No all stars

I tuned into last night's all star game for two things. Ichiro's inside the park homer (thank you random banner in RF) and McCann's 9th inning. And, as it turns out, neither was hyped at all by our good friends at FOX. I've already said my piece about them, so i'll move on to the topic of this entry. The Braves really have no all stars.

When you look at the numbers put up by even our best hitter this season (Edgar hands down) and our close second (Chipper of course) you see something amazing. First, Hanley Ramirez should have made the team over Hardy hands down, but Edgar is well behind Hanley in BA, HR, SB, and Slugging. That's more than a trifecta. Edgar isn't an all star this year. Second, Chipper is on par with Miguel Cabarera in most categories over the same number of at bats, but Chipper has gotten to the dish 70+ times fewer than Miguel. That alone would make the decision easy for the players. When you have to guys producing at about the same rate, but one has been hurt, you choose the healthy one.

The only other players on the team worth mentioning were the two actually voted on, John Smoltz and Brian McCann. John Maine has been better all around than Smoltz, end of discussion. As for McCann, as i noted previously, there just isn't anything at catcher this year to write home about beyond Martin. Barrett is hitting like a clone of Brian, Estrada, Molina, and Lo Duca all have better BAs but the rest of the stats are a tossup between the 5. Personally, i think McCann was voted in because he's the only likable one in the bunch. Lo Duca is an ass, Barrett doesn't get along with anyone, Estrada has always been a little anti-social, and Molina... well i don't know anything bad about him, nor do i know anything good.

But how can a team with no all stars be 2 games back from a team with 4, three of which were starters? Easy, the Braves are playing like a team. It's something i've never seen before from a Braves lineup. You have 10 guys producing (with the notable exception of AJ) and doing it differently every day. Besides Chipper, who seems to work more like a stabilizing influence than anything else, no one hitter has distinguished themselves as the go to guy. Theres not Reyes who makes runs for the team. No Beltran who will unbeatably be up in the bottom of the 9th and hit a bomb. Nothing. Our hitters go out there day after day and hit, our pen goes out there and cleans up when the starters falter, and most importantly they do it time and time again.

Folks, this is a team. Honestly, if i was an opposing pitcher i'd fear our lineup more than the Mets, Yanks, or even the Red Sox. If JS can get the rotation patched up before the deadline, I say the Braves are going to October, maybe even November.