A-Sor: Home Run King!

Alfonso Soriano hit his 20th and 21st home runs of the season during the Nationals' 8-4 win to complete a three game sweep of the Brewers. That puts him in second place in the majors, just four behind the now injured Albert Pujols (or A-Jols, as I like to call him). Yet somehow, as of May 30, he was fifth in All-Star voting among National League outfielders. Now, I understand that there is more to being a good baseball player than hitting home runs. Soriano's fielding has been somewhat suspect, to be sure. That doesn't justify such a low ranking, though.

Unfortunately, the fan voting is usually pretty much a pathetic sham. I don't particularly care for the concept of letting fan voting decide anything in the All-Star Game (especially in the MLB where the game actually counts for something), and this is a great example of why. Some people make the argument that the All-Star Game is "all about the fans" and therefore the fans should get to decide who they want to see on the field, but this is not what most fans want to see. Only a relatively small minority of baseball fans want to see an AL lineup consisting of nothing but Yankees and Red Sox players. The rest of us just want to see the best players the league has to offer, but we are far too lazy to stuff the ballot boxes to compete with rabid Yankees fans. In Soriano's case, its especially magnified because he plays in a city where, unless you're wearing a burgundy uniform, you're not likely to be paid much attention, and therefore there are hardly any people who are going to go out of their way to push him into the starting lineup.

A-Sor: Home Run King?

Albert Pujols was taken out of the Cardinals' 8-5 loss to the Cubs last night after the second inning after straining his right oblique muscle running down a fly ball. He could be out up to six weeks. Which is pretty awful if you're Bud Selig or MLB. Pujols had provided a delightful (and sorely needed) counterpoint to all the Barry Bonds hoopla, and was finally starting to get the respect that he deserves after having been overshadowed by Bonds' artificially enhanced dominance over the past few years. He was even on pace to Barry's single-season home run record.

This means that now Alfonso Soriano now has the most home runs of any non-injured player in the National League. (I know, I know, Ryan Howard also has 19 and has played two fewer games. I'm slightly unabashed in my homerism. Sue me.) I think if A-Sor finished the year leading the NL in home runs, it would be the worst possible thing that could happen. Anything that makes Jim Bowden look like less of an incompetent dolt is not okay in my book.