Early All Stars

So the first AL All Star Ballot was announced and its being dominated by Red Sox. Catcher Jason Vartitek, first baseman Kevin Youkliss, Dustin Pedrioa at second, Manny Ramirez in the outfield and David Ortiz as DH. So the big ball park in the Bronx might have a lot of Boston blood flooding its gates in July.

But what really is interesting with the All Star game and the roster that should be there right now is the NL. I voted for the first time today for the All Star game and I went strictly on performance and who deserves to be there this year. After looking over my NL roster I laughed and said to myself "Self, if this were the lineup anyone told me would trot out there for the all star game to represent the NL I would have slapped them silly." But these players deserve to be there, so without further ado here are your representatives from the NL for the All Star game, take 1.

Catcher - Geovany Soto - Chicago Cubs
First Base - Lance Berkman - Houston Astros
Second Base - Dan Uggla - Florida Marlins
Third Base - Chipper Jones - Atlanta Braves
Short Stop - Hanley Ramirez - Florida Marlins
Outfield - Kosuke Fukudome - Chicago Cubs
Outfield - Ryan Ludwick - St. Louis Cardinals
Outfield - Ryan Church - New York Mets
Designated Hitter - Adam Dunn - Cincinnati Reds

Pretty diverse lineup and I know what your saying that outfield is ridiculous and that cant be right. Well just because the names aren't pretty and flashy doesn't mean they don't deserve to be there. Fukudome is batting .300 with a on base % and slugging % both over 400. Ludwick has come almost out of no where and many say this is a fluke but Ludwick this year is batting .333 with a on base % of .411 and a slugging % of .723. Ludwick also has 13 home runs and 38 RBI's. Church has been the only consistent player for the New York Mets posting good numbers and playing a great outfield. Church is batting .309 with an on base % of .376 and a slugging % of .527 adding 9 home runs and 32 RBI.

Once again this is the first draft of the voting ballot and for sure it wont be the last. In a couple of weeks I will vote again and bring you all the participants at that time. For those who are interested the AL line-up looks like this: (This is not my list this is the MLB.Com official first tally list.)

Catcher - Jason Varitek - Boston Red Sox
First Base - Kevin Youkliss - Boston Red Sox
Second Base - Dustin Pedrioa - Boston Red Sox
Third Base - Alex Rodriguez - New York Yankees
Short Stop - Derek Jeter - New York Yankees
Outfield - Manny Ramirez - Boston Red Sox
Outfield - Ichiro Suzuki - Seattle Mariners
Outfield - Vladimir Guerrero - Los Angeles Anaheim Angels
Designated Hitter - David Ortiz - Boston Red Sox

In my opinion Josh Hamilton deserves to start for the AL as an outfielder, as he has been hitting the cover off the ball. Hamilton is batting .327 with 12 home runs and 53 RBI's. Hamilton is also sporting a .371 on base % and a .589 slugging %. I am officially on the Josh Hamilton bandwagon as I have been since LAST season where I drafted him in my fantasy baseball league in the 17th round.

So go out and vote and lets have the best All Star Game ever as it comes to New York and, send the Stadium that Ruth built out with a bang.