ryan@fremen.DEC (Mike Ryan DTN 264-8280 MK01-2/H32) (06/18/85)
Having the fans vote for the All-Star team is absurd!!! The result
is that the All-Star team consists of players
A. who are heading for the Hall of Fame - in 5 years (i.e. - Rod Carew),
or
B. play for teams in cities where ballot-stuffing for the locals is the
tradition. "Vote early and often for the players on our team"...
As opposed to the players who are playing like All-Stars this year. Also,
with the ballots printed up so early, rookies and players who haven't done
well in the past don't show up on the ballots and thus don't stand a chance
of winning the vote.
Fenway has a little class about it, at least - there is no mention of
the Red Sox players, fans are told to vote for "the most deserving players
in each league". And the fans here do, which means the only starting Red
Sox player will probably be Oil Can Boyd.
I mean, hell, the last I heard Rich Gedman was running LAST among AL
catchers! That is absurd - he's in the top 10 in the league in batting
average, has 5 homers and 30 RBIs, has been throwing out runners
consistently all year (the Toronto Blue Jays can tell you a thing or two
about him - they lead the league in stolen bases, but in several attempts
in their series against the Sox they only got one stolen base off Gedman;
he also picked a Blue Jay off second). And if you don't think the catcher
has a little something to do with it when your young starters are
performing like the Red Sox starters (Boyd, Clemens, Ojeda, Nipper) have
been, you just don't know baseball.
The All-Star teams should be elected by the players, so we have All-Star
teams consisting of the best baseball players rather than the most
popular.
Mike Ryan
ARPA: ryan%fremen.DEC@DECWRL.ARPA
UUCP: {decvax,allegra,ihnp4,ucbvax,...}!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-fremen!ryandpb@philabs.UUCP (Paul Benjamin) (06/21/85)
> Having the fans vote for the All-Star team is absurd!!! > I mean, hell, the last I heard Rich Gedman was running LAST among AL > catchers! That is absurd - he's in the top 10 in the league in batting > average, has 5 homers and 30 RBIs, has been throwing out runners ... > The All-Star teams should be elected by the players, so we have All-Star > teams consisting of the best baseball players rather than the most > popular. > > Mike Ryan > ARPA: ryan%fremen.DEC@DECWRL.ARPA > UUCP: {decvax,allegra,ihnp4,ucbvax,...}!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-fremen!ryan Needless to say, this argument applies to many fine players on many teams. Speaking of catchers, how about Tony Pena of Pittsburgh? Playing in a weak line-up, his offensive stats aren't up to his par (he normally heats up when the weather does, anyway.) But his defense is amazing. Even in years when his offense has been great, he doesn't come close to election to the All-Star team. This whole argument seems academic. Ueberroth wants to make the whole game of baseball more of a fans' game (which in general appeals greatly), but won't return the voting for the All-Star game to the players & coaches, where it belongs. They alone really KNOW who is good.
electrohome@watcgl.UUCP (electrohome) (06/24/85)
tell me about it! the best ranking in the all-star voting
by a blue jay is eighth! and may i call your attention to:
1) tony fernandez is doing an imitation of a vacuum cleaner
at short and is breezing along with a batting average of
.306!
2) ernie whitt has stats of .287 with 7 hr's and 26 rbi.
3) george bell has 12 homers with a batting average of .286
and 41 ribbies.
4) damaso garcia is batting .281 this year, supplemented
with his usual defensive skills.
5) the third base tandem of garth iorg and rance mulliniks.
iorg is hitting .340 and mulliniks is hitting .311.
<note: i am not proposing that any of them except fernandez really
deserve to start the all-star game but they should be getting
more recognition!>
pitching-wise, it would be interesting to see who sparky
selects as the all-star game starter this year. will it be
oil can boyd? his own jack morris? i contend that toronto has
two talents that should be noted. of course, you all know about
dave stieb. he lowered his e.r.a. to 2.09 with a win against
the red sox today. how about jimmy key, though? key has
had several stellar performances (he no-hit the tigers for 9 innings
a few weeks ago and has a 5-2 record with an e.r.a. of 2.30.
that 5-2 should be 7-2 or 8-2 except for some games where he
ran up against lousy offensive support. it'll be interesting to see ...
----
carlo sgro
...!watmath!watcgl!electro!carlo
the opinions expressed are totally mine, although they should
be yours, too.
they are not the opinion of electrohome canada or the university
of waterloo (i'm not sure who either of *them* cheer for).ted@hp-pcd.UUCP (ted) (06/27/85)
I agree 100 percent that the way the all stars are selected now it is just a popularity contest. The fans select who they know and like, not the player whom is truely playing in all star form. I propose that baseball have two all star games. Keep the one that they have now in the middle of the season. The fans will then get to see who they want play each other. Then when the season is over and after the World Series, play another all star game that the players select based on their performances through out the entire season. The players (and coaches) can only select players that are not on their own team. This way we will be able to see a true all star game and not just a popular star game. Its just an idea..... Ted Ransom