If you believed in hexes or curses, one could certainly understand the troubled case of the 2009 New York Mets.

Every year, MLB begins their All-Star game balloting near the end of April, which is far too early. I advocate for voting only after June 1, as you simply cannot elect players to the All-Star game based on less than one month of baseball.

Allow me to bottom line this...

Oliver Perez was signed by the New York Mets to pitch against 3 teams.

The Philadelphia Phillies, the Atlanta Braves, and the New York Yankees.

Perez has inexplicably owned the Yankees throughout his entire career, (5-1 in 6 career starts, 41.1 IP, 2.61 ERA). While the Mets only face the Yankees 6 times per season, it would be quite fortuitous if Perez were able to have 2 starts against them.

Last year, Perez dominated the Philadelphia Phillies even more than Mets ace Johan Santana did.
In 4 starts against the Phillies, Perez was 1-0 with a 0.35 ERA over 26 IP. He gave up a total of one earned run in 4 games against Philadelphia.

In 2007, Perez posted a 4-1 record in 5 starts against the Atlanta Braves, with a 3.03 ERA over 32.2 IP.
In 2008, Perez had no decisions in 3 starts against Atlanta, with a 3.72 ERA over 19.1 IP.

For all the talk about how "inconsistent" Oliver Perez is, the reality is that he more often than not, pitches very well against any one of those 3 teams, OR in high-pressure situations. When he pitches against other teams that are merely "regular season games," no one really knows what to expect.

His one good performance in 2009 came against the San Diego Padres. It was a high-pressure situation in that the Mets had lost the CitiField opener to San Diego, and the Mets desperately wanted that first home win ASAP.

The way the schedule works out, unless there are any rainouts, Oliver Perez's next three starts will be against Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Atlanta.

Of course, there's no guarantee that Perez will pitch great those games, but the odds are in his favor based on track record.

If he fails to pitch adequately in these games, then I would say there is great cause for concern. As it is, you don't want to see him pitch so extremely poorly against the rest of the league.

But it's too early in the season to panic, especially when Oliver Perez is about to begin facing teams that he was specifically paid to beat.

Let's start with the New York Mets.

They're 5-5. Not a great start, but it's still .500 ball. What is overlooked is that unlike another team in New York, the Mets have been in every single one of their losses until the very last pitch of the game.

They're not getting obliterated (like the Yankees were 15-5 by Tampa Bay when Nick Swisher had to pitch.)

Nor are they getting completely embarrassed (like the Yankees were at their home opener once CC Sabathia left the game and the bullpen gave up NINE RUNS in the 7th inning, leading to a 10-2 Yankee Stadium opening destruction.)

Of the Mets 5 losses in this early 2009 season, the Mets lost 4 of those 5 games by 1 run, 1 of them by 2 runs. You often have to judge teams not only by their wins, but by their losses. Are they in the game until the end? Are they playing exciting baseball? Is the game over in the 9th inning or the 5th? Teams that play until the final out are going to allow themselves a greater chance of success and comebacks, and so far the Mets are doing just that. Of course, it'd be much nicer for them to win more of those close games, but there are 152 games left to play.

Tonight's game against Milwaukee was another nailbiter for the Metropolitans that saw Gary Sheffield get his 500th career HR in a key situation with the team down by a run, tying the game and allowing the solid bullpen to keep them in the game until Luis Castillo became the hero in the bottom 9 by hitting an infield single with 2 out that scored Carlos Delgado from 3rd for the CitiField walkoff victory.

Of course had the Mets lost tonight, fans would somehow find a way to blame Willie Randolph again.

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It's still very early in the season, and most teams seem to have their fair share of problems right now except perhaps for the Florida Marlins. The Red Sox are in the AL East cellar, and a lot of the standings 10-11 games in, are a tad lopsided. But fans and media pundits alike have to remember that what happens in April rarely reflects the final results at the end of September.

Both the Marlins and Padres are off to very hot starts. Are both going to win their division? Not likely with the Marlins, and no way in hell with the Padres. Is Toronto going to win the AL East? Not a chance. But it always leads to a never-ending string of panic from each team's fanbase that "drastic actions" must be taken in order to right the ship immediately!!!!

