your 2011 All-Star votes

What I'm most interested in now is, with Mauer out, who is there to vote for at AL C besides Alex Avila?

Also it would be nice to see the fans get a clue and vote in the two deserving CFs, Kemp and Span. Ditto McCann as NL C.

sadly I told a friend of mine "if Rickie Weeks ever starts in the All-Star game, I'll buy his replica jersey" back in 2007 when he was hitting like .220 and playing second base with the skills of an average Little Leaguer

also the ASG is a joke if Jeter starts this year, and it looks like he will

I'm pretty sure Willie Mays started in the All-Star OF when he was 41, but I think he was still better than Fistpump is now.

btw, classic Keith Hernandez last night, questioning that Weeks is an "elite" 2b bcz "his lifetime average is .256." That's BA, of course; Hernandez didn't mention the career OBP of .356.

wtf I mean watching him all these years it was pretty clear he was going to break out one of these years once he stopped getting hurt all the time. he's definitely an elite 2B and one of the best leadoff hitters in the game, especially since he has so much power along with speed. how many other leadoff men are legit threats to hit 30 HR?

well that's usually considered a reason to bat em third (I remember Barry Bonds hitting leadoff)

Span is not even among the top 15 in outfielder votes! I realize that is partly a function of geography, but Fuckcoeur is eleventh.

also, Asdrubal is less than 300,000 behind Jeter. IT CAN BE DONE

i'm guessing that's where he's going to end up after Prince is gone

that said (and I realize this discussion is ending up way off topic) I just can't see how batting your best hitter leadoff (in the case of Bonds) is ever a bad idea, especially when he had a .600 OBP? I feel like managers have their own defined roles of what a #1 hitter is like, a #3 hitter, etc. etc., but it's kinda hard to find players that actually fit those moulds. I really do wonder if a lineup that simply sorts everyone by OPS and slots accordingly from #1-#9 will end up producing more runs than the 'traditional' lineup?

I can see a better case for having a power + OBP guy first in the AL, where you allegedly have a real hitter in the 9th spot. And yes, the order is made way too much of except for batting your best hitters the most.

Span over Granderson or Ellsbury? It's not like Span is this perennially great player who is always underappreciated. He's having a great year but I think he'll be fortunate to be a reserve. Span's defensive value has been high this year but it wasn't so exemplary in previous years.

yeah, Granderson is right there too; I can't see an argument for Ellsbury over Span tho

McCann has passed Posey btw

In terms of avg/obp/slg Span and Ellsbury are pretty similar. Span has more OBP and Ellsbury has more power.

Span has 14 xbh. Ellsbury has 26.

Obviously Ellsbury leads in stolen bases, but he also gets caught too much.

I don't think you can say that Span is clearly better than Ellsbury. He's having a slightly better 2011 but not by much. It's not like Span is a perennially superior defensive outfielder like Franklin Gutierrez or etc. Ellsbury's defensive season in 2008 was vastly superior to what Span is doing this year.

well if you're going to factor in '08, you might as well keep Gutierrez in the discussion.

Pujols is great, but based on the last year and a third I may vote for Votto.

Votto's got my vote.

yeah Votto deserves to start this though Pujuls is almost certianly going to win

Jeter's injury looks like a good oppty to pour on the Asdrubal votes

i got in trouble at work for posting up my all star picks on the wall as the official all star picks of our organization

the organization being the US forest service

define 'trouble'

you picked all red sox + lincecum?

haha no i did not pick lincecum tbh

AL
Avila, A
Gonzalez, A
Cano, R
Rodriguez, A
Cabrera, A
Bautista, J
Granderson, C
Joyce, M

NL
McCann, B
Fielder, P
Weeks, R
Jones, L (whatta deadzone)
Reyes, J
Kemp, M
Braun, R
Berkman, L (o_0)

I can't justify a Berkman vote with a 70-game comeback

i thought you were all about voting for guys based on their careers?!

as i recall, Berk's wasn't half bad.

I'm not voting for Jeff Bagwell, either.

Kemp, Braun, McCutchen all more deserving so far (and more likely to sustain thru Sept, imo) than Berkman.

i was gonna write in for Mookie Wilson. but you make a strong argument for Bagwell.

NL

c - mccann
1b - prince
2b - weeks
ss - reyes
3b - ...polanco?
of - braun
of - kemp
of - upton

AL

c - avila
1b - gonzalez
2b - kendrick
ss - ramirez
3b - rodriguez
of - bautista
of - granderson
of - ellsbury

NL sp - halladay
AL sp - shields

well, A-Rod and Cano have found themselves lately, so :

American League:
1B - Gonzalez, Adrian
2B - Cano, Robinson
SS - Cabrera, Asdrubal
3B - Rodriguez, Alex
C - Avila, Alex
DH - Ortiz, David
OF - Bautista, Jose
OF - Ellsbury, Jacoby
OF - Gordon, Alex

National League:
1B - Votto, Joey
2B - Weeks, Rickie
SS - Reyes, Jose
3B - Polanco, Placido
C - McCann, Brian
OF - Braun, Ryan
OF - Kemp, Matt
OF - McCutchen, Andrew

AL
C - Avila (didn't even realize how well he was doing!)
1B - Adrian Gonzalez
2B - Kendrick
ss - Asdrubal Cabrera
3b - Youkilis
of - Bautista
of - Ganderson
of - Ellsbury

NL
C - McCann
1B - Votto
2B - Weeks
ss - Reyes
3b - Headley, i guess
of - Kemp
of - Berkman
of - Braun

Three days prior to the deadline, Avila was 400k behind.

the NL pitching staff is like the NBA eastern conference all stars

they are all very tall?

no v good

lol jeter btw, embarrassing

...and Avila beat Martin by 500k. Dayum.

