The Lunatic Fringe

Boy, there’ll be a bunch of geese roaming the cove with all the goose eggs the San Francisco Giants’ pitchers are laying on other teams…

/rimshot

And yes, I use nerd humor.  We’re techy.  It’s a webcomic, after all.  And if you still use Earthlink for your email…just take solace in that you’re not using AOL.

But…It’s just about time to really talk All-Stars.

I admit it.  I voted a lot of times for all the Giants.  Yes, even Aubrey Huff and Freddy Sanchez.  Just because, it won’t stop Boston and New York and Chicago fans from doing the same thing for their versions of those players.

For the AL, I’ll vote only AL West guys on those ballots.  Because, seriously, West Coast Bias.  This year, I didn’t really need to, since Texas pretty much has the starting spots in control, but I really like to see the media give the west coast some love.

But, sometimes, I do vote my ‘real’ picks, my non-homer comes out and gives some love to, yes, even the rivals.  So here are my ‘real’ picks this year

AL:

C – Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins – Seriously, it’s good to see him healthy again.  He may not be hitting homers, but he’s the best all-around catcher in the league.

1B – Paul Konerko, Chicago White Sox – This is a close one, but the difference is singles, literally.  His numbers with Prince Fielder are close, but Konerko has shown more of a willingness to take singles where Fielder is swinging for the fences, and those singles are enough of a difference for the usual stats.

2B – Robinson Cano, New York Yankees – Yea, uh, this really isn’t a discussion.

3B – Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers – This is another close one, but I think there’s enough difference in Cabrera playing in Comerica Park than Beltre in that Arlington bandbox where I’ll give Cabrera the edge.  Seriously, I thought everything was bigger in Texas, but how’d ballparks get exempted?

SS – Elvis Andrus, Texas Rangers – Sorry, no sentimental votes for Jeter, who is having a fine year, and I’m not voting on power.  Andrus is a dynamic player, getting power off of his speed, and one of the best threates on the basepaths in baseball.  Plus, he has some of the best on-base skills in this group.

OF – Josh Hamilton, Texas Rangers – Duh.

OF – Adam Jones, Baltimore Orioles – Very deserving…about time he broke out.

OF – Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels – Yes, I’m writing in.  He won’t get a starting spot this year, but damn, what a kid he is.  He’s the real thing.

DH – David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox – There aren’t any other viable choices.

NL:

C – Buster Posey, San Francisco Giants – Carlos Ruiz is having a heck of year, and Yadier Molina is doing well himself, and yes, I’ll admit a little homerism.  But Posey has been a leader on both sides of the plate and is a heart-of-the-order hitter.  He’s got a position-leading 7 game-winning RBI.  He’s arguably a better middle-of-the-order hitter than a few of these other guys.  I’m taking him.

1B – Joey Votto, Cincinnati Reds – Some people think he’s getting this spot because Albert Pujols defected.  He would’ve won this spot easily enough, especially this year.

2B – Aaron Hill, Arizona Diamondbacks – Boy, what happened to second base?  Utley goes down, and blech.  Jose Altuve may be leading the league’s position in batting average and stolen bases, but I’ll go with the less free-swinging Hill.

3B – David Wright, New York Mets – Sorry, Panda, Wright is the deserving guy here, and it’s not even close.

SS – Starlin Castro, Chicago Cubs – I hate myself for making this pick.  I gave serious consideration to Jed Lowrie, but no.  What the hell is up with the middle infield in the NL?

OF – Matt Kemp, Los Angeles Dodgers – Even injured, he was doing enough to get in.

OF – Melky Cabrera, San Francisco Giants – The MelkMan has been one of the league’s most consistent hitters, and one of the league’s best defensive left fielders, and even a threat on the basepaths.

OF – Andrew McCutchen, Pittsburgh Pirates – That’s right, I’m doing it.  He’s not the sluggingist, he’s not the stolenest, or even the walkingest.  But he’s been amazing this season without much help around him.

Seriously, the NL outfield field is one of the NL’s few advantages over the AL in terms of depth, and one of their weakness in that they can only use three of them at a time (4, with the DH).  These three, plus Carlos Gonzalez, Ryan Braun, Carlos Beltran, Michael Bourn and even matt Holliday are all deserving All-Stars.  If the NL will have an advantage late in the game, it’ll be that McCutchen, Gonzalez and Bourn will be out there in the final innings rather than the NL sending out an aging Ichiro, Alex Rios and Matt Joyce.