This years game is not any different, as plenty has been made of Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto still not being named to the club and Los Angeles Angels starting pitching and ace Jered Weaver taking C.C. Sabathia's spot on the team.
But, why don't we hear more about the guys that did make it that shouldn't of?
That's why we are going to take a look at the 2010 ManSpeak MLB All-Star Flubs.
Sensation. Phenom. Awesome.
Sure. These are three adjectives that can be used to describe Jayson Heyward and the kid certainly has a bright future, but the fans got this one wrong. Generally speaking, the fans of baseball are pretty smart, but this is a case where they bought into the ESPN hype machine rather than actually looking at the numbers and the pure performance on the field.
Take a look. I will put the stat lines of two players below, and you tell me which should be an All-Star.
AVG. HR RBI R SB K OPS
.276 16 40 49 9 83 .906
.251 11 45 41 5 68 .821
Which one is the All-Star? Pretty sure everyone agrees that line one is the more deserving player.
The second line is that of Jayson Heyward, the player named starter in the 2010 All-Star game by you the fans. The first line is that of St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Colby Rasmus, who also got screwed by the selection of his own teammate Matt Holliday.
Not everyone can see through the ESPN Propaganda machine.
Charlie Manuel should be embarrassed and ashamed of himself. How in his right mind does he name Ryan Howard to this team over Joey Votto. Sure, Howard is his first baseman, but he just isn't have nearly as good of a year.
Player Avg HR's RBI R K OPS
Howard .295 15 60 52 82 .854
Votto .316 21 59 56 66 1.014
So, Howard has one more RBI, but Votto crushes him in every other single statistical category that these two are measured at their respective positions at first base.
Howard plays miserable defense at first base (I bet Manuel uses him as the starting DH, which would be an even bigger slap in the face to the system), strikes out more than any player not named Mark Reynolds, and doesn't know that left field even exists.
Yet, because of the flawed system of selecting reserves by the World Series manager of the year before, Howard gets named to this team.
Why don't we change this system a little bit. Why does the World Series manager from the year before get to name the All-Star reserves? That was last year. Who cares about last year anymore? These are the 2010 All-Stars, not the 2009 All-Stars.
I have an easy fix. Why doesn't the team with the best record in each respective league as of July 1st get to select the reserves for the All-Star Game? I mean, since the winner of this so-called "game" gets home-field advantage in the World Series, why don't we let the manager who has his team in the best position to get there through mid-season pick the reserves?
I'm pretty positive that San Diego Padres manager Bud Black wouldn't of selected Howard to this team because neither would anybody else.
What? Who? Huh?
I'm baffled by this selection. Sure, Infante plays all over the field and has certainly contributed to the Atlanta Braves being in first place in the NL East, but an All-Star?
I don't really have time to check, but I'm pretty there have been very few All-Stars with a line worst than Infante's (.305 AVG, 1 HR, 22 RBI's, 23 R's, 3 SB's, .703 OPS).
I'm sorry, but this is not the statistics of a Major League All-Star. Infante, no disrespect as he serves his purpose well, can't start on 28 of the 30 major league rosters at any of the positions that he plays.
Maybe Manuel is suggesting that we invent a new space to punch holes on those ballots you get at the ballpark. Maybe he wants a utility selection, where fans get to select from the likes of Omar Infante, Aaron Miles, and Alex Cora to fill a spot on the All-Star roster.
Give me a break. Again, calling Joey Votto.
Joe Girardi made a few flubs too, such as naming C.C. Sabathia over Jered Weaver, but it was a calculated flub as Girardi knew that C.C. wouldn't be able to start and the Weaver would be added quickly. Other than that, great job Joe.
As for you Charlie Manuel, you are a different story and should be banned from selecting players for All-Star contests ever again. I don't care if it is for Baseball or for Horseshoes, Manuel can not make anymore selections.
And finally, let the team that has the best record on July 1st select the All-Stars. They have the most to lose in the first place.
Disagree? Do you think Omar Infante truly is an All-Star? If so, let me know by leaving a comment below.
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