American League Starters
C Jason Varitek (Boston)
1B Mark Texiera (Texas)
2B Brian Roberts (Baltimore)
3B Alex Rodriguez (NYY)
SS Miguel Tejada (Baltimore)
CF Johnny Damon (Boston)
LF Manny Ramirez (Boston)
RF Vladimir Guerrero (Los Angeles Angels Of Anaheim, USA, Planet Earth)
DH David Ortiz (Boston)
AL Pitchers
SP Mark Buehrle, CWS
SP Bartolo Colon, LAA
SP Jon Garland, CWS
SP Roy Halladay, TOR
SP Kenny Rogers, TEX
SP Johan Santana, MIN
RP Danys Baez, TB
RP Justin Duchscherer, OAK
RP Joe Nathan, MIN
RP Mariano Rivera,
RP B.J. Ryan, BAL
RP Bob Wickman, CLE
AL Reserves
C Ivan Rodriguez, DET
1B Shea Hillenbrand, TOR
1B Paul Konerko, CWS
1B Mike Sweeney, KC
2B Alfonso Soriano, TEX
3B Melvin Mora, BAL
SS Michael Young, TEX
OF Garret Anderson, LAA
OF Gary Sheffield, NYY
OF Ichiro Suzuki, SEA
National League Starters :
C Mike Piazza, NYM
1B Derrek Lee, CHC
2B Jeff Kent, LAD
3B Scott Rolen, STL
SS David Eckstein, STL
LF Carlos Beltran, NYM
CF Jim Edmonds, STL
RF Bobby Abreu, PHI
National League Pitchers
SP Chris Carpenter, STL
SP Roger Clemens, HOU
SP Livan Hernandez, WSH
SP Pedro Martinez, NYM
SP Jake Peavy, SD
SP John Smoltz, ATL
SP Dontrelle Willis, FLA
RP Chad Cordero, WSH
RP Brian Fuentes, COL
RP Jason Isringhausen, STL
RP Brad Lidge, HOU
National League Reserves
C Paul Lo Duca, FLA
1B Albert Pujols, STL
2B Luis Castillo, FLA
3B Aramis Ramirez, CHC
SS Cesar Izturis, LAD
SS Felipe Lopez, CIN
OF Moises Alou, SF
OF Jason Bay, PIT
OF Miguel Cabrera, FLA
OF Luis Gonzalez, ARI
OF Andruw Jones, ATL
OF Carlos Lee, MIL
Congrats to the under .500 New York Mets on placing 3 of their players on the NL squad. And salutations are also due to Texas’ Kenny Rogers, who will no doubt enjoy the all of the hoopla and media scrutiny associated with the mid-summer classic.
Media support is already swelling for Tony La Russa to name Roger Clemens as the NL starter. Clemens, devestating again today in Houston’s 9-0 drubbing of Cincinnati, is an obvious enough choice, but stunk up the joint last year after earning the same opportunity in front of hometown fans and family. Instead, I’d submit the most exciting young player in the league, and the man singlehandedly responsible for ruining CSTB Day at Shea Stadium, Dontrelle Willis (above).
Well, him and the guy from UPS who lost our tickets for a week. But the D-Train is slightly more qualified to get the nod. More on our afternoon in Flushing later.