Submitting My Vote... Again and Again

It's that time of the year again, when I feel obligated, as a bona fide baseball fan, to fill out my All-Star Game ballot.  I always feel conflicted, because it's not like it used to be, where you got an actual paper card and you had to punch out your selections and hand it in at your local ballpark.  Now you can go online and vote five times in a 24-hour period, and you can go back tomorrow and do it five more times.  It doesn't make it as exciting and decisive, but I do it anyway, because if I didn't, I would not have the right to complain if my chosen players did not make the All-Star team.

So here I am on mlb.com, where they're nice enough to give you each player's vital statistics to help make it easier for you to decide for whom to vote.  My personal conflict every year is - do I go strictly based on statistics, or do I go with my sentimental favorites?  This year I decided to do a little bit of both.  Here are the players I chose, with my very good reasons why.

First of all, let me preface this by saying that never in my entire blogging life have I picked an entire infield belonging to the same team.  I am not one to vote along "party lines," so I don't vote for guys just because they belong to a particular team.  I study the statistics and scrutinize every number carefully before I make my picks, but this year I'm afraid I went with an all-Nationals infield for the National League.  I can justify it though; just read on and see for yourself.

FIRST BASE:  NL - Ryan Zimmerman, AL - Chris Davis.  I voted for Ryan Zimmerman of the Washington Nationals because he's leading the Majors with a .365 batting average and is just one of those guys you just want to hug when you meet him.  He's quiet, nerdy, and started the Zim Foundation to raise money for Multiple Sclerosis (a disease that his mother has), so how can you not like this guy?  He was plagued with injuries last year, but this year he's kicking ass.  He also seems to have kicked his nail-biting habit, so there's that.  So Zim all the way!  As far as the American League, I voted for Chris Davis of the Orioles because my friend Tina from high school is married to a Chris Davis, and Tina and I were both new students in seventh grade, so I always liked her.  Plus Davis is doing pretty well this year after having a so-so 2016, so heck, Davis gets my vote.

SECOND BASE:  NL - Daniel Murphy, AL - José Altuve.  I voted for the Nationals' Murphy because he's having a good year and he's one of the most decent guys out there.  He is very well spoken, never swears, and looks like the type of guy who files his taxes himself and always drives the speed limit.  Love him so much that he won my vote over Puerto Rican Javier Baez.  Lo siento, Javi!  As far as Altuve, I chose him over Jonathan Schoop of the Orioles because the Astros are having a really good year and Altuve is having a better season.  Plus he has stolen 11 bases, and I like the speedy guys.

SHORTSTOP:  NL - Trea Turner, AL -  Francisco Lindor.  The Nationals' Trea Turner got my vote because he is super-cute, doesn't look old enough to drive or buy a six-pack of beer, and has 16 stolen bases so far.  Lindor of the Cleveland Indians got my vote because he's Puerto Rican, had a good time at the World Baseball Classic, and is having a decent year.  I won't automatically vote for you if you're from Puerto Rico, but if you're doing well and you're "Boricua," you get my vote.  Liindor won over Jean Segura, who just signed a nice extension contract with the Mariners.

THIRD BASE:  NL - Anthony Rendón, AL: José Ramirez.  This was the toughest position for me, because I really wanted to pick Nolan Arenado and Manny Machado.  But the Nationals' Rendón is having a better season, and Machado is just not as consistent as Ramirez has been this season for the Indians.  One Dominican trumps the other; sorry, Manny.

CATCHER:  NL - Buster Posey, AL - Salvador Perez.  This one was also a bit difficult, because I could either go for the nostalgic favorite (Yadier Molina) or the player who is actually having a better season.  Posey is just the cutest thing, and he prefers to not get involved in bench-clearing brawls.  And Perez is having the best season of all American League catchers, so why not pick him?  You all know how much I love catchers - this decision was not made lightly!

OUTFIELD:  NL - Charlie Blackmon, Bryce Harper, Ender Inciarte, AL - Adam Jones, Aaron Judge, Carlos Beltrán.  Luckily we're allowed to pick three outfielders, because this was a tough one.  I picked the Nationals' Harper because he has hustle, plays hard, has great hair, and is having a better season than last year (and I like his T-Mobile commercial).  Charlie Blackmon of the Colorado Rockies is a quirky guy with an ugly beard, but he's a darn good baseball player.  And Inciarte plays for the Braves, who are a far cry from the Maddux/Glavine/Smoltz era, but he's still a good player and deserves to be in the All-Star team.  Amercan League-wise, I chose Adam Jones because he's super-cool and I want to be like him when I grow up; Aaron Judge because he's hitting more home runs than Babe Ruth and dealing with the pressures of being a Yankee quite nicely (despite having really bad teeth), and Carlos Beltrán, well, because he's Carlos Beltrán.  The "experts" thought he was washed out years ago, but he keeps on ticking.  So Carlos, who happens to be Puerto Rican, gets my vote.

