Boston All-Stars (Deserving or Otherwise)
The Boston Red Sox will send seven representatives to this year’s All-Star Game in The Bronx. The defending World Champions were expected to have a heavy representation in the 2008 edition of the Mid Summer Classic, but the identity of one of the players comes as a bit of a surprise, and dare I say it, an example of a glaring flaw in the system.
Your 2008 Boston All-Stars:
David Ortiz
He hasn’t had his typical Herculean season thus far, and he’s missed time with an injury. But, he’s more or less the 21st Century Cal Ripken: amicable and wildly popular with the fans, and an ambassador of the game. It’s a moot point, as he’s unable to play this year.
Kevin Youkilis
The exact opposite of David Ortiz. Not the most popular guy in the game, but he does have a 138 OPS+ to go along with Gold Glove defense. A fine choice at a surprisingly thin position.
Dustin Pedroia
A month ago today, I would have said DP is the least deserving All-Star in the bunch. Wow, have things changed. Dustin has been the hottest hitter in baseball, hitting .467/.490/.739 since Flag Day. A deserving choice for second base.
Manny Ramirez
The elephant in the corner is that Manny is in a severe slump, hitting .143/.333/.257 in his last 11 games. But, he’s uber-popular and another fan choice, and his year has been decent overall. There are more deserving outfielders, but Manny’s election is not a disgrace by any means.
J.D. Drew
Here’s the selection I was hoping for. I wasn’t really sure J.D. would make it, as his hitting has leveled off recently and there is no shortage of talented outfielders in the American League. If you’ve been reading this blog at all in the past calendar year, you’ll know that this guy has been a favorite of mine for a while. Fortunately, the stars have aligned and Drew will get his very first All-Star nomination via the Player Vote (more on this later).
Jonathan Papelbon
Despite coughing up a few seeing-eye singles in the Bronx last night, Papelbon is on a short list of elite relief pitchers in baseball, and deserves to represent his league. Another guy elected via the Player Vote.
Jason Varitek
For some background, check out Jeff’s piece on Varitek here. On a pure numbers basis ‘Tek is probably the least deserving All-Star I have ever seen in my lifetime. Varitek currently profiles as a decent defensive catcher with a sub-par throwing arm, and his offensive numbers in 2008 are atrocious. There are six or seven catchers in the American League who have had better seasons than Jason. Varitek was elected by the aforementioned Player Vote, which is a new policy used in tandem with Bud Selig’s much-maligned brainchild: awarding World Series home field advantage to the winner. The players felt that Varitek is the 2nd best catcher in the league this year behind starter Joe Mauer.
Normally, I don’t really like to criticize the evaluations of players. These guys are playing professional baseball, and I stopped playing the sport when I was 15. I’m typing this in an office where I should be doing real work, and the people who voted for Jason Varitek live and breathe the game of baseball at its highest level. I am the definition of “an untrained eye”. I just can’t reconcile the numbers with the intangibles in this case. I just can’t imagine a scenario where Varitek’s contributions to Boston in 2008 have more significant than, say, A.J. Pierzynski’s in Chicago.
Ultimately, as a Red Sox fan, I am happy for Varitek on some level. There is just an air of awkwardness surrounding his inclusion on the roster, and it’s unfortunate that there will likely be 100 blogs and articles echoing my thoughts in the last few paragraphs here.
This is terrible for the MLB. Jason Varitek could have gone into the season batting 100 and still making the team well he did do a little bettter batting 223 i believe.
It reminds me of when Mike Williams made the team for Pittsburgh with an ERA of 4213.23
I am wondering if this is the players way of giving jason his last hurrah at the all star game, understanding the implications of his declining abilities.
George, tenn.