Red Sox lagging in All-Star voting

The latest vote totals for the All-Star Game are in. Some people follow this stuff religiously and will get upset about it. I find it sort of silly. It’s a popularity contest that rewards players with name recognition. Hence, Junior Griffey drawing 323,564 votes and undeserving Mark Teixeira (.221/.338/.387) leading at first base.

In terms of the Red Sox, it doesn’t look like they’ll have any players voted to the team. But David Ortiz, Kevin Youkilis, and Adrian Beltre are worthy of looks.

Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz, Jon Papelbon, and Daniel Bard are deserving as well. But were I a fan of a particular team, I would not want any of my pitchers in the game. There is no upside to it.

Here are the latest vote totals:

First base
1. Mark Teixeira (Yankees) 610,851
2. Justin Morneau (Twins) 527,688
3. Miguel Cabrera (Tigers) 402,719
4. Kevin Youkilis (Red Sox) 298,332

Second base
1. Robinson Cano (Yankees) 811,300
2. Dustin Pedroia (Red Sox) 487,733
3. Ian Kinsler (Rangers) 393,515

Third base
1. Evan Longoria (Rays) 915,247
2. Alex Rodriguez (Yankees) 632,268
3. Michael Young (Rangers) 356,899
4. Adrian Beltre (Red Sox) 190,988

Catcher
1. Joe Mauer (Twins) 1,138,286
2. Jorge Posada (Yankees) 427,310
3. Victor Martinez (Red Sox) 222,527

Shortstop
1. Derek Jeter (Yankees) 1,005,810
2. Elvis Andrus (Rangers) 438,731
No Sox in top 5

DH
1. Vladimir Guerrero (Rangers) 725,752
2. Hideki Matsui (Angels) 465,615
3. Ken Griffey Jr. (Mariners) 323,564
4. David Ortiz (Red Sox) 235,986

Outfield
1. Ichiro Suzuki (Mariners) 604,675
2. Nelson Cruz (Rangers ) 541,052
3. Carl Crawford (Rays) 532,201
No Sox in top 15

Here is the story from MLB.com.