Maybe these same people forget how hot the 2008 Arizona Diamondbacks were for most of the season, only to fade away when August (and Manny Ramirez) came around.

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One team that's already had enough problems both on and off the field, are my 2nd favorite team, the Los Angeles Angels (of Anaheim).

Three of their top starters in their pitching rotation began the season on the DL: John Lackey, Ervin Santana, and Kelvim Escobar.

While Lackey began last season the DL as well (and Escobar spent the entire season on the DL),  Joe Saunders and Ervin Santana stepped up to hold the team together along with Jered Weaver and Jon Garland, until mid-May when ace Lackey came back.

This season, it's even rougher, certainly off the field. The tragedy that all of baseball suffered with the loss of Nick Adenhart, which has affected both the team and fanbase on multiple levels.

Add to that the injury to slugger Vladimir Guerrero, who will be out for at least a month with a pectoral muscle tear injury. There's hope that Vlad can heal without the need for surgery, but losing the team's power bat for any length of time is never a positive, and could potentially shake things up in the AL West. As it is, the Angels are off to a slow start, and Seattle is on fire.

The Angels opened a 3-game series tonight in Minnesota at the MetroDome, and pretty much every one of their pitchers did horribly tonight with the exception of Justin Speier, who ironically enough, usually is terrible out of the bullpen. He pitched 2 IP, 4 Ks, no hits. Everyone else, an utter disaster.

That was capped off by a Jason Kubel grandslam in the bottom of the 8th off of Angel reliever Jason Bulger which took the Twins from down 9-7, to an 11-9 victory taking the opener.

The Angels' bullpen, usually one of their greatest strengths, has not been too strong this season ever since Frankie Rodriguez went to New York. Jose Arredondo and Scot Shields, normally rocks of this team's 7th and 8th innings, currently have 7.20 ERAs on the season. I'm confident things will normalize over the course of the next couple of months, but it does raise an eyebrow or two.

The other part is what the team's offense does in late innings (7-9). Which is basically, nothing.

The Mets currently have 141 RBIs in innings 7-9, which is 2nd to worst in the NL (the Dodgers have 139, except they also have one of the top bullpens in the league.)

They are also currently dead last in runs scored (154), just behind the Dodgers (155) and Padres (156) in innings 7 through 9.

The strength of this team in August has primarily been the starting pitching, and the offense's ability to score in the first 6 innings.

The dichotomy is so great, it's astounding. The Mets have scored 484 runs in the first 6 innings of games, more than any other team in the NL. The team's SLG is 2nd only to the Cubs, and 3rd in OBP (behind St. Louis and Chicago).

What's more disturbing about this is that it only allows the opposition's relievers to be that much more effective against a team that simply cannot put together the hits in clutch situations.

The recent walkoff victory against the Atlanta Braves when Carlos Delgado lined a shot to LF Omar Infante, who lost the ball in the lights, was quite memorable. All the more memorable because these types of finishes have occurred so infrequently for the 2008 team.

The team's strengths are clearly the starting pitching (2nd-half Johan Santana, Oliver Perez finding a second life under pitching coach Dan Warthen, the maturation of Mike Pelfrey), the ability to attack the opposition's starters early and sometimes often.

But the weaknesses have everything to do with close games that go down to the wire. A shaky inconsistent bullpen and a practically non-existent clutch offense in late innings, is where the team is finding itself in dire straits.

They're not going to win every game, and any fan who expects so is a fool. There's always going to be games where they're simply outmatched and outplayed. But in close games in late innings, the team needs to figure out how to hold the leads, and more importantly, expand on those leads, and/or find ways to comeback.

Successful teams have a way of rallying from behind when the chips are down. The 2008 Mets have done so a handful of times, and they are memorable times. But they're memorable because they happen so infrequently.
 

Dodger "rookie" Hiroki Kuroda took a perfect game into the 8th inning tonight against the Atlanta Braves, ending with a CG 1-hit shutout thanks to a Mark Teixiera double. The Dodgers won 3-0.  

Don't blink, but Joe Torre is now at the helm of a first-place team.

