Hey now, you're an all-star...
 

Amidst the controversy of the Japanese fans stuffing the ballot box to get Hideki Matsui into the starting lineup(American fans have been doing it for years, why shouldn't they have the chance??) and the managers picking thier own players (another tradition)...

Mike Williams made the all-star team with an ERA of 6.29 and a record of 0-3.

I understand that the Pirates had to have a representative--this was the best they had to offer?

Aramis Ramirez is hitting .280 with 52 RBI. Even Kenny Lofton would be easier to understand than Mike Williams.

Do we really need a representative from every team if this is the best the team has to offer?

biran giles is good man, they should have put him in the outfield reserves. injured for a month but still batting 310 on a horrible team. ramirez is good too but not as good as giles.

ill agree that williams is a horrible choice... lots of blown saves and it doesnt take much to be a decent reliever (gagne or smoltz are the only relievers the all star games needs)

-alec

Isn;t that just ridiculous? That's a disgrace. I would hate to try to explain that to someone not familiar with the game.

Other notable exceptions;

Lance Carter over Baldelli or Aubrey Huff.
No Cory Koskie
No Dontrelle Willis
No Ivan Rodriguez


But then againg there are several guys every year that are deserving but get left off.

But the Mike Williams things is just absolutley sickening.

At least we got 5 Mariners.

No Milton Bradley in the AL.
No Orlando Cabrera in the NL.

Everyone has their own opinions on who should make the team. But the Mike Williams is not an All-Star. He's above average for what he does, and he may make some contender (READ: Boston after the Kim experiment fails) very happy.

Cheers to that!

I think the worst thing about the all-star selection process is having to include a representative from each team. Sometimes teams just don't have anyone worth having on the all-star squad, and being forced to take somebody who is only mediocre means that a legitimate all-star from another team will be taking the week off.

yet another gash in the bottom of the big leaking bag of dicks that major league baseball has become. the only thing that can save this game is my bo-sox pulling the world series sweep this year. GO SOX!!!!!!

bosox win the world series...My bet is in year 2084 when baseball is played by machines.

jadey and gov135 made great points about who was left off...combine that with Bobaphat comment about the ridiculousness of including a member from each team (regardless of how pitiful that team is).

If you take away representatives from Detroit, Pittsburgh, the Mets and others, you would have room for the more deserving players.

Before this year, none of this bothered me, but if MLB is trying to convince us that "This year, it means something", then show us that it means something, by getting the best players on the field.

i was sure that Rocco Baldelli was in, but then i see lance carter and i thought 'what a load of shit'

but come on Rocco is a really good player, he has a chance to win AL rookie of the year....if it wasnt for that yankee....look at Rocco's stats

forcing the squads to include a memeber form each team is what makes the all-star seletion so fun and ridiculous. of course some of it wont make sense, if it all did no one would care, there wouldnt be any speculation.

It's the coach/player voting system that is the problem. "Dontrelle Willis hasn't had enough starts to be in the all-star game!" Yea, lets see now. Kerry Wood, 9-6, pretty good offense to back him up. Dontrelle Willis 9-1 (or about that), and the MARLINS backing him up.

Bonds gets in and he takes every third or fourth game off, you don't hear anyone complaining about him not playing enough.

Double standard? Of course. Flawed voting system? Damn straight.