MLB All-Star Game 2002

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Sunday, June 30
 
Users: Andruw, Giles got robbed

We asked and you wrote in. By the hundreds. Our email system was flooded so quickly that ESPN.com nearly grinded to a halt Sunday night. The biggest complaints were directed at Joe Torre and Bob Brenly for giving nods to their players over others as reserves, such Robin Ventura over Eric Chavez.. Andruw Jones and Brian Giles received the most support among the snubbed. Here are some responses:

No more Torre
It's getting really tiring having Joe Torre pick so many Yankee players to the All-Star Game. I would like to see the league put in a rule like the NBA has so that the same person does not coach/manage two years in a row. I believe that Eric Chavez deserved to be picked over Robin Ventura at third base.

Tom Hazlett
Placerville, Calif.


J.C Romero got robbed. Torre took Stanton last year but refuses to take a middle reliever this year; good job Joe. When it suits you, you make up reasons to to take Yankees.

Jonas Wiklund
Minneapolis


Who got SNUBBED? Johnny Damon. It seems like Torre is trying to do the fans right by taking all five of the AL's elite shortstops, and let's be honest, they deserve to be there based on their numbers. If Torre didn't see the need to take two second basemen, why the need for two third basemen? In other words, Ventura should not be there. He's had a solid first half, but if Torre is trying to take the best players, Damon should be there over Ventura. Taking a look at their numbers, Damon has attributed for two more runs than Ventura (runs scored + RBI), has 15 more stolen bases, and is hitting .312 compared to Ventura's .254. Like ESPN has said, Johnny is Da-man.

Chad McGuire
Northampton, Mass.

Brenly snubbed Jones
How can you pick Luis Gonzalez and not take Andruw Jones, who not only has hit 19 HR already but makes plays that everyone else struggles to make. Andruw is a perennial Gold Glover and now he's a complete player. Fans want to see the best, not the best of the Diamondbacks.

Jake Lantz
Hurricane, WV


Memo to Bob Brenly: For my money, Andruw Jones is by far the best all-around ballplayer going today. Can I argue with the picks of Berkman, Green or Dunn? No, I cannot. But Luis Gonzalez? Hmm ... let me think: Andruw is the best fielder in the game -- no folks, not just the outfield -- the game. He hits for monster power, good average, huge RBIs. All the while toiling in the 5-hole on a sub-par offensive unit. Let's get off the "I have to pick my own guys mentality."

Kevin P. Reilly
Madison, Wisc.


Can we please take the selection of reserves away from the two All-Star Game managers? Robin Ventura over Jim Thome? Luis Gonzalez over Andruw Jones, Larry Walker or Brian Giles?

Bob, I know you played the position but do you really need three catchers in the National League with all that deserving talent in the outfield? At least Torre took the five shortstops and only one second baseman.

Craig Glorioso
Miami, Fla.

Too many shortstops?
Eric Chavez and Magglio Ordoņez. Both injustices that could have been avoided if Joe Torre didn't show such favortism to Yankee players. Chavez is a better choice than Ventura clearly -- offensively and defensively -- and keeping the roster to only three shortstops (Rodriguez, Tejada and Garciaparra) would leave room for the deserving Ordoņez. In fact, leaving Omar Vizquel off the list would have allowed the more deserving Jim Thome to represent the Indians.

Trevor Palmer
Phoenix

Check the numbers
As is typical of All-star Selections, the managers took their own players over more deserving candidates elsewhere. The numbers in two particular cases speak for themselves:

Brian Giles (snubbed): 1.028 OPS
Luis Gonzales (chosen): .922 OPS

Eric Hinske (snubbed): .943 OPS
Robin Ventura (chosen): .877 OPS

In fact, Eric Chavez would have been a better selection than Ventura, and Cliff Floyd has been better than LuGo in 2002. But I guess 4 Yankees and 5 Diamondbacks just weren't enough.

Dorian Hart
Watertown, Mass.

