JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — If the 2010 MLB All-Star Game were held today, Milwaukee Brewers LF Ryan Braun would once again appear in the National League’s starting lineup.
Braun, a 26-year-old in his fourth MLB season, had the third-highest vote tally among all NL players in 2009 and the most among NL outfielders, more than 4.1-million. He went 0-for-2 in a 4-3 loss to the American League.
As of Wednesday (6/2/2010), Braun again was the leading NL outfielder with 604,675 votes. The 2010 MLB game will be held on Sun., July 13 in Anaheim, Calif.
Unlike last year, however, when three Jews were named All-Stars — Boston Red Sox 1B Kevin Youkilis and SP Jason Marquis, then with the Colorado Rockies, were the other two — Braun may end up being the lone Hebe on the field. That’s because as of Wednesday, Youkilis was ranked fourth among AL first basemen and Texas Rangers 2B Ian Kinsler was ranked 3rd at his position.
No doubt, many rankings will be shuffled in the final weeks of voting. Last year, for example, Kinsler led all AL second baseman in fan votes until the final week, when Boston Red Sox 2B Dustin Pedroia overtook him. Pedroia’s last-minute surge thwarted those who had hoped 2009’s All-Star Game would become the first ever to feature four Jews.
The biggest strike this year against Kinsler — besides missing the first 22 games of the season with an ankle injury and posting mediocre numbers since returning — is that he’s not a New York Yankee. As of Wednesday, Yankee players were ranked first at three positions (1B, 2B, SS) and second at two (3B, C). Moreover, Yankee manager Joe Girardi will have some say in who plays because he will be managing the AL squad.
Want to get out the vote for your favorite Jewish position players? MLB allows each fan to submit as many as 25 times, so click here t0 cast your ballots.
Pitchers are not selected by fans. The Jews you can vote for are:
American League
- 1B Kevin Youkilis
- 2B Ian Kinsler
- OF Gabe Kapler, Tampa Bay Rays (write-in only)
National League
- OF Ryan Braun
- 1B Ike Davis, New York Mets (write-in only)
- C Brad Ausmus, Los Angeles dodgers (write-in only)
Voting 25 times doesn’t take that long. MLB retains your personal info and votes from the previous ballot, so you can do all 25 in about 10 minutes. Fan voting ends on just before midnight on July 1.
— Scott Barancik
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