All-Star snubs a small-roster, not small-market problem
THE ALL-STAR rosters evoke the worst in aggrieved America, especially our growing tolerance for conspiracy theory. Sixty-four players make it and, like the 68 teams that make the NCAA Tournament field, there are going to be screams of those “snubbed.” Trust me, if it were 74 players/ teams, it would be the same. No matter how large the pool, someone eventually has to be left out.
The case of Tampa Bay’s Blake Snell brought out the worst of the anger this year when he was not initially named to the AL squad. I get it. He leads the AL in ERA.
But for those screaming that he was jobbed because of being in a small market, then why did five Indians make it? How the heck did three — — Reds infielders make it? Why didn’t the Mets’ Brandon Nimmo, Dodgers’ Max Muncy and Red Sox’s Andrew Benintendi make it from big markets?
Then there are those blaming the media, a familiar punching bag. I don’t mind the ones for which we are responsible, but the All-Star teams are assembled by fan vote, player vote and the Commissioners Office. I had as much to do with this as voting for Brexit.
The problem arises from having to shoehorn at least one player from all 15 teams in a league into 31 spots (remember the fans pick the 32nd spot in a final five-player runoff ) when the fans and players pick the majority of All-Stars. When the fan/player voting was done, the Commissioners Office had five slots left and five teams not yet represented, so they had to pick a player from the A’s, Blue Jays, Rangers, Tigers and Twins. An extra spot was created because Houston’s Justin Verlander is starting Sunday and will not pitch in Tuesday’s game. The Commissioners Office tabbed Trevor Bauer from the teeming metrop- olis of Cleveland to replace him.
By the way, Bauer also is lined up to start Sunday, which means Snell very well might take his spot, which would unleash fury from Seattle that it was not James Paxton, or from somewhere else. There is no getting this perfect.
Three to think about
1. If the season ended Sunday, the teams with the second-best records in 15-team leagues — the Yankees in the AL and the Cubs in the NL — would both be hosting a wild-card game. Does that sound fair to folks?
2. The top nine home-run hitters in the majors going into Monday were righty or switch-hitters. Lefties Bryce Harper and Joey Gallo were among those tied for 10th with 21 homers. Ten years ago, in 2008, the top three homer hitters in the majors were all lefties: Ryan Howard, Adam Dunn and Carlos Delgado.
3. The Yankees bullpen finished Sunday with 11.7 strikeouts per nine innings. The record for a season is 10.9 by last year’s Yankees pen. They had held opponents to a .199 batting average. The record for a season is .202 by the 2001 Mariners.