Of course, the L.A. Dodgers are also a game below .500, much like the Arizona Diamondbacks, who share the same 1st-place record in the NL West of 44-45.

Torre's former team, the New York Yankees, have a much better record now that they've gotten out of their funk during the first 2.5 months. They're 47-42, yet 8.5 games out of first behind Tampa.

While it's highly doubtful that the winner of the NL West in September will be under .500, it does  show just how awful the teams of the NL West are.

Remember the hot start of the Arizona Diamondbacks this season when they went 20-8? They're 24-37 since.

Even though they're only 5 and 6.5 games out of first respectively, it seems quite doubtful that the San Francisco Giants or Colorado Rockies have a shot at catching up. But with a lot of baseball left to play, anything seems possible in a division of such weak teams. 

The New York Mets beat the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on Monday, 6/16/08 by a final score of 9-6.

A very exciting offensive-based game from start to finish with a lot of edge-of-your-seat moments, here are the key reasons why the Mets were able to take the first game from the Angels:

• Staked Mike Pelfrey to a 2-run lead in the first, and tacked another run each in the 2nd and 3rd innings to go up 4-1 after 3 innings. One of those runs was a Jose Reyes creation. He ledoff the game with a walk, moved over to 2nd after Castillo grounded out, stole 3rd base with ease and ran home on the errant throw by catcher Jeff Mathis that went into leftfield.

• Carlos Beltran finally hitting the longball. 2 of them. As I've said a bajillion times, Carlos Beltran is the key to the success or failure of the 2008 Mets. If he puts up 2005 numbers, this team is going to do poorly. If he puts up 2006 numbers, there is much hope for the postseason. But he needs to turn things around over the course of the season. Let's hope that tonight was the beginning of that.

• Offense as a whole. Jered Weaver looked very average tonight, not the way he's pitched over the past 5 starts at all. The Mets' offense had to take advantage of that, and they did.

• Pelfrey didn't pitch great, but he left the game with the 4-3 lead, and didn't choke in clutch situations. Pedro Feliciano's shoddy relief ended up charging runs to Pelfrey in the 7th. But hey, for once Pelfrey got the W!!!

• Top 7, the Mets scored 4 very important runs off the Angels. Weaver left the game with baserunners on 2nd and 3rd. He was relieved by Jose Arredondo, who has been extremely effective for the Angels this year with a 0.69 ERA coming into the game. That ERA almost doubled to 1.32 after Arredondo couldn't stop the Mets. 2 runs charged to Weaver, 2 to Arredondo (though only 1 earned).

• In what had to be the most important part of the entire game, with runners on 1st and 3rd in the bottom of the 7th inning, and Pedro Feliciano failing to record Angel outs, Aaron Heilman was brought into the game to face two right-handed All-star bats in Vladimir Guerrero and Torii Hunter. Despite the ginormous lump in the collective throats of Met fans, with 1 out and only up  by 2 runs, Heilman may have made his best appearance in the 2008 season by not only striking out Vlad, but also striking out Hunter. VERY clutch performance from Aaron Heilman, a guy who needs to make these kind of performances the rule, not the exception.

• After the scary bottom 7th inning, the Mets tacked on another insurance run in the 9th thanks to a Jose Reyes leadoff double. This was actually a single in which Reyes deked RF Gary Matthews into making a throw to 1B when Reyes was already in-between the bases, and went to 2nd on the throw. Very smart baserunning by Reyes. Then a Luis Castillo sac bunt that moved Reyes over to 3rd, and a David Wright sac fly that put the Mets up 9-6.

• Duaner Sanchez pitched a perfect 8th. Billy Wagner wasn't lights out, and did allow 2 baserunners with 1 out in the bottom 9, giving the Rally Monkey a chance to make a difference for the Angels, but Wagner got Garrett Anderson to hit the ball hard at SS Jose Reyes, who promptly doubled off Chone Figgins at 2nd base to end the game.

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Since the Arizona Diamondback series at Shea Stadium in which the Mets lost 2 of 3 thanks to Billy Wagner blown saves, and the "Willie Watch" which picked up steam as a result, the Mets have since won 3 out of their last 4 ballgames.

