RIDGEFIELD, Conn. -- It's All-Star time again, and as one of baseball's oldest traditions is about to get underway, it is once again time for another yearly ritual that is just slightly younger than the mid-summer classic itself: griping about the All-Star selection process.
Year after year it becomes clear that the mass of baseball fans that vote in the teams have absolutely no clue what they are doing, and they routinely display their lack of intelligence when filling out their ballots.
Now, true, it's a fan's game, and for that reason I would never advocate switching it to a vote of the players or managers, but that doesn't mean the most serious of errors can't be highlighted and giggled at.
Witness some of the more interesting choices:
Cal Ripken, Jr., SS, Baltimore -- Please do not get me wrong, I think Cal Ripken is a great guy and will look terrific on a wall in Cooperstown some day. He is a perfect role model and a real example for other players with his selflessness and commitment to the community, but that does not erase the fact that the guy is batting .215. Detroit's Travis Fryman, who is batting more than 60 points higher and has knocked in 51 runs, deserves the nod this time around.
Kirby Puckett, OF, Minnesota -- Another all-around class act, but he's still having an off year. .288 simply isn't an All-Star batting average, especially not for an outfielder whose career average hovers in the .320s. Albert Belle is having a tremendous year in Cleveland and should have been picked over Puckett. Belle is second in the American League in both home runs and RBIs with 22 and 69.
John Kruk, IB, Philadelphia -- Ordinarily, I would never object to a guy with a .349 batting average whose team is in first place. Kruk has also shown decent power and is a bona fide clutch hitter, but it just so happens that Colorado's Andres Galarraga is flirting with a .400 batting average and is tied for second in the NL with 62 RBIs -- all this without the luxury of hitting off his own team's pathetic pitching.
Outfield in general in the National League -- The NL is admittedly more shallow in the outfield than the AL, but fans could have certainly done better than Atlanta's David Justice and his .240 batting average. Or what about the 816,148 fans who made Darryl Strawberry (.140 batting average, more strikeouts than hits) the fifth highest vote-getter over the likes of future Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn, who is putting together anothergreat year in San Diego with his .325 average, or Willie McGee, who is batting .340 for San Francisco?
All in all, though, it wasn't as bad a year as it could have been. National League fans finally had the good sense to vote out Ozzie Smith after 10 years of which he was only deserving about half the time and replaced him with Barry Larkin (.324 average), who has been playing All-Star caliber ball for three years in Cincinnati. NL voters also finally found Darren Daulton's name on the ballot box now that he is having a career season in Philadelphia.
American League fans would have embarrassed themselves had they not chosen Toronto's Jon Olerud. The AL is loaded with quality first basemen, but Olerud, who is also pushing .400, could be having a season for the record books.
