This years MLB All Star Game will take place at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona. Home of the 2001 World Series Champion Arizona Diamondbacks. This 50,000 seat stadium, equipped with a swimming pool and all, will serve as an oasis in the desert for the Midsummer Classic. The All Star game as always served as somewhat of a release from the pressures of the season, just before the trade deadline approaches and pennant races start to heat up. Players joke around with video cameras, play practical jokes, and most even have their children there on the field with them. Prior to 2003 the American and National Leagues alternated home field advantage for the World Series each year. However, the landscape of the game changed in 2003 when Major League Baseball petitioned with the players union to grant home field advantage in the World Series to the winning league. Now its a totally different ball game. The outcome of the game has implications, thus leading to my issue with All Star Selection.
The way it works now is the fans vote for the starting nine players in each league. The players then select an additional sixteen players (8 pitchers = 5 starters, 3 relievers; plus one backup player for each position) while the managers around the league pick the rest of the team to fill the roster out to 33 players. After the 33 man roster is complete, fans then vote again between five players for the final spot on the roster.
Now in most cities (cough cough New York, Boston, Philly cough cough) the fan vote is a popularity contest. Guys that have have been great in the league for a long time often get voted in by the fans over more deserving players. A perfect example of this is Derek Jeter. Let me preface this by saying I am a huge Jeter fan and think he is among the best Yankees ever, but there is no way in hell he should be the starting shortstop for the American League this year. Ill let the numbers do the talking...
Derek Jeter .260 AVG / 2 HR / 20 RBI / .324 OBP / .324 SLG - AL starting Shortstop
Asdrubal Cabrera .291 AVG / 14 HR / 49 RBI / .341 OBP / .496 SLG - AL backup Shortstop
Jhonny Peralta .311 AVG / 14 HR / 48 RBI / .363 OBP / .538 SLG - Eating Cheetos on his couch
Thats not enough for you? Ok fine. Lets talk defense.
Derek Jeter 4 Errors / 143 Assists / .981 Fielding % - plus 18 game DL stint with strained calf
Asdrubal Cabrera 5 Errors / 218 Assists / .985 Fielding %
Jhonny Peralta 4 Errors / 177 Assists / .986 Fielding %
Jeter does not lead a single offensive category, or even come close to Peralta and Cabrera's numbers. Defensively the numbers show they are getting to more balls, fielding those balls at a higher success rate, and if you know anything about baseball you'd know Cabrera is a human highlight real. He is as close to a no doubt lock for a Gold Glove as there is... unless we undeservingly give it to Jeter again like we did last year.
Now onto pitching. The fact that CC Sabathia did not make the All Star Team is a joke. Not only is he the Ace on the staff of a first place team, but he has carried the question mark filled Yankees all season to that first place spot over Boston. He is fourth in the league in Innings Pitched with 129.2, tied for first in wins with 11, and sits fourteenth in strikeouts with 106. Not to mention his very respectable 3.05 ERA and 1.12 WHIP. Sabathia is a popular guy around the league and in the clubhouse, which makes me believe he has a good chance at being voted into the final roster spot.
Here we are, at the biggest disgrace of All Star voting ineptitude that I can remember in years, David Robertson(who?). Robertson was drafted by the Yankees in the 2006 Draft out of the University of Alabama. He has been up in the majors since 2008 and has served as the Yankees "everything man" until this year when he fell into the 8th inning job with Joba Chamberlain and Rafael Soriano going on the DL. Robertson has been nothing but spectacular. BACK TO THE NUMBERS!!! (trust me they dont lie)
Aaron Crow 1.36 ERA, 0 SV, 8 HLD, 39 SO, 1.08 WHIP 2 BLSV 39.2 IP - managers pick
B League 3.38 ERA, 22 SV, 0 HLD, 23 SO, 1.04 WHIP 3 BLSV 34.2 IP - players pick
Chris Perez 2.37 ERA, 19 SV, 0 HLD, 20 SO, 1.22 WHIP 1 BLSV 30.1 IP - player pick
M Rivera 1.91 ERA, 21 SV,0 HLD, 28 SO, 1.03 WHIP 4 BLSV 33.0 IP - player pick
J. Valverde 3.00 ERA, 20 SV, 0 HLD, 35 SO, 1.36 WHIP 0 BLSV 36.0 IP - managers pick
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Robertson 1.05 ERA , 0 SV, 18 HLD, 55 SO, 1.31 WHIP 2 BLSV 34.1 IP
Robertson leads the field in three out of the five categories not to mention his ungodly 14.4 SO/9. The cases for League, Perez, and Rivera I have no problem with. Both League and Perez have lead resurgent Mariners and Indians teams to the top of their divisions with hopes of a playoff run, while Rivera holds strong at 41 years old as the best closer the game has ever seen. Aaron Crow you could probably talk me into. He was big for the Royals during their hot start and despite the team tanking a bit to the bottom of the AL Central, he has still pitched very well and kept games that normally would have gotten out of hand, closer then they should have been. Hes an All Star. Valverde on the hand is not, at least with Robertson in the mix. While pitching most of his appearances in the larger then life Tigers Stadium, he still has managed to muster together a 3.00 ERA, a 1.36 WHIP (worst of the bunch), and close to half the amount of strikeouts as Robertson in nearly the same amount of innings. Pretty embarrassing for a guy who is supposed to be a lights out power pitcher.
Major League Baseball has done a great job at making the All Star Game mean something. Home field advantage in the world series is a huge deal. Since the rule took effect in 2003, five of the past eight World Series have been won by the home team (Red Sox 04, White Sox 05, Red Sox 07, Yankees 09, Giants 10). With that being said, I want the true All Stars representing my league in the All Star Game. Yeah it would be nice to give it to Derek Jeter so he can go to his 12th All Star Game, but hes not helping the AL win. The less known guys like Jhonny Peralta and David Robertson who are having career years would be the linchpins in an already stacked team that would snag home field advantage for the AL in the World Series.
Im done.
~ Shilz
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