One wonders if it's a coincidence that whenever the Willie Randolph firing rumors boil up, the Mets win more ballgames. After the initial May 26 meeting that Willie had with the Wilpons and Omar Minaya, the Mets took 3 straight series (Florida, Los Angeles, San Francisco) before then losing 6 of 7 to San Diego and Arizona.

It's still too early to tell, but it's a curious pattern to take note of. Maybe this team requires consequences in order for them to play better baseball.

Game 2 of the 3-game series is tomorrow with a battle of top aces Johan Santana vs John Lackey.   I highly doubt the final score will be something resembling 9-6.   

The MLB All-Star game is a little over a month away. Voting began on May 1, which is way too early to make All-Star picks, but as of June 10, with the latest results available, and the timing right, here are my votes and analysis for the 2008 All-Stars.

Keep in mind that there is still a lot of baseball left to be played between now and the end of the initial voting period which ends on July 2. Player performances can drastically change over that time period, so a ballot submitted then could look a lot different than one submitted on June 10.

American League:
1B Current Leaders (as of June 9, 2008)
1. Kevin Youkilis (Boston)            926,758
2. Justin Morneau (Minnesota)     678,037
3. Jason Giambi (New York)        437,656
4. Carlos Pena (Tampa Bay)        296,769
5. Paul Konerko (Chicago)           270,410

My Pick: Justin Morneau (Minnesota)

Kevin Youkilis is practically neck-and-neck with Justin Morneau in stats across the board, so either one is a fine choice.

The Angels' Casey Kotchman should be getting more votes than he has, leading all AL 1B in BA (currently .307) and has been consistently good all season. The Tigers' Carlos Guillen is also a good pick, but he's since been moved out of 1B for the defensively-challenged Miguel Cabrera, who this year would be a terrible pick at any position.

Paul Konerko isn't remotely reasonable in that spot when he's been hitting under .220 practically the entire season, and doesn't have the power numbers that a Jason Giambi has to justify the votes. Carlos Pena is also a bad choice here, as he has more HRs than Konerko, but similar BA. Pena leads all AL 1B in strikeouts, and is also on the DL. A terrible choice.

2B Current Leaders (as of June 9, 2008)
1. Dustin Pedroia (Boston)          809,114
2. Ian Kinsler (Texas)                  512,894
3. Robinson Cano (New York)      512,045
4. Placido Polanco (Detroit)         333,336
5. Brian Roberts (Baltimore)        233,752

My Pick: Ian Kinsler (Texas)

Red Sox nation may be stuffing the ballots here, but these results are completely absurd. Kinsler has better stats than Pedroia across the board to the point that it's ridiculous to vote for anyone BUT Ian Kinsler at this point. Brian Roberts would be a better pick than Pedroia, but still not close to Kinsler.

Robinson Cano is having a terrible year and doesn't even belong in the top 5. This category is a joke if Kinsler doesn't win. There's not a single justifiable reason for anyone else to get it.

SS Current Leaders (as of June 9, 2008)
1. Derek Jeter (New York)            1,218,881
2. Michael Young (Texas)               533,582
3. Edgar Renteria (Detroit)              365,269
4. Julio Lugo (Boston)                     281,408
5. Orlando Cabrera (Chicago)          271,702

My Pick: Michael Young (Texas)

Derek Jeter is in this spot for two reasons. One, legacy at the position. Two, the All-Star game is in Yankee Stadium, so he's getting a LOT of hometown voting. But again, the fans are completely wrong and should be ashamed for voting this way.

This is a terrible pick when Michael Young's numbers trump Jeter's across the board in the same way Kinsler's stats obliterate the entire field at 2B.

The Rangers' middle infield is clearly getting short-changed in the voting because they're not a major market like New York or Boston, even though Young and Kinsler are the ONLY reasonable choices at these two positions.

3B Current Leaders (as of June 9, 2008)
1. Alex Rodriguez (New York)         1,109,916
2. Mike Lowell (Boston)                     584,563
3. Miguel Cabrera (Detroit)                 379,813
4. Joe Crede (Chicago)                      334,024
5. Scott Rolen (Toronto)                     204,472

My Pick: Alex Rodriguez (New York)

A-Rod's stint on the DL makes his stats this season seem on the weak side. What, ONLY 10 HRs? But he's still the best pick at the position.  Mike Lowell also spent time on the DL this season, but his stats don't compare to A-Rod's in the least.

