Since 1969, all of the teams have had to be represented in the "Midsummer Classic" known as the Major League Baseball All-Star Game. This rule was implemented when, in 1957, it was discovered that Cincinnati fans had "stuffed" the ballot boxes and voted in seven of its own as starters even though many baseball people felt they didn't all deserve to be starters. In the years since, this rule has made it very difficult for the managers and coaches of the All-Star Game to select the reserves that would fill out the rosters. And in 2002, when the All-Star Game inadvertently and unexpectedly ended in a tie in Milwaukee, MLB Commissioner Bud Selig decided that the league who won the game would get home-field advantage in the World Series.
Now, I'm not one who believes that an exhibition game of such should have anything to do with playoff implications, but it is what it is. The fans still vote for the starters, and the players, managers and coaches vote in and select the reserves, still making sure each of the 30 teams (16 NL, 14 AL) are represented. I've always felt that you can't have it both ways. In other words, if the game is to decide who has home-field in the World Series, take the voting out of the fans hands on account that most people tend to vote for favorites, rather than deserving players. And the same should happen for the reserves. If the game is supposed to have this importance to it, select the 24 best players no matter which team they play for, because in all honesty, if players are playing the game for purpose, would you want players from the worst teams on the roster when those players won't even sniff the playoffs for their teams?
That said, based on the system as it is now, I think I've devised two almost perfect 32-man rosters for the 2009 All-Star Game in St. Louis in July. Obviously, because of the fan voting, and because some managers tend to pick more players they're familiar with to fill out their rosters, these rosters won't be the ones we see in St. Louis.
In the NL, I've got the eight position starters as follows:
C - Brian McCann, Atlanta
1B - Albert Pujols, St. Louis
2B - Chase Utley, Philadelphia
3B - David Wright, New York
SS - Hanley Ramirez, Florida
OF - Carlos Beltran, New York
OF - Raul Ibanez, Philadelphia
OF - Ryan Braun, Milwaukee
The NL pitchers:
Johan Santana, New York
Dan Haren, Arizona
Chad Billingsley, Los Angeles
Matt Cain, San Francisco
Tim Lincecum, San Francisco
Ted Lilly, Chicago
Zach Duke, Pittsburgh
Josh Johnson, Florida
Jonathan Broxton, Los Angeles
Heath Bell, San Diego
Francisco Rodriguez, New York
Ryan Franklin, St. Louis
Trevor Hoffman, Milwaukee
And finally, the NL reserves:
C - Yadier Molina, St. Louis
1B - Prince Fielder, Milwaukee
1B - Adrian Gonzalez, San Diego
2B - Orlando Hudson, Los Angeles
2B - Brandon Phillips, Cincinnati
3B - Ryan Zimmerman, Washington
3B - Pablo Sandoval, San Francisco
SS - Miguel Tejada, Houston
OF - Brad Hawpe, Colorado
OF - Matt Kemp, Los Angeles
OF - Justin Upton, Arizona
For the AL, the eight position starters:
C - Joe Mauer, Minnesota
1B - Mark Teixeira, New York
2B - Ian Kinsler, Texas
3B - Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay
SS - Derek Jeter, New York
OF - Ichiro, Seattle
OF - Torii Hunter, Los Angeles
OF - Jason Bay, Boston
The AL pitchers:
Roy Halladay, Toronto
Zack Greinke, Kansas City
Jered Weaver, Los Angeles
Mark Buehrle, Chicago
Edwin Jackson, Detroit
Justin Verlander, Detroit
Felix Hernandez, Seattle
Joe Nathan, Minnesota
Jonathan Papelbon, Boston
Mariano Rivera, New York
Bobby Jenks, Chicago
George Sherrill, Baltimore
And the AL reserves:
C - Victor Martinez, Cleveland
C - Mike Napoli, Los Angeles
1B - Kevin Youkilis, Boston
1B - Justin Morneau, Minnesota
2B - Robinson Cano, New York
2B - Ben Zobrist, Tampa Bay
3B - Michael Young, Texas
3B - Mark DeRosa, Cleveland
SS - Jason Bartlett, Tampa Bay
OF - Adam Jones, Baltimore
OF - Carl Crawford, Tampa Bay
OF - Matt Holliday, Oakland
As it is for managers, coaches and the players who help vote and select the reserves, this wasn't very easy to do. What I tried to do was to balance out the rosters to make sure there were at least two reserves for each of the infield positions (catcher included) and three outfield reserves. But I also tried to stick with history, which showed that the NL usually goes for the extra pitcher. So in following with that trend, the NL only has one back-up catcher this year on my roster. Also, unfortunately, several deserving players get left off my roster, although those same guys could very well get in the actual game.
In the NL, L.A.'s Casey Blake, Atlanta's Chipper Jones, and Arizona's Mark Reynolds at third base are deserving, but because of the depth at the position, all three players miss the cut. Also missing the cut is Philly first baseman Ryan Howard, for the same reason as third base, Houston outfielder Hunter Pence and Washington shortstop, Cristian Guzman. The only two NL pitchers I had a hard time leaving off were Cincinnati's Johnny Cueto and Atlanta's Jair Jurrgens.
In the AL, four position players who are deserving but didn't make the cut are Detroit first baseman Miguel Cabrera, simply because of the depth at the position, and it was virtually impossible to leave off Teixeira, Youkilis or Morneau, Toronto second baseman Aaron Hill, Boston third baseman Mike Lowell, and Texas' outfielder Nelson Cruz, who gets in if I could leave Oakland's only representative, Matt Holliday, at home. As for pitchers who get left off, Boston's Josh Beckett because of his high ERA, New York's C.C. Sabathia, Tampa Bay's James Shields, Detroit rookie Rick Porcello, and Cleveland's Cliff Lee.
