Okay...something has got to be done. We the fans are not intelligent enough, apparently, to vote for the best player. We'll keep a running count of when the fans get it right and when they don't. (Stats don't lie...usually). (Stats will only get a "point" when the public is wrong). Now some people might object that injuries aren't the player's fault and doesn't show who is the best player. Was Ripken's streak just luck? In order to deserve an All-Star vote....you have to play. Oh and another thing. I know its a little early. All the more reason to get on to the millions who have already cast their ballots. ****AND BECAUSE SOME FEEL THAT MY LACK OF USE OF stats like SLG AND OBP IS A SIGN THAT I am part of the public I accuse let me say this: YOU ARE RIGHT. KINDA...read the comments for further details.
Starting at 1B:
1B-NL Albert Pujols has over twice as many votes as Derrek Lee. This is despite the fact that Lee has a .385 BA over Albert's .338, 3 more runs, 3 more HRs, 7 more RBI's, and 4 more stolen bases. AND all this on an inferior team. Eck is getting on base--a lot. Edmond's poor performance as of late and Sanders in a slight slump recently might contribute to a lack of protection for Albert. In addition, I think that Albert's stats will rise and Lee's will come back to earth. However, as it stands now one should not select Albert over Lee. However I wouldn't fault you too much--'cause its Albert.
Stats 1 Morons 0
1B-AL Hold on to your wigs and keys kids. This is ugly. Maybe the ugliest. Tino Martinez (Card's fans may get warm fuzzies voting for this likeable guy but come on) is leading in the AL. Who's second? Kevin Millar. Third? Paul Konerko. You have to get to the fourth to get to the best AL first baseman, Mark Teixeira (that's a doozy to spell). Here are their respective stats. Brace yourself. BA: Martinez .238!!!!! Millar .255!!!!! Konerko .228!!!!! Teixeira a lousy .303. HR's, I suppose, is what they have in common? Teixeira and Konerko with 14, Tino with 12 and Millar with 4. Never mind. Mark has 13 more Runs than the nearest of these 3 fan favs, more RBI's, and even leads, tied with Tino, in SB! SB is singular. (Whaddya want? They're 1B not jack rabbits).
Stats 2 Forest Gumps 0
2B-NL Good. We needed to recover from that last one. Kent has twice the amount of votes that 3rd place Grud has. Despite Grud's strikingly better BA, Kent's power with 11 HR's (3 for Grud), and he leads Grud in just about every other category despite being on such a poor team means that the morons aren't O-fer any more.
Stats 2 Kids 1
2B-AL Very well done for the kids here as well. Soriano and Roberts are neck and neck. Roberts has an astronomical BA while Soriano has 4 more dingers. Soriano leads in most of the other categories because of the hammerin' Texas lineup. The Orioles aren't slouches either. Fan's get it right again. Wonders never cease.
Stats 2 Public 2
SS-NL Just when you thought things were going well. Our vote leader: Nomar Garciapara. The man has been on the DL SINCE HIS 51st AB AND UP UNTIL THEN...wait for it...he was batting .157 with ZERO, count them again if you have to, ZERO HR's. Tino take a seat. This is the worst. Below is listed the NL SS's who would qualify over Nomar **takes a big breath*** Barmes, Perez, Izturis, Reyes, Lopez, Rollins, Vizquel, Eckstein, Furcal, Hall, Blum, Everett, Gonzalez, Greene, Clayton, Wilson, Aurillia, Perez, Cintron, Hardy, Guzman, Woodward, Jackson, Vizcaino, and finally Jesse Garcia--the fourth Padres' SS on our list and despite fewer AB's managed more HRs.
Stats 3 Bad idea when cousins marry 2
SS-AL Tejada has the most--as he should.
Stats 3 Average Joe 3
3B-NL Scotty Rolen has a commanding lead despite only playing in 30 games and sporting a .257 batting average. Second place isn't any better with Chipper Jones only playing in 30 as well but has better stats in EVERY category known to man-kind than Rolen. How do you justify voting for 2 guys who have played only half the season. Glaus is third, and while he is strokin' em with 13 HRs, he's got a pathetic .251. Hardly a All-Star Starter. A surprising Ensberg or Wright would be much better choices--both with power AND BA.
Stats 4 Highest Order of Primates 3
3B-AL A-Rod is dominating. Glad he's on my fantasy team.
Stats 4 Peeps 4
C-NL Another one bites the dust. San Diego's Ramon Hernandez is far and away the best NL Catcher. Yet he has so few votes that he doesn't even register (I assume he has at least some votes). Let's compare Hernandez with the top 5 NL Catcher vote getters. BA: Hernandez .289, Piazza .253, La Duca .287, Estrada .275, our own Yadier .250, Barrett .275 Runs: Her 25, Piaz 21, LD 17, Yoda 17, Barr 15 HR's: Her 6, Piaz 6, LD 2, Yoda 2, Barr 5 RBI's: Her 31, Piaz 22, LD 21, Yoda 17, and Barr 23. You do the math. Unless you're one of...them. Then trust my math when I say he's "far and away."
Stats 5 Brain Farts 4
C-AL At least they get it right on this end. But Ivan could sneak up and steal it from the deserving Veritek. Jason is lucky that he plays in Boston so he gets the votes.
