All-Stars, All the Time

Jason Michael Barker

If you're like me, you just realized that there are only a few days left to fill out a 2000 All-Star ballot, still you have yet to cast a single ballot over at seasonticket.com. Sure, you might have filled out one or two at the ballpark, but you can vote up to 25 times per e-mail address online, and that's certainly more efficient than poking out those little holes on the paper ballot with your house key.

Besides, stadium voting was completed on Tuesday, while online voting continues through Saturday.

That in mind, here's a quick look at who you should throw your support behind, beginning today with the American League. Look for the National League on Friday.

Catcher
Ivan Rodriguez currently leads this race by a large margin, and rightfully so. Pudge is having a big year for the Rangers, hitting .361 and slugging close to .700 thanks to 23 homers and 21 doubles. He's also probably perhaps the best defensive catcher I've ever seen play, for what that's worth. The usual negatives apply -- he doesn't walk much, and he hits into a ton of double plays -- but I'm still giving him a slight nod over Jorge Posada.

Speaking of Posada, the latest vote totals show that he's slipped to third behind Sandy Alomar Jr. Considering Pudge won't be caught in the voting, I say vote for Posada -- he certainly deserves to be ahead of the perpetually injured Alomar.

First Base
If it were up to me, I'd take Toronto's Carlos Delgado at the position over anyone else in the league. Delgado has always been a very good player, but he's exploded for 27 homers, a slugging percentage over .700 and an OBP of .476 thanks to 54 walks. He's currently languishing in sixth place, however, and at this point I'm not holding out hope for a comeback.

Delgado aside, the clear #2 candidate is Oakland's Jason Giambi. Some would argue that he's actually the #1 candidate, but that's neither here nor there -- point being, Giambi and Delgado are the only two worth discussing this season. Giambi currently holds a very slim lead over Jim Thome (those Cleveland fans really know how to stuff the ballot boxes, don't they?) for the top spot.

Jason Giambi needs you! If Thome (who wouldn't otherwise get an invitation) is elected, that means a deserving player like Giambi, Delgado, or Edgar Martinez will be left off the team. Get ye out and vote.

Second Base
Here's one where, frankly, it really doesn't matter how you vote. Roberto Alomar (Cleveland again!) holds a big lead over Chuck Knoblauch atop the voting, and while Alomar isn't having the greatest of years, he's probably the best of a mediocre bunch.

Chicago's Ray Durham offers a bit more pop and Baltimore's Delino DeShields a bit more on-base percentage, but Alomar's a good choice this year and has been for much of his career.

Third Base
As you might guess, the legend that is Cal Ripken Jr. looks to have this one locked up. The Iron Man has been an undeserving All-Star starter for years now -- I'm just glad he moved from shortstop so he's not blocking the likes of Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter and Nomar Garciaparra. Of course, right now all the fans who vote for Ripken are keeping down the best third baseman in the league, Troy Glaus.

Glaus, with 23 homers and a .429 OBP, currently sits third behind Ripken and Travis Fryman (here we go again). While we can't collectively catapult Glaus into the top spot, Fryman is within reach. If, for some reason, you don't like Glaus (or maybe just the Angels in general), cast your vote for Toronto's Tony Batista.

Shortstop
Last week it looked like this one would go down to the wire, but Alex Rodriguez has widened his lead over Derek Jeter in the latest vote totals released Tuesday. That's no reason NOT to vote for Rodriguez, however, because he's had a fabulous year thus far and as of this writing boasts the third-highest on-base percentage in the league. The only two players ahead of him are Jason Giambi and Carlos Delgado, both of whom we touched on earlier.

Outfield
I'm a bit surprised that Jermaine Dye is still leading the voting here. Sure he's having a good year, but he plays for the Royals, who aren't exactly drawing 50,000 fans every night. Further, after that hot-streak of "walk-off" wins early in the year, the Dye and the Royals haven't been making headlines. More power to him, thought.

It's actually been kind of a slow year for American League outfielders. Through Monday's games, there were only three AL outfielders with on-base percentages over .400. Likewise, there are only three boasting better than a 1.00 OPS (on-base plus slugging). Two of those overlap, and those are two of the three I'm voting for: Carl Everett and Darrin Erstad.

I'm tempted to go with Minnesota's Matt Lawton as my final outfielder, but considering he's not even in the top 20, that would be a wasted vote. Instead, I'll go with the aforementioned Dye, in the hopes that he can hold off Bernie Williams for the top spot.

Currently fourth, Carl Everett is going to need a big push to make the top three and win a starting spot. He's about 50,000 votes behind -- surprise -- Manny Ramirez, who has been hurt and certainly doesn't deserve to start.

Say, is it possible to use all three of my votes on Everett?

Oh.

about the author

Jason Michael Barker just wants you to know that he never bet on baseball. Inform him that the Commissioner heard about those childhood baseball card-tossing contests at jmb@strikethree.com.