Time to vote for the All-Stars
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Jun 24, 2007 
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I consider it a moral imperative to vote for the All-Star Game. I’ve done it every year since I was seven and I see no reason to stop just because I became a baseball writer.
Yes, you can vote vote on line. But I like grabbing the ballots at a stadium and punching them out.
I vote twice. Once purely on merit and one based on guys I like personally for whatever reason.
My first ballot, the merit one, went like this:
AMERICAN LEAGUE
1B: Morneau
2B: Polanco
3B: Rodriguez
SS: Jeter
C: Posada
OF: Ordonez, Guerrero, Hunter
NATIONAL LEAGUE
1B: Fielder
2B: Utley
3B: Cabrera
SS: Reyes
C: Martin
OF: Holliday, C. Lee, Griffey.
My second ballot, based on personal reasons:
AMERICAN LEAGUE
1B: Wigginton (covered him with the Mets, good guy)
2B: Roberts (covered his father’s college team once)
3B: Lowell (covered him in AA ball, genuinely good person)
SS: Pena (his father punches me in the arm every day and asks what’s up)
C: Posada (it’s a disgrace he’s second to Pudge Rodriguez)
OF: Sheffield (always colorful with the media), Ichiro (coolest player to watch), Swisher (heard a radio interview with him last week and he cut his long hair off to help people with cancer)
NATIONAL LEAGUE
1B: Johnson (when he broke his leg last year he was at a rehab hospital in White Plains and was very nice to the kids there)
2B: Matsui (he got a lot of crap in New York and never took it out on the media)
3B: Wright (another good guy)
SS: Reyes (if you don’t love watching Jose Reyes you have a problem, plus when he found out I had Daddy Yankee songs on my iPod he said, “Good for you, man.”)
C: Ausmus (he was very helpful to us scribes when the Astros were in the playoffs)
OF: Cameron (funny guy), wrote-in Cliff Floyd (my favorite guy in the majors), Byrnes (he’s flat crazy)
Great ballot Pete. Can’t fault it.
Question Pete or well a statement.
You obviously liked covering the Mets. Seemed like a lot of really good, nice guys on that team. Cameron, Floyd, Reyes, Wright. Seems writers, other players really like those guys.
Whats better to cover as a beat writer? Mets or Yanks?
Hanley Ramirez>Jose Reyes & Ichiro>Hunter.Hanley has the higher .OPS,hitting for a better average,scoring more runs in an inferior lineup,and isn’t even the guy that should go.The guy that should go is Renteria who leads NL shortstops in just about every important batting statistic.Now Ichiro on the other hand is the clear cut CF for the AL, the only thing Hunter is doing better than him is hitting for more power.Ichiro is also batting more than .360 and is likely going to take Ordonez over for the batting title by season’s end.Also Ichiro has been the best defensive CF in all of baseball this year,and hopefully he doesn’t get robbed of a gold glove.
Pete – Thanks for saying those nice things about Brad Ausmus. He grew up here in CT in my hometown and his family still lives here. He is a great example of small-town boy makes good. His parents are college professors and Brad himself finished his degreee at Dartmouth in the off-season.
And, thanks for voting for him on the All Star Ballot.
FYI one of Brads classmates at the local high school was Brian Leech and they were on the same team that won a state championship.
Last year was a fluke for Robinson Cano. Cano is a guy with a very good swing but that’s all he has. He has a terrible eye, he has no patience and he has no power. I’ve been saying this all year that Cano is overrated and he’s proving it as the season goes along. Cano is a decent hitter but you put runners in scoring position or load the bases and he becomes a worse hitter than Will Nieves. You have guys on the bench who are much better in the clutch than Cano.No plate discipline whatsoever and seems effortless on some swings. He needs to improve on his effort and passion for the game, because I don’t see it in him at all.
Cano is awful with RISP and bases loaded situation.Cano’s chokes everytime. I’d have more faith in anyone coming off the bench in a situation like that other than Cano. He becomes a total different hitter when the pressure’s on. Melky Cabrera is a younger and less experienced player than Cano and he’s a much better hitter with RISP than Cano is even though Cano is a better hitter than him. It’s all about nerves and that’s why Cano is overrated.
Cano needs to improve hitting Risp and bases loaded.
