Ginger I got invited to a couple’s (Brian and Karen) house for dinner a few weeks ago, and one serindipity was that Brian had four Rangers tickets and only two other guys lined up to go so far.  He asked if I wanted to go, and of course I said yes.  Well, it turns out that the ticket was for a game against the Red Sox, my favorite AL team.  No, I didn’t jump on the Red Sox Nation bandwagon after they won the World Series in 2003 – I’ve been a fan ever since the 1970s when they had Yastrzemski, Fisk, Lynn, Rice, Tiant, etc.

So… along came Wednesday, July 22, so I left work at about 9 seconds after 5:00 so I could get to the Ballpark early to walk around, take pictures, etc.  Our seats were on the first level, just under the overhang almost directly behind home plate.  The Red Sox didn’t mount much offense, losing 3-1 in this last game of the 3-game sweep in Arlington.  Oh, well, it was a pretty good game, and it’s always great to go, especially for free.  And as an added bonus, it was only 87° at game time, about 10-15° lower than I expected.

Click on the image to view my Facebook photo gallery.  No, I’m not going to repost all the photos here.

Ginger and I went to see Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs today.  As usual, we got there early because it’s a fairly new movie and we wanted a primo seat.  So, as usual, we sat through the pre-movie on-screen stuff — what we used to think of as ‘previews’, but I thought a little harder about this time than usual.

Advertisers are having to adjust.  It’s been going on for some time now, and this may not be new to you, but I’ve see advertising take at least two whole new directions lately.  One of these ways has to do specifically with movie theaters, and that got me to thinking about the other one.

TWO: the advent of TiVo a few years ago, and subsequently all manner of DVRs that aren’t the TiVo brand, threw advertisers for a loop because people began to skip their commercials as they watched TV.  You can set your DVR to record something, then start watching it whenever you want to later on.  When those annoying commercials come on, you just skip over them and pick up your show at the next scene.  Instead of complaining to Congress that people were subverting their attempts to try to get them to buy stuff, the advertisers have adapted and innovated.  I don’t watch much TV except for baseball, but word has it that product placement has escalated in recent years, basically companies paying networks to embed their product into the show, thus increasing exposure inside the show instead of during the oft-skipped commercial breaks.  What I’ve noticed a lot of during baseball broadcasts is that the announcers do short 5-10-second shout-outs: typically after a commercial break, a car manufacturer’s or beer brewer’s logo takes up most of the screen while Joe Buck or Jon Miller tells you that today’s game is brought to you by XYZ company.  After the first out of the inning, the Pitcher Profile, the Batting Lineup, the Call to the Bullpen, the RBI Leader Board, etc. are all brought to you by some deodorant or snack food purveyor.

ONE: this is the one that gets me in movie theaters.  I’m making myself sound old, I know, but “in today’s postmodern microwave society”, attention spans are at an all-time low.  No, I don’t have a scientific source for that assertion, but you know what I mean.  Advertisers can’t trust their audience to sit still and pay attention to what they’re selling for a 30-second commercial, so they have to get creative and try to tell the audience that they’re doing something other than watching a commercial.  And they reinforce it in much the same way that I was told to write my papers in high school: tell what you’re going to say (introduction), then say it (body), then tell what you just said (conclusion).  Before the previews started a few years ago, the theater had house lights on, curtains over the screen, and maybe some music playing softly.  But nowadays, advertisers are taking this opportunity to show commercials.  In the intro to the block of ads, someone comes on and tells you you’re about to experience some sort of spectacle giving you an inside look at something of paramount interest.  Then they play a bunch of commercials – you’re the one who’s in the know about this cool new PDA, video-sharing web site, upcoming movie, sweet new ride, or must-see television event.  Then at the end they wrap up by telling you that you’ve just experienced a First Look or got some great insider information on some gizmo’s features.

“Huh?” I ask myself and my wife.  “I don’t have any special insider knowledge about the Nissan Cube mobile device; I haven’t been a participant in what goes on behind the plot in Jada Pinkett Smith’s new drama series – I just saw a bunch of commercials trying to get me to buy something or watch something.”  Don’t get me wrong – I’m not complaining or saying that what the advertisers are doing is wrong in some way.  I’m just saying that I take these “experiences” and “insider looks” for what they really are – advertising.

I actually voted this year.  In the past, it has been too easy to let time slip by and then complain that the fans selected the wrong Position X player wasn’t in the All-Star game.  Yeah, in recent years, it has been made so easy by the advent of online voting, but still, in the past I meant to vote, and to do it intellegently by researching stats and voting for truly the best player, rather than just my favorites or the ones I’m most familiar with.

So here it goes, my picks for the starters, along with a reserve for each position and some honorable mentions, along with the reasoning for each.  Some picks surprised even me.

American League

First Base: Not just because I’m a Red Sox fan, Kevin Youkilis beat out Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera.  It was close, but the sentiment is that Youk is a better fielder, and he beats out Cabrera in power numbers, extra base hits and OPS.  So Cabrera gets the alternate slot.

Second Base: It pains me, but the Yankees’ Robinson Cano gets the start because his numbers are just better than those of Red Sox Dustin Pedroia’s.  Pedrioa has more walks, doubles, and steals, but  Cano has the edge in Avg, Hits, RBI, and HR.

Shortstop: Jason Bartlett from Tampa Bay.  Hands-down, Bartlett has the best offensive numbers among AL shortstops.  A few fewer runs, hits, & walks than Jeter & Scutaro, but with far fewer at bats; Bartlett leads in doubles & triples, and steals. Alternate: the Yankees’ Derek Jeter edges out Toronto’s Marco Scutaro by a nose; Scutaro has the edge in runs, walks, doubles, & triples, but that’s with 9 more games played – Jeter has a much higher Avg, OBP, SB, and SLG.

