All-star Selection

I am a huge baseball fan. I watch as many games as I can. I check all of the box scores online the day after. I follow almost every player and every stat.

One of the most fun things about baseball is the All-star game. Voting for the players that perform each and every day simply excites me. I love logging on and voting over and over again for my favorites. This year, I was an avid fan of my favorite player, Josh Hamilton. I voted the 25 vote maximum for him, as well as many of his peers.

Selection Sunday brings two very different emotions. The first is excitement. I can't wait to hear which players won the vote, and which were selected by their peers. The second emotion, though, is often one of confusion. People don't understand why player A got in and player B got "snubbed".

I can understand when people are strong advocates for certain players who SHOULD have made the team but didn't. What I don't like is when TV shows, editorial articles, and fans question why certain players DID make the team.

Case in point: Omar Infante is a utility player for the Atlanta Braves. He was selected to the All-Star team for the first time. When he was called by the General Manager of the Braves to be told he was selected, he thought he had been traded and thought that it was a cruel joke to have made the team. Once he believed it though, he was thrilled. Why is it, then, that ESPN should take that joy away from him by telling him he really isn't good enough to have made the team? Why is it acceptable to tell a man that all the work he has done has finally payed off and now it is called into quesiton?

Let the guy have his day. Don't take away one man's excitement just because there may have been a better candidate. Joey Votto, the Reds' first baseman was really snubbed. He should have made the team. He didn't. And although it is great to chatter over who should have gotten the nod, it isn't right to take away someone's pride just because of a game. Let's not forget that baseball, and really all sports, are just that, a game. This game is supposed to be for fun, not for tearing each other apart.

During the game and Home Run Derby beforehand, I hope everybody, fan, player, and even Umpire, simply enjoys the festivities,rather than wasting the fun by slamming certain players.