After looking at the list of reserves for the American League and National League released on Sunday, one question comes to mind. It’s a topic that SNY’s Gary Cohen discussed at last year’s All-Star break: the player vote. Just when do these players vote for the reserves? Is it May or early June? If so, why isn’t it pushed back to a more practical time frame like the first days of July?
In an MLB.com article that announced the reserves, it describes the players’ ballot as existing since 2003, with the players picking most of the reserves and pitchers. This is particularly important, because it only leaves the managers with a few, precious picks to make sure some teams have a representative. This is why NL manager Clint Hurdle chose the Washington Nationals’ Cristian Guzman.
Hold on a minute. The Detroit Tigers’ official Web site produced an article on June 29. It said the players’ ballot was “due soon,” making it seem like they came in at various times, perhaps through a large period. Even more telling, the article said the player vote only “plays a role” in determining reserves and pitchers. So many other articles say the players simply “choose” these guys, but their vote only “plays a role”?
In another article, The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review mused that Pirates outfielder Nate McLouth’s inclusion in the Midsummer Classic would be up to Hurdle “with input from the players’ ballot.” Just how much is the players’ ballot a factor? Do the managers simply “edit” the player votes to what they feel is the best? Are the “manager selections” players that got virtually no votes from the players’ ballot?
The answer is quite simple. When the players vote, they don’t know who the fans will vote in. Therefore, if the players and fans actually agree, the manager must look farther and farther down the player rankings to find a reserve. According to The New York Times, players and fans agreed on American League starting catcher Joe Mauer, which gave AL manager Terry Francona free rein to name Jason Varitek to the team as a reserve selection from the players, albeit it with his own selection of the Tampa Bay Rays’ Dioner Navarro.
Perhaps, then, had Francona not been the manager, Varitek might not have been a “player selection.” No matter who’s fault it was — the players, the manager, the fans for making him the No. 2 AL catcher vote-getter — Varitek should not be at the All-Star game. He’s the biggest joke pick of the selections, sporting a .219 batting average with seven home runs and 27 runs batted-in. What makes the grievance worse is the fact that Boston already has six other selections.
This leads to another problem. The Cubs absolutely dominate the National League team. They have seven selections, though Alfonso Soriano most likely won’t play. No other NL team has more than two. So, why name Aramis Ramirez as a reserve? David Wright, a player with slightly better statistics, is on a team with one selection, so why not name him?
A selection that makes it seem like the players cast their votes sooner rather than later is that of Brandon Webb. At the end of April, Webb was a sparkling 6-0 with a 1.98 ERA. He’d end up 9-0 before he suffered his first loss in mid-May. However, in his last five starts, he’d had a few rough outings, raising his ERA to 3.43. He still has twelve wins, but his ERA is nearly a half run higher than Johan Santana, who also has more strikeouts. Webb’s case is virtually the same as Colorado’s Aaron Cook.
No one is going to agree with all the All-Star Game selections, especially those as jaded as the hometown club’s fans. Mets fans had to get over John Maine’s snub in 2007, and, unless Wright pulls out the National League Final Vote, Mets fans will have to accept a 2008 All-Star team with only one Met: closer Billy Wagner.
This means the Mets’ players will get much-needed rest over the three-day All-Star break, and that’s good. In the end, it’s probably better for them all to have rest than to see representatives on the national stage. But there’s this gnawing urge for fans to get more of their team’s players on the All-Star team. It’s like only getting the mandatory one representative, like so many Kansas City Royals teams have done, is a small shot to the fan base’s pride. But again, after the All-Star break, it all means a whole lot of nothing.
Also, is the Final Vote really unlimited? That’s even worse than the “25 votes per e-mail address” rule.
