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An All Star Travesty

 

By: Adam Rabel (Das Texan)

MarlinsBaseball.com Columnist

 

Listen up folks. A travesty. That?s right. A travesty has occurred. You hear about all-star omissions every year. Every year you have various so-called experts disagreeing on who should have been on the all-star team and who should not have been. Well, this year there is one particular omission that all can agree on. Dontrelle Willis. No rookie pitcher in the last twenty years has garnered the hype and the publicity of this young lefthander. In an era where baseball needs all the stars they can get, in an era where the black American ball player is on the decline, Dontrelle Willis could have been this shot in the arm this great sport needs. Now the all-star game remains a lackluster affair. Sure home field is decided by the outcome of this game. If the major league offices truly want to make this game appealing to all fans and make it worth something, they will eliminate the rule that every team must be represented. The all-star game has forever been known as the most competitive of the major three sports? all-star games. Personally, I think more is needed than a homerun derby on the day prior. A skills competition of some sort might be very useful and well receipted.

 

Enough ranting. Dusty Baker, I am going to call you out for being a fool. You have the requirement that all teams have to have an all star. Secondly, Major League Baseball is a fool as well. The vote for the final representative is quite frankly, lackluster. Luis Castillo? Geoff Jenkins? Orlando Cabrera? Corey Patterson? Benito Santiago? Someone please explain to me the reasoning behind choosing these five players for the final spot? What needs to be done is selecting the top five players left off the team, be them pitchers or hitters and then letting the fans vote. Furthermore, Mike Williams has no business on this all-star team, especially when he is not even the most worthy member of his ball club, that being Brian Giles. Take off Luis Gonzalez, sorry Luis. Then you put Luis on the vote for the final spot, along with Jim Thome, Alex Gonzalez of the Marlins and whichever other two players you choose to put on the ballot. Simple as that. Let the fans decide. This creates a roster spot for a pitcher, allowing Dontrelle to be included. In addition, you can argue that Kerry Wood, Russ Ortiz and Randy Wolf do not belong in this game over Willis. You can make the argument either way. When asked, Baker responded that he has not seen Willis pitch. Let me tell you this Mr. Baker. This is the year 2003. This should never be an excuse these days. Sure you have not seen him pitch live. You are facing him this upcoming week. I am sure you have seen him pitch while scouting out your opponent for the upcoming series. I do not buy your bulls*** Dusty.

 

Finally let me come to the fan vote. I take my hat off to the fans this year. The only semi-questionable decision might be at second base in the selection of Marcus Giles. He is having a decent year but has cooled off significantly as of late. Jose Vidro or Louis Castillo might have been better choices. Even Jeff Kent, currently injured seems to be a more logical choice. Kudos to the fans for voting in Albert Pujols over Sammy Sosa who has played like a mere mortal this year.

 

Let us return to the travesty to conclude. Dusty, you are a fool. You made poor decisions in your selection of your reserves. You could have used better judgment in deciding who should be included on the team and who should not. As always, the all star game should not be about selecting as many of your players or former players for the team, it should be about selecting the most worthy players for this contest. You have earned respect as a game manager, but as far as roster management decisions for exhibitions, they are questionable at best. My respect for you has declined as a result, especially for your excuse for not including Dontrelle Willis. Wake up Dusty. This is 2003. You have created a travesty. Not only for Marlin fans. But for baseball fans and baseball itself.

nice article Das....

 

i think DW gets in one way or another

 

i dont mind Kerry Wood over DW, but DW should have made it too

 

and why are you pissed about Jenkins on the 5 man vote off? he is having a great year

Adam Rabel's Page

 

The vote for the final representative is quite frankly, lackluster. Luis Castillo? Geoff Jenkins? Orlando Cabrera? Corey Patterson? Benito Santiago? Someone please explain to me the reasoning behind choosing these five players for the final spot?

I agree I'd like to know how they came up with these players, though I do think Jenkins should have gotten in instead of Sexson

Yea, Jenkins over Sexson EASY. Cabrera deserves to be on that list. Benito over Pudge? Nope. Corey Patterson? Sorry, nuh uh. Luis Castillo could be legit over Giles, but I never viewed him as an All-Star.

 

Good points. And I do see Dontrelle SOMEHOW getting into this game...

Corey Patterson deserves some recognition..... he is having a good year(last checked)

I know he is. But not an All-Star season.

1 good choice of 5 makes for a lackluster choice list.