It's time for my annual All Star rant, but first a mea culpa.
As many times as I've railed against voting early and often, I was guilty of voting for Carlos Ruiz six times this year. I allowed my indignation, of which I have an ample reserve, to get the better of my ethics. Ruiz clearly deserved a starting nod, but he wasn't well known enough around the country to garner the votes on merit alone. Ballot stuffing was in order. I was wrong. He was chosen on merit, which leads me to number two on my list of complaints this year.
Tony LaRussa, who is OUT OF BASEBALL, is not only going to manage the NL team, he got to choose several of its members including all three Phillies. Now, it is traditional for the skipper of each pennant winner from the previous season to pilot the team, but to allow a guy who retired to also choose several of its members is pure Bud Selig.
Number three: Dan Uggla, starting second baseman. Just look at the stats for this season, and while you're at it, don't even mention the word "defense"!!!
Number four: Pablo Sandoval over David Wright? Right.
Matt Kemp comes in at number five. A great player, who by the way hasn't played in weeks if not months due to injuries.
The worst part of all this fraud is the awarding of home field advantage in the World Series to the winning league. The real reward is to the league with the best ballot stuffers. On that basis alone, all seven games of the Series should be played in San Francisco.