Miguel Cabrera isn't at 3B anymore, and even if he were, doesn't have the stats to warrant the votes.

The only other slightly reasonable pick at 3B is Chicago's Joe Crede, who leads all AL 3B with 14 HR and has a very good .291 BA.

C Current Leaders (as of June 9, 2008)
1. Jason Varitek (Boston)               681,451
2. Joe Mauer (Minnesota)               630,372
3. Ivan Rodriguez (Detroit)               505,645
4. Jorge Posada (New York)            445,455
5. Victor Martinez (Cleveland)          321,063

My Pick: Dioner Navarro (Tampa Bay)

Based on stats, there are only two reasonable choices at what is a fairly weak field of catchers. Joe Mauer, and the Rays' Dioner Navarro, who despite a .349 BA leading all catchers, and has been hitting well over .300 all season, doesn't crack the top 5, which is ridiculous.

Varitek is a poor choice here, as he is every year. Red Sox Nation continues to try and flood the All-Star team with their players, even when very few of them should be involved.

Both Rodriguez and Varitek get votes based on how they performed 7 years ago, instead of in 2008. Jorge Posada spent a fair amount of time on the DL this season, and while he is hitting .311, hasn't played enough this year to matchup with Mauer and Navarro's stats.

DH Current Leaders (as of June 9, 2008)
1. David Ortiz (Boston)                   1,261,879
2. Hideki Matsui (New York)             672,267
3. Jim Thome (Chicago)                   403,881
4. Gary Sheffield (Detroit)                 192,557
5. Frank Catalanotto (Texas)             188,622

My Pick: Hideki Matsui (New York)

David Ortiz is a great pick except he's on the DL and may be done for the season. Gary Sheffield is also on the DL, but is not a good pick at all this year.

Jim Thome has very good power numbers but that's about all. He's hitting .212 and strikes out at a very high rate.

Matsui is hitting .323 with 6 HR, 29 RBIs and a 1-to-1 BB/K ratio. With Ortiz out of the mix, no one else should get a vote except for Hideki Matsui.

OF Current Leaders (as of June 9, 2008)
1. Manny Ramirez (Boston)              1,179,884
2. Josh Hamilton (Texas)                     922,220
3. Ichiro Suzuki (Seattle)                     696,176
4. Vladimir Guerrero (Los Angeles)       610,877
5. Bobby Abreu (New York)                 545,852
6. Magglio Ordonez (Detroit)               512,245
7. Johnny Damon (New York)              444,973
8. Melky Cabrera (New York)               439,893
9. Torii Hunter (Los Angeles)                421,694
10. Grady Sizemore (Cleveland)           410,465

My Picks: Josh Hamilton (Texas), (write-in) Carlos Quentin (Chicago), Manny Ramirez (Boston)

Josh Hamilton is having an amazing season so far, 17 HR, 69 RBIs (wow), and .315 BA. Clearly deserves the vote.

Carlos Quentin is an unfortunate victim of not being on the ballot, so he's not getting the votes. He'll definitely make the team thanks to the players' voting, but fans should be writing him in at a faster clip. If I could write-in Milton Bradley (Texas) as well, I would.

And Manny Ramirez is a fine choice this season based on his numbers.

There are a good number of options for the AL outfield. I have no quarrel with guys like Ichiro, Johnny Damon and Bobby Abreu making the top 10.

There are still people on the list though, who shouldn't be. Vladimir Guerrero is having a very mediocre season. Melky Cabrera is good, but is no All-Star. Torii Hunter isn't having the season that other better players are.

Pitching:
Fans of course, don't get to vote for pitchers in the All-Star game. But here are my 10 picks in case the players need some guidance. J 5 starters, 5 relievers, in no particular order. 

Starters:  Cliff Lee (Cleveland), Roy Halladay (Toronto), Ervin Santana, (Los Angeles), Scott Kazmir (Tampa Bay), Jose Contreras (Chicago).

