Bats: Seek Fun, Not Meaning, in the All-Star Game

Barton Silverman/The New York TimesThe Mets’ David Wright, who entered the weekend hitting .361, is a likely All-Star.

There is so much to celebrate about the All-Star Game. From the relay of dominant pitchers to the kaleidoscope of uniforms to the wonderfully inclusive rule that every team must be represented, baseball should be proud of its summer showcase.

Yet here we are, a full decade since the infamous tied All-Star Game in Milwaukee, and baseball is still trying to convince fans that the players actually care. This year’s slogan: “I Will Win.” You see it on T-shirts in the clubhouse, and in television commercials with stone-faced players looking into the camera, stating the league they play for and promising, with great purpose, that they will win.

Look, we understand. The league that wins the All-Star Game gets home-field advantage (Games 1, 2, 6 and 7) for the World Series. There are fairer ways to decide the distinction, but compared with the old way, in which the leagues simply alternated years, the All-Star connection is fine.

It is a gimmick, sure, and it has not improved TV ratings. But let’s not overthink this. The idea is fun, it is unique to baseball, and there is no need to keep trying to sell it to the fans.

Besides, more important than an ad campaign is real legislation to ensure that the players show. Even Derek Jeter, the best ambassador baseball has had in recent years, could not be bothered to travel to Arizona last July to play for the fans who voted him to start at shortstop. Jeter was off the disabled list and had just gotten his 3,000th hit. His absence undercut the supposed importance of the game, and baseball included a clause in its new basic agreement mandating that healthy players participate.

Whatever the motivation, the teams should feel a little more complete when they meet on July 10 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Mo. Baseball unveils the rosters on Sunday, and here’s a preview of the way the teams should look. (Deserving starters are listed first.)

National League

FIRST BASE Joey Votto, Bryan LaHair

SECOND BASE Brandon Phillips, Jose Altuve

SHORTSTOP Jed Lowrie, Starlin Castro

THIRD BASE David Wright, Chase Headley, Chipper Jones

CATCHER Carlos Ruiz, A. J. Ellis, Yadier Molina, Buster Posey

OUTFIELD Ryan Braun, Andrew McCutchen, Carlos Beltran, Melky Cabrera, Michael Bourn, Carlos Gonzalez, Matt Holliday, Giancarlo Stanton

PITCHER R. A. Dickey, Madison Bumgarner, A. J. Burnett, Matt Cain, Aroldis Chapman, Johnny Cueto, Gio Gonzalez, Zack Greinke, Cole Hamels, Craig Kimbrel, James McDonald, Wade Miley, Stephen Strasburg

American League

FIRST BASE Paul Konerko, Prince Fielder

SECOND BASE Robinson Cano, Ian Kinsler

SHORTSTOP Asdrubal Cabrera, Derek Jeter, Elvis Andrus

THIRD BASE Adrian Beltre, Miguel Cabrera

CATCHER Joe Mauer, A. J. Pierzynski

OUTFIELD Josh Hamilton, Jose Bautista, Mike Trout, Curtis Granderson, Adam Jones, Josh Reddick, Mark Trumbo, Josh Willingham

DESIGNATED HITTER David Ortiz, Billy Butler

PITCHER Justin Verlander, Yu Darvish, Ernesto Frieri, Felix Hernandez, Jim Johnson, Joe Nathan, Jake Peavy, Chris Perez, David Price, Fernando Rodney, Chris Sale, Jered Weaver, C. J. Wilson

Some deserving players are bound to be left off. But with 34-player rosters for the third year in a row, each league has some leeway for sentiment. That explains the inclusion of Chipper Jones, a seven-time All-Star who is retiring after this season, on the N.L. team.

Jones has missed some of the first half with injuries, but he has been productive and deserves a final send-off on a national stage. Jones can share in the bows with Tony La Russa, who is managing the N.L. team despite retiring after last October’s World Series triumph with the Cardinals.

La Russa and his World Series counterpart, Ron Washington of Texas, will decide the final few spots on the team, after the fans pick the starting position players, and a player ballot determines most of the pitchers and reserves. Managers often struggle to find a worthy representative from each team, but that seems like less of a problem this season.

Butler has been the most productive hitter for the Royals, and has played six seasons for them in relative obscurity. He should represent the hosts, even at the cost, regrettably, of another designated hitter like Edwin Encarnacion of Toronto or Adam Dunn of the White Sox.

Reddick is a strong choice as the Oakland representative, over Ryan Cook and Jarrod Parker, the two pitching prizes from last winter’s Trevor Cahill trade with Arizona. Reddick is a strong defender in right field who had 18 homers and 39 runs batted in through Friday, surpassing his combined totals over parts of three seasons in Boston.

The Red Sox traded Reddick last winter in a deal for closer Andrew Bailey, who has been out all year after thumb surgery. They also shipped Lowrie to Houston for the setup man Mark Melancon, who spent much of the first half in the minors. Lowrie has been the most productive shortstop in the N.L. this season. He will not be elected to start, but he should.

The Astros should have another representative in Altuve, although the Braves’ Dan Uggla could ably fill the role, too. The idea of two Astros on the team is not as mind-bending as the sight of two Cubs, but Castro makes it as Lowrie’s backup, and LaHair is a deserving reserve at first base.

The clear starter at first is the Reds’ Votto, who is probably the first-half Most Valuable Player in the league. Besides Votto, though, that position is almost barren. Fielder and Albert Pujols jumped leagues last winter, and Ryan Howard is just starting his minor league rehabilitation assignment after a torn Achilles’ tendon.

Oddly, catcher has become the most loaded position in the N.L., with four making this team. Ruiz should get the start, but with Roy Halladay hurt and Cliff Lee still winless, only one of his three Phillies ace batterymates, Hamels, will join him in Kansas City.

Hamels, who seems likely to leave the Phillies as a free agent next winter, caused a stir when he drilled Washington’s Bryce Harper in their first meeting this season, then admitted he did it on purpose. Yet Hamels also revealed that he voted for Harper on his player ballot.

Harper, 19, should make plenty of All-Star teams in his career. But for now, it is hard to say he deserves a spot more than the other outfielders listed here. And the N.L. outfield has one prodigy, anyway: the Marlins’ Stanton, 22, who is a confirmed participant in the Home Run Derby. Motorists should avoid Interstate 70, which runs beyond the outfield walls at Kauffman Stadium, when Stanton takes his cuts.

Others deserving of consideration, but left off these rosters, include pitchers Chris Capuano, Jason Hammel, Joel Hanrahan, Lance Lynn, Rafael Soriano, Ryan Vogelsong and Jordan Zimmermann; outfielders Jason Heyward and Austin Jackson; and third basemen David Freese and Brett Lawrie.

Hanrahan, the Pirates’ closer, might be a better choice than the Reds’ Chapman, who has pitched so poorly lately that he somersaulted off the mound in relief last week after a save against Milwaukee.

But Chapman has thrown 105 miles per hour and has outrageous strikeout numbers, and his presence seems essential to the All-Star experience. Who wouldn’t love to see the fastest thrower in one league face the most powerful hitters in the other, with the game on the line?

(And home-field advantage for the World Series, in case you hadn’t heard.)

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