As promised in last week’s recap, this is the Riff’s Baseball All Star Team. This will not be your father’s or son’s All Star team. It just is…..
I only picked starters. After the official team is announced, I will riff on that and put in my .02 worth on the reserves.
National League:
C- Brian McCann, Atlanta Geovany Soto and Russell Martin would make good backups
1B- Lance Berkman, Houston. Barely. If Albert Pujols had not been injured, the choice is him.
2B- Chase Utley, Philadelphia. A top MVP candidate.
SS- Cristian Guzman, Washington. I’d love to see a Riot in the All Star game, but why not Guzman??
3B- Who else but Chipper Jones?? Having an awesome season!
RF- Kosuke Fukodome, Cubs. Has changed an entire team’s approach to hitting.
CF- Nate McClouth, Pittsburgh. One of the rare shining stars in Pittsburgh.
LF- Matt Holiday, Colorado. Will he get traded?
DH- Albert Pujols. Injury cost him a shot at starting in the field.
SP- Brandon Webb, Arizona. Scary good
RP- Brad Lidge, Philadelphia. Good way to close things out.
American League:
C- Joe Mauer, Minnesota. Think the Cubs regret drafting Prior??
1B- Kevin Youkilis, Boston. One sane spot in Boston??
2B- Ian Kinsler, Texas. Don’t ask me who this is; his stats looked better than the others.
SS- Michael Young, Texas. Does he ever get his just due?
3B- Alex Rodriguez, NY Yankees. Do we now call A-Rod the Material Guy??
RF- Jermaine Dye, Chicago
CF- Josh Hamilton, Texas. Everyone loves a good redemption story
LF- Carlos Quentin, Chicago
DH- Milton Bradley, Texas
SP- Cliff Lee, Cleveland. Remember when his ERA was under 1?
RP-Francisco Rodriguez, SoCal. Could be the only player who is a candiate for both MVP and Cy Young
Mid Season Awards:
MVP:
NL: Pujols, Berkman, Utley and Chipper Jones get top consideration
AL: No one stands out yet; Joe Mauer and perhaps Francisco Rodriguez
CY Young:
NL: Brandon Webb
AL: Francisco Rodriguez, Cliff Lee
Manager Of The Year:
NL: Charlie Manuel, Lou Pinella,
AL: Joe Maddon, Tampa Bay (also consider Mike Scioscia)
Surprise Teams: Tampa Bay, Minnesota, Florida, St. Louis
Hunter Flops: Detroit, NY Mets, Arizona for the fact that they are .500
So…who will make the playoffs?
NL: Philadelphia, Chicago, St.Louis, Arizona
AL: Boston, Tampa Bay, Chicago, SoCal
New World Series prediction: Chicago vs. SoCal
Good list except for your NL cy young. Check out volquez, haren, lincecum.
re: Volquez and Lincecum have pitched arguably better than Webb with much worse run support. They deserve accolades, not Webb.
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LB23
re: When a Cubs fan is predicting a World Series appearance you know things have turned upside down. With an Obama victory and a Cubs title change will be the theme of the year. White Sox fans and Republicans might say the Mayans were four years off on their end of the world prediction.
so sick of guys like Jeter Hall of Famer? Yes. But I hate how the All-Star selections are by-and-large a popularity contest. The best performing players of the 1st half of the season should go. Michael Young, you should be the starting SS for the AL.
- Freddie Footballer