"Shining Star, No Matter Who You are"

It’s that time of the year again – time to start considering which players to include in my All-Star Game ballot.  Honestly, this is not a good time for me to ponder such things, as I am currently a very disgruntled Nationals fan.  But since I only planned to include one Nationals player in my ballot anyway, now is as good a time as any.

This baseball season has showcased a lot of talent, especially from veteran players who continue to be consistent.  It’s definitely the year of the hitter, with many players still batting way above .300.  So who did I choose on my ballot?  Well I’m glad you asked!

AMERICAN LEAGUE

First base:  Chris Davis of the Baltimore Orioles is batting .312 with 13 home runs, so I chose him over Prince Fielder.  I’m tired of Prince; he’s not exciting to watch anymore.

Second base:  The Detroit Tigers’ Omar Infante can play a mean second base.  I struggled with this one, because I’ve voted for Robinson Canó in the past and Canó is one of the reasons the Yankees are in first place despite having about 35 players on the Disabled List, but I chose Infante.  He probably won’t get the fan vote, but he’ll likely be asked to play as an alternate.

Shortstop:  Jhonny Peralta, another Tiger, got my vote because Omar Vizquel was not on the ballot.  I could have voted for J.J. Hardy, but I didn’t. 

Third base:  Oh, this was the toughest one of all!  I love Miguel Cabrera and have voted for him for many years in a row.  He will get the starting job at third – after all, he won the Triple Crown last year and is still on a tear, batting .384 with 12 home runs and 42 RBIs.  But there’s this young guy in Baltimore who plays with such drive and has clutch hits in crucial situations – I just couldn’t pass up voting for the Orioles’ Manny Machado!  Not only did he play for a short time here for the Frederick Keys (high A), but my husband and I watched him play once for the Delmarva Shorebirds (low A), so I can’t help but feel like I need to vote for the “hometown hero.”

Catcher:  Carlos Santana is the only Cleveland Indian who was worthy of my vote (sorry, Asdrubal Cabrera!).  He’s batting .290, which, when comparing the stats of all the AL catchers, made me realize that most of them are not batting well this year. 

Designated Hitter:  This (in my opinion) bogus position goes to David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox.  I almost voted for the Texas Rangers’ Lance Berkman, but “Big Papi” is still playing well despite being 37 years old.  Ortiz is the “poster old-man” for those who believe that having a Designated Hitter can prolong a player’s career.  I can’t argue with that one when it comes to Ortiz.  He has 408 career home runs (with 7 so far this season) and does an awful lot of charity work in his native Dominican Republic.

Outfielders:  In the outfield, I picked the Orioles’ Adam Jones (a “tell it like it is” kind of player who always plays intensely; Alex Gordon of the Kansas City Royals (who is originally from Lincoln, Nebraska just like my ex-husband but I voted for him anyway); and Coco Crisp of the Oakland A’s.  Crisp is only 33 – it seems like he’s been around forever and this season has an impressive nine stolen bases so far.

 That’s three Orioles on my AL ballot and no Yankees.  I’m happy with that!

NATIONAL LEAGUE

First base:  I couldn’t find a first baseman that I truly liked and thought was deserving, so I went straight for the guy with the best stats so far.  Paul Goldschmidt of the Arizona Diamondbacks is batting .323 with 12 homers and 36 RBIs, so he got my vote even though I haven’t seen him play yet this season (the D-backs don’t play the Nationals until late June, so I’ll get a glimpse of him then).

Second base:  I chose Marco Scutaro of the San Francisco Giants because I enjoyed watching him play during last year’s World Series.  I really wanted to vote for the Pirates’ Neil Walker, but he has had some injuries and is not playing much this year.  Scutaro is currently batting .337, and he can field his position pretty well.

Shortstop:  I couldn’t convince myself to vote for the Nationals’ Ian Desmond, so I chose Troy Tulowitzki of the Colorado Rockies.  I know I bad-mouthed him in a previous blog because he’s a Jeter lover, but “Tulo” can hit, run, and play shortstop pretty well.  Just keep your mouth shut, Troy!

Third base:  Since the Nationals’ Ryan Zimmerman has committed nine errors so far at third base, he was out of the running for me despite seeming like a totally nice guy.  I had to opt for “Kung Fu Panda,” the Giants’ Pablo Sandoval.  He’s batting .308 with 8 home runs and 34 RBIs, and like David Ortiz, he’s one of those guys whose smile just lights up a ball park.

Catcher:  Posey or Molina?  Definitely Yadier Molina!  Yes, he has ugly neck tattoos.  Yes, he plays for the St. Louis Cardinals (who eliminated the Nationals in last year’s playoffs).  And yes, he’s just flat out unattractive.  But “Yadi” has a career success rate of 44% getting runners out trying to steal a base, and that’s pretty darn good (my pal, Iván Rodriguez, ended his career with a 46%).  Posey is good and all, but Yadier having a better season so far.

Outfield:  This was the easiest one.  Bryce Harper (Washington Nationals), Andrew McCutchen (Pittsburgh Pirates), and Carlos Beltrán (St. Louis Cardinals).  I almost didn’t vote for Harper for fear that he’d hurt himself during the All-Star Game, but he deserves to be there.  All three players are having good seasons (even the 36-year-old Beltrán, who many thought was “washed out” is hitting consistently and fielding very well.

