The 2010 MLB All-Star thread

Voted for the first time in recent memory, and only the 3rd or 4th time ever, just so I could vote for Prado and Heyward.

Talk about this year's balloting, game, etc etc.

Dr. Morbius, tell us all why our votes are wrong and stupid.

http://img715.imageshack.us/img715/2849/asgal1b.jpg

my votes (i lean contrarian obv i.e. no yankees/red sox/phillies/cardinals etc)

AL

C joe mauer
1B billy butler
2B ben zobrist
SS elvis andrus
3B evan longoria
DH vlad guerrero
OF nelson cruz
OF franklin gutierrez
OF shin shoo choo

NL

C brian mccann
1B joey votto
2B martin prado
SS troy tulowitzki
3B ryan zimmerman
OF ryan bruan
OF jason heyward
OF andre ethier

that doesn't look so contrarian except for the 2Bs, and billy butler over morneau wtf

yeah idk... dude is hitting .340 and obv no one is gonna vote for him

yeah i've been surprised at how good a contact hitter he is for a big fat dude, but he doesn't walk much and his power hasn't shown up yet

he's the AL version of sandoval basically i guess

so i was going to start this a few weeks ago pondering nl pitching.
im guessing nl doesn't bring their bats but could this be the year? halladay, u bald ho, wwright +jjohnson? lincecum if he remembers how to pitch from the strtetch?

al with grinkles, phil hughes, marcum and price?

this got to be the year

yeah

guess it depends on how the rotations fall too

gotta account for the bullpen guys too cuz the managers always go that route from like the 6th inning on

nl: broxton, capps, francisco cordero, heath bell, brian wilson (marmol?) (leo nunez?)

al: andrew bailey, mariano, rafael soriano? kevin gregg? idk

al will also have jeff niemann & doug fister, so yeah, not exactly some titans there

buchholz & lester prob as well

Francisco Cordero hasn't really pitched that well to be honest.

If a Reds reliver gets the call, it should be Arthur Rhodes, as that dude has been unhittable.

oh yeah forgot about Lester. it really depends on the bats.

Manuel should get cute and pull in Strasburg after one start.

J, you don't "lean contrarian," you lean crackhead.

sorry that i didn't vote for rod barajas

I wouldn't either -- it's not for the guy who's had 2 good months

(ie fuck Heyward and Prado)

yeah

i know you like to take second half of the previous year into consideration, but i don't usually do that

i usually just try and vote for guys that won't get that many votes but are still having great years, unless someone like mauer is the only defensible player at said position

or vladdy

heyward is perfectly defensible imo...he's already a "star"
by almost any definition and he leads MLB in WPA so far this year thanks to a bunch of game-winning hits

By a "star" you mean someone the media has jizzed over. Why not let Strasburg start on the mound then?

Heyward is NOT one of the 3 best NL outfielders right now; case closed.
But I haven't voted yet, cuz who really cares?

nl staff and pen shits all over the al

where is it anaheim? i cant think of that having impact on the game in any way tbh

Heyward is NOT one of the 3 best NL outfielders right now; case closed.

He leads qualified NL outfielders in OPS.

and again, 2 months of data mean nothing. "Best in the league" usu means you've done it for years.

this is last years argument all over again. Morbs stumps for having only established stars in the ASG and everyone else stumps for whoever is doing well that year.

personally i like seeing a variety of people in from one year to another - so don't really have a problem with going with whoever is having the best season at that point. and yes - i have voted for Jose Bautista every. single time. this year!

with Heyward - i had a hard time choosing between him and Soriano as my 3rd vote for the NL OF.

I would much, much rather see Heyward than Soriano.

i do think it would be really cool to see him make it in his 1st season.

he's definitely going to make it

no prob w/ Heyward as a reserve if he keeps it up

morbs stop trolling the key here is STAR
Heyward definitely doesn't deserve it but he's been groomed well and to a certain extent delivered against the media hype. and then there's the tv ratings and the overarching narrative.

i know you don't think drunk guidos going to town on USA Today punchcards are thinking about VORP and shit. but it's always been a beauty pageant

in what world doesn't heyward "deserve" it

you mean deserve to be a starter?

bcuz after 2 fucking months he's not one of the 3 best OFs in the NL. I don't care esp what the season stats are right now.

skrit, it being "a beauty pageant" has nothing to do with *my* vote, and also the fans have done an OK job (mostly) recently.

That said, I can't name last year's fucking starting OF. Braun was in I guess.

which established star OFs are doing well this season though?

braun, werth, ???

top 5 NL OFs by OPS+ are heyward, willingham (!), werth, braun, soriano

willingham leads the NL in OBP -- will be interesting to see if willingham makes it, in the process potentially squeezing out tyler clippard

i'd probably vote braun mccutchen heyward for the OF if i bothered voting

Ethier just came off the DL fwiw.

OPS is kinda useless by contemporary standards.

my current votes wd probly be Braun, Ethier, Holliday, or Kemp if you want a true CF.

and Willingham seems to deserve a reserve spot.

I'm not enormously invested in Heyward starting, but I definitely do want to see him on the team. Unless he completely falls apart, it'll happen, it's too great a story not to.

"stories" are what made Bo Jackson an All-Star. screw that, Heyward is likely good enough on the merits, esp as rosters are now what, 34?

we basically vote for who gets their bonuses.