Catch this: where's Lo Duca?
First of all let me say that I am a HUGE D-Backs fan. I respect Brenly a ton and I think he deserves to pick whoever he wants to because he earned the coaching spot by winning the World Series.

The first snub is by picking Damian Miller and Benito Santiago over Paul Lo Duca. Lo Duca has to be the most underrated player in baseball right now. Some may have thought that last year was a fluke, but it wasn't because he is putting up better numbers this year. Santiago is a great catcher, as is Miller, but neither is as good or as valuable as Lo Duca is to the Dodgers.

Larry Walker also got snubbed. He should have made it easily, and it is a shame to see one of the NL's most consistant players and best players not on the team.

Daniel St. John
Scottsdale, Ariz.

G-Man: Giles was robbed
Brian Giles, Brian Giles, Brian Giles. If he doesn't get voted in as the 30th man, this is the biggest injustice I have ever seen yet in picking the reserves for the All-Star Game. Look at his stats. If you're big fan of the game, you realize that it is possible to look at stats besides batting average, HRs, and RBI when comparing players to get an accurate result and Giles has a 1031 OPS (8th in ML), Rob Neyer's favorite stat. Even he admits, however, that Baseball Prospectus' Equivalent Average is an even more accurate measure of a player's performance and Giles' EqA is .339 entering Sunday (10th in ML). He is clearly one of the 10 best hitters in the whole ML, much less just the NL. How does he not make it, while his undeserving teammate Mike Williams does?

Spike DuBois
Madison, Wisc.


Brian Giles ... Are you kidding? Brian is the only reason the Pirates are close to 500. He has 19 home runs and has absolutely no protection behind him, ahead of him or anywhere in the lineup. If he played on the Yankees or Rangers, he would have 50+ home runs every year. This is a shame that he is not on there. The All Star selections are terrible anymore and I will not spend my time watching second-rate players goof off.

Brian Deitz
Rapid City, S.D.

Trying to find some Angels
The Angels get no respect. One game behind the Red Sox and the Angels only get one All-Star? One could make a case for Tim Salmon (the best player to be screwed out of many All-Star Games), Jarrod Washburn who hasn't lost his last 8=eight decisions, Darin Erstad, Troy Glaus, and Troy Percival. It seems their only mistake is wearing an Angels uniform instead of a Yankees or Red Sox uniform.

Logan Robertson
Fullerton, Calif.


Who's missing? Any of the Angels, take your pick -- anywhere in the lineup, the rotation, or the bullpen. It's about time Garret Anderson became an All-Star after 7 years of consistently good production. Hello? The Angels are just behind the once-invincible Mariners. So what I'm going to do is make sure to turn the TV on around the seventh inning to see Anderson's requisite at-bat, and then shut the TV off on the Yankees-- oops, I mean AL All-Stars.

Amy Horton
Temecula, Calif.

A vote for Pudge
This is called the All-Star Game, not the "who has had the best first half game." This being about stars, send Pudge as a catcher. He is the player that most transcends his position. Can you imagine a time when the Babe would have missed a large portion of the year and not be one of the biggest stars in the game? No you can't, nor can I.

Brian Nicodemus
Austin, Texas

Burn-itzed!
I think the biggest snub this year is the snubbing that was given to Mr. Jeromy Burnitz. Now now, I know what you're thinking. "Jeromy Burnitz? That stupid moron is batting like .200!!! He is no All-Star!" Well, get ready to have your freakin' pants knocked off of your body.

Mr. Burnitz may be batting .200, but have you thought about all of the flyballs he's caught? He has to have caught like 50, at least. That's a good amount of catches. If you were in the field, do you think you could have caught all of those balls? I don't think so, unless you're some kind of super-athlete, like Mr. Should Be An All-Star Burnitz. I propose that Sammy Sosa be removed from the NL All-Star team to be replaced by Jeromy Burnitz. He will lead the league to victory and will be the hero of the 21st century.

Chris Marshall
Edgewater, N.J.





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