All-Star picks
MLB fans pick the real All-Star starters. Players and the managers who led their teams to the World Series last year choose the pitchers and reserves. The teams were announced Sunday, but Yahoo! Sports baseball experts Tim Brown, Jeff Passan and Steve Henson picked the players they'd like to see in the All-Star game.
JEFF PASSAN'S PICKS Not exactly packing the punch of past years, huh? Even though the AL thumped the NL in interleague play, young pitching is now its hallmark. So take this lineup for what it is: a nice group of hitters, though nowhere close to the boppers of years past. One pre-emptive footnote: If Evan Longoria doesn't make the team – and, with the backup third-base spot between him and Mike Lowell, he won't – it means there will, in all likelihood, be only one All-Star from the best team in baseball. Get your All-Snub squad ready. | TIM BROWN'S PICKS It's been a long way back from first overall pick to tattoo parlor to rehab center to Rule 5 draft to whatever all happened in between, but here stands Josh Hamilton, nine years after that draft, still only 27 years old, and poised for his first All-Star game. When the road less traveled turns out to be the Major Deegan Expressway, you can be sure the only footprints are your own. | STEVE HENSON'S PICKS Carlos Quentin and Jermaine Dye of the White Sox are the only deserving starters from a first-place team, illustrating the impressive depth and teamwork of the Rays and Angels as well as the fact that one or two stars does not a winner make. How else to explain the three starters from Texas, and another Ranger on the bench? All the finger-pointing at Ichiro for his alleged role in poisoning the Mariners' clubhouse comes off a tad too convenient for me, and I'm not going to ignore that he's first or second among AL outfielders in runs, hits and stolen bases. Or that he's easily the best player on his team. | ||
Starters Reserves | Starters Reserves | Starters Reserves | ||
Pitchers | Pitchers | Pitchers | ||
Starter: | Starter: | Starter: | ||
JEFF PASSAN'S PICKS From home plate to the second-base bag 127 feet away, the NL makes the AL look like the junior circuit. There were three great catchers, so we went three. And three phenomenal first basemen, so three there, too. And the two best second basemen in baseball. Plus the two best shortstops. Plenty of depth at third as well. The outfield gets a little leery, though I'm agreeing with the fans and giving Ken Griffey Jr. a spot because it would be nice to see the third natural member of the 600-home run club in the Home Run Derby. Anyway, it's nice to see some new blood – Ryan Ludwick, Nate McLouth, and, yes, Pat Burrell would be first-time All-Stars. | TIM BROWN'S PICKS Yeah, yeah, it counts. Somebody send the memo to the National League, which hasn't won one of these since 1996. And, well, this year it's looking good for the NLers. Not only do they have two guys in the starting lineup who generated some .400 speculation, but did you know that Pat Burrell has hit 19 home runs in 272 career at-bats in New York City? OK, so 18 are at Shea. But it could be a New York thing. I'm just sayin'. | STEVE HENSON'S PICKS Illustration No. 1,001 on the beauty of baseball: Not a single person on the planet would have proposed before the season that the starting NL All-Star outfield would come down to a tough call between Nate McLouth, Pat Burrell, Corey Hart and Ryan Ludwick. The infield, by contrast, is more potent and deep than that of the AL. Ken Griffey Jr. gets a lifetime achievement nod. Russell Martin, in only his third season, has earned squatter's rights over Brian McCann and Geovany Soto until one of them clearly surpasses him. I can't wait to watch switch-hitters Lance Berkman and Chipper Jones bat back-to-back. | ||
Starters Reserves | Starters Reserves | Starters Reserves | ||
Pitchers | Pitchers | Pitchers | ||
Starter: | Starter: | Starter: | ||
Jeff Passan is a national baseball writer for Yahoo! Sports. Send Jeff a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast. | Tim Brown is a national baseball writer for Yahoo! Sports. Send Tim a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast. | Steve Henson is the MLB editor for Yahoo! Sports. Send Steve a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast. |