Robbie is hitting a blistering .115 {3-26} with 2 outs and RISP this year {last time I looked.} He’s hitting about .206 lifetime with the bases loaded, but everyone still says he’s “great, unbelievable, sweetest swing since Rod Carew” etc. etc. I guess if people say it enough times it must be true. We should never let the reality of the above statistics get in the way of what sounds good on a tv show……………………..All Yankees are great. The thing is that their record is 36-36 so I’d have to deduce from a mathematical perspective that someone isn’t great. Right? Cause if they were all great then they would have a better record than 36-36. Right?…………………….It doesn’t bother Robbie too much though. Robbie will be giggling like a 2nd grader tomorrow. You can be sure of it. Heck. He’s only 23…………………..{They say, “Robbie’s young?” I agree. He is young, but he acts like he’s 9 years old. Ever see him on the bench? He acts like he’s 7. He looks like my little nephew who’s in 2nd grade.
tb:
Just like you can’t say Robbie’s great after 1 year, you can’t say he sucks after the next. His OPS with RISP was a very respectable .835 last year, just slightly lower than his full-season OPS of .890. So far this year his OPS is .734 total and .537 w/ RISP. This is a huge difference, considering that the .537 is also a part of the .734 (he has a .814 OPS without RISP)
Which Robbie is for real? I don’t know. But if he doesn’t crank it up in the second half, next year will be huge for him.
I think the fact that posada is not leading catchers is a travesty
Peter-So your first ballot AL catcher is Pudge? You have Posada in as starter and backup.
when will they DFA Myers and put damon on the DL?
Who is this AL SS named Pena? Do you mean Guillen? They’re both Carlos, but Carlos Pena is a 1B.
OH. Tony Pena Jr?! Wow, that’s a ridiculous vote.
He said that was the ballot based on personal reasons Julian. Then Pena is as good a vote as any.
Btw, this whole discussion about the Proctor quote was quite ridiculous I must say.
And Pete, some vicious remarks about people commenting in general, should we keep posting?
tb is right about Cano with men in scoring position. He drives me nuts sometimes, specifically b/c he is on my fantasy team & killing my team. He is young but why don’t the veteran players help with that. It’s amazing to me how many runners don’t score from third with less than 2 out. If they just try & make contact (Matsui yesterday) they will would be winning a lot more games. Melky’s stats are similar to Cano’s in a lot less games played.
Buster Today
Hes saying that there is a power struggle in tamp going on the last few days.
The boys want joe out, brian still fighting and is losing the battle.
Girardi possibly managing this club by the all star break.
Thats the word.
Joes on borrowed time.
36-36, is not a good sign for joe.
Arms stockpiling payin’ off for Sox
http://redsox.bostonherald.com.....038;page=1
lol…
I would feel a lot more comfortable with Girardi than Mattingly, just don’t envision Mattingly being ready just yet.
I am not dead set against him being the next manager, but Girardi’s impressive success in Florida was under dramatically different circumstances than what he will face in NYC.
Many of the Marlins are barely old enough to shave and Girardi was brought in as a disciplinarian and teacher with no expectations or media scrutiny.
I think Joe Torre deserves to finish out the year and I can’t see the Yanks blowing things up when they are in the wild card hunt. I think Mattingly is the choice if Joe leaves under good circumstances and Girardi get chosen if management decides that the pendulum needs to swing the other way from even keel to spark plug.
aw – I’m curious about the Olney article…Is it available online? If so, could you please post the link? THANKS!
“Buster Today
Hes saying that there is a power struggle in tamp going on the last few days.
The boys want joe out, brian still fighting and is losing the battle.
Girardi possibly managing this club by the all star break.
Thats the word.
Joes on borrowed time.
36-36, is not a good sign for joe.”
Yeah thats a lie. If Olney really said that it would be covered 24/7 on ESPN and ESPN News. Also checking Olney there is nothing on the Yankees.
No, It was on baseball tonight…
Every week the Yankees have a loss that is the worst of the season.. THEY ARE PATHETIC
JMO but, changing managers is not going to make guys throw strikes out of the bullpen, make others be better situational hitters, or make starting pitchers able to go deeper into games.
I have no problem with Girardi being the next manager of this team……in 2008. He should be the next manager of the team, IMO. Just not now.
Torre should be allowed to finish out the season, then you move on. Its easier for a new manager to take over a new team.
To just put Girardi, or anybody else, into this mess and think they are going to clean it up is in for a rude awakening. Its not going to happen.
Bring in a new manager next year, when he can start with his team. Its much easier and it will make for a much smoother transition.
