JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — Milwaukee Brewers LF Ryan Braun and Texas Rangers 2B Ian Kinsler will participate in the 2010 All-Star Game, Major League Baseball announced this weekend.

Braun,who led all AL outfielders with 2.97-million votes, will be the lone Jewish player in either league’s starting lineup. Kinsler, who finished third among AL second basemen with 1.66-million votes, gained a spot when Boston Red Sox 2B Dustin Pedroia, the #2 vote-getter, suffered an injury.

Boston Red Sox 1B Kevin Youkilis, who is enjoying yet another MVP-type season, missed two All-Star cuts: the fan vote (he finished with 1.32-million, putting him in fourth place at his position), and the manager vote (New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi, who is managing the AL squad, chose two of his own players to round out his seven picks).

But Youkilis still has a chance to make the squad. As part of its absurdly convoluted procedure for selecting All-Stars, the MLB has named Youkilis and four other players — White Sox 1B Paul Konerko, New York Yankees RF Nick Swisher, Minnesota Twins LF Delmon Young, and Texas Rangers 3B Michael Young –as participants in a so-called Final Vote (not to be confused with the Final Solution). Whichever player gets the most fan votes between today (7/4/2010) and Thursday, July 8 at 4:00pm ET will receive a final spot on the AL squad.

Here is how the five candidates compare in key statistical categories, through today’s games:

PLAYER/HR/RBI/AVG/OBP/SLG

Kevin Youkilis/17/54/.299/.416/.584

Paul Konerko/20/57/.297/.386/.564

Nick Swisher/13/47/.293/.373/505

Delmon Young/9/55/.298/.332/.488

Michael Young/11/51/.310/.356/.493

(Note: Category leaders shown in red.)

Fans may cast an unlimited number of votes. In other words, it’s a perfect opportunity for Kevin Youkilis devotees who happen to be software programmers to set up repetitive-voting scripts.

For an online ballot, click here.

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