Raise your hand if you think Ryan Howard got ripped off off in the voting for the National League All-Star team? Thought so.
Look, it’s one thing for Howard not to be voted into the starting lineup. He had a horrible start, with a batting average that floated around the Mendoza line much of the spring.
But Howard, as he usually does, has been heating up. And even his horrific start didn’t really affect his production. Howard’s numbers are eye-popping.
He has 28 home runs and 84 RBIs. Both are tops in the National League. But he does not have a spot on the NL All-Star team. Know the last time that happened? Try 1948, and Hank Sauers. Manager Clint Hurdle could have added Howard to the spot vacated by an injured Alfonso Soriano. Instead he chose David Wright of the Mets.
Tonight’s Home Run Derby will be held without Howard as well, which kind of makes the whole thing a joke. Only it’s probably not all that funny to Howard, whose vote totals were dwarfed by those of starter Lance Berkman.
Here’s another oddity. How can Chase Utley be the top vote-getter, and Howard be nowhere in sight on the balloting?
Then there’s Pat Burrell. No, he’s not on the team either. He missed his chance when he was not voted into the last spot by the gimmicky Internet voting. So Burrell went out Sunday and put an exclamation point on his absence by blasting a game-winning homer in the eighth. It assured the Phils a win over the Diamondbacks, another series win, and that they would finish the break in first place in the NL East.
In the big picture, that’s what’s really important. Still, it rubs us the wrong way to see a young star such as Howard get so obviously snubbed.
Look, it’s one thing for Howard not to be voted into the starting lineup. He had a horrible start, with a batting average that floated around the Mendoza line much of the spring.
But Howard, as he usually does, has been heating up. And even his horrific start didn’t really affect his production. Howard’s numbers are eye-popping.
He has 28 home runs and 84 RBIs. Both are tops in the National League. But he does not have a spot on the NL All-Star team. Know the last time that happened? Try 1948, and Hank Sauers. Manager Clint Hurdle could have added Howard to the spot vacated by an injured Alfonso Soriano. Instead he chose David Wright of the Mets.
Tonight’s Home Run Derby will be held without Howard as well, which kind of makes the whole thing a joke. Only it’s probably not all that funny to Howard, whose vote totals were dwarfed by those of starter Lance Berkman.
Here’s another oddity. How can Chase Utley be the top vote-getter, and Howard be nowhere in sight on the balloting?
Then there’s Pat Burrell. No, he’s not on the team either. He missed his chance when he was not voted into the last spot by the gimmicky Internet voting. So Burrell went out Sunday and put an exclamation point on his absence by blasting a game-winning homer in the eighth. It assured the Phils a win over the Diamondbacks, another series win, and that they would finish the break in first place in the NL East.
In the big picture, that’s what’s really important. Still, it rubs us the wrong way to see a young star such as Howard get so obviously snubbed.
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