Relievers:  Mariano Rivera (New York), Frankie Rodriguez (Los Angeles), Jonathan Papelbon (Boston), George Sherrill (Baltimore), Joakim Soria (Kansas City)

So, in conclusion, my AL ballot:
C: Dioner Navarro (Tampa Bay)
1B: Justin Morneau (Minnesota)
2B: Ian Kinsler (Texas)
SS: Michael Young (Texas)
3B: Alex Rodriguez (New York)
DH: Hideki Matsui (New York)
OF: Josh Hamilton (Texas), (write-in) Carlos Quentin (Chicago), Manny Ramirez (Boston)     

Overall, the fan voting is leading to some absolutely terrible choices so far at 2B, SS and C positions, picking 3 guys who don’t belong starting.

Onto the National League Ballot!!!

National League

1B Current Leaders (as of June 10, 2008)
1. Lance Berkman (Houston)            1,046,249
2. Derrick Lee (Chicago)                     771,516
3. Albert Pujols (St. Louis)                   700,777
4. Ryan Howard (Philadelphia)              368,012
5. Prince Fielder (Milwaukee)               317,039

My Pick: Lance Berkman (Houston)

Berkman is the best pick of them all by far, although I wouldn’t necessarily spit on someone for voting for Pujols, Lee, or San Diego’s Adrian Gonzalez.

Ryan Howard doesn’t deserve to be on the All-Star team with a .214 BA. Prince Fielder isn’t putting up the numbers that other more worthy candidates are.

2B Current Leaders (as of June 10, 2008)
1. Chase Utley (Philadelphia)     1,284,961
2. Mark DeRosa (Chicago)            589,637
3. Kazuo Matsui (Houston)            523,335
4. Dan Uggla (Florida)                   366,848
5. Orlando Hudson (Arizona)          333,998

My Pick: Chase Utley (Philadelphia)

Up until recently, no one was even remotely close to being a reasonable option OTHER than Chase Utley.

Florida’s Dan Uggla has experienced an offensive surge which is still short of Utley’s numbers, but would make a good option as a backup. DeRosa is a good hitter but doesn’t have the power of Utley or Uggla.

SS Current Leaders (as of June 10, 2008)
1. Miguel Tejada (Houston)             726,835
2. Hanley Ramirez (Florida)             607,528
3. Ryan Theriot (Chicago)                583,433
4. Jose Reyes (New York)               498,007
5. Jimmy Rollins (Philadelphia)         442,885

My Pick: Hanley Ramirez (Florida)

Up until he went on the DL in early May, Rafael Furcal of the Los Angeles Dodgers was having an All-Star caliber start to his season. Alas, he’s been out for over a month now and there’s no definitive timetable on when he’ll return.

With the current field of shortstops, it’s really a 2-man race and the fans have it right for once. Miguel Tejada and Hanley Ramirez are the best options. Jose Reyes has improved greatly from his slow April, but he’s still not as good a choice as Ramirez or Tejada.

I give the edge to Hanley because of the power numbers (14 HRs compared to Tejada’s 7), but don’t find Tejada to be a bad pick since he’s been hitting hover .300 most of the season.

Ryan Theriot and Jimmy Rollins are good choices, but not the best. Atlanta’s Yuniel Escobar is at the same level.

3B (Current Leaders (as of June 10, 2008)
1. Chipper Jones (Atlanta)            1,110,171
2. Aramis Ramirez (Chicago)           726,973
3. David Wright (New York)              655,105
4. Ty Wigginton (Houston)                359,989
5. Mark Reynolds (Arizona)              292,702 

My Pick: Chipper Jones (Atlanta)

Open and shut. Chipper Jones is hitting .420 on June 10 and leads all NL 3B with 15 HRs. Any other vote is retarded. Seriously. And I HATE Chipper Jones.

C (Current Leaders (as of June 10, 2008)
1. Geovany Soto (Chicago)          969,853
2. Brian McCann (Atlanta)           578,276
3. Yadier Molina (St. Louis)         458,084
4. J.R. Towles (Houston)             367,248
5. Russell Martin (Los Angeles)   350,694 

My Pick: Brian McCann (Atlanta)

Brian McCann and Geovany Soto are the top 2 in the voting, and either one would be a good choice at starting catcher. Currently McCann has the better numbers, but they’re so close, either one would be fine.

