A Little MLB

I was just checking my fantasy baseball team's lineup for today when I noticed this note next to Jimmy Rollins...

"SS Jimmy Rollins' average is .222, the lowest it has been this late in a season in his nine full seasons in the majors. Yet Rollins is leading NL shortstops in All-Star votes, according to results released Monday. Rollins (936,377 votes) leads Florida SS Hanley Ramirez (871,917)."

And that, my friends, is why the MLB All-Star game is a complete joke. The fans get to pick the starters, and the fans just vote for their favorite players. Rollins is in no way, shape, or form an All-Star this year. He's more like a festering pile of dogcrap, or at least a blight on the Philadelphia Phillies' community. The guy probably shouldn't even be allowed to come and watch the All-Star game. He should be forced to sit in a corner with his face towards the wall during that time so he can think about what he did this season. Shame on you, Jimmy!

The same thing happened last year... Jason Varitek was hugging the Mendoza Line, barely hitting over .200, when out of nowhere, he is given the right to trot out and represent the American League in the annual Junior v. Senior Circuit Classic. I guess people just don't care about picking the best players to be All-Stars anymore... they'd rather hand that right to any jackass who plays for their favorite team. Take me for example... I absolutely despise the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Rox. I hate them with the white-hot passion of 10,000 Chicago Fires. However, that's not going to stop me from voting for Kevin Youkilis or Mark Teixeira for the All-Star game... those guys have earned it, in spite of the craptastic uniforms that they put on every day. It'd be an absolute farce to not vote these two guys into the All-Star game, but you never have to worry about that with a Yankee or a Red Sock... the fans will always vote them in. But a guy like Hanley Ramirez who plays in Florida? Nobody but fantasy baseball players and the 17 Florida Marlins fans know who he is. The casual fan saw Jimmy Rollins playing in the World Series last year though, and so they assume he is a good choice for the AS game.

Like I said before... the MLB All-Star game is a joke, so what I would love to see is a committee of baseball people who can overrule fan votes if they're for obviously undeserving players. Tha way we would always get to see the players who were most deserving of the spots, and guys who have worked hard all season would be rewarded. That'd be swell.