Third Base: The Bue Jays’ Scott Rolen leads AL 3rd basemen in AVG; about even with the Rangers’ Michael Young for doubles, walks, SLG, (but with fewer at bats), and Rolen strikes out a lot less than Young.  Alternate: Micheal Young beats our the Rays’ Evan Longoria – Longoria has a big edge in power (RBI & HR) but Young beats him everywhere else.

Catcher: Joe Mauer from the Twins.  How can you bat .392 and not be the starter?  Sure, Cleveland’s Victor Martinez has more doubles, RBI, walks, runs, etc., but that’s with almost 100 more at bats. Alternate: Victor Martinez edges out the White Sox’ AJ Pierzynski, who has good numbers, but not quite good enough.

Outfield: Ichiro Suzuki – not just because he’s always an all-star – he leads AL outfielders in AVG & hits (again), and is near the top in extra-base hits.  RBIs are low because no one gets on in front of him.  Carl Crawford: 2nd to Ichiro in AVG & hits – leading AL OF in runs and stolen bases. Torii Hunter is the most powerful AL outfileder – leading in HR, doubles, OPS, RBI with fewer at bats than Ichiro & Crawford.  For outfiled alternates, I’ll go with Baltimore’s Adam Jones and Nick Markakis, and Chicago’s Jermaine Dye.  It’s hard to beat out the likes of Ellsbury, Abreu, Damon, & Guerrero, but Dye and the Baltimore guys do – when you balance all the numbers like hits, HR, 2B, AVG, RBI, they come out slightly better. Luke Scott would be a choice if he was a real outfielder and not a DH;  Nelson Cruz and Jason Bay have great offensive numbers as far as HR & RBI, but AVG is way down in the .260s

Rounding it out: The rule is that each team has to have at least one representative; I didn’t take the time to compare pitching stats too much, so I’ll lump pitchers in together with the guys from the teams not yet represented:
Kansas City Royals: Zack Greinke leads KC’s surprising pitching staff, and is one of the best in the league.
Oakland Athletics: The A’s don’t have an all-star, but their best player is Dallas Braden, with 7 wins and a good 3.12 ERA.

National League

First Base: This is the biggest no-brainer on the ballot.  Albert Pujols wins by a landslide.  Alternate Prince Fielder is a stud and having a great year, but Albert is in a class by himself.

Second Base: Chase Utley has the 2nd highest Avg of NL second basemen, and his power numbers and BB/OBP shame the others. The Alternate spot goes to the Pirates’ Freddy Sanchez.  He’s the real deal – with 300+ at bats, his .316 AVG and .832 OPS are solid and he’s got as many extra base hits as and fewer strikeouts than Utley.

Shortstop: The Marlins’ Hanley Ramirez – this is the second-biggest no-brainer.  Ramirez is leading NL shortstops  in almost everything offensive: AVG, RBI, HR, SLG, OBP, even walks & total bases.  The Alternate spot goes to the Astros’ Miguel Tejada: he’s tied with Ramirez for hits and doubles, killing everyone but Ramirez in most other offensive categories.

Third Base: San Francisco’s Pablo Sandoval edges out David Wright – .006 behind in AVG, but twice as many HR, strikes out half as often, has better SLG and OPS, more extra base hits. Alternate David Wright has the bast AVG of NL 3rd basemen, walks alot, and has 20 steals.  More complete that the two bigger power guys (Ryan Zimmerman of Washington and Mark Reynolds of Arizona).

Catcher: Atlanta’s Brian McCann has the best AVG, OPS, SLG, and most doubles of any NL catcher; 3rd in HR, 2nd in RBI.
Alternate: the Giants’ Bengie Molina.  AVG is slightly off from brother Yadier, and Yadier’s defense is better, but Bengie has more HR, doubles, higher SLG, and lots more RBI.

Outfield: Milwaukee’s Ryan Braun is 4th among NL outfielders in HR and AVG, and 2nd in RBI. Brad Hawpe from Colorado has an  AVG .003 better than Braun and has 1 fewer RBI than Braun; more doubles but fewer HRs. Raul Ibanez of the Phillies is leading NL outfielders with 22 HR and 59 RBI; he’s 4th in AVG excluding Manny (more on Manny later).  My alternates are
the Mets’ Carlos Beltran, Houston’s Hunter Pence, and Arizon’s Justin Upton.  Beltran is on the DL now but he should be back for the all-star game; his  HR number is off this year but AVG is best among NL outfielders excluding Manny.  Gold Glover, speedy in the OF and on the bases with 11 steals. There are several NL outfielders who are hitting over .300 with power and speed – Pence and Upton are my picks. I can’t bring myself to vote for Manny Ramirez because he’s been gone for 50 games, putting himself out of the running of being a real contributor.

Rounding it out:
Washington Nationals: Ryan Zimmerman is just a nose away from getting the Alternate spot at 3rd base, with much better power numbers than even David Wright.
It’s hard to believe that the Cubbies just don’t have a starting- or second-string all-star position player this year… so Ted Lilly should pitch a couple innings.
Cincinnati Reds: closer Francisco Cordero, with 21 saves and a 1.75 ERA will be a good addition.
San Diego Padres: Adrian Gonzalez would almost get in with all his homers, but his batting average is way off – I’ll go with reliever Heath Bell, who has a 3:1 Strikeout-walk ratio, and a better ERA and more saves than Cordero.

So there you have it – my MLB All-Star picks among position players for 2009.