Stats 5 Bob and Company 5
(OF is worth 1 a piece)
OF-NL Who should be there: Miguel Cabrera and Bobby Abreu for sure; than okay picks would be Carlos Lee, Brady Clark, Pat Burrell, or Milton Bradley. Who's the top three in votes? Carlos Beltran, Jim Edmonds (close but no cigar), and Ken Griffey Jr. Residents geniuses drop 3 on this one. AH but I can foresee the comments and emails now: "But John, they didn't put Bonds up there at least." No they didn't. But for a guy who hasn't even picked up Don Baylor's tooth-pick let alone a bat all season 138,000+ future Ivy leaguers put up their arms for the SF out-outfielder. Not enough to get him into the All-Star game but enough to show the fan's ineptitude.
Stats 8 Larry, Moe, Curly, and the other guy too 5
OF-AL Who belongs? Sheffield and Damon....Ichiro, Garret Anderson, Rondell White, or even Trot Nixon would have sufficed. Instead? Vlad (not a terrible choice in the face of a small injury [but see note above]) and Manny. MIT grads got one right with Ichiro.
Stats 10 "Happy Hands Club" rejects 6
DH-NL You're probably one of the ones who voted for Nomar and Bonds aren't you?
DH-AL We'll end on a note that might bring some hope to humanity. Ortiz. But I'm betting that the reason he has the most votes is not because of his stats but because he's the only DH they know of.
Stats 10 Napoleon Dynamite under-study 7
Conclusion: Have sportswriters, players, coaches, managers, bat-boys, or monkeys at type writers do the All-Star voting instead. Sure they got several right. That's not the point. The fact is the public has blown so many but such a wide margin. There are deserving players out there who are getting robbed of the honor they deserve.
Homer's Brain to Homer: "That's it I'm out of here." ***Footsteps. Door opens and closes.***
-CJ
7 comments:
I used to get really worked up about the All-Star game voting. I don't anymore. I used to put together these really elaborate Excel sheets tracking statistics. I can't take it quite so seriously anymore.
It's an exhibition game. That's it.
I have my own system. I really don't care about the current season's stats. It's the All-STAR game, and 200 hot at bats doesn't make you a starting all-star in my book. We can discuss this some more.
In the mean time, here's my ballot. And I reserve the right to change my mind.
AL
1B Teixeira
2B Soriano
3B Rodriguez
SS Tejada
OF Ichiro!
OF Sheffield
OF Guerrero
C Posada
DH Ortiz
NL
1B Helton (sue me, I have reasons)
2B Loretta (no joke)
3B Rolen
SS Furcal
OF Bonds (yup)
OF Edmonds
OF Abreu
C Hernandez
DH Pujols
Peter is right, the All-Star game is a joke, much like the MVP award has become.
Call me sentimental, but I disagree on the joke/merely exhibition game. Mind you, I am not naive enough to believe that the All Star game is what it once was, but I believe that it is an honor to select the best. Does that include the infamous Jerome Walton? At the time? Yes. Hindsight being 20/20? No. But we shouldn't vote with hindsight on past years. If we do we turn it into a popularity contest. And that is precisely what has happened. But I, in search of my little slice of heaven (I hope I used that expression right), believe that things ain't right will still vote accordingly. Hottest 200 at-bats? Sure. That's why we vote every year.
Should Bonds go to the All-Star game if he never comes back to the game? Puts a different light on things. As for me, I'll be voting for the one who has actually played and earned a spot from the first part of this season, and perhaps I will use the last half of the season last year for a tiebreaker. (Not like I have this down to a science.) I just can't bring myself to vote for someone who is sipping Martini's and get's into the All Star game on his laurels. And yes I will wait for the week before the game before I place my votes.
-CJ
It's interesting how you refer to the public as "Morons", "Primates", and "Brain Farts" for not being able to see the "statistics" like BA and HR, which most people driven by quantitative analysis would say are far inferior measures when compared to OBP and SLG. I'm sure that using OBP and SLG would verify your claims as much as BA and HR do, but the fact that you use the latter as opposed to the former as metrics, indicate your preferred tools for judgement, which might make one higher up the analytic food chain refer to you by similar appellations.
Food chain! That would have been a good one. I thought someone would mention this. I almost put an adendum in there. Maybe I still will. If people are willing to vote for a player who hasn't even played, I'm not going to talk to them in terms that they won't appreciate. Pearls before swine...yadda yadda. Terms like morons and such point out what Peter (who I humbly bow before in baseball knoweldge. He's a co-author at USS Mariner) it talking about. It has become a popularity contest. A fact in which I am lamenting. Peter is working with a different assumption on what it means to be an All Star, yet I humbly disagree with him. And so I must disagree with you Mr. Anonymous (I really have to change to not allow nameless comments). Just because a master carpenter (and I am no master) uses handsaw as opposed to an electric doesn't mean that he ain't cutting the wood. Know what I mean, Vern? But you DID say something I do agree with. "I'm sure that using OBP and SLG would verify your claims as much as BA and HR do...."
So lets not judge a blogger by his stats...or something like that. Although my knowledge pales in comparison to probably all other bloggers out there, I am confident in my grasp OBP and SLG. One last thing: "Actually, I have always had a very extensive vocabulary. A working knowledge of grammar, and a surperlative for syntax. I just simply chose not to employ them."
OOOOOOOTAY!
-CJ
I agree 100% here. The voting for the All-Star teams is flawed in so many ways. To me, it's not a career acheivement thing, or who my favorite player is. My criteria for voting is who's having the best season up to this point THIS year. Using this formula, I voted for only one Cardinal, and no it wasn't Pujols. I voted for Grudzielanek, because he's having the best season, up to now, of any NL 2B. 1B was Lee, SS was Izturis, 3B was Glaus, C was Hernandez, and the OF was Abreu, Cabrera, and Floyd.
Thanks for the comment Bruce! You surely don't "bring me down." You prolly get that a lot, huh?
-CJ
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