American League Baseball Fans Get It Right—Most of the Time

Year after year I have a problem with the All Star Game. 

It often comes down to Yankees and Red Sox versus the rest of the American League, just to start.

It is true that these two teams have more loyal fans and will do anything to get their players into the game as starters. It is also true these players are often times more deserving than other players. This year is no exception.   

Let me start off by addressing the injury criticism.

Injuries should play a factor for balloting because some stats are going to be out of the ordinary, both good and bad. 

Alex Rodriguez is one of the greatest players, but does he really deserve the chance to start in the All Star Game after having under 150 at bats right now, compared to the nine others with more plate appearances?

The answer is yes. 

A-Rod is third in home-runs and has a .300 batting average, well above most third baseman. Mike Lowell from the Red Sox is probably the second best third baseman.   

At catcher, Jason Varitek currently leads voting and rightfully so. He is among the leaders in every important category for catchers.

Mike Napoli of the Angels does have almost twice as many home-runs, but has a .214 batting average which is significantly less than Varitek. 

Miguel Olivo, from the Royals, has similar stats and a better batting average, but splits time with John Buck. 

A case could be made for A.J. Pierzynski, but he has only three home-runs compared to Varitek’s six.  

Victor Martinez, the other star catcher, is having a bad year with zero home-runs. That’s right zero!

Joe Mauer deserves to be in second place just because he hits for such a high average. 

Kevin Youkilis currently leads at first base.

Here lies one exception to my above rule.

Justin Morneau, last year’s MVP, has slightly better numbers overall and he is close behind in second place.  Morneau has 10 home runs, 42 RBI, and a .303 batting average in 218 at bats. 

Youkilis has nine home runs, 35 RBI, and a .305 batting average.  That’s fairly close so either of them starting should be fair.

Second base is the one position where it completely is unfair. Ian Kinsler of the Rangers has the best numbers of any second baseman. The current leader, Dustin Pedroia, clearly has lesser numbers along with Robinson Cano, and Placido Polanco. 

How many realized Kinsler has seven home runs, 34 RBI, and a .305 batting average?

He leads American League second basemen in those three categories by a fairly healthy margin.

Pedroia has four home runs, 28 RBI, and a .279 batting average. Cano has four home runs, 19 RBI, and a miserable .220 batting average.   

The only stat where Polanco is anywhere near the top is in batting average. I’m going to let the numbers speak for themselves here and call for baseball fans to make the adjustment. 

The shortstop position is justifiable although maybe not entirely correct. 

As much as I despise Jeter, and agree he is the most overrated shortstop, his numbers are near the top in every category this year. 

Peralta is the only shortstop with double digit home runs so far this year, but has a weak .242 average. Michael Young is arguably the most underrated shortstop in baseball and has five home runs and a .296 batting average. 

Jeter currently has three home runs and a .279 batting average. 

I’m ok with him starting as long as Young makes it this year, but the vote difference is definitely unjustifiable. Jeter has almost a 600,000 vote lead over Edgar Renteria and Michael Young.

Outfield was headed towards being an absolute tragedy because Josh Hamilton was sixth in voting. 

Now he has moved up to second.

Fans got this change right and now he deserves to be the top AL vote getter. He was named player of the month the last two months after all. Hamilton leads the league, let alone the position, in home runs with 16, RBI with 65, and a .331 batting average. 

Manny Ramirez, who leads the voting, deserves a spot, but not as the number one outfielder. 

Carlos Quentin should be a starting outfielder with 14 home-runs, 48 RBI, and a .293 batting average. I certainly didn’t realize that his numbers were this good.  He isn’t even in the top 15 in balloting, although he might not be on the ballot at all. 

After those three, it is anyone's guess who deserves to be in the All Star game. 

Everyone else’s numbers are just average compared to those three. 

This may surprise some people, but Ichiro Suzuki probably shouldn’t be in the All Star Game this year. He is well behind in all the categories and has a .288 batting average, which is well below his career batting average of .331.

As far as Designated Hitter goes there is no contest. Ortiz is clearly at the top with no competitors.  

As you can now tell, even though most of us live to hate the Yankees and Red Sox, most of their players are still better at their positions than everyone else.

Now everyone can adjust their votes wisely.   

I hope this opens some eyes to people and will give people some reason to vote and correct the problem.