Right now, I've only really decided on my American League choices...
C - Jason Varitek (Boston) - Yes, I am a Yankee fan and hate Boston fans, but I won't blame Varitek for where he plays. Definite starter in my opinion.
Personal Bias:
1B - Tino Martinez (NYY) - One guess...
Fair Battle Ground:
1B - Mark Teixeira (TEX) - I don't follow Texas much, but Teixeira is clearly 1 of the best 1st basemen in the Majors, and is part of the best infield.
2B - Alfonso Soriano (TEX) - Yankee bias aside, Soriano is also part of the awesome Texas infield.
3B - Alex Rodriguez (NYY) - He's been on fire all season, and has been doing a lot better than last years effort, which was still pretty good.
SS - (Chants "I fucked up")
OF 1 - Carl Crawford (TB) - Probably the brightest star Tampa Bay has, and one of the best 20 players IMO.
OF 2 - Johnny Damon (BOS) - See Varitek, except he's not a Catcher
OF 3 - Gary Sheffield (NYY) - One of very few Yankees this year who is donig great, but isn't being recognized for it because he took a swipe at some idiot drunk in Baw-ston.
DH - Rafael Palmiero (BAL) - Because he's the only DH listed I like.
| QUOTE (Scrooge McSuck @ Jun 3 2005, 11:18 AM) |
| SS - Brain Roberts (BAL) - Man, the AL East is really impressive here, isn't it? :-P |
Yeah...if only Brian Roberts played SS!!
...Whoops? :P I goofed... are you sure? I knew he was a Middle Infielder, but I kept thinking he was a Shortstop.
He may have played SS at times, but he's primarily a 2B and listed on the official MLB ballot as such.
If you reallllly wanted him at SS, you could leave your AL SS vote blank, then write-in Roberts at the SS position. But you'd be shooting yourself in the foot, since the vote would go towards Roberts's bid to make the starting lineup at 2B...and you would have already voted for someone in that position.
It's ironic, because the way the All-Star Game has worked out over the years, several infielders have found themselves inserted into the game at non-familiar positions. When Jay Bell was selected as the Pirates rep in 93 at SS...he entered the game at 2B, a position he had only played twice in the majors (two games in Cleveland in 1986).
In-season position changes can screw up balloting sometimes. Mike Sweeney got screwed in 2000 when he was listed on the ballot as a catcher, but had only played 2 or 3 games at the position all season.
Phew... thank goodness I didn't do my voting yet, otherwise I'd look like a bigger fool, although finding out I fucked up myself wold soften the blow a little.