Does it seem a bit shocking to anyone else that although the Chicago White Sox are first place in their division (and have been for the past couple of months), not one of the players seems poised to play in the All-Star Game?What can be said about our contenders? According to this MLB.com article, Paul Konerko is in fifth place in his category, second base has no one from our team because Juan Uribe hasn’t played there for more than 2 games in one month and Alexei was not on the ballot at the time, Joe Crede is voted third for third base, but his some 730,000 votes are just a third of the clear winner, Rodriguez of the Yankees. Cabrera and Pierzinski are both fifth in their respective categories, and Jim Thome is third in his with over 820,000 votes and has the most votes of anyone in our club. Neither Dye nor Quentin (despite the write-in vote campaign) break the top 15 in the outfield category.
What does this say about our team and players? Clearly, our team does not have the support it deserves. Because Chicago is a two-team city, while other cities can throw full support behind their single team, Chicago fans are split in a bitter rivalry, cutting chances in half. You might say other cities (Los Angeles and New York, for instance) have more than one team, but they have managed to get their teams in the first place spot. What gives? To that question, I have no answer. Perhaps it is their notoriety or that those cities come together when it comes to representing their city. Perhaps it is just that Sox fans are not passionate enough about their team with their hot-cold streaks.
The good news? The All-Star Game means four days of rest for our clutch players, our struggling hitters, and the exhausted players that are constantly giving their all. Perhaps it would be a good thing to leave the names of White Sox players off the ballot if that means rested and rejuvenated players for the 4-game series against division rivals, the Minnesota Twins.
If you would like the White Sox to represent Chicago in the All-Star Game, click here to vote.
1 comment:
You've got the right idea, but how many White Sox really qualify as All-Star caliber this year? Konerko is hurt (and was struggling mightily), Swisher took three months to remember how to hit, Crede is leading AL 3B in errors, and Cabrera has been awful until last week. Quentin and Dye surely do, but it'd be nothing short of amazing if both of them made it considering how many infinitely more popular AL outfielders are out there.
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