Ballot Box Barracudas

Dave Paisley

Back with part two of the National league All-Star rundown, where I'll be looking at infielders.

Most of the contenders for each position are listed below, with their OPS as a measure of how well they're doing, plus OPS times plate appearances to get a measure of how much raw performance they've contributed. It helps to weed out the guys who have an OPS of 2.000 in about five at-bats. After that, I show their vote totals as of mid-June and also their Votes/Performance, a rough idea of how deserved their votes are.

Note that zero votes is an indication that the player wasn't in the top ten, not that he didn't get any votes.

First Base

Gee, I wonder who might be leading the NL at first base? Not much doubt, really, that it's Mr. McGwire. This has been a slightly off year for Big Mac, although it's perfectly understandable. Despite there being no reduction in the flow of home runs, they seem to be more evenly distributed this year. The only serious contender in votes is Jeff Bagwell, who actually leads the position in performance.

Name	Team	OPS	Performance (OPS*PA)	Votes	Votes/ Performance
J Bagwell	Hou	1.157	311	253,200	814
J Olerud	NY	.997	267	76,059	285
K Young	Pit	.956	257	0	0
M McGwire	StL	1.017	256	407,960	1592
S Casey	Cin	1.070	253	92,493	366
M Grace	Chi	.897	222	64,198	289
J Snow	SF	.832	218	28,927	133
E Karros	LA	.848	208	0	0
T Lee	Ari	.792	203	23,474	116
R Brogna	Phi	.732	195	51,712	265
T Helton	Col	.831	189	53,505	282
J Vidro	Mon	.888	162	0	0
R Klesko	Atl	.833	137	0	0
S Berry	Mil	.691	127	0	0
D Lee	Fla	.566	97	0	0
W Joyner	SD	.677	87	27,697	320
B Fullmer	Mon	.687	68	0	0

It's a shame that John Olerud's excellent season is receiving very little attention, while it's nothing short of astonishing to see Kevin Young up in these lofty reaches. Not a lot of spectacular power, but plenty of hits and walks has him looking pretty respectable. Other worthy contenders are young Sean Casey, who seems to be getting a few votes of his own (maybe it's those other Ohio fans from the north end of the state?)

At the other end of the scale, it's hard to figure out why anyone's voting for Wally Joyner. On the other hand, San Diego fans have little enough to cheer about as it is.

Second Base

Perennial All-Star favorite Craig Biggio is off to another good year at the ballot box, chased only by yet another D-back having an outstanding year. Jay Bell had a pretty good year in '98, but nobody really noticed, and that demotion to second base really hurt. However, here he is again, one part of an improbably good Arizona offense. He'll probably get a manager's selection to the team when he does, in fact, finish as the runner-up to Biggio in the balloting.

Name	Team	OPS	Performance (OPS*PA)	Votes	Votes/ Performance
J Bell	Ari	.972	269	199,967	743
J Kent	SF	.895	234	69,673	298
E Alfonzo	NY	.831	228	73,151	321
C Biggio	Hou	.812	225	296,465	1318
B Boone	Atl	.735	196	82,190	420
L Castillo	Fla	.715	174	0	0
P Reese	Cin	.759	171	0	0
E Young	LA	.727	169	0	0
M Morandini	Chi	.729	155	56,719	367
Q Veras	SD	.666	126	0	0
M Lansing	Col	.799	121	46,728	385
M Anderson	Phi	.604	121	53,315	441
F Vina	Mil	.670	113	0	0
M Benjamin	Pit	.627	101	0	0
W Guerrero	Mon	.651	80	0	0

Meanwhile, Jeff Kent is being ignored, despite having another excellent year, while Edgardo Alfonzo is finally living up to his promise in New York after the move to second base. Shame his team isn't doing the same.

Then there's Bret Boone, having a halfway decent year in Atlanta. Keeping his OPS over .700 is an achievement for him, but it's not worth 80,000 votes. Guys deserving their anonymity down at the bottom include Wilton Guerrero, who must be really ticked that his brother got all the hitting genes, and Mike Benjamin. Otherwise, there's just a dearth of really fine competition here.

Third Base

And here we have yet another Diamondback. Matt Williams hasn't had a season like this since 1995, and at his age, we would be justified in wondering if he had any more left in the tank. Well, apparently he does. It's a pretty tight race with Chipper Jones, though, and may be one of the few voting races to go down to the wire.

