I applaud Charlie Manuel for not joining the band wagon of people who think Stephen Strasburg deserves on the NL All-Star team. He has pitched great but compared to the pitchers selected he has not pitched enough innings to merit being chosen. He showed against the Mets that it will be awhile before we know how good he may or may not be when he had trouble finding the plate in the first inning of the game. I hope to see Strasburg improve and appear on next years team but at this point he has not paid his dues and is just a media sensation.
In the same breath I am very disappointed in Charlie Manuel for picking his player Ryan Howard over MVP candidate Joey Votto at first base. I understand that managers pick their players but sometimes there is right and wrong and with Philadelphia in third place and the Reds in first Joey Votto deserves the nod. Ryan Howard is a great player and if someone can't make the team I would love to see him on it but not choosing Votto was blatantly partisan on the part of Manuel. Votto has 19 homers 57 RBI and a .313 batting average while Ryan Howard has 15 homers, 58 RBI and a .296 batting average. If both teams were in first I would have no problem with the choice as the numbers are very close but Votto should get the nod with slightly better numbers and a better team at this moment.
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