Jun
09

Teixeira takes a slim lead in ASG voting

By Benjamin Kabak

With the All Star Game a little more than a month away, Mark Teixeira has taken a slim lead in the voting over Red Sox’s first baseman Kevin Youkilis. In the latest numbers released today, Teixeira and his hot streak have powered the Yanks’ slugger to a 1209-vote lead over the AL’s leading on-base man. In reality, either would be an acceptable All Star choice, but do we really want to see Youkilis starting with Teixeira on the bench?

In other voting news, Derek Jeter is the clear fan favorite at short, but Evan Longoria has emerged as the Junior Circuit’s leading vote-getter. Joe Mauer has a seemingly insurmountable lead behind the plate, but still 582,715 fans believe Jason Varitek is worthy of an All Star spot. What are they thinking?

Posted on Tuesday, June 9th, 2009 at 4:30 pm in All Star Game, Asides.

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47 Comments »

Roddy says:

Where is Arod in the vote getting?

882,131 votes behind Longoria but 2nd among AL third basemen. Missing that time with the injury didn’t help.

 
 
Charlie says:

the whole system of all star game voting sucks, by the way there’s no damon in the lineup tonight. i wonder what’s up with that

CountryClub says:
Charlie says:

oh, nevermind then

 
 
 
Dave says:

Not to nitpick, but it’s not 1 vote per person. People can vote many times per day for many days. I wouldn’t be surprised if Curt Shilling voted for Varitek 383,838 times now that he has a lot of time on his hands.

So someone votes their allotted 25 times. That’s still far too many people who think Varitek is an All Star.

A.D. says:

allotted 25 times…as if people into that don’t just use multiple email addresses.

I’m sure that’s what happened. One person has used 23,308 e-mail and IP addresses to vote 582,000 times for Jason Varitek.

Sweet Dick Willie says:

No, but you don’t think that there are 23,308 delusional Sux fans that voted for him 25 times each?

 
Dave says:

His name: Peter Gammons.

 
A.D. says:

Mandatory for ever ESPN intern to vote 50 times for Tek

 
I Remember Celerino Sanchez says:

There are those who think that wearing a C on your jersey makes you an all-star. Those people are seriously deluded, but, apparently, they vote.

Rich M says:

I thought that was there to remind him what position he played.

 
King of Fruitless Hypotheticals says:
 
 
 
 
Drew says:

*25 times per email address.

 
 
 
daneptizl says:

What are they thinkig: I want Super Catcher behind the plate.

 
pat says:

Wouldn’t albert why didn’t you eliminate them, pujols be considered the leading vote getter for the junior circuit?

Because he plays in the NL, and the Junior Circuit is only the AL.

pat says:

Hmm, I always thought of the NL as the Junior Circuit.

Because they suck.

 
 
 

Jeter’s not just a fan favorite, he’s also the correct choice. His .380 wOBA is tops among AL shortstops.

My adherence to dispassionate rationalism requires me to point out, however, that Ol’ Dead Squirrel-beard has been, by most every meaningful production measurement, the best offensive player in the AL this year and probably deserves to start over Teixeira. They’re both great first basemen; Mark had a bad April, Youk didn’t.

kunaldo says:

hush with your objectivity!!!

Peter says:

Good thing there is still 4 weeks left to vote and pile up stats.

 
 
 
UWS says:

What are they thinking?

They aren’t. And if they are thinking, I don’t want to know what it is.

 
Observer283 says:

Pat, the AL is the junior circuit because the NL was around first.

That Pujols commercial belongs in the pantheon of all time great ESPN commercials. And yes, he is a machine. Hope he doesn’t prevent the AL from getting homefield advatage in the WS.

pat says:

Ahh ok, thanks. You learn something new every day.

 
 
A.D. says:

Wonder if Cano, Damon, and A-Rod make the squad, even Posada, though he’s missed time with injury he’s been better than Salty or Tek. But figure Mauer and Victor Martinez could get it for the AL.

 

They’re thinking the same thing that people who think Jimmy Rollins should be the NL’s starting SS.

Completely different. Rollins is just an athlete, Varitek is an intelligent player who plays the game the right way. The man is full of intangibles. Those don’t show up on boxscores. The man has a GPI of 2.146!!!!!!

Tom Zig says:

GPI = Grit per inning?

 
 
 
jsbrendog says:

teams with better attendace i feel have an edge when theres not an overall superstar like longoria. because there is no limit to emails and ips when poking the holes out and stuffing the box at fenway.

 
Peter says:

Sox fans should vote Varitek onto the team. That’s why it’s called fan voting. Why not vote for your favorites?

Because if you are an intelligent fan of a team that has a chance to play in the World Series you should want the best possible team on the field.

 

Instructions at the top of the ballot:

“Please make your selections for the 2009 American League All-Star Team. Compare statistics by position and view video clips.”

It doesn’t say:

“Please vote for the guys who play for your team, even if they suck balls and you know there’s no freaking earthly way any sane human being would possibly think he’s better than Joe Mauer.”

 
 

My ballot:

AMERICAN
C-Joe Mauer
1B-CaptainCaveman
2B-Ian Kinsler
3B-Evan Longoria
SS-Derek Jeter
LF-JayRayBay
CF-Eric Davis II
RF-Nelson Cruz
DH-David Orti—HAHAHAHAHAH, oh, I could not make it through that with a straight face! Seriously, Adam Lind.

NATIONAL
C-Brian McCann
1B-Albert Poo-Holes
2B-Chase Utley
3B-Chipper Jones
SS-Hanley Ramirez
LF-As much as I thought I’d never write this, Raul Ibañez
CF-Carlos Beltran
RF-Justin Upton

Rich M says:

There is no DH this year. The game is in St Louis.

 
 

But seriously, what is there than can be done about the ASG voting? We could relegate fan voting to only a percentage and give the writers and players more of a sway in voting, but, they’re generally just as unreliable as fans. The solution: let me pick the teams.

The solution’s really simple: Don’t allow the ASG to count. I have nothing against fan voting. The fans should really vote for the players they want to see play in this exhibition game. The problem is that it actually counts for something that could impact the Yankees this year.

Very true. The ASG definitely needs to not count.

 
yankeegirl49 says:
 
 
A.D. says:

Just let the guys at Fangraphs pick the teams, then all the bloggers & their spreadsheets will be happy.

In their basements. You forgot that part.

 
 
 

Off topic but today’s draft day. Matzek has dropped from 5 to the Orioles to uncertainty. According to Jonathan Mayo he will not go 5,6,7 or 8. Our chances just went up to 0.0000000000001%.

jsbrendog says:

so what youre saying is, there’s a chance?

 

Can we please keep draft comments in one of the many draft posts we have up for today? As Mike said earlier, the rules still apply even if it’s draft day.

 
 
 
zs190 says:

This isn’t as bad as it would have been last year. ‘Tek hasn’t been all that bad with the bat, .247/.337/.519 and we don’t have great defensive metrics for catcher, so he’s been a good catcher to date. He’s not nearly as good compared to Mauer, but still, pretty good among catchers.

But David Murphy with 400k votes, what? 259/355/379 with 2 HR and 12 RBI, seriously? He’s -1.1 run with the bat…

 
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