All Star Game Blog

The Tigers now have three players in starting spots as the All Star Game balloting winds down and the Yankees are right on their heels with three (and a chance for more).  Magglio Ordonez joined Placido Polanco and Ivan Rodriguez as players who would be starters if the voting ended today.  And for the Yankees, Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter both lead at their positions.  Jorge Posada and Robinson Cano are in second place and they could make one last push.  The difference between Manny Ramirez in fourth place and Ichiro in third is almost nothing (less then 25,000 votes).

In the National League, Prince Fielder has extended his lead at first base and Barry Bonds is now on the outside looking in at fourth place at outfield.  It looks like the Mets are going to end up with three starters and despite a mediocre year (for him), Carlos Beltran leads all National League players with votes.  Ken Griffey, Jr. stayed in second and he’s right behind him.

Things are far from certain though as this story indicates.   Especially with the online ballots, players can make huge pushes in the final week so the final standings will almost be as interesting as who ends making that big push in the final days.

MLB.com has put out both National League and American League All Star Game voting updates.  In the National League, Prince Fielder has taken over the lead in a tight race at first base and Ken Griffey, Jr. continues his run towards a starting spot.  In the American League, Magglio Ordonez has made a push but he’s still on the outside looking in and Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez are running away with their positions.

I haven’t seen what the baseball odds are on who’s favored to win, but my bet is on the American League.  They’ve gotten it done in interleague play again and I just like their starting lineup better.

I thought about doing a nice, indepth analysis with spreadsheets and stuff on who’s gaining on who and what not but MLB.com has beaten me to the punch.  Not only do they provide the current voting, but some really nice analysis on the current trends in the voting.

In the American League, Alex Rodriguez is the first AL player to top a million votes.  The two closest races are at second base (Robinson Cano barely leads Placido Polanco) and catcher (Ivan Rodriguez has a 30,000 vote lead over the injured Joe Mauer).  Magglio Ordonez also made a push and he’s now fifth amongst outfielders so the Tigers are making a good showing.  Heck, even Sean Casey is fifth at first base.

In the National League, the Mets have four players leading at their positions and the injured Carlos Beltran leads all NL hitters.  The closest race here is in the outfield.  Barry Bonds has just a 3-4k lead over fourth place Alfonso Soriano and less then 65,000 votes seperate second place Ken Griffy, Jr. and Andruw Jones.