Yadier Molina is hitting .295, but older brother Bengie Molina is hitting .333 with better overall numbers. Bengie isn’t in the top 5 votegetters.

J.R. Towles might be the most ridiculous pick ever, with a .145 BA. Embarrassing.

Russell Martin is hitting very well but doesn’t have the power numbers of Soto or McCann. He still should be higher in the voting than Molina or Towles.
 

OF (Current Leaders (as of June 9, 2008)
1. Alfonso Soriano (Chicago)               1,088,866
2. Kosuke Fukudome (Chicago)             918,262
3. Ken Griffey Jr. (Cincinnati)                 775,759
4. Carlos Lee (Houston)                         587,027
5. Carlos Beltran (New York)                  518,838
6. Ryan Braun (Milwaukee)                     514,913
7. Matt Holliday (Colorado)                     507,628
8. Hunter Pence (Houston)                     500,857
9. Pat Burrell (Philadelphia)                    487,131
10. Rick Ankiel (St. Louis)                     478,136

My Picks: Ryan Braun (Milwaukee), Alfonso Soriano (Chicago), Ryan Ludwick (St. Louis)

This is an interesting result that the fans have put together. Kosuke Fukudome has become a fan favorite of the Cubs and had a very good start to the season but has cooled off considerably. He’s probably good enough to be a reserve OF, but in no way should be a starter.

Ken Griffey Jr. is a nostalgia pick but doesn’t have the numbers to warrant being here.

Carlos Beltran is a ridiculous choice unless you’re voting for the best defensive CF of the bunch. Otherwise, he has no business on the team having the nothing season he’s having.

Matt Holliday would probably be one of my picks if not for him being on the DL.

Carlos Lee’s BA isn’t good enough to warrant so many votes, although Astros fans are clearly voting in big numbers when guys like J.R. Towles, Kazuo Matsui and Carlos Lee are garnering as many votes as they’ve gotten.

A lot of absurd people in the top 10 here, as opposed to the AL’s top 10, which are mostly good picks.

Pitchers:
5 starters and 5 relievers, in no particular order.

Starters: Edinson Volquez (Cincinnati), Tim Lincecum (San Francisco), Brandon Webb (Arizona), Ben Sheets (Milwaukee), Ryan Dempster (Chicago).

Relievers: Billy Wagner (New York), Brad Lidge (Philadelphia), Kerry Wood (Chicago), Matt Capps (Pittsburgh), Brandon Lyon (Arizona).

So, in conclusion, my NL ballot:
C: Brian McCann (Atlanta)
1B: Lance Berkman (Houston)
2B: Chase Utley (Philadelphia)
SS: Hanley Ramirez (Florida)
3B: Chipper Jones (Atlanta)
OF: Ryan Braun (Milwaukee), Alfonso Soriano (Chicago), Ryan Ludwick (St. Louis) 

Overall, the fans have put together much better picks for the NL starters except in the Outfield, with only Alfonso Soriano being deserving of starting in the current top 3 votegetters.

As mentioned in the last entry, we stayed down in San Diego for the weekend to see the Mets play the Padres on Saturday night and Sunday day at PETCO park for the final 2 games of the 4-game series.

I decided to stay at the Manchester Grand Hyatt for a night, which is also where the New York Mets team stays when in San Diego. It's about a 15-minute walk to PETCO park, and I was told (whether true or not, who knows) that David Wright had walked to the ballpark himself without any entourage on Saturday.

I'm not an autograph hound nor a groupie, and I don't bother pro athletes, or even Hollywood celebrities, and lord knows I've worked with many through the years. But I thought it would be fun to, on the off chance, hang out with millionaires in a hotel bar as well as other Met fans. And well, we didn't really "hang out" with them, but did see a lot of the team after the 2-1 loss on Saturday night at the hotel.

If you're looking for crazy gossip or wild tales of 1986 Mets-like partying, you will be disappointed.

Here's how it went down:

The 10-inning game ended at about 10:15pm. Got back to the hotel around 10:35pm, and hung out in the hotel bar area for a while.

