red Sox was forced to use a position player.

yeah, there's no way tito would put another team's position player on the mound and risk a jose canseco like injury.

"You never know what Terry will do," said Drew, with his crystal MVP trophy by his side. "If he had told me to do it, I would have done it. Just throw some stuff up there. I got some sneaky stuff here and there. I don't know if I would have got anybody out."

Really good game for the most part after the B-listers were put in. So many plays at the plate. Russell Martin had a terrific showing.

Chris (NJ): Hi Keith, How great was the Allstar game. What was your Fav part of the Allstar game?

Keith Law: (1:27 PM ET ) The part where they decided that in extra innings, tagging the runner is optional. That was awesome.

haha!

Shasta, are you really coming to that party in Brooklyn at month's end? You'd better have your track shoes on, trollerator.

-- Dr Morbius, Wednesday, July 16, 2008 6:35 AM

bring it Dr. Metamucil.

apparently Wright would've been the NL pitcher in the 17th.

graet bit from that BP ASG chat:

Best non-AllStar careers, position players

NAME VORP
-------------------- ------
Richie Hebner 349.1
Tim Salmon 333.8
Kirk Gibson 319.0
Tony Phillips 292.0
Bill Doran 266.2
Kevin McReynolds 256.1
Bob Bailey 249.1
Delino DeShields 247.0

Top pitchers with no All-star games:

NAME VORP
-------------------- ------
Danny Darwin 402.3
Tim Wakefield 399.8
Tom Candiotti 378.9
Alex Fernandez 357.8
John Tudor 336.9
Kevin Tapani 322.0
Charlie Leibrandt 310.5
Jarrod Washburn 305.6
Dennis Leonard 300.6
Tim Belcher 295.3

wow, tudor never made an all-star team? i know he wasn't great but he had some decent years. maybe he was a slow starter.

apparently Wright would've been the NL pitcher in the 17th.

-- Dr Morbius, Thursday, July 17, 2008 6:18 AM (7 hours ago)

he *might* have registered a lower ERA than Wagner's 27.00.

Tudor had problems staying healthy (and he was very much a Busch creation.)

Lots of knucklers on that pitcher's list.

Best player on the hitter's list: Kirk Gibson or Tim Salmon (serious question)?

i would say kirk. i thought about saying tony phillips because he was such a beast from '92-'97, like rickey henderson with far less speed, but it wouldn't be the right answer.

crazy to think that wakefield has *only* made ~$47M in his 16 year career (avg. $2.9M/yr.) for a modern day HOF-worthy pitcher.

cf: zito

Uh Wakefield is not a HOF-worthy pitcher. Still cheap, no doubt.

Favorite part of the BP Chat was Joe Sheehan being a Yankee Fan Tool:

William Burke (8:45:05 PM PT): Sick-and-Tired category: tops is Josh Hamilton and his story, but only slightly less annoying is this... the absolute pander to the Yankees fans and players tonight.

Joe Sheehan (8:55:15 PM PT): Mr. Burke,

Seriously, that was a really stupid thing to say. It was. I get that ESPN and Fox overplay the Yankees, and you might not like that, but tonight is special. It's special because of this place, and the timing, and the history, and if you don't get that, it is your loss in a way I cannot quantify for you or explain to you.

That was a stupid thing to say.

(xp)just you wait...

Joe Sheehan is on ESPN.com sometimes isn't he? Is he as shrill on TV (or IRL) as he is in written form?

http://youtube.com/watch?v=s_05s8VPrso

So basically, yes.

Matt Meyers' great plan for 2009:

As long as the selection of starters falls in the hands of the fans, we have the power to strong-arm the league into making the proper adjustments to the game. This can be done by sabotaging the starting lineup for the American League in next July's game in St. Louis. Why the American League? Because the NL needs all the help it can get after a 12-game All-Star Game winless streak (and because I'm a fan of the NL). I know this seems like blasphemy in light of Tuesday’s game, but in its current format, the All-Star Game will never be as good as it was this year, so now is the ideal time to make a change. While I realize it’s a bit early to discuss next year’s game, now seems like an appropriate time to raise awareness for the '09 sabotage campaign while the recent All-Star Game is fresh in all of our minds.

This is what’s going to happen. Once the All-Star ballot for 2009 is released next spring, I will select a team of the eight worst AL players on the ballot at each position, and this group will be featured on the website that I have created for this project. Once I pick these eight stiffs (pitchers are selected by the coaches), we will stuff the ballot boxes with votes for them. In a perfect world I would be able to set up a vote to select the anti-All-Star ballot, but that's not really the point. The point is choosing an embarrassing group of AL starters, and I'm confident I can compile a pretty lackluster group that could give the HACKING MASS All-Stars a run for their money. Please keep in mind that not all HACKING MASS All-Stars are on the real All-Star ballot, so this year's non-star squad would have looked something like this, since these eight gentlemen were all on the ballot:

C: Kenji Johjima (.213/.257/.292)
1B: Ross Gload (.277/.327/.336)
2B: Asdrubal Cabrera (.184/.282/.247)
SS: Tony Pena, Jr. (.155/.176/.204)
3B: Willy Aybar (.240/.329/.372)
OF: Emil Brown (.255/.292/.383)
OF: Franklin Gutierrez (.216/.264/.315)
OF: Chris Denorfia (.260/.339/.300)

As George Costanza said, after hypothetically trading Jim Leyritz and Bernie Williams for Barry Bonds while lobbying for the Yankees' assistant GM gig on Seinfeld, "Now you gotta team!" Can you imagine the look on Selig's face if this were the team that was selected to represent the AL? We’d even have had the added bonus of having to summon Cabrera from Triple-A! Do you think they would let him wear his Buffalo Bisons jersey in the game?

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=7816

oh the laffs @ sabatoging what you depend on for your livelihood

The All-Star Game isn't "baseball" by any stretch of the imagination.

</Morbs>

sheehan = http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IMAGES/CARTOONS/toon071108.gif

BP zings get more and more Custosian

Chipper has almost 2x the VORP of Wright.

-- Steve Shasta, Monday, July 14, 2008 5:08 PM (1 month ago) Bookmark Link

today:

Larry 58.8
D-Wright 44.9

Much doubt that DW finishes within 5 pts of the Chip, or even passes him?

yeah, well, a difference of 150+ PA's could do that for one's VORP (a glorified counting stat). larry's rate stats are all significantly higher than wright's, and his VORPr is second only to pujols (CJ = .602 to wright's .334 btw)

lol, Larry-to-Mets next year rumors.

jhahaha WHAT, where'd you hear that mess

On the Mets' cable outlet...

and yeah, I'm well aware of Chippie's gargantuan rate stats. I just like All-Stars to be guys who stay on the field.

Ragging on Larry's inability to stay on the field when he does all he can to play through pain is a bit disingenuous.

Also, Chipper's injury jamboree didn't start until he hit 32. Dude played 150+ between 1996 and 2003 -- might want to hold your tongue regarding our boy Wright outlasting someone 11+ years his elder until he walks a mile in his jock strap.

wow, did i ever just shudder.

see thread title: 2008

see 2008 stats:

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/statistics/sortable/index.php?cid=204031