No Phillies players on my NL ballot – no shocker there!

So there you have it – my All-Star Game ballot, which I like to think was well thought-out.  I don’t just vote for the cute ones (have you SEEN McCutchen?) or the skinny ones (hello, Sandoval!); I like to think that I vote for those who play well, play consistently, and play hard.  Let’s see if the rest of America agrees with me. 

The Top Ten Things I Learned From the 2012 Baseball Season

Another baseball season has come and gone, and as the San Francisco Giants celebrate their sweep of the Detroit Tigers to win the World Series, it is time for me to look back and reflect on what, if anything, I have learned over the past seven months.

1.  One player does not a team make.  The Washington Nationals made it to the playoffs without Stephen Strasburg being available to pitch in the last month of the season.  The Giants won the World Series despite Tim Lincecum's lousy year.  The Los Angeles Angels did NOT make it to the playoffs this year despite having Albert Pujols on their team.  This is why baseball is a team sport - it takes a nine-man lineup and a strong pitching staff (bullpen included) to win (or lose) a baseball game.

2.  David Freese and Marco Scutaro are both very good baseball players.  This past season, Freese hit .293 with 20 homers, 79 RBIs, 70 runs scored, and three stolen bases.  Meanwhile, Scutaro his .300 for the season, with 7 home runs, 70 RBIs, 87 runs scored, and 53 stolen bases.  These two guys are true athletes and also performed very well during the playoffs.

3.  They sell very yummy quesadillas at Nationals Park.  While many people go to baseball games and indulge in the traditional hot dogs or Cracker Jacks, I like trying out new things, and the chicken quesadillas at the "Taste of the Majors" concession stand were delicious!

4.  Baseball umpires really do a good job, and the playoffs were no exception.  While they are human and do make mistakes, there weren't any real major controversial calls this year.  Some may call that boring; I call it effective.

5.  The double play is still my favorite play in baseball.  Never mind the grand slam; never mind a player stealing home (that IS exciting, but it just doesn't happen very often).  Watching a well-executed double play just doesn't get old.  Speaking of double plays...

6.  The "infield fly rule" is dumb.   For those of you unfamiliar with it, the infield fly rule is intended to prevent infielders from intentionally dropping pop-ups in order to turn double or triple plays. Without this rule, a defense could easily turn a pop fly into a double play when there are runners at first and second base. If the runners stay near their bases to tag up, the defense could let the ball drop, throw to third base and then to second, for a force-out at each base.  If any of the runners stray too far from their bases, the defense could catch the pop-up, and double-off any runner who failed to tag up.  What's wrong with that?  It's called strategy, man!  If you are the runner, you need to pay attention; if you get doubled-up, that's your own darn fault!

7.  It is possible to get so consumed and caught up in a team's successes during the season that it affects your moods, your appetite, and your sleep pattern.  Then when that team is done for the season because of a heartbreaking loss during the playoffs, it also affects your moods, your appetite, and your sleep pattern.  Luckily there are four months left until Spring Training, so you have plenty of time to get your moods, appetite, and sleep pattern back to where they should be.

8.  Tim McCarver needs to retire from doing color commentary for the FOX network during the playoffs.  He may be a former catcher, but he's old, crotchety, and he jinxed Ryan Vogelsong's no-hitter in game 6 of the NLCS.  I'm not the only one who thinks so either; Don Cherry of the Huffington Post (www.huffingtonpost.com) said that Tim McCarver "has lost his feel for baseball."  Now, I know that the Huffingon Post is not the top authority in all things baseball, but I had to find someone out there who agreed with me.  Hang 'em up, Tim; your glory days are long-gone!

9.  On the flip side, MASN Sports' Bob Carpenter and FP Santangelo really grew on me this past season (not just because I got to meet them!).  They are funny, lighthearted, knowledgeable, and Santangelo (the former player) doesn't get all anecdotal nor does he bore us with stories of "back in the day when I used to play" (which has been my problem with Jim Palmer and the main reason I have to watch Orioles games on "mute" when he's announcing).  Since the days of Joe Morgan and John Miller doing the ESPN game of the week are gone, Bob and FP are now my favorite broadcast team.

And finally...

10.  Stan Musial (91) and Bobby Doerr (94) are not dead.  Other old basebll players I was surprised to learn are still alive include Ralph Kiner (90), Red Schoendienst (89), and Sandy Koufax (only 76).  Who knew?  Willie Mays is still around too - he's 81 and still saying "hey!"

I hope you enjoyed my blog posts during this past season - I am definitely grateful for you all reading them and therefore putting me above 2,000 views in only two seasons.  I will probably post a few times during the off-season as trades and free-agent signings start happening (and hopefully after Bryce Harper gets the Rookie of the Year award or Gio Gonzalez gets the Cy Young), and I will fill you in on the World Baseball Classic, which is played every 4 years and will be expanded for the 2013 season.  In the meantime, watch some football and enjoy the upcoming holidays with your family.  Signing off for now,

Mudville Mom  :-)