Here is the NL All-Star roster.
Derrek Lee won. That’s old news, I know but it bears repeating. Even as a Cub fan, I don’t necessarily relish in it even though it was the right decision. Albert Pujols is one of my favorite players (a cynic would say that’s because he’s on my APBA team but I think it’s more than that). Albert is having a hellva year.
That said, the right person was chosen. Lee was the best choice hands down whether you base it on stats or contribution to team.
The starting lineup as a whole for the NL seems a lot weaker (and a lot less deserving, IMHO) than the AL’s. Where the AL starters seem to be chosen on merit, the NL’s appear to be picked on name recognition and team loyalty (giving the advantage to the big market clubs).
I’m not sure there was much that was to be done about catcher. There were others probably better than Piazza but none that realistically could get voted in ahead of him. David Eckstein is a scrappy shortstop who would fit better in the 1950’s. Scott Rolen, who was injured for a good part of this year, simply got in on previous experience and name recognition. Carlos Beltran is a centerfielder who had a lot of potential and probably still does but this year hasn’t lived up to potential.
The good news is that the managers and players did their best to choose some deserving players as reserves. Luis Castillo has a good OBP (.434), Felipe Lopez is having a fantastic year, and outfieders Andruw Jones and Carlos Lee are having All-Star caliber years. And then there’s Pujols, of course. Don’t forget to put them early, Coach!
The pitching selections seem solid. Fortunately, the players looked past Clemens’ low win total (they knew his 6-3 record wasn’t his fault, he has a 1.41 ERA). I would love to have any of the pitchers on the NL squad on my team. Brian Fuentes is the only one I don’t know a whole lot about but his stats look pretty decent considering he pitches half the time in Colorado.
Go NL!