All right then, it’s almost July, which means it’s almost time for yet another midsummer classic, which once again will pit the National League against their arch-rivals, those bums from the junior circuit.
All baloney aside, I’m actually a fan of baseball’s annual, glorified cash cow. When else, I ask, can a game be ruled a tie due to a shortage of pitchers? In what better venue can we watch Tommy Lasorda breakdance with an errant baseball bat down the third base line? On what more appropriate occasion can we cart out some of the greatest players, past and present, to have ever donned a pair of spikes?
Yes, I enjoy the spectacle, the pomp, the circumstance, and the ridiculous, unwarranted hype. I’ll tell you what I don’t enjoy though: allowing the fans to vote for the starters.
Compared to previous years, fans have performed relatively admirably this year. Kevin Youkilis holds a slim lead over Minnesota’s Justin Morneau, a worthy one-two punch by any pundit’s estimation. Josh Hamilton is securely entrenched as a starter in the uber-competetive American League outfield. Over in the National League, Lance Berkman, Chase Utley, Chipper Jones and Hanley Ramirez set the pace at their respective positions. On the surface, this would appear to be a banner year for the casual voting fan. But ein minuten bitte! Miscasts still linger in this 2008 All-star pool. Allow me to dissect and explain three glaring cases:
Ichiro is having another solid year in centerfield. He has scored 57 runs, has swiped 33 bases, and carries an OBP of .356. He has a hose in centerfield and he still runs the bases as though his pants were on fire. But he’s playing for a horrendous, underachieving Mariners club and his .297 batting average is a full 34 points below his career mark.
What better chance for Milton Bradley, our tumultuous, bottle-chucking, hammy-pulling, broadcaster-chasing friend from Texas, to make his long-awaited All-Star game debut? While Bradley might not be the best choice from a PR standpoint, his numbers are superior to Ichiro’s in almost every category. Through 70 games, Bradley is batting .316 with 16 dongs and 49 RBI. He also boasts a .437 OBP and a career-high .603 slugging percentage. Lets not forget that he plays for a scrappy, overachieving Ranger’s club that left the Mariners in a cloud of dust months ago.
Continuing through the American League outfield we meet the curious case of Manny Ramirez. When not swatting teammates or traveling secretaries, Ramirez has put together another solid, Manny-being-Manny kind of season. He’s batting .286 with 16 homeruns and 52 RBI. But Manny’s seen his share of all-star games (he’s bootlegged his share as well, but that’s a story for another time). Why not give Manny’s teammate JD Drew his spot in the sun? Drew has been an offensive catalyst for the Sox this year, batting .303 with 16 homers and a .577 slugging percentage. Let Manny attend to his ailing grandmother and let Drew patrol the outer pastures at Yankee Stadium on July 15th.
Finally, I can excuse Ken Griffey Jr. from a sentimentalist’s perspective, but Kosuke Fukudome? This strikes me as a clear indication of ballot-box-stuffing on the part of our good friends in the Wrigley Field bleachers and from across the pond. Fukudome, (he of the 6 HR and 34 RBI) gives it his all and plays a decent right field; admirable qualities that endear him to the large swath of baseball aficionados. But fans, let us not confuse our all-hustle team with our all-star team. Would not this position have been better suited for Carlos Lee (.278, 18, 62)?
Which brings me to the crux of the problem: all too often, All-Star game starters are elected as popularity contest winners rather than as superior baseball players. Lets give the vote back to the managers and let them restore some credibility to the midsummer classic! Bob Feller once said that starting the All-Star game was as big a thrill as taking the mound in game one of the World Series. In reference to Rapid Robert and Pete Rose (perhaps still best-known for steamrolling Ray Fosse at home plate in the 1970 game), lets restore some substance to the glitz, eh? And no, Bud, this is not accomplished by giving home-field advantage in the World Series to the winning league (though I do love seeing that competitive fire in the Royals’ rep each year).
David Ortiz is the latest in a fearsome lineup of would-be hall of famers to be dragged under the worn tarmac of performance-enhancing drug speculation. If proven guilty, I would advocate for the lifetime ban of this once-proud slugger as I would for any player caught cheating the game. One day, when the smoke finally clears, Major League Baseball could be faced with a cold reality: maybe 90% of ballplayers juiced. Maybe Cal Ripken, Ken Griffey Jr., Albert Pujols, Greg Maddux, Rickey Henderson-maybe they all were cheaters.