Also, with Girardi’s family situation right now, I doubt he is managing anywhere until next season, at the earliest.
Re: Girardi becoming manager of Yanks –
I remember reading in the papers when Joe G. got fired by Marlins. What apparently was last straw was when he publicly told the owner – who was sitting in stands next to dugout during a game – something to the effect of “sit down and shut up.” While there may have been something going on that led to this, publicly berating your boss is not the path to longterm job security.
I wouldn’t think that something like this in his resume would sit too well with Tampa-based geniuses.
He managed to win the game for eleven innings then decided it was time to let proctors arm fall off and thats that.
Joes mistakes:
1. Using 3 pitchers in the seventh inning, was too quick to pull myers because sf had too many lefties in thier lineup, bruney was awful.period.
2. YOU CANT LET PROCTOR HIT, PERIOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MY GOODNESS, I DONT CARE IF IT WAS BASAK LEFT, YOU LET HIM HIT.
3. PROCTOR THREW 35 PITCHES LAST NIGHT AND WAS AT 25 AFTER TWO INNINGS.
Use mo for an inning no matter what, if he gets by easy, he can go two.
If he cant, you use clemens, since we know he could pitch and was ready.
Joe managed hard for eleven to win, then decided to let proctor run it out.
You have to hit for him there, no excuses.
The sf manager never let his pitcher hit in the extra innings.
JOE must of been worried about dinner with crystal, he had to let t he game end.
BAD BAD BAD job
manage for today not tommrow.
NOw you have a depleted bullpen anyway and coming off a loss with moose going.
Wow we will be under 500 at the half way point it looks like.
Were done.
Fire joe and lets move on.
Yes i know matsui struck out and we left a ton of guys on, yes i know that.
Bad job, but also a bad bad job by the manager.
I agree 100% SJ44.
One thing though. Girardi will be the next manager? What about Mattingily, the man who was probably given the job the second he took the coaching job years ago.
I would love the idea of Joe G becoming the manager but I doubt it will happen with Mattingly in the plans.
orre’s contract is up this year. He leaves on his own terms, I think he deserves that much. Even if you do bring in whoever (whether its Giraldi, Valentine, move Mattingly up, etc) it aint going to change the fact that Damon is still hurt and not playing well, Abreu still cant lay down effective bunts and isnt hitting well, and our bullpen stinks. No coach is gonna turn Farnsworth around and have him stop walking people/giving up hits in the 8th inning. In other words, removing Torre doesnt make this team better…far from it.
Like 4 world series championships, 7 world series appearances, and 11 straight playoff appearances grows on trees these days………geeeez…get a grip…WTF, most teams in MLB would kill for the sort of streak the yankees have had for the last decade or so, yet yankee fans continue to lament because ONE YEAR in TWELVE, things dont look so hot to make the playoffs.
Geeez..even if we get to the playoffs…we are not going to go far. This team is too old, has big contracts that weigh it down, and needs to be fixed. Again, getting rid of Torre at this stage changes NONE of that.
A little context to that situation. Jeffrey Loria, the owner, was sitting in his seat behind home plate.
As usual, there was nobody at the game so everybody can hear him cussing out the umpire.
Girardi went over to him and told him to stop because it wasn’t helping. Loria started screaming that he can do whatever he wants because he owns the team. That’s when Girardi went off on him. The rumor is that Girardi was fired after the game and the GM had to talk Loria out of it and he changed his mind. It was a real ugly scene.
Since then, the Marlins organization has been planting all kinds of “Little Hitler” type of stories about Girardi.
Its funny though. Miguel Cabrera reported to spring training last year at his program weight of 215 pounds. Girardi stayed on him and he had a great year. He’s now 265, leads the NL in errors and hasn’t played well. NOBODY on the Marlins talks to him about his weight. Ozzie Guillen, a close friend of Cabrera’s actually took him out to lunch recently and read him the riot act about his weight.
The Marlins are so pre-occupied about dissing Girardi, they don’t even care about their best player being 50 pounds overweight.
Girardi is a no nonsense guy. This year, they have an easy going manager, Fredi Gonzalez. The result? They lead the majors in errors, make a ton of mental mistakes, and they are not playing well.
It would be nice, and much more classy, if the Marlins just let it go with Girardi and worry about their team. They have enough problems.