Then we had to vote for a Designated Hitter, but for the American League only.  This year's All-Star Game is in Miami (a National League ballpark), so I'm not sure why a DH is necessary (you all know how much I disagree with the whole DH thing!).  Nevertheless, I chose the Mariners' Nelson Cruz because he's badass and is a former Oriole.  That was an easy one.

So once my ballot was complete, I was faced with one of those "captcha" verification thingies where you have to type in the warped-looking numbers on the screen to make sure you're not a robot.  Once I typed them in (it took me a couple of tries, because visually-impaired people don't handle those things very well), my vote was cast and another "captcha" showed up.  I typed that one in, and my second vote was cast.  I initially only wanted to vote once, but since they made it so easy to vote multiple times, I cast my five allotted ballots and called it a day.  I apparently can do this five more times tomorrow, but I won't, because I'm old-fashioned and I don't believe in stuffing ballot boxes.  But at least now I officially have the right to complain if some of my guys don't make the All-Star team.  Gone are the days of hanging chads and illegible ballots; casting your vote on mlb.com is pretty much a piece of cake.

Phew! I'm Back!

Mercy me!  It's hard to believe that I hadn't blogged in over a month!  May was utterly crazy with 3 family birthdays, my daughter's 8th-grade graduation, my son's hectic and unpredictable baseball schedule, and house guests.  Now that life has settled down a little and my husband and I have returned from our vacation in Italy (sans kids - it was just terrible!), I can finally take a breath and focus on my blog.


A lot happened in Major League Baseball during my hiatus - the Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw no-hit the Rockies, Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn passed away, and my husband and I went to Nationals Park to watch the Nats gets their butts kicked by Yu Darvish and the Texas Rangers.  But hey, my Nationals are in first place in the NL East, so there's that.


One thing I've neglected to do this season, which I usually do in May, is to submit my All-Star ballot.  Since it's better to do it late than not do it at all, I went ahead and voted earlier today (it's Primary Day here in Frederick, so why not vote?).  Some of my usual players are there (Miggy, Canó, Yadier) and some are new (Blackmon, Prado, Perez).  Here are the players who got my vote and the reasoning behind my selections:


AMERICAN LEAGUE
First base:  Sorry, Orioles fans; the Tigers' Miguel Cabrera always gets my vote.  Until he decides to have a crappy year or switch to DH, he will always get my vote over Chris Davis.


Second base:  I could have voted for José Altuve, but just like with first base, Robinson Canó always gets my vote.  He is just bad-ass, especially since he's no longer a Yankee.


Shortstop:  Alexei Ramirez of the Chicago White Sox gets my vote this year.  Not voting for Derek Jeter should come as no surprise to you if you've read my blog in the past.


Third base:  I really wanted to vote for Manny Machado, but since he was out for the beginning of the season, I had to go with the Rangers' Adrian Beltre.  He's batting .309 so far this season, so there.


Designated Hitter:  As much as I hate the DH, I forced myself to vote so I would have a full ballot.  No, I did not vote for "Big Papi" or for the Tigers' Victor Martinez - the Orioles' Nelson Cruz got my vote, because he has proven that you can come back from a drug suspension and still kick butt.  Not that I think he should have taken PEDs in the first place, but if MLB is going to give him a second chance, he has certainly made good lemonade out of his lemons.  Plus I had to vote for an Oriole.


Outfield:  This is the hardest category by far.  I wanted to vote for six players, but I had to cut it down to Alex Gordon of the Royals and the Blue Jays' Melky Cabrera and José Bautista.  That left out Nick Markakis and Adam Jones of the O's and Mike Trout of the Angels.   Sorry guys; I can't vote for EVERYONE!


NATIONAL LEAGUE
First base:  I voted for Adam LaRoche because he can play a mean first base and he's leading the Nationals in batting.  He'll probably be named as a reserve player, but at least I can say I voted for a Nationals player.


Second base:  I had to vote for the Pirates' Neil Walker even though I love Anthony Rendón of the Nationals, because Walker is just having a better year and Rendón has been playing at third base lately.  Chase Utley is having a good season too, but I don't vote for Phillies players, so he's out.


Shortstop:  Troy Tulowitzki of the Colorado Rockies, hands down!


Third base:  I chose Martín Prado of the Arizona Diamondbacks because Chipper Jones and Mike Schmidt are retired.


Catcher:  Sigh!  Jonathan Lucroy of the Milwaukee Brewers is having a great season, but I had to go with my Puerto Rican heart and vote for the Cardinals' Yadier Molina.  He's kind of trashy, but he's the best catcher in the game today.


Outfield:  I left out the three "P"s who are playing well - Angel Pagán, Yasiel Puig, and Hunter Pence - and voted for three players who are playing better:  Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates, Charlie Blackmon of the Rockies, and Carlos Gomez of the Brewers. 


So there you have it - now I have to wait and see how many of the players I voted for end up making the All-Star team.  So much of it is a popularity contest, but I like to think that I actually put some thought into my voting.  Enjoy the last 3 weeks of the first half of the season, and don't forget to watch some World Cup soccer too!