I just filled out the Illowa APBA League All-Star ballot for our upcoming league All-Star Game this weekend. A daunting task indeed.
I usually pay more attention to runs produced (runs plus rbis) than statisticians would like. My theory is that the goal of the game is to win and as astute broadcasters are prone to point out, you can’t win unless you score runs,
But what to do in the case of the Chicago Division Shortstop ballot?
| Shortstop | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | HBP | AVG | SLG | OBP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drew, S. | 83 | 319 | 46 | 59 | 18 | 3 | 8 | 36 | 41 | 57 | 6 | 3 | .185 | .335 | .284 |
| Jeter, D. | 92 | 366 | 52 | 92 | 19 | 3 | 2 | 28 | 46 | 60 | 13 | 7 | .251 | .336 | .346 |
| Ramirez, A. | 91 | 358 | 37 | 83 | 22 | 0 | 5 | 28 | 17 | 71 | 9 | 0 | .232 | .335 | .267 |
| Andrus, E. | 76 | 278 | 40 | 82 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 26 | 41 | 14 | 1 | .295 | .327 | .357 |
| Escobar, A. | 63 | 195 | 22 | 47 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 16 | 8 | 35 | 3 | 0 | .241 | .349 | .271 |
| Tejada, M. | 53 | 91 | 12 | 23 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 6 | 11 | 0 | 1 | .253 | .396 | .306 |
Stephen Drew who leads all division shortstops in rbis and comes in second in runs, is hitting way below the Mendoza Line at a miserable .185 pace. He can thank his eight homeruns and 29 overall extra base hits for that which he gets from his four 0s and seven second column 1s.
But .185? What’s a self-respecting ballot voter to do? It doesn’t help that runner ups Derek Jeter, Alexei Ramirez and Elvis Andrus aren’t wowing anyone with their stats.
I’ve already made my selection and submitted my ballot so I’m not fishing for advice but I’m curious what others think.
Other notes on the ballot: I’m sad that my Albert Pujols (.298, 26 HR, 64 rbi) won’t be a starter. It’s time for him to give someone else a turn, in this case Joey Votto (.320, 28 HR, 68 rbi). I’m hoping AP will be given a spot as a reserve… I will give away this much, this is the first time in over 12 years that I didn’t give ARod (.239, 12 HR, 32 rbi) a first, second or third place vote for his position.
I don’t even see why this is an issue. Doesn’t your league have the rule that if Derek Jeter is on the ballot, he is automatically selected?
The American League does.
Results are out: Jeter in a landslide.
How did Steve know that ILLOWA does it that way, too?
LOL, Steve. You called it. The Jeter Rule was in effect,
Well, it might even make sense to select Jeter in an APBA contest. At least in APBA he’s an SS-9, as opposed to real life.