Bob Klaspich of Bergen Record that Bobby V would make sense to replace Joe
http://www.northjersey.com/pag.....FlZUVFeXk2
I heard essentially the same account of the Girardi blow-up as SJ above. Also, I think there was a power struggle of some sort between the GM of the Marlins and Joe G with each of them wanting credit for the success of a young team. (Which does have a ton of talent, but where are they now?)
When the attendance is over 4 million at The Stadium and the payroll is what it is and Rocket professes his love for Joe Torre, I really don’t think there will be a move this year and I don’t think there should be.
I just hope the big win streak wasn’t a suckers’ rally to hook me back in to following the team only to be beaten down by a poor bullpen and an injured line-up.
WOW I never knew a lineup could look this bad. Mussina is going to have to pitch a no hitter. Hopefully they can scratch out a couple of runs. Cashman could you actually get bench players that can hit over .200? It is about time that Thompson gets a chance to play.
Cabrera cf, Cairo 1b, Jeter ss, Rodriguez 3b, Matsui lf, Cano 2b, Thompson rf, Nieves c, Mussina p
To be fair, with Damon, Giambi, and Minky hurt, and Abreu struggling again, its pretty tough to find “bench players” to overcome those problems.
You want a better bench which, I agree they need? Then, don’t look for all stars at every position and 200 million dollar payrolls. That’s the trade off.
When you are paying insane luxury tax fees because of all these big contracts, it limits the amount of money you have to spend on a bench.
They are spending a billion bucks of their own money to build a new stadium. Even the Yankees have a budget.
The bench takes the whack when you have to slash some money.
Its why I don’t want them dealing their good, young arms for help this year. I would rather develop these arms and keep them with the Yankees. The financial savings, as well as the better performances, will help them fill greater needs on the team.
For you minor league junkies, the Yankees have made several promotions from within in recent days.
Colin Curtis (OF) and Juan Miranda (1B) have been promoted to Trenton (AA) from Tampa (A). They were replaced in Tampa by Austin Jackson (CF) and Chris Malec (1B), who were promoted by Charleston.
Curtis and Miranda were really swinging the bat well in Tampa. Miranda is DH’ing for Trenton today.
AA seperates the men from the boys as far as prospects go. Last year’s Florida State Player of the Year, 1B Cody Ehlers, is hitting near the Mendoza Line for Trenton. It will be interesting to see how Miranda does as its clear he is pushing Ehlers for PT now.
Curtis had a very good college career as Arizona State and was drafted by the Yankees last year.
Jackson is only 20 years old. He and Jose Tabata (18) are two of the youngest OF’s in the FSL. Jackson had two hits last night for Tampa.
Malec is more of an “organizational guy” and not really a prospect, IMO.
peter was just all over yes, sittin right next to the skipper, anyone else see?
Look at PETE gettin a TON of face time on the pre-game show as he’s sittin just to the right of Torre on the bench!
Atta Boy, Pedro!
I’m watching a little of the mets today. Mets could you use a little pitching, right?
How about Clippard and Farnsworth for Carlos Gomez?
Far too high of a price for Gomez.
Torre rests Abreu and has Cairo batting the second and injurred Jeter batting the third. Is evertying alright?
At most Clippard is a future 4-5 starter on a good team. At worst, he never makes the MLB. Besides, 4-5 starter material grows on trees, no need to keep them.
Fworth can be dominant, just has some serious baggage and the propensity to not trust his stuff.
I make the trade in an instant.
guys the lineup today will be fine. Posada cannot play every day .. they will have to do something miraculous try to win a low scoring 1 run game, imagine that WOW..
they still have arod, jeter, matsui,melky, and cano in the lineup.. as is there lineup is better then SF even without Abreu, and others…………
The 1 thing I saw on Thompson is wow he strikes out a ton……………….
the mets are not trading gomez, the guy is 21 and playing fine in the majors, not happening……………
4-5 starters may grow on trees, but they are also getting 10 mil/year nowadays.
4-5 starters may “grow on trees” but, effective ones do not.
Its why the effective ones are getting so much money.
Good pitchers=VERY well paid in today’s baseball.
The Mets aren’t trading Gomez for the Yankees struggling pitchers. Omar ain’t dumb.
thanks for the info on Girardi and Florida SJ,… Good stuff. I think I’ve heard mostly the Hitler stories until now (more of a controlling manager than Showalter).
And Peter, thanks for sharing your all-star votes. It’s always nice to hear who’s a good guy in the game when we only really see the faces and hear what they decide to say in interviews…