The robbing of Joey Votto

By: Jeff Archer

Updated: Sun 2:48 PM, Jul 04, 2010

The hottest hitter in Major League Baseball is Joey Votto. He is in the running for the Triple-Crown. And you will not see him in the All-Star game.

I sat with my jaw open as the names for the National League reserves scrolled by. Surely someone at TBS and ESPN had made a mistake and forgotten to type in Joey Votto's name. That is the only explenation that made any sense. A player who is in the running for the Triple-Crown, currently has a 41-game streak of reaching base safely (longest in the Majors) and is playing exceptional defense could not be left off the All-Star roster, right? Wrong.

Votto was passed over, and in the proccess, the credibility of the game was brought into question. Here is why.

Ryan Howard was selected over him. Lets compare the two and see how this is a joke that has no one laughing.

Batting Average: Votto -.313, Howard - .295
Slugging %: Votto - .574, Howard - .505
On-Base %: Votto - .414, Howard - .351
Homeruns: Votto - 19, Howard - 15
RBI: Howard - 58, Votto - 57
Runs: Votto - 53, Howard - 52
Stolen Bases : Votto - 7, Howard - 0

The ONLY major category that Howard leads Votto in is RBI... which is by 1. That must be one massive RBI.

On top of that, Votto is a MUCH better fielder. Looking at the numbers, and by all other measurements, Votto is a better selection. Their both lefthanded firstbasemen so you can't argue they were looking for a certain hitter to balance the roster. Philadelphia also has several other selections, so he wasn't their only pick.

So to sum up, Votto is hitting better, running better and fielding better than Howard. I have rarely cared in the past if a player was left off a roster. But I don't remember a time previous when EVERY single argument for 1 player over another could be justified. This is simply put, idiotic.

I am not saying that Howard is not a good All-Star selection. I am saying that Votto is a better one.

~ Jeff Archer

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