... and Bautista set an all-time votes record?!
i'm wondering if there were more votes overall then in previous years...

castrovince Anthony Castrovince
Once the #Giants' Matt Cain (who pitches today) is replaced, we will have 83 players (and counting) named All-Stars this year.

yeah, kind of a joke.

Boche batting catcher 5th, smh

batting beltran second & tulowitzki 8th, smh

washington batting miggy 2nd & hamilton 5th, smh

Jeter too hurt to play, but not to get 5 hits Saturday

FLAIR, BCZ IT COUNTS

if i was a player that had been to the all star game two or more times, i would be faking all sort of injuries so i could go take a caribbean vacation

“I think it’s too bad that Jeter in particular is not here, because of what he accomplished over the weekend,” Philadelphia Phillies chairman Bill Giles, the honorary NL president, said at a Monday news conference, “and I think it is a bit of a problem and baseball should study it.”

i have a solution

you don't show up at the game, you're not an all-star, no matter how many clowns voted for you

his power is just so easy

this is borderline human

also JOSE CANO

that's not the dude that died is it?!

he's hitting 470 foot bombs

lol no -- it's ACTUALLY A SHOP, my bad

fuck, they should've made cano keep hitting, that was so dope

they should have thrown only balls, and then cano would have *really* shown us something

actually that twitpic wasn't shopped -- idk i'm just getting this off jeff passan's twitter -- it's not the dude that died, it's from the derby tonight

have you been drinking red bull?

I only saw Bautista and Kemp on a dive bar TV. The hypocrisy over the Derby and steroids is still monumental.

hey remember when the MLBPA was gonna get this game moved from AZ bcz of the immigration law?

Again highlighting the dangers of trying to catch a ball at a big league ballpark, a fan standing on a table above the pool deck, Keith Carmickle of suburban Kingman, fell over trying to catch a Prince Fielder(notes) homer. The fan was grabbed by his brother before going all the way over, where he could have fallen about 20 feet. Carmickle was dangling when he was pulled back up.

“I stepped up on the table, I missed the ball by 2 or 3 feet and went over,” he said. “We caught three balls and I told the guys I was going to go for the cycle. Dude, they were really holding onto me.”

dude, you can get a ball for $5 at Target.

i hate the derby pretty vehemently and don't mind taking a night off of baseball.. but i kind of want to see video of the kid who caught A-Gon's and then fell into the pool.

I caught some ESPN Derby coverage on the radio after it finished. Whoever was on there, one of the guys kept pronouncing Halladay's name like he was talking about Matt Holliday--about eight times in two minutes. Not to carp, but honestly.

fuck, they should've made cano keep hitting, that was so dope

― gucci mande (J0rdan S.), Monday, July 11, 2011 11:04 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

i was a little surprised by this! dude only had 6 outs and had really gotten into a groove. he could have gotten 20 imo.

Quiz from the paper this morning (no cheating): name the three pitchers before Halladay to start All-Star games for both leagues. Two are easy, the other was a bit of a surprise.

the hard one is Vida Blue?

(it was a SABR question the other night)

You got it. Harder to me, anyway--I sometimes forget that Blue had some good years with the Giants.

pretty surprised there's only been three.

well four now. and i would have thought Ryan was one of them.

Not Ryan, although now that I think about it, he seems like maybe the most obvious candidate of all.

what a dipshit

http://cdn2.sbnation.com/imported_assets/758902/229477_All_Star_Dangling_Fan_Baseball.jpg

http://cdn1.sbnation.com/imported_assets/758905/229481_All_Star_Dangling_Fan_Baseball.jpg

“We caught three balls and I told the guys I was going to go for the cycle. Dude, they were really holding onto me.”

actually wish that guy had fallen & died

died doing what he loved, being a jackass

i enjoy being able to stand infront of the occasional railing at baseball games. it would be annoying if fucktards like this guy ruined it for everyone!

the equivalent of look-at-me stage diving

http://desmond.yfrog.com/Himg736/scaled.php?tn=0&server=736&filename=jqqlxo.jpg&xsize=640&ysize=640

dear fans who think they're part of the game:

you're not part of the fucking game

Co-signed, 1997 Orioles and 2003 Cubs.

"But you are still allowed to come to the games, of course." - Florida Marlins

David Robertson with the 2nd inning hold!

dont hurt urself, joey bats!

Hey look it's the guy from the Weeknd at first base.

With your Louisville bat
Tats on your arm
Reebok spikes make you six feet tall

Oh, now they cheer him.

Bruce Bochy just had a shit eating grin after that Fielder bomb. "so this is what it feels like to have an offense.."

http://c0013859.cdn1.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/x2_721689a

that Heath Bell clip mixing with the kids was contrived as hell but pretty great

http://a.espncdn.com/photo/2011/0712/mlb_a_bwilson_300_dj.jpg

Tyler Clippard knows how to win.

I'd like to think that Timberlake has endured hours of Buck/McCarver, like many of us, and truly despises them.

http://www.amazinavenue.com/2011/7/12/2273187/transcript-of-justin-timberlake-trolling-joe-buck-on-live-television

ha ha haa!

the kid is alright.

HEROIC

his favorite player is Orel? kinda badass.

Wait a sec... there were DHs last night? In an NL park?

Granted I have not watched an All-Star game in a very, very long time but this strikes me as wrong.

the thinking is that ppl don't want to see pitchers hit in an all star game, and i agree

I thought that's why you carried 13 pitchers on the all-star rosters? So you can pinch hit every time the pitcher slot comes up?

Whatever, that's lame. Fuck a DH.

yeah i noticed that too and was wondering why no outcry had been raised. mayb it's been going on for a while? makes sense.