Some other Met fans were there as well, trying to get autographs and pictures. One guy was in town from NY for a conference, and was very eager to get autographed baseballs for his daughter back on Long Island. Speaking of Long Island, his accent made me want to plug my ears with shot glasses.

There were a few other fans milling about, but not a lot by any stretch.

Moises Alou was the first person we saw, just meandering about the hotel lobby before the team bus came by. He apparently told some other fan, who later told me, that he'd be back playing on Tuesday against Arizona. We'll see...

Then we saw Keith Hernandez and some other SNY folk who I'm not really familiar with since I don't get SNY in L.A. I imagine Gary Cohen was one of them.

I then saw Brian Schneider with his parents. I also saw Oliver Perez walking through the lobby with cellphone attached to ear. I told him, "Good pitching tonight!" and he thanked me but kept walking.

Then the team bus came in at around 11:15pm-ish? It was a lot of the team including Jose Reyes, Luis Castillo, Raul Casanova, Ramon Castro, Endy Chavez, Damion Easley, Carlos Beltran, etc. I imagine there were others but we either didn't see them, or simply didn't recognize them.

I think every player who got off the bus went into the elevators up to their rooms. I can't say with certainty they didn't go out later, but we didn't see them leave, and didn't hear reports from any other people that they were seen again.

I heard later on that David Wright showed up and was apparently one of the few who was willing to sign things for a couple of fans. The other players didn't stop, although to be fair, I didn't see anyone try and stop them either. The aforementioned Long Islander showed me an autographed baseball that was made out to his daughter personally by David. Not something you can sell on Ebay, so his heart was in the right place. Success!

After the players contingent, we then saw Willie Randolph, Jerry Manuel and Sandy Alomar walk through the lobby together. A couple of fans told Willie "We'll get 'em tomorrow!" and of course Willie could only agree. I told him "No friggin sweeps!" and he chuckled.

They also went off to the elevators, presumably up to the rooms, never seen again that night.

At the hotel bar, the following Mets personnel...

• Carlos Delgado was at a table with his parents. Papa Delgado is morbidly obese in his mid 60's. I hope Carlos doesn't follow down the same path. Pedro Feliciano later joined the table and remained after Carlos had left. Feliciano ended up talking to Papa Delgado for a bit, and later spoke with Scott Schoeneweis before calling it a night.
• Brian Schneider was at a table with his parents.
• Hitting Coach Howard Johnson and his wife were sitting at a table with a bunch of people. I'm not positive, but I think Mets media director Jay Horowitz was among them.
  
• Scott Schoeneweis was at a table with his parents. One Met fan was talking to them because she grew up in the same town of Medford, NJ that Scott did. I think she may have talked to his parents more than Scott, but they were all very nice from what I heard.
  
• Oliver Perez was at a table with a bunch of people no one recognized, presumably people he knew from his days of playing with the Padres. I remember glancing at their table at one point and saw a lot of empty beer bottles all around. But hey, he pitched well and deserved a little relaxation time.
• Duaner Sanchez provided the closest thing to "gossip" that night, as he was talking up this very attractive Latina at the bar as he was drinking white wine. We couldn't figure out if she was his girlfriend, or he had just met her. It was funny because just like real life for the rest of us poor people, when talking to a hot broad, you still have to deal with her ugly friends. Poor Duaner. No idea if Dirty did the deed.

All the players had wrapped up their socializing by around 1am, and called it a night since they had to be at the ballpark by 10am the next morning. I've since read that Ramon Castro didn't make it there on time and was benched for sleeping late.

From what we witnessed at the hotel bar, fans were very respectful of the players and didn't bother any of them.

We did not see Billy Wagner, Mike Pelfrey, Joe Smith or Aaron Heilman at any point in the hotel. Actually, if I haven't mentioned their name already, I didn't see them nor hear that anyone else did. Or maybe simply didn't recognize them.

We were told by other fans that they got autographs from Pedro Martinez and Johan Santana prior to them leaving for the ballpark on Saturday.

All in all, it was a nice experience, which would've been a lot nicer had the Mets swept the Padres, and not vice versa.