Brad Hawpe played last year (and promptly went to shit).

as you see, I'm not a homer.

First Base: Morneau, J., MIN
Second Base: Cano, R., NYY
Shortstop: Jeter, D., NYY
Third Base: Longoria, E., TB
Catcher: Mauer, J., MIN
DH: Guerrero, V., TEX
Outfielder: Crawford, C., TB
Outfielder: Gutierrez, F., SEA
Outfielder: Swisher, N., NYY

First Base: Pujols, A., STL
Second Base: Utley, C., PHI
Shortstop: Tulowitzki, T., COL
Third Base: Zimmerman, R., WAS
Catcher: McCann, B., ATL
Outfielder: Braun, R., MIL
Outfielder: Ethier, A., LAD
Outfielder: Kemp, M., LAD

hi dere
http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.e1d/img/4.0/global/baseball/mlb/players/7264.jpg
http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.e1d/img/4.0/global/baseball/mlb/players/7264.jpg
http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.e1d/img/4.0/global/baseball/mlb/players/7264.jpg

fuck that guy

aint been good enough for long enough

Just when I thought that Spezio took awful baseball facial hair with him...

i always thought he looked potato-head-esq.

(Bautista)

http://i753.photobucket.com/albums/xx177/tupac-chopra/mrbautistahead.jpg

pettitte/mauer convo was p interesting 2 hear tbh

welcome to being a "baseball fan" in 2010

hey cad, the culture is still dumb enough that ppl can suggest Jim Rice is a deserving Hall of Famer. :)

As you notice, the starting pitchers are out after 2 scoreless innings CUZ IT COUNTS!

True to my word, the TV has been on mute since I got home. How many times has Buck lambasted Pettitte as a juicer so far?

if only we could get Jeter to bet on baseball

"esther madrigal" is a great name

was it a civilian all-star, or a character from Tales of the City?

it was the little girl who announced the nl lineup

in tribute to Steinfucker, did they play a tape of gossage screaming "YOU CAN TAKE IT TO THE FAT MAN UPSTAIRS"?

Josh Hamilton outta the clubhouse, where Angel ballgirls were doing jello shots off his abs.

not saying the culture isn't dumb! the discussion is just torture sometimes (not referring to this thread btw)

ok, just monitoring

Ryan Braun is the prettiest guy in the starting lineup. J0rdy, back me up on this.

Who would it be worse to work for: steinbrenner or one of his dickhead sons trying to emulate him?

I'm partial to ethier myself

@JPosnanski At least that weird McCarver "guess whose house Cliff Lee..." exchange with Joe Girardi wasn't awkward.

ethier is up there for who i wish i could look like.

Matt Kemp is a hottie but (deservedly) left off

Braun's eyes popped very hotly on that dive

Morbs u need to take out Rihanna

no I don't use surrogates

Mauer flashing all the tools

rainbow Kuo

Glad kuo could make it

quite a rock pulled by Mauer

Elvis has left the bag

http://media.sacbee.com/smedia/2010/07/13/15/102152479NT002_6th_Annual_M.standalone.prod_affiliate.4.jpg

hey I just noticed a run scored at some point, that's how into it I am

this game will be decided by marlon byrd, brandon phillips etc

i was not that into it; gf demanded channel change

IT COUNTS xp

J Votto hit for R Howard.

yeah, no shit, Charlie

lol at the lefty specialist middle relievers giving up all the runs

yeah, 30 innings = small sample size

McCann with the big hit.

this is why middle relievers shouldn't be in the all-star game

maybe voters will start McCann at C next year

"If you don't know Brandon Phillips, he's one of the most dangerous 2B in the game."

He is an all-star, so I sorta guessed that, Joe.

well you can't be sure with some of the guys this year.

A-Rod is the AL's Omar Infante

shitting on fox announcers is shooting fish in a barrel but my favorite Joe Buck quote this past postseason was a reference to the speedy Robinson Cano, always a threat on the basepaths.

-2 net steals for the year, black, in 20s.

i just realized i don't have a single allstar on my team = no stats for today :(

best baseball day in 24 years!

Whoa--was that a play or what?! (Ortiz or no Ortiz.)

(OK, last game of 2001 World Series was better)

xp

The last time the NL won, aka back before it "counted", they celebrated the win a lot harder than they did this one. Just sayin'!

Also, way to not have anyone available to pinch-run for Ortiz there.

It is kind of ironic that the rosters are up to 73 players a side, and you end up with Ortiz running for himself.

He could've used Rodriguez, but I guess it's better to not play him at all! lol

"If you don't know Brandon Phillips, he's one of the most dangerous 2B in the game."

He is an all-star, so I sorta guessed that, Joe.

― no turkey unless it's a club sandwich (polyphonic), Wednesday, 14 July 2010 03:03 (1 hour ago)

thought mccarver had said it. i mean no shit these guys deserved to be here (omar infante, paul konerko and bullpen selections aside)

either way that made me want to go to a gas station, buy a jumbo soft drink, build a time machine, travel back to before the game and put money down on the national league to win, travel forward back to the moment that statement was uttered, hurl the soft drink at the tv and spend the winnings on replacing the tv i'd just ruined.

Verducci, but:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/tom_verducci/07/14/allstargame.managers/index.html

lowest TV ratings ever

The postgame was really depressing, all the Fox people giving off waves of "well, THAT was boring as hell, sorry everybody, better luck next year."