The MLB Channel announced about two hours ago that Joey Votto and Nick Swisher were the final fan votes to complete the All Star rosters. Congratulations to both of them. It is quite an honor. In Votto’s case, I think an egregious wrong was finally righted. He deserved to be on the initial roster. I think Swisher is also deserving of being an All Star, but I think he beat out someone more deserving.
Nick Swisher is a great guy. And given how much he has spoken about what an honor making the All Star team would be, I am very happy for him. And, like any Yankee fan, I am pleased with how much representation we have (though I think 7 is overkill, and would submit Alex Rodriguez was also not totally deserving of his appointment). But did the fans really just vote Swisher in over Youkilis?
Please do not take this as me diminishing Swisher’s accomplishment, or season. He is very deserving as well. Swisher is currently hitting .298. His OBP is .376, and he is slugging .518. He also has 14 home runs and 48 RBIs. These numbers are impressive, especially when you consider they come in a line up where he is surrounded by A-Rod, Tex, Cano, etc. That Swisher is so productive is probably a bit a product of that lineup, and being a switch hitter in a lefty friendly Yankee Stadium (7 of his home runs have come at Yankee Stadium and 11 from the left side).
Compare Swisher’s numbers, though, to Youkilis’s. Youk is hitting .292, with a .409 OBP. He is slugging .574 with 17 home runs, 55 RBIs. His OPS is .983 compared to Swisher’s .895. The only statistical category in which Swisher enjoys an advantage is batting average. I would submit, as many have before me, and on base percentage is a far more valuable stat.
The Yankees did run an aggressive campaign for Swisher, including a commercial broadcast online and in New York. Is an aggressive media campaign truly what put one man over the other? I have not seen the final vote tally yet, but surely anyone reading can see that Youkilis probably deserved much more consideration than he got. He is more qualified. This, again, demonstrates the problem with letting fans vote for who makes the team.
Oh, Wesley, the class goes both ways, my friend. Well played.
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