Final Vote American League

[Gil Dobie]

PLAYER TEAM AVG HR RBI
T Hafner CLE .312 22 66
R Hernandez BAL .274 15 59
A Pierzynski CWS .326 5 27

PLAYER TEAM W-L ERA SO
F Liriano MIN 9-1 1.99 94
J Verlander DET 10-4 3.13 65

[Gil Dobie]

Kind of torn between Hafner and Liriano on this one.

[dbackjon]

Liriano

[Ivytalk]

Liriano is scary-good. Hafner got screwed by Indian-hater Ozzie Guillen, IMHO.

[FlyYtown]

VOTE HAFNER FOLKS!
I HAVE VOTED 200 TIMES FOR HIM!

http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/images/2006/07/02/YMVVRHHf.jpg

[ISUMatt]

Liriano is scary-good. Hafner got screwed by Indian-hater Ozzie Guillen, IMHO.

Hafner got screwed by the Fans picking DH David Ortiz and the players picking DH Jim Thome and seeing Hafner is also a DH, Guillen did right by selecting 1B and a damn good one Paul Konerko, so you can stop with your JFK Theories that Ozzie hates Hafner

[ISUMatt]

Here is some insider on All-Star selections...

All-Star Team

It was fascinating to be a small part of watching how the All-Star Team was selected. Many fans may be under the impression that the manager sits down and makes his pick. That is far from the case.

Leading up to last weekend, we had prepared page after page of stats and player rankings, along with projected pitching rotations. Ozzie spoke with managers of other teams.

As you know, fans selected the eight starters. Players vote on the the next eight players, one per position. Players also select eight pitchers, five starters and three relievers. This leaves seven players for Ozzie to select. Of the seven, four must be pitchers, and he had to cover the four teams -- Bal, Oak, KC and Cle -- who did not have a player among the fan and player choices. So, really, Ozzie had three picks of his own and used them on Konerko, Jenks and Buehrle.

Because the players selected Jim Thome as the backup first baseman, Konerko was needed as the only true first baseman on the team. Jenks received a lot of support from the players vote as well and obviously is one of the top relievers in the game.

Grady Sizemore was Ozzie's easy choice as the Indians rep (and he also gave the AL another center fielder), Miguel Tejada was the Orioles selection so that he had another middle infielder to play with in terms of game strategy. And Barry Zito and Mark Redman were the pitchers selected to represent their teams.

Starting pitching was an concern. Three of the five starters chosen by the players are scheduled to pitch Sunday, which limits them to at most one inning in the ASG. So in Buehrle, Zito and Redman, Ozzie was adding pitchers who could give him innings should the game go to extras.

Pitchers like Mike Mussina and Curt Schilling are having great years but are scheduled to throw Sunday. Adding them to the team would not solve the innings issue.

Hope that explains some of the behind-the-scenes concerns with picking the team. It was sure an experience to sit in on the meetings, watch, listen and learn.

In the end, it's Ozzie's team, and he believes its a team he can win this game with

[AppGuy04]

I think Hafner is the better long term player, but Liriano is having the better year

[AppGuy04]

I think Pronk is the better long term player, but Liriano is having a better year

[bodoyle]

Hafner got screwed by the Fans picking DH David Ortiz and the players picking DH Jim Thome and seeing Hafner is also a DH, Guillen did right by selecting 1B and a damn good one Paul Konerko, so you can stop with your JFK Theories that Ozzie hates Hafner


If Ozzie hates the tigers, why is he starting Kenny Rogers? Oh that's right to tire him out. :bang:

Who cares if Ozzie does hate him. We are 5-1 agains them. it's like throwing spitballs at a battleship!

[AppGuy04]

If Ozzie hates the tigers, why is he starting Kenny Rogers? Oh that's right to tire him out. :bang:

Who cares if Ozzie does hate him. We are 5-1 agains them. it's like throwing spitballs at a battleship!

Yes, but 5-1 means nothing if you finish in 2nd and lose the wild card, which I don't think will happen, just saying if

[ISUMatt]

http://img468.imageshack.us/img468/8403/aj0br4mw.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[ISUMatt]

AJ WINS!!

[AppGuy04]

Buehrle making the team, what a joke

[bodoyle]

3.6 million votes for AJ :):) I contributed my 200