Has anyone seen the dumb �(blind) Date at the Ballpark� promotion on MLB.com lately??? No one in their right mind is going to fall for that. First off, will their be any room for your own seat considering what kind of cruise ship you are liable to be paired up with. And then there is �KISS CAM� � which with my luck me and date would no doubt be shown on. Within 15 minutes the Parole officer along with everyone else I�ve been trying to elude with my Vijay Singh-like debts will have me cornered. That ain�t a contest, it�s a sting operation!!!!!
But one good thing you can always count on at the ballpark and the �ol web site this time of year, which is the All-Star Voting. Always controversial, but I will say this � now that the bulk of the voting is done on-line the voters are showing themselves to be much more educated. No more impregnating hundreds of chads at once to get Roberto Alomar in based on what he did five years ago.
Myself, I put in the players having the best years � while sprinkling in a few cult favorites. And it looks like I�ve finally settled on a squad, which is as follows�1B � This is perfect example on how the public now votes much better. Ten years ago Jason Giambi would still be leading the voting despite his struggles for most of the season. Carlos Delgado (.318/62/21/76) has gotten enough notice with his monster season to hold a decent-sized lead (408,667 to 338,901) over Giambi who is second. Not a lock yet but is looking fairly good.
2B � If not for the deadly combination of Alfonso Soriano and the New York market, Seattle�s Bret Boone would be looking good with his 411,341 votes. Boone�s numbers are very close (.319/55/19/59/6) to his prolific 2001 season. In fact, Boone�s slugging percentage is better this year (.617 to .578) than in 2001. Soriano has strikingly similar stats (.285/56/18/43/19) but as expected is running away in the voting with over 700,000 votes. You could argue that Boone should get the nod due to a higher BA and RBI�s while Soriano adds the stolen base dimension. In fact I would have to rank the two dead even and their CDM values are also virtually the same.
3B � I haven�t talked much about Troy Glaus this year, who leads the third base voting and is having a nice (but not spectacular) season with a .271 average, 14 HR and 43 RBI and has even chipped in seven stolen bases. Eric Chavez (disappointing year so far) and Robin Ventura are second and third while Ranger phenom Hank Blalock (.335/37/11/43) is fourth. Not among the leaders is Tampa�s Aubrey Huff (.311/42/15/41). Myself it�s very close between Blalock and Huff, but I�m going to give the nod to Aubrey.
SS � Can you believe Alex Rodriguez went more than two weeks without an RBI??? Surprisingly he is running away with this position (567,928) with relative ease over NY/BOS icons Derek Jeter and Nomar Garciaparra. Nomar�s stats (.331/60/10/48/6) are actually far better than Arod (.292/48/17/40/7) thus I go with Garciaparra here.
C � Here I admittedly go with a cult favorite. Jorge Posada will be elected for the first time (with Irod now out of the mix), and is having his typical fine #�s (.260/42/15/45). But then there is Twin backstop A.J Pierzynski who is hitting .303 (an average Posada has never come close to matching) and drove seven runs in a game last week!!! A.J doesn�t match up with Jorge in the a couple of departments with eight homers and only 22 runs score (A.J is usually stuck hitting seventh). But still, I can�t resist the temptation and have to go with the underdog. BOO � YAH!!!!!!
DH � This year the DH position appears for the American League only, the DH will be used in the game for both leagues, although it really doesn�t matter. And here lies a special opportunity, and a final chance to vote in the legendary Al Martin. To refresh everyone�s memory, Al-Mart is most notable for his polygamist lifestyle as well as for his memorable tackle as a USC safety on Michigan�s Leroy Hoard back in 1986, which ranks right up there with Vijay�s round at the 1985 Indonesian Open. They rank together because Martin�s football career, as well as the extra birdie on Vijay�s scorecard � WERE FICTIONAL. But I never let fact ever stand in the way of a good story. Meanwhile it is an old teammate of Martin in Edgar Martinez who is having yet another outstanding season (.298/14/49) and leads the Rangers Carl Everett (.294/50/17/48). Everett would get the nod if going by stats alone but I will go with Edgar only since this will probably by the last hurrah for the 40 year-old.
OF � It is in the outfield positions in both leagues that I have a problem with the current vote totals. Ichiro (550,581) is a solid selection who has been red-hot as his team lately and of course is immensely popular. After stumbling a bit at the end of last year and a slow start this year, Ichiro has been amazing, going 71-169 since May 2 (a .420 clip) and has 12 SB�s in the past month. Manny Ramirez, the slumping Torii Hunter, Juan Gonzalez, and the disabled Bernie Williams currently round out the top five. My other two outfield slots go Vernon Wells (12th) and Kansas City�s Carlos Beltran (not even in the top 15). Wells is on pace for 100+ runs, 30+ homers, and 130+ RBI in an explosive Blue Jay lineup, and as one sportswriter says �Think Andruw Jones on Astro-Turf� � and a .300 BA I might add. Beltran I can attest to since he was a recent acquisition on my CDM team. After starting the year 0-16 after a DL stint, Carlos has come around slowly and has gone crazy lately. In the past two weeks Beltran has been 18-34, with 11 runs, 12 RBI and six stolen bases. A five-category force when he�s right.1B � At the moment it is virtually a dead heat between Houston�s Jeff Bagwell and Colorado�s Todd Helton � but it shouldn�t be. In 70 games Bagwell is hitting .278, with 42 runs, 12 homers and all of 26 RBI (as opposed to 130 as recently as two years ago). Meanwhile Helton smokes Bags in average (.335), runs (59) and RBI (58). Sure, Helton�s numbers will always be Coors inflated but this should be no contest between those two.
2B � This bodes to be another down to the wire race between Jeff Kent (HOU) and Atlanta�s Marcus Giles. Kent (.313/42/11/50) has slightly better power stats than Giles (.308/45/8/36), but Marcus is a great feel-good story after a horrible years both on and off the field last year and thus gets my vote. Giles by the way was a 53rd round draft choice back in 1996. Thanks to a brief early season experiment that had Cincinnati trying out prospect Brandon Larson at third base, Aaron Boone (.283/43/15/45/11) is listed at second which probably is a hindrance simply since voters don�t know where to find him, and is currently running third.
3B � The always ever-present St. Louis prescient is carrying Scott (trade me anywhere in the Midwest except Milwaukee, Detroit, or Kansas City) Rolen (.291/43/12/51/5) to an easy nomination. However, Mike (I�ve never smiled in my life) Lowell has far better stats (.294/47/21/57) but this Florida election will not work out as he gets little pub even locally. Hopefully that will change in a couple of months when he�s a Cub. Shea Hillenbrand (AZ) would had been in the mix in the AL third base race, his 200,000+ votes have been transferred to the NL where he currently runs fourth.
SS - Edgar Renteria (.347/40/6/46/12) has now become the NL�s answer to the AL�s �big three� and holds a slight lead over Rafael Furcal (.306/62/10/25/11). Furcal is a run machine but the nod has to go to Edgar here.
C � As was perennially the case over in the AL, Ivan Rodriguez is leading the way in the voting which is noteworthy considering he is now in about the smallest fan-base out there. Pudge�s stats have taken a downward turn this year (.262/35/8/32/9) so my punch is going to Javy Lopez for his .303 average, 19 homers, and his incredible .676 slugging percentage.
OF � I can�t argue much with two of the three choices. Barry Bonds is hitting .311 with 19 home runs on the year, and heated up with a 4 HR, 9 RBI tear in a four-game span last week. MVP candidate Gary Sheffield (.346/58/19/59/11) currently is running third and is another solid selection. Sammy Sosa is currently in second and clearly does not belong this year, and I imagine �Cork-gate� will start to have an affect in the voting. Don�t be surprised to see Albert Pujols (.386/62/19/60), currently in fourth to eventually work his way into the top three.Hot prospect call-ups from the past week include Twins 1B/DH Justin Morneau, with the Canadian going 10-27 with a homer and 4 RBI in his first eight games � and potential Padre ace Oliver Perez, who should be good for close to a strikeout per inning. Many believe Oakland will call-up Rich Harden at any moment � be ready to snatch him off the waiver wire. There's also Cleveland call-up Coco Crisp, which shelve can I find that cereal in??? Then there is Marlin rookie pitcher Dontrelle Willis, who has a little Oil Can Boyd in him, who one-hit the Mets. Others flirting with a no-hitter in the past week include Roger Clemens and Mike Hampton - told you he be good the second he got out of Coors...
Kevin Brown (1.38 ERA/.88 ratio since 4/24) tweaked a groin running to first in his most recent outing, says he�ll be ready to go on Sunday. Although Brownie would say that even if on his death bed, the team is not too concerned and will not be holding a reliever in reserve over the weekend. Matt Morris (knot in shoulder) had his start pushed back a day again, but the team says there is not much to worry about there neither. The scariest thing about Kerry Wood�s three-hit gem in Cincinnati this week was that he walked no one. If he does that consistently, he may make a push for being the #1 pitcher overall. Take a look at Toronto reliever Aqualino Lopez, the rule V draftee has 42 K's in 39 innings pitched, has a biting slider, and could work himself into the closers role if Cliff Politte continues to struggle.
There isn�t much new ground broken with this weeks pick-ups/drops in CDM, which is as follows�Eight teams in the AL (BOS, DET, OAK, TX, BAL, TOR, NYY, TB) will have seven game weeks. The week should set up well for Boston (DET/FL) at home, Toronto (BAL/MON), and Arizona (HOU, @DET). The D-backs then have a trip to Colorado the following week. The Yankees get a second dose of the D-Rays and Mets, never a bad thing. Interleague games (rivalry mode Part II) conclude at the end of this week, with most games in AL parks.
After a lull that seems way too long, the two-start list starts to pick up with the likes of Roger Clemens, Barry Zito, Mark Mulder, Kerry Wood, and Kevin Millwood all slated for double-duty.
Outside of pitching, there isn't too much on the CDM Free Agent list...