Marty Lurie Talks San Francisco Giants Baseball
//

AL All Stars Should Be Powerful Once Again

Batter Up June 24th, 2007
With the all-star game approaching on July 10th a potential American League team is loaded with big bats and power pitchers.
Here are my picks for the 32- player AL team based on first half performances.
First base: David Ortiz. Big Papi hits third on the AL East’s best team, he hits third in this game too. Minnesota’s Justin Morneau. The 2006 MVP specializes in late game heroics. Boston’s Kevin Youkilis. He can play third if necessary.

Click below for More!

Second Base: Detroit’s Placido Polanco. The Cards and Phillies let a super star get away.
Shortstop: New York’s captain Derek Jeter. He might hit .350. Los Angeles Orlando Cabrera. Best kept secret on the West coast. Detroit’s Carlos Guillen. Often overlooked in a dynamite offense.
Third base: A Rod: Could break Roger Maris’s AL home run record (61). Boston’s Mike Lowell. Recent slump doesn’t detract from solid first half.
Outfield in no particular order: Ichiro. Someday he might hit .400. Torii Hunter hits home runs then takes them away with his glove. Vladimir Guerrero: The best player in the West. Kansas City’s Mark Teahen. Another first rate A’s draft pick. Detroit’s Magglio Ordonez. MVP candidate should lead the league in hitting and RBIs.
Catcher: Cleveland’s Victor Martinez. Fabulous hitter, don’t worry about his arm. Yankees Jorge Posada. Pending free agency doing wonders for his batting average.
Pitchers: Set up: Rangers Akinori Otsuka. Not sure what he throws, neither are the hitters. Cleveland’s Rafael Betancourt. No one gets on base against this reliever. Los Angeles Angel Scott Shields. If the Angels have a lead in the eighth inning, Shields gets the ball.
Closers: Angels Frankie “K Rod” Rodriguez. Developed a change up, like his slider and fastball weren’t enough. Chicago’s Bobby Jenks. He’s the only bright spot for the ChiSox. Seattle’s JJ Putz. The intimidating flamethrower reminds me of Goose Gossage.
Starting pitchers: Dan Haren. Just look at the numbers and you see Pedro Martinez or Roger Clemens in their prime. Toronto: Roy Halladay. He can go nine, no ties in this all-star game. Angels John Lackey and Kelvim Escobar. Heat and more heat. Detroit’s Justin Verlander. His no-hitter is icing on his 100 mph cake. Baltimore’s Jeremy Guthrie. O’s pitching coach Leo Mazzone still has the Midas touch. Boston’s Josh Beckett. Unless things go sour in the second half he will win 20. Cleveland’s Fausto Carmona and CC Sabathia. This one-two punch is scary in a short series. Devil Ray starter James Shields. Power change up fools the best hitters in the league.
Here’s a potential starting line up for the National League.
First base: Brewers Prince Fielder. If he hits one in triples alley, he might circle the bases.
Second base: Phillies Chase Utley. Solid hitter.
Shortstop: Mets Jose Reyes: The best player in the NL.
Third base: Marlins: Miguel Cabrera. Yankees might be in his future.
Outfield: Rockies Matt Holliday. No humidor in SF. Arizona’s Eric Byrnes: Having a better year than Alfonso Soriano. Astros Carlos Lee: Would you rather have Barry Bonds or Ken Griffey, Jr?
Catcher: Dodgers Russell Martin. Handles one tough pitching staff in LA. Steals bases too.
Starting pitcher: Padres: Jake Peavy. At least the first three innings will be close.
Set up: Arizona’s Tony Pena. He’s almost perfect in the eighth inning. Atlanta’s Rafael Soriano. Saving the Braves ‘pen. Pirates Matt Capps. Can close or set up.
Closer: Brewers Francisco Cordero. Why did the Rangers let him go? Padres Trevor Hoffman. Next stop Cooperstown. Mets Billy Wagner. Still hits 100 mph on the gun. Rockies Brian Fuentes. Big part of the Rockies success. Diamondbacks Jose Valverde. Just to make the game interesting.

I’ll take the AL in a walk.

0 comments

There are no comments yet...

Kick things off by filling out the form below.

You must log in to post a comment.