Name	Team	OPS	Performance (OPS*PA)	Votes	Votes/ Performance
M Williams	Ari	.995	270	203,745	756
C Jones	Atl	.924	251	195,454	778
F Tatis	StL	.975	234	162,906	696
S Rolen	Phi	.842	216	118,575	550
J Cirillo	Mil	.809	214	0	0
E Sprague	Pit	.951	213	28,253	133
V Castilla	Col	.833	207	105,159	507
R Ventura	NY	.829	207	98,561	476
A Beltre	LA	.840	195	30,689	157
J Vidro	Mon	.888	162	0	0
M Barrett	Mon	.755	148	0	0
K Orie	Fla	.737	120	0	0
K Caminiti	Hou	.750	111	120,664	1087
T Bogar	Hou	.741	110	0	0
D Magadan	SD	.706	106	0	0
B Spiers	Hou	.768	105	0	0
G Gaetti	Chi	.605	88	46,477	530
C Hayes	SF	.504	85	0	0
B Mueller	SF	.729	81	0	0

A strong third place goes to Fernando Tatis, who's proving that a good bit of exposure on SportsCenter doesn't hurt in the voting stakes. After that we have the sentimental favorite, Ken Caminiti, he of the bad knees and aching body. So far, he's bearing out the prophets of doom, myself included, who surmised that he's just taken one punch to the head too many. Scott Rolen is continuing his excellent work from last year, but may not make the team.

In the "who'da ever dreamed that" stakes, there's Ed Sprague performing rather well with the Pirates. I can't believe that'll last too long, but at least it's all in a good, if hopeless, cause. At least one of the Pirates' infield acquisitions worked out.

Shortstop

Well, what do you know, no Diamondback leading the pack -- they even traded their ballot nominee to Toronto. In a fairly weak field, Barry Larkin is obviously the best choice. With a career of decent performance, he is easily the pick of the top performers this year.

Name	Team	OPS	Performance (OPS*PA)	Votes	Votes/ Performance
A Gonzalez	Fla	.766	198	55,931	283
R Aurilia	SF	.852	196	69,918	357
B Larkin	Cin	.792	193	207,382	1073
M Loretta	Mil	.783	186	0	0
E Renteria	StL	.744	175	85,094	487
O Cabrera	Mon	.728	169	0	0
N Perez	Col	.716	168	54,135	322
J Hernandez	Chi	.730	164	58,501	356
T Batista *	Ari	.731	160	57,606	360
D Relaford	Phi	.715	129	51,514	398
M Grudzielanek	LA	.694	124	0	0
R Ordonez	NY	.670	123	205,086	1664
W Weiss	Atl	.712	122	120,311	988
D Jackson	SD	.668	112	0	0
T Bogar	Hou	.741	110	0	0
B Spiers	Hou	.768	105	0	0
M Benjamin	Pit	.627	101	0	0
A Fox	Ari	.803	86	0	0
C Gomez	SD	.576	70	0	0
J Blauser	Chi	.783	64	0	0
P Meares	Pit	.711	58	0	0

* Traded to Toronto for a "rag-armed lefty reliever"(tm)

But what's the excuse for all those Rey Ordonez votes? Maybe it's the fact that Rey is hitting a good hundred points of OPS above his career mark? I guess that's something. There's also no excuse for all those Walt Weiss votes. While the Braves fans may not be in the same class of ballot stuffing as the Yanks and Indians, it's pretty evident where they look for selections.

Who can believe that Florida's Alex Gonzalez (the one who isn't out for the year) is leading in overall contribution, even though it's mostly a plate appearances phenomenon? Overall, though, Rich Aurilia probably deserves the nod as the backup to Larkin. We'll just have to see if Bochy sees it may way. God forbid it should be some loser like Mark Grudzielanek.

So there's your All-Star roundup. It only remains to see who actually gets selected and then watch the game.

about the author

Dave Paisley has been trying to convince Denver writers Mark Kiszla and Bob Kravitz to participate in the All-Star Player Insult Derby, but they declined, saying only, "we are very, very frightened." If you know where they're hiding, let Dave know at dp@strikethree.com.