and if you don’t like your picks, in a couple days cast again.
As I do everyday, I visited MLB.com early last week and was horrified to find that after just two weeks of regular season games, I could cast a vote for the 2007 All-Star Game. I promptly clicked on the not-so-elusive header, filled out the required information including the security, validation, verification code (I hate those things) and started sorting through the names of all the great players at each position.
On my first impulse, I started checking off the guys I thought should be there based on their perennial statistics and big name draw. Click. Morneau. Click. Cano. Click. Jeter. Click A-Rod. Click, click, click… you get the point. After I was done, I found myself feeling dirtier than a 28-year-old male shopping the newest line of Alyssa Milano MLB clothing thinking his wife might enjoy the next game if she slipped into “something a little more comfortable.” In retrospect, I was violating everything I stood for and it wasn’t the first time I’ve done it either.
Year after year, I find myself voting for the players I wanted to see play a position based solely on greed. To compound the problem, right after I hit submit vote, there’s this link telling me to do it again–as if it were saying “It won’t hurt anyone, all the cool kids are doing it, it’ll make you look cooler.”
So I closed the browser window and stared at the MLB.com Shop page that was open before I went to the All-Star voting page and looked into Alyssa’s eyes. If she wasn’t afraid to call out Derek Jeter, with his Grammys on the floor beside his bed, his Oscars cluttering up the night stand and the pile of SAG cards under his sheets, why am I afraid to vote for the real guys who deserve a chance to be an All-Star this year?
What’s the answer? At this point in the season, that’s all I could do. For all I know, A-Rod might not hit another HR this half of the year. Ichiro might only get stuck on his 17 hits in the first ½ of the season. You just never know how the first half of the season is going to turn out at 2 weeks into the season.
However, for me and for those who have voted already, there is good news. Besides saving a bunch of money on car insurance by switching to Geico, we have the opportunity to vote 24 more times until June 31st and that is exactly what I am going to do. I plan on waiting until there is about 1 week left in the voting. Then I’m going to make 24 educated decisions on who I think deserves to be a 2007 All-Star.
To divulge fully, my first vote was:
First Base: Morneau, J., MIN
Second Base: Cano, R., NYY
Third Base: Rodriguez, A., NYY
Shortstop: Jeter, D., NYY
Catcher: Posada, J., NYY
Outfielder: Guerrero, V., LAA
Outfielder: Sizemore, G., CLE
Outfielder: Wells, V., TOR
First Base: Pujols, A., STL
Second Base: Utley, C., PHI
Third Base: Jones, C., ATL
Shortstop: Rollins, J., PHI
Catcher: McCann, B., ATL
Outfielder: Beltran, C., NYM
Outfielder: Hall, B., MIL
Outfielder: Lee, C., HOU
If I could take it back, 2 weeks into the season, I would have chosen:
1B – Ortiz
2B – Kinsler
3B – A-Rod
SS – Jeter
OF – Vlad, Sizemore, Abreu
C – Mauer
1B – D-Lee
2B – Weeks
3B – Miggy Cabrera
SS – Reyes
OF – Beltran, Bonds, Carlos Lee
C - McCann
Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not telling anyone not to vote now, but I would use caution. The players you choose right now might not be worthy in two months, or worse, they might get injured and miss the event all together. Worse, they might even get replaced by a player you despise. Ted Lilly, a 2007 All-Star?
Jay, The Technical Advisor