# MLB All Star Game Rosters Announced **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 3, 2005, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-all-star-game-rosters-announced/310960 "2005-07-03T23:03:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2005, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-all-star-game-rosters-announced/310960/21 "2005-07-04T01:37:58Z")
> [@brianjedi](#): > > This IS the club that traded for Jason Giambi, signed Tino Martinez again, overpaid for Javier Vasquez, Carl Pavano, Mike Mussina and Jon Lieber and regularly uses Tanyon Sturtze. Trading Jeter for Chavez looks like the Deal of the Century compared to some of the moves they’ve pulled. …which doesn’t actually make it a good deal, it’s just an excuse for a potshot. :rolleyes: Signing Tino again actually worked for a while. Even if he’s done nothing since, he’s a good guy. ---
**Author:** ![brianjedi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@brianjedi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianjedi)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2005, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-all-star-game-rosters-announced/310960/22 "2005-07-04T01:47:58Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > …which doesn’t actually make it a good deal, it’s just an excuse for a potshot. :rolleyes: Signing Tino again actually worked for a while. Even if he’s done nothing since, he’s a good guy. I’m sure he’s a nice guy, but I watched him drag ass and demonstrate his inability to hit anything other than the bench for two seasons in St. Louis. He didn’t do anything to indicate that his stay in St. Louis was for any other reason than to collect a paycheck. ---
**Author:** ![fruitbat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58f4c7/32.png) [@fruitbat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fruitbat)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2005, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-all-star-game-rosters-announced/310960/23 "2005-07-04T01:54:18Z")
The one that pissed me off was Piazza. I doubt he could throw me out on a steal to second. He has thrown out 8% on steals to second. His bat is old and tired, and defensively he may be the worst catcher in both leagues. I was also a bit bummed that no Nats position players made the team. Jose Guillen is having a great year playing in a pitcher’s ballpark and Nick Johnson has become a star. Give it a couple of years and Brian Schneider will be a perenial all star as well. Oh well, I will have to be content with living ten blocks from the stadium and watching them own the NL east in person. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2005, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-all-star-game-rosters-announced/310960/24 "2005-07-04T02:48:15Z")
> [@brianjedi](#): > > And what’s the problem with that? If you let the baseball writers pick the teams, you’ll have the 64 best statistical guys there, but it’ll be a boring game. Well, actually, no, you probably would NOT have the 64 best statistical guys there. Christ knows the writers blow the MVP and Cy Young votes time and again; why would they get smarter picking the All-Stars? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2005, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-all-star-game-rosters-announced/310960/25 "2005-07-04T02:52:33Z")
> [@fruitbat](#): > > I was also a bit bummed that no Nats position players made the team. Jose Guillen is having a great year playing in a pitcher’s ballpark and Nick Johnson has become a star. Yeah, and the AL-best White Sox only got Konerko as a reserve. And maybe Podsednik, but I doubt it. ESPN said Guillen finished 23rd in the outfield voting, which is outrageous given his stats. Johnson is probably going to have to get used to making it as a reserve. Barring Lee’s monster year, Pujols probably has a lifetime lock on first base at this point. ---
**Author:** ![brianjedi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@brianjedi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianjedi)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2005, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-all-star-game-rosters-announced/310960/26 "2005-07-04T03:28:06Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Well, actually, no, you probably would NOT have the 64 best statistical guys there. Christ knows the writers blow the MVP and Cy Young votes time and again; why would they get smarter picking the All-Stars? It’s better than if they let Tim McCarver pick the lineups. Then we’d have Jeter and 63 random minor leaguers. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2005, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-all-star-game-rosters-announced/310960/27 "2005-07-04T08:20:36Z")
> [@fruitbat](#): > > The one that pissed me off was Piazza. I doubt he could throw me out on a steal to second. He has thrown out 8% on steals to second. I thought that had to be wrong, but as of tonight, MLB has Piazza catching 6 of 63 stolen base attempts, for 9.5%. That’s appalling. Yadier Molina has what I figure is the second fewest attempts against for a starting catcher, which is a sign of respect in itself, and he’s caught 20 of 31 attempts for 64.5%. Ausmus of Houston seems to be doing very well in this regard, too. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2005, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-all-star-game-rosters-announced/310960/28 "2005-07-04T08:24:40Z")