So there you have it. As I mentioned before, I'm sure some of the players who missed my cut will get selected. And as fun as this was to do, this wasn't easy, but I think they're the best rosters for both leagues.
Now, I'm not one who believes that an exhibition game of such should have anything to do with playoff implications, but it is what it is. The fans still vote for the starters, and the players, managers and coaches vote in and select the reserves, still making sure each of the 30 teams (16 NL, 14 AL) are represented. I've always felt that you can't have it both ways. In other words, if the game is to decide who has home-field in the World Series, take the voting out of the fans hands on account that most people tend to vote for favorites, rather than deserving players. And the same should happen for the reserves. If the game is supposed to have this importance to it, select the 24 best players no matter which team they play for, because in all honesty, if players are playing the game for purpose, would you want players from the worst teams on the roster when those players won't even sniff the playoffs for their teams?
That said, based on the system as it is now, I think I've devised two almost perfect 32-man rosters for the 2009 All-Star Game in St. Louis in July. Obviously, because of the fan voting, and because some managers tend to pick more players they're familiar with to fill out their rosters, these rosters won't be the ones we see in St. Louis.
In the NL, I've got the eight position starters as follows:
C - Brian McCann, Atlanta
1B - Albert Pujols, St. Louis
2B - Chase Utley, Philadelphia
3B - David Wright, New York
SS - Hanley Ramirez, Florida
OF - Carlos Beltran, New York
OF - Raul Ibanez, Philadelphia
OF - Ryan Braun, Milwaukee
The NL pitchers:
Johan Santana, New York
Dan Haren, Arizona
Chad Billingsley, Los Angeles
Matt Cain, San Francisco
Tim Lincecum, San Francisco
Ted Lilly, Chicago
Zach Duke, Pittsburgh
Josh Johnson, Florida
Jonathan Broxton, Los Angeles
Heath Bell, San Diego
Francisco Rodriguez, New York
Ryan Franklin, St. Louis
Trevor Hoffman, Milwaukee
And finally, the NL reserves:
C - Yadier Molina, St. Louis
1B - Prince Fielder, Milwaukee
1B - Adrian Gonzalez, San Diego
2B - Orlando Hudson, Los Angeles
2B - Brandon Phillips, Cincinnati
3B - Ryan Zimmerman, Washington
3B - Pablo Sandoval, San Francisco
SS - Miguel Tejada, Houston
OF - Brad Hawpe, Colorado
OF - Matt Kemp, Los Angeles
OF - Justin Upton, Arizona
For the AL, the eight position starters:
C - Joe Mauer, Minnesota
1B - Mark Teixeira, New York
2B - Ian Kinsler, Texas
3B - Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay
SS - Derek Jeter, New York
OF - Ichiro, Seattle
OF - Torii Hunter, Los Angeles
OF - Jason Bay, Boston
The AL pitchers:
Roy Halladay, Toronto
Zack Greinke, Kansas City
Jered Weaver, Los Angeles
Mark Buehrle, Chicago
Edwin Jackson, Detroit
Justin Verlander, Detroit
Felix Hernandez, Seattle
Joe Nathan, Minnesota
Jonathan Papelbon, Boston
Mariano Rivera, New York
Bobby Jenks, Chicago
George Sherrill, Baltimore
And the AL reserves:
C - Victor Martinez, Cleveland
C - Mike Napoli, Los Angeles
1B - Kevin Youkilis, Boston
1B - Justin Morneau, Minnesota
2B - Robinson Cano, New York
2B - Ben Zobrist, Tampa Bay
3B - Michael Young, Texas
3B - Mark DeRosa, Cleveland
SS - Jason Bartlett, Tampa Bay
OF - Adam Jones, Baltimore
OF - Carl Crawford, Tampa Bay
OF - Matt Holliday, Oakland
As it is for managers, coaches and the players who help vote and select the reserves, this wasn't very easy to do. What I tried to do was to balance out the rosters to make sure there were at least two reserves for each of the infield positions (catcher included) and three outfield reserves. But I also tried to stick with history, which showed that the NL usually goes for the extra pitcher. So in following with that trend, the NL only has one back-up catcher this year on my roster. Also, unfortunately, several deserving players get left off my roster, although those same guys could very well get in the actual game.
In the NL, L.A.'s Casey Blake, Atlanta's Chipper Jones, and Arizona's Mark Reynolds at third base are deserving, but because of the depth at the position, all three players miss the cut. Also missing the cut is Philly first baseman Ryan Howard, for the same reason as third base, Houston outfielder Hunter Pence and Washington shortstop, Cristian Guzman. The only two NL pitchers I had a hard time leaving off were Cincinnati's Johnny Cueto and Atlanta's Jair Jurrgens.
In the AL, four position players who are deserving but didn't make the cut are Detroit first baseman Miguel Cabrera, simply because of the depth at the position, and it was virtually impossible to leave off Teixeira, Youkilis or Morneau, Toronto second baseman Aaron Hill, Boston third baseman Mike Lowell, and Texas' outfielder Nelson Cruz, who gets in if I could leave Oakland's only representative, Matt Holliday, at home. As for pitchers who get left off, Boston's Josh Beckett because of his high ERA, New York's C.C. Sabathia, Tampa Bay's James Shields, Detroit rookie Rick Porcello, and Cleveland's Cliff Lee.
So there you have it. As I mentioned before, I'm sure some of the players who missed my cut will get selected. And as fun as this was to do, this wasn't easy, but I think they're the best rosters for both leagues.
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