Fun With Numbers

Well, now we know why CC Sabathia and Rich Harden were conspicuously absent from the AL all star roster. But there are still some rather curious members of both squads. I understand that fans are idiots, so they vote in an injured David Ortiz or a pointless Ko-suck-e Fuckyoudome. But you'd think major league coaching staffs would know better. In this segment, I'll be taking some curious all stars that were appointed by the managers, and comparing them to similar players at the same position who were left off the team. Enjoy!

1. Brian Wilson, RP- San Fransisco. 4.37 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 39 K, 24 saves.

Damaso Marte, RP- Pittsburgh. 3.38 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 44 K, 16 holds, 2 saves.
Jon Rauch, RP- Washington. 2.44 ERA, .97 WHIP, 41 K, 17 saves.
Salomon Torres, RP- Milwaukee. 2.83 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 31 K, 15 saves, 5 holds.
Francisco Cordero, RP- Cincinnati. 2.43 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 44 K, 18 saves.
Brian Fuentes, RP- Colorado. 3.60 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 34 K, 14 saves, 6 holds.
Brandon Lyon, RP- Arizona. 2.50 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 27 K, 19 saves.
Jose Valverde, RP- Houston. 3.98 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 52 K, 22 saves.
Carlos Marmol, RP- Chicago. 3.55 ERA, .89 WHIP, 70 K, 25 holds.

The NL is clearly not at a loss for good relief pitching, so how a closer for a terrible team with an ERA approaching four and a half made it to the all star game is beyond me.

2. Jason Varitek, C- Boston. .215 AVG, .651 OPS, 7 HR, 27 RBI.

Ramon Hernandez, C- Baltimore. .243 AVG, .668 OPS, 7 HR, 33 RBI.
Kelly Shoppach, C- Cleveland. .260 AVG, .794 OPS, 7 HR, 20 RBI.

The list goes on and on. Varitek is terrible. He's completely washed up. His batting average is worse than Jose Molina's. Kelly Shoppach has put up far superior numbers to him, and as a backup, he's done it in 100 fewer at-bats. He's not even that good defensively-- he can't catch a knuckleball! Varitek does not deserve to be a starting catcher in the major leagues, let alone an all star.

3. Miguel Tejada, SS- Houston. .277 AVG, .749 OPS, 10 HR, 44 RBI, 7 SB 59 runs.

Jose Reyes, SS- Queens. .301 AVG, .845 OPS, 9 HR, 38 RBI, 32 SB, 67 runs.

I'm never one to stick up for Jo-ver Rey-ted, and I'm very happy that he's not on the all star team. But the fact is that the game is played in New York, which isn't far from where Reyes plays, and he is a very popular player, definitely someone fans would like to see. And he has better numbers than Tejada! Plus, it's awfully hard to justify putting Tejada on the team after all the steroid controversy surround him this year. I'm glad Reyes isn't there, but this decision is still unjustifiable.

One last note: all star voting should not be open to the Japanese. There's no reason for players like Ichiro and Ko-suck-e to be voted into the starting lineup. The game is played in America. Let's allow our country's fans to vote for more deserving players. (You know, like Dustin Pedroia.)