The Lunatic Fringe

I don’t want Yasiel Puig to be an All-Star.

Look, I won’t lie, there’s some good old-fashioned baseball rivalry in this, but there are some good baseball points to make as well.

The most obvious is sample size.  He’s played only 32 games as a major leaguer.  That’s not a lot of games, and isn’t representative of what a player can really do.  You know what other Dodger has played that many games, and has a higher BA, OBP, SLG, OPS and WAR in that time?  Hanley Ramirez!  No one’s clamoring for him to make the All-Star Game.

But Puig is being treated like the second coming, even though Ramirez’s return to the Dodgers is what truly helped them to start winning.

A bigger problem for me is Puig’s attitude.  He’s a talented player, to be sure.  But he long has had an attitude problem.  I’ve heard reports of his attitude issues dating back into Cuba.  He’s had maturity issues in the minors, including an arrest for reckless driving earlier this year.  I’ve seen and witnessed him be pouty and disrespectful.  He did a home run-level bat flip on a single last night, probably because it felt like a home run after striking out six times in seven previous at-bats.  And, of course, there’s the issue of the brawl against the Diamondbacks, where he was throwing punches.

Okay, dude got hit in the nose with a pitch, so even I can’t blame him for throwing punches…but something else happened.

Baseball didn’t suspend him.

That’s another worry of mine.  He’s been hyped, and well, that’s fine, the media will irrationally hype anyone in Los Angeles or New York.  But the fact that the commissioner’s office is placating him is worrisome.  The league has lost a lot of credibility in stalling and placating lately, but placating a potential superstar’s bad behavior is bad news.

The question will really be whether or not he’ll have the same support system after his propensity for strikeouts and the holes in his swing on his hands and low and away get exploited across the league.  When he starts batting .250 with a low OBP, the trouble may really begin for him.  I’d expect to see a temperamental attitude start to drag down his teammates and his manager, and a lot of people tire of his antics.

To be honest, you saw that a bit today with Sergio Romo.  He’s an energetic guy, but a small outburst to the press suddenly turned into a series of tweets and articles pointing out his inaccuracies and hypocrisies.

Imagine what an L.A. media will do to this guy.  And how an under 25-year old will handle it.

He’ll be more likely follow a career path more similar to Lindsay Lohan than the Willie Mays-type he’s been made out to be.

That’s not a guy I want to prematurely vote into an All-Star Game, because it’s not a guy I want representing baseball.  Not until he can prove he can.

So, my main goal is not having Yasiel Puig in the All-Star Game.  Which brings me to a quandary.

Who to vote for?

The Giants fan in me wants to vote for Hunter Pence, of course.  Team loyalty.  And it’s not like Pence hasn’t had a good season, even with his current slump.  Of the nominees, Pence offers the best balance of power and speed, albeit with a much lower batting average.

But…will others vote for him?  That’s a fair question.  He’s got a low batting average, and is OPS is far behind the other contenders.  I don’t think he’ll get the lion’s share of the non-Puig vote.  And that leaves us with the problems of Democracy, and liking a candidate with the minority of support.  Here’s a mildly amusing educational video about why.

I’m not voting for Adrian Gonzalez, not just because he’s a Dodger but because even he said he wouldn’t vote for himself (albeit in a fairly noble support for his teammate).  So, that leaves Ian Desmond or Freddie Freeman.

Desmond gives a nice mix of speed and power, and has more home runs than anyone on the final vote.  At shortstop, he’ll help what’s a fairly weak group up the middle (considering that Tulowitzki is hurt), though few fans will vote on that consideration.  Washington fans did make their voice heard on Bryce Harper, so maybe they’ll turn out here.

Freddie Freeman, however, has the higher batting average and OPS.  However, his lack of home runs (only 9, though it’s still more than Puig in just three more games) might hurt him in trying to get attention from a national fan base that might not know him.

I’m not sure who I’d vote for between them, which probably means most of America who doesn’t want to vote for Puig will split their vote as well.

So, I might as well vote for Pence.  If for nothing else than the GIF goodness.

(Credit to Natt0 for these amazing gifs.)

But yeah, I know Puig will make it.  But I won’t like it.