What you see below is proof positive that I should never, ever be in charge of putting together an All-Star team. Two starters for the Yankees, a team that until a week ago was dead in the water? Are you serious? And I'm a Red Sox fan! This should be illegal. Rest assured, it used to be worse – at one point, if you can imagine it, I had two Devil Rays in the starting nine.
Yes, I feel I know a lot about baseball – why do you ask? But anyway…all this crappiness shouldn't stop me from trying to put together the perfect squad, right? Right. So here we go, two teams – first the starters, then the reserves, then the pitchers. In a perfect world, we'll end up with a pair of 25-man rosters representing every team in the American and National Leagues. I refuse, however, to sink so low as including someone the likes of Mark Redman. I'll take a minor leaguer first.
American League - Starters
Catcher – Jorge Posada, New York Yankees (.358 BA, 7 HR, 40 RBI) - (photo)
First Base – D
avid Ortiz, Boston Red Sox (.330, 11, 42)
Second Base – B.J. Upton, Tampa Bay Devil Rays (.320, 9, 41)
Third Base – Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees (.304, 24, 63)
Shortstop – Orlando Cabrera, Los Angeles Angels (.335, 3, 35)
Outfield – Grady Sizemore, Cleveland Indians (.285, 11, 32)
Outfield – Torii Hunter, Minnesota Twins (.308, 13, 49)
Outfield – Magglio Ordonez, Detroit Tigers (.367, 13, 56)
Bench
Catcher - Victor Martinez, Cleveland Indians (.319, 12, 54)
First Base – Justin Morneau, Minnesota Twins (.273, 17, 46)
Shortstop – Michael Young, Texas Rangers (.284, 4, 36)
Center Field – Carl Crawford, Tampa Bay Devil Rays (.304, 6, 38)
Utility – Kevin Youkilis, Boston Red Sox (.336, 8, 32)
Starting Pitcher – Danny Haren, Oakland Athletics (7-2 W-L, 1.58 ERA, 76 K)
Starting Pitcher – Josh Beckett, Boston Red Sox (9-0, 2.88, 67)
Starting Pitcher – John Lackey, Los Angeles Angels (9-4, 2.60, 67)
Starting Pitcher – Gil Meche, Kansas City Royals (3-6, 3.16, 68)
Starting Pitcher – Chad Gaudin, Oakland Athletics (6-1, 2.43, 51)
Starting Pitcher – C.C. Sabathia, Cleveland Indians (9-1, 3.09, 89)
Starting Pitcher – Erik Bedard, Baltimore Orioles (4-4, 3.72, 103)
Relief Pitcher – J.J. Putz, Seattle Mariners (18 saves, 1.23, 31)
Relief Pitcher – Francisco Rodriguez, Los Angeles Angels (19 saves, 2.36, 37)
Relief Pitcher – Bobby Jenks, Chicago White Sox (17 saves, 2.59, 23)
Relief Pitcher – Brian Tallett, Toronto Blue Jays (2-1, 1.80, 20)
Relief Pitcher – Joe Nathan, Minnesota Twins (14 saves, 1.98, 28)
National League - Starters
Catcher – Russell Martin, Los Angeles Dodgers (.299, 7, 40) 
- (photo)
First Base – Prince Fielder, Milwaukee Brewers (.298, 23, 51)
Second Base – Chase Utley, Philadelphia Phillies (.302, 11, 48)
Third Base – Miguel Cabrera, Florida Marlins (.333, 14, 47)
Shortstop – Jose Reyes, New York Mets (.310, 2, 28)
Outfield – Matt Holliday, Colorado Rockies (.352, 10, 46)
Outfield – Ken Griffey, Jr., Cincinnati Reds (.284, 15, 36)
Outfield – Eric Byrnes, Arizona Diamondbacks (.319, 9, 33)
Bench
Catcher – Bengie Molina, San Francisco Giants (.308, 6, 33)
First Base – Dmitri Young, Washington Nationals (.342, 6, 33)
First Base – Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals (.299, 15, 40)
Shortstop – Edgar Renteria, Atlanta Braves (.325, 9, 33)
Outfield – Barry Bonds, San Francisco Giants (.276, 12, 28)
Outfield – Jason Bay, Pittsburgh Pirates (.286, 11, 45)
Starting Pitcher – Jake Peavy, San Diego Padres (7-1, 1.97, 95)
Starting Pitcher – Cole Hamels, Philadelphia Phillies (8-2, 3.57, 96)
Starting Pitcher – Rich Hill, Chicago Cubs (5-4, 2.71, 74)
Starting Pitcher – Brad Penny, Los Angeles Dodgers (7-1, 2.26, 54)
Starting Pitcher – John Smoltz, Atlanta Braves (7-3, 2.83, 69)
Starting Pitcher – John Maine, New York Mets (6-3, 2.78, 66)
Starting Pitcher – Ben Sheets, Milwaukee Brewers (6-3, 3.21, 54)
Relief Pitcher – Takashi Saito, Los Angeles Dodgers (17 saves, 1.73, 32)
Relief Pitcher – Billy Wagner, New York Mets (14 saves, 1.65, 36)
Relief Pitcher – Trevor Hoffman, San Diego Padres (18 saves, 2.16, 17)
Relief Pitcher – Jose Valverde, Arizona Diamondbacks (21 saves, 3.33, 29)
Relief Pitcher – Francisco Cordero, Milwaukee Brewers (22 saves, 2.05, 37)
So who comes out of this mess with the win? The counterintuitive choice would be the National League. The Senior Circuit representatives have dropped 15 of 19 since 1988, including the last nine that didn't end in a tie, which I believe is what those folks who believe in statistical analysis refer to as a "trend" (or maybe it's a "fluke" – I really don't know). My heart says that choosing the National League is the way to go – all streaks have to end at some point – but my brain is telling me to take the dominant American League (home field advantage, baby!), so that's the direction I'm headed. AL 7, NL 3, with Upton (photo) announcing his presence with authority and winning the MVP.
I want to thank Brian for his time and effort with his selections....it is much appreciated...
Here are today's links
For one time the referee does not call a foul on Bruce Bowen....
Akron Beacon-Journal’s Terry Pluto writes how everything is not going the Cavs way in the series...
Detroit Tigers Justin Verlander throws a no-hitter last night against the Milwaukee Brewers...
Washington Post’s John “Junior” Feinstein writes about who is better - Tiger or Roger?...
Detroit Free-Press’ Mitch Albom writes about his interview with Jack Kevorkian...
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