(nobody’s voting for this Izzy, either).
Bill Plashcke’s constant digs at Paul DePodesta grew tiresome eons ago, and we’ll not hold our breath waiting for him to pick apart, say, Mike Piazza leading Ramon Hernandez in the All-Star Balloting. Even so, when he’s right, he’s right. From today’s LA Times.
What do you get when you combine some of the league’s most blindly loyal followers with one of its most blindingly skilled players?
Cesar Izturis receiving fewer votes than a guy who can’t catch, a guy who can’t hit and a guy who hasn’t walked normally for more than a month.
Something is wrong here, Dodger fans.
Hint: It could be you.
The Dodgers might have committed more errors than all but four other National League teams, but the biggest blunder of the season thus far has occurred outside their reach.
In the first update of All-Star voting conducted in stadiums and online, Cesar Izturis’ name has been bobbled, booted and flat-out butchered.
He leads the major leagues in hits, multi-hit games and hitting in close and late situations.
He ranks fourth in the league in batting and, surely, first in routinely spectacular fielding.
And yet he’s not even in the top five in punches and clicks.
“I’m shocked,” Izturis said.
The leader is the injured Nomar Garciaparra, who has spent as much time at shortstop this season as Mia Hamm.
“Is Garciaparra even playing?” Izturis said.
Second is David Eckstein, great guy with 16 fewer hits and a range of 16 fewer steps.
“It’s a shame,” Dodger Manager Jim Tracy said, speaking of the entire process. “It’s just a shame.”
Rafael Furcal, Jose Reyes and Clint Barmes are third, fourth and fifth, respectively.
Furcal is batting .229, Reyes has 14 fewer hits and Barmes has made twice as many errors.