Unfortunately, it seems I have to take that back. Ausmus has only caught about 1/3 of the runners, but he’s being run on very rarely for a catcher with over 400 innings. Does anyone know why that is? Molina seems to be the only starting catcher with over 50% CS. ---
**Author:** ![brianjedi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@brianjedi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianjedi)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2005, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-all-star-game-rosters-announced/310960/29 "2005-07-04T14:56:01Z")
> [@Cardinal](#): > > Unfortunately, it seems I have to take that back. Ausmus has only caught about 1/3 of the runners, but he’s being run on very rarely for a catcher with over 400 innings. Does anyone know why that is? > > Molina seems to be the only starting catcher with over 50% CS. I’d say it’s because the Astros have been blown out quite a bit this season. There simply haven’t been a lot of SB opportunities for opposing teams that wouldn’t have resulted in Roger Clemens throwing at people for disrespecting the team. Yadier is a future All-Star, especially with Pujols teaching him to hit. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-all-star-game-rosters-announced/310960/30 "2005-07-05T02:28:38Z")
> [@rorty](#): > > He’s been better than Pujols for the half-season, that’s what gets him the nod. Lee is having a career year, but Pujols is by far the better player. I’m not so sure about that. Pujols is a hell of a player, no doubt. Lee is having one of the best first halves in memory. Just off the charts good. And overall, Lee is miles and miles ahead of Pujols defensively. Pujols beating out Lee this year would have been a travesty, even though Pujols definately deserves to be on the team. Honestly, you could make a case for Lee and Pujols being #1 and #2 respectively for the NL this year, regardless of position. Maybe even in the ML overall. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-all-star-game-rosters-announced/310960/31 "2005-07-05T02:55:10Z")
The Oakland A’s representative? Justin Duchscherererererererererer. Pretty underwhelming. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-all-star-game-rosters-announced/310960/32 "2005-07-05T06:21:58Z")
The weakness of the entire selection process is that there are just too many teams and too many players for any group to properly assess. The fans probably know the players on their favorite teams, and those who they’ve seen their still teams who haven’t even played each other yet, even when they’re in the same league. The fans have always tended to vote for familiar names, even if they’re having a bad season. But that does mean that the players at the game are those the fans want to see. Mike Piazza would agree he hardly is playing at all-star level, but he’s who people want to see catching, so he’s starting. And there is an argument to be made that a superstar deserves all-star consideration simply on past performance. The half-year statistics are nice, but not necessarily the only thing to go on. ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-all-star-game-rosters-announced/310960/33 "2005-07-05T13:26:24Z")
It’s the All-Star game not the All-“Having a Good Half Season” game. If a player is having an other-wordly season like Lee or Roberts, then yeah, stick them in. Otherwise, you go with the established star, even if he’s having a less than great start to the season. And if the player is a first ballot Hall of Famer like Piazza, they pretty much get to play until someone clearly knocks them off. ---
**Author:** ![AndyPolley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@AndyPolley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndyPolley)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-all-star-game-rosters-announced/310960/34 "2005-07-05T17:32:15Z")
> [@Neurotik](#): > > And if the player is a first ballot Hall of Famer like Piazza, they pretty much get to play until someone clearly knocks them off. Agreed. Paul LoDuca is having a better season than Piazza, and he’s on the team. The other argument made is for Yaddy Molina, who’s clearly a superior defensive catcher. Piazza: 261AB, 67H, 9HR, 34RBI, 41SO, .317OBP, .257 AVG Molina: 246AB, 64H, 5HR, 30RBI, 19SO, .295OBP, .260 AVG If you are only accounting for this season & nothing else, Molina should go instead of Piazza. Piazza is having the worst offensive season of his career & he’s still among the top 3-5 catchers in the league, if not all of baseball. I can’t go crazy about him starting the game, seeing how he’d most likely be on the team if he wasn’t voted on. I’d be more concerned with the likes of Edmonds, Beltran & Eckstein, who might not even be there if not for the vote. Anyone vote for the last man yet? I went with Carl Crawford & Roy Oswalt. I guess Matsui will get in on the AL team. Isn’t it strange that all of the NL selections are pitchers? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-all-star-game-